Mid-Term Assignment 1

Prison Gangs

In the United States, there are over 20,000 gangs. Los Angeles has many gangs on the

streets. In Los Angeles alone there are over four hundred and fifty active gangs roaming the

streets. Making Los Angeles the “gang capital” of the world. Many know the most known gangs,

The Bloods and Crips.

Gang history is rich and comes from many places. Within the main gangs there may be

sub-gangs. In Los Angeles, the Bloods and Crips are gaining strength within the prison system

(Wymore & Raber, 2019, p. 47). The Bloods and Crips are one of the most known gangs in

America. These gangs are traditional Los Angeles street gangs.

In South Central Los Angeles in 1960 the Crips were founded [The Crips, 2011]. There

are two co-founders of the Crips in 1960. The founders are Raymond Lee Washington of the

East Side Crips and Stanley Tookie Williams of the West Side Crips [The Crips, 2011]. They

united their gangs to have a combat gang from a political organization. The Crips are based off

of the Black Panthers. Washington and Williams were violent gang members and drug dealers.

Williams and Washington state that the gang started in 1971, with noble intentions to

provide protection from violence. The Crips were originally called the Baby Avenue Crips. This

symbolizes being in the gang from the crib to the grave. From 1969-1971 the gang started being

called The Crips. In the 1980s, Crips started to disburse crack cocaine, thus allowing the gang to

expand in new markets [The Crips, 2011].

Washington was eventually killed by the Crips. To this day, Washington’s death is

unsolved. Williams went to prison and received a death row sentence. Williams wrote children

gang life books. In 2005 Williams was executed by lethal injection in San Quentin State Prison

on December 13, 2005 [Crips Co-Founder Williams put to Death, 2005].

Mid-Term Assignment 2

The Crips identify themselves in many different ways. The main identification of the

Crips is the color blue. Sub-gangs will identify themselves with other colors including purple,

orange. The Rolling 30s Crips and other gangs will graffiti territory to claim.

In Denver, Colorado in the 1980s the Rolling 30s Crips. The Rolling 30s Crips was

founded by three teenagers claiming family connections. Although they have no affiliation with

Los Angeles, they are one of the sub-gangs of Crips. Rolling 30s Crips are original base of

operations was the intersection of East 30th Avenue and Gilpin Street.

Although the Rolling 30s Crips was a sub-gang of the Los Angeles Crips, they mirrored

them. The first documents was tracked by law enforcement in 1986. During this time, there were

only sixty-nine members of the Rolling 30s Crips. Out of the sixty-nine members, only one of

them was a female.

There was one large sub-gang based off of the Rolling 30s Crips was the East Side Tre

Tre Crips. This created several other gangs who formed the East Side Family. One of the

founders was Michael Darren Asberry. The other founders were Philip Jefferson and Albert

Jones. Asberry was murdered on May 17 in 2008. The Rolling 30s held the Blood gangs

responsible for the murder of Asberry [Denver Crips co-founder Killed, 2008].

East Side Tre Tre’s Brian Kenneth Hicks was a leader of the large scale drug

organization, the Elite Eight. He oversaw the distribution of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in

Denver. He is currently serving a life sentence for several Federal and State charges.

A well known Nation Football player from the Denver Broncos, Darrent Williams was

involved in an argument with Tre Tre members Daniel Harris and Willie Clark. Clark was

convicted of murdering Williams and attempting to murder six others [Willie Clark, Convicted

of Killing Bronco Darrent Williams, Could get New Trial, 2015].

Mid-Term Assignment 3

Crips identify themselves as the “Blood Killas,” and will cross the letter ‘b’ out [Gang

Awareness Guide]. A member of the Crips will not use the letters ‘CK’ due to the Bloods. CK

symbolizes as “Crip Killas” [Gang Awareness Guide]. The Crips are traditionally a African-

American organization, today they are multi-racial.

The rival gang of the Crips is the Blood gang. In 1993 on Riker’s Island Prison the

United Blood Nation. The founders Omar Portee and Leonard McKenzie. Their original goal

was to protect African-American inmates form the Latin Kings and Netas gangs in the New York

Correctional systems.

The UBN was modeled after the West Coast Bloods. Their main profits were drug sales,

extortion and firearm trafficking. In the history if the United Blood Nation, in 1994-1995 they

were responsible for inmate violence in New York prisons. In 2003, Portee was sentenced fifty

years in federal prison for racketeering.

Omar Portee modeled the organization after Sicilians Mafia’s rank structure. But

still included the West Coast Bloods traditions and philosophy. Leonard McKenzie was

sentenced thirty years in federal prison. He claims today that he is no longer affiliated with

United Blood Nation. He has also changed his name.

The Bloods have a conflict with the Crips that originated from the Piru Street Gang

[Gang Awareness Guide]. The Piru Street gang was located in Compton. In 1980, there were

over 30,000 gang members in either the Crips or the Bloods [21 Raw Photos of Life inside the

Bloods, 2019]. This was when the Bloods started to expand.

People as young fourteen were available to join the Bloods. But they had to requisite act

of violence to prove themselves [21 Raw Photos of Life inside the Bloods, 2019]. Gangs call
Mid-Term Assignment 4

these requisites ‘jumping in’. Jumping in is entailed fighting a member of said gang.

Additionally having to commit a crime in a decided neighborhood.

Starting out as a new gang, the Bloods were the underdogs against the Crips. Thus

causing. The Bloods to be more violent [Gang Awareness Guide]. The ratio between Bloods and

Crips was a three to one. Bloods focused on drug dealing with the rise of cocaine. Focusing on

the sell of drugs leaded towards more fights, rivals and bloodshed.

Weapons used for protection for Bloods were sharp objects. Bloods used sharp knives,

razors and even box cutters. They have the intent to create a wound so large it requires at least

one hundred and fifty stitches. This is believed to be an initiation ritual. Attacks from Bloods are

often on non-gang members.

Many people know Suge Knight, the producer of Death Row Records. Along with Suge

were his artist, Tupac and Dr. Dre. While many people knew about them in the music industry,

many didn’t know about their gang affiliation. Suge was apart of the MOB Piru-Compton. Suge

Knight hired gang members, ex-convicts, and police. Death Row Records had a security team of

MOB Piru members [MOB Piru Gang].

Suge contributed large amounts of assault riffles to the gang members. The main source

of profit was firearm distribution, drug trafficking and credit card scamming. One of Suge’s artist

Tupac was originally with Old York gang, but claimed MOB after signing at Death Row

Records. Suge eventually received a twenty eight year sentence for murder.

Bloods identity speaks for itself, as far as the color red goes. But they have meaning

behind their colors. Red is the blood they bleed, green is the money they make, brown is the soil

they are born from and buried in, black is for the universal war, and lastly white is for the
Mid-Term Assignment 5

neutrals bowing down to the Bloods. Every gang has their tattoo identifications as well as colors.

For the Bloods they use the five point star with the number 5.

Often referring to each other as dogs, they have a three point dog paw branded on their

right arm. A blood member might also have a flag or fade to the right. Member of Bloods will

tattoo MOB on their body. It is a discreet way of saying they are apart of the Bloods.
Mid-Term Assignment 6

References

Asmar, M. (2019, October 26). Willie Clark, convicted of KILLING BRONCO Darrent
Williams, could get new trial. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from
https://www.westword.com/news/willie-clark-convicted-of-killing-bronco-darrent-
williams-could-get-new-trial-6797002

Comment upi.com/3382010, (. (2008, May 20). Denver Crips co-founder killed. Retrieved
March 17, 2021, from https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/19/Denver-Crips-co-
founder-killed/35341211247267/

The execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from
https://www.npr.org/series/5045237/the-execution-of-stanley-tookie-williams

Gang Awareness Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2021, from

https://www.bothellwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/350/Gang-Awareness-Guide-PDF

Gangs. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2021, from

https://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/1396

Gann, B. (2020, December 16). The crips (ca. 1971- ) •. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/crips-1971/

Margaritoff, M. (2019, May 06). 21 raw photos of life inside THE BLOODS, the Fearsome L.A.
street gang. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://allthatsinteresting.com/bloods-gang-
photos

Says:, B., Says:, R., Says:, R., Says:, A., Says:, H., Says:, S., . . . Says:, M. (2017, July 09). Mob
Piru Gang. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://unitedgangs.com/compton-mob-piru/