St. Paul authorities are seeking a court order to forbid gang activity at this weekend's Cinco de Mayo festival on the city's West Side.

The city attorney's office filed an injunction Monday against the Hit Squad gang and eight of its members, a tool the office has used since 2009 in an attempt to prevent violence at public celebrations.

The injunction proposes that during festivities on Saturday and overnight, members of the Hit Squad should not be allowed to intimidate others, wear gang clothing and associate with known gang members.

"The Hit Squad criminal gang is a violent criminal street gang with a substantial and growing presence in St. Paul," said court documents filed by the city attorney's office. "The Hit Squad gang has been involved in numerous documented incidents of violence. … Many of these criminal acts of inter-gang violence have indiscriminately occurred in public places such as parks, buses and bus stops, high school athletic events, streets and sidewalks, and festivals."

The gang, which originated on the city's West Side around 2010, has targeted members from the rival Ham Crazy gang, based on St. Paul's East Side, and the general public, the city said. On May 5, 2014, Hit Squad members fought with Ham Crazy members on the city's West Side near areas frequented by children and families.

Hit Squad members have also been tied to attempted murder, drive-by shootings, assaults and robberies, the city said. In 2013, a Hit Squad leader tried to kill a 16-year-old boy who had switched from the Hit Squad to the East Side Boyz gang, and instead shot a 15-year-old girl. The girl survived, but a bullet was left lodged in her chest.

The city's injunction would seek to prohibit Hit Squad members from exhibiting gang activity in the festival's "Safety Zone," an area between Plato Boulevard and Sidney Street E., and from roughly the Lafayette Road area and to the west.

The gang, which numbers more than 20, claims that area as part of its territory, said the city's court filing. The injunction proposes to limit the gang's activity in that area from 8 a.m. May 2 to 8 a.m. May 3.

"Based on past behavior, the Hit Squad will attempt to similarly taint the upcoming 2015 Cinco de Mayo with its criminal activities," said the city's filing.

Similar injunctions have been used in other states. St. Paul was the first to use the tool in Minnesota during the 2009 Cinco de Mayo festival, and has also employed it for Rondo Days. Ramsey County District Judge Robert Awsumb will hear the city argue its case Friday morning before deciding whether to grant the injunction.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib