[CommerceComet]

Couldn't the difference be hang-abouts and others who aren't officially gang members but who are strongly associated with MS-13? I'm guessing that MS-13 has a lot of street-level drug pushers who are not members but who are exclusively linked to MS-13.

2,000 versus 1,400? Is that a big enough difference to make a big deal out of it? In the Washington Post world, it is because Gillespie is a Republican. If law enforcement has identified 1,400 MS-13 members, I'm inclined to believe that 2,000 is more correct. That's not to disparage law enforcement, just recognizing the fact that MS-13 is a secret organization that doesn't print formal membership rolls.

[Haiku Guy]

I don’t know why this is complicated...

Simply print out the MS-13 Gang Membership List and count the pages. Multiply the number of names on the first page of the list by the number of pages.

What could be simpler?

[leaymane]

Exactly. It’s not like they know who every single gang member is.