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Report: FBI Memo Outlines Situation Before Last Month's Violence in Downtown Louisville

More arrests have been made from an outbreak of teenage violence that wreaked havoc on a Saturday night last month in downtown Louisville.The recent arrests include two male juveniles.  One of which is a 15-year-old, the other is a 14-year-old.Since they are both juveniles, their names were not released.  The 15-year-old will face charges of robbery and rioting.  The 14-year-old will face charges of robbery, rioting, burglary and possible additional charges, said Phil Russell, a spokesman for Louisville Metro Police.This brings the total number of arrests related to the violent incidents to five.  Two adults and a juvenile had previously been arrested.The arrests stem from a March 22 incident, during which a group of an estimated 200 teenagers gathered at Waterfront Park for what has been reported as a vigil to honor victims of a TARC bus stabbing just days earlier.  The group eventually became disorderly, police were called to the scene and 17 reports were filed for assaults, robberies and menacing. But, as WDRB reported, a memo released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations on Wednesday suggests the teens did not meet at Waterfront Park to honor the victims of the TARC stabbing.  Instead, according to the memo published on WDRB's website, the teens met for a “gang fight.”The FBI memo states members of "YNO," a gang comprised mostly of middle school students, gathered at the park to fight members from a rival gang, believed to be known as "TYS."YNO is thought to be an acronym for Young ‘N Off That ('Off That' being slang for crazy or out of control).  TYS is thought to be an acronym for Trill Young Savages, according to the FBI memo.(You can read the memo obtained by WDRB here.)The memo states the members of TYS failed to show up to Waterfront Park and the “mob violence” ensued.According to the FBI memo, there has been information that indicates members of YNO are seeking to beat up the man responsible for the TARC stabbing and the gang members are also looking to murder the man’s daughter.The memo also states the gang members plan on “going deep,” or showing up in large numbers, at the Derby Parade on May 1.LMPD issued the following statement regarding the emailed memo from the FBI:This e-mail was written by an FBI employee and was provided only to law enforcement.  The information in the body of the e-mail contained raw, unverified intelligence generated from various sources.  Due to the fact that it dealt with a threat of violence, it was immediately sent to law enforcement partners.  The contents of this e-mail are considered law enforcement sensitive.  An arrest was made last week after an 18-year-old man made threats of gun violence at Thunder Over Louisville via social media.  LMPD officials stated he should remain in custody throughout the event. LMPD officials expect more arrests to be made within the week and encourages community members to continue to call the anonymous tip line and provide any information they may have, Russell said .“This entire case is an example of how the community really cares," he said.  "We are all working together as law enforcement and the community to be able to work with one another and develop information."

Jacob Ryan is the managing editor of the Kentucky Center for Investigative reporting. He's an award-winning investigative reporter who joined LPM in 2014. Email Jacob at jryan@lpm.org.