Crips
In	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Founded by	Raymond Washington
Years active	1969-present
Territory	Los Angeles, California; most big cities in the U.S.
Ethnicity	mostly African American
Membership	30,000-40,000
Criminal activities	Drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, murder
Allies	Folk Nation,Nortenos
Rivals	Bloods, People Nation and Sureños

The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African-American gang founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 mainly by 16-year-old Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams . Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Raymond Lee Washington ( August 14, 1953 &ndash August 9, 1979) was an American criminal involved in Street crime Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person Unlawfully obtains either money property or services Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries The Folk Nation (also known as Folks) is an alliance of Street gangs based in the Chicago area which has since spread throughout the United States The Norteños ( Spanish: for "Northerners") also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia (Our Family are a coalition The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles People Nation is an alliance of Street gangs generally associated with the Chicago area The Mexican Mafia, also known as La eMe (Spanish for the letter M is a Mexican Criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Raymond Lee Washington ( August 14, 1953 &ndash August 9, 1979) was an American criminal involved in Street crime Stanley Tookie Williams III ( December 29, 1953 &ndash What was once a single gang is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another.

Through the years the gang has grown to be one of the largest and most powerful gangs in the United States, currently with over 30,000 gang members. Gangsters redirects here For the computer game see Gangsters (video game. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The gang is known to be involved in murders, robberies, drug dealing, among many other criminal pursuits. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs The gang is notorious for its gang members' flamboyant use of the color blue in their clothing. However, this practice has waned due to contentious police crackdowns on gang members.

The Crips are known to have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Bloods as well as with all Mexican street gangs. The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. They are also locked in an ongoing struggle over the drug trade with the Vice Lords in Memphis, Tennessee. The Almighty Vice Lord Nation (abbreviated AVLN, VLN or CVLN) is the second largest and one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago. Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. ^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Crip on Crip violence 3 Gang identification 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

Raymond Washington initially called the gang the Baby Avenues in an attempt to emulate older gangs and the activities carried out by the Black Panthers, a movement with which he was fascinated. The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist / Maoist African-American organization established The gang renamed itself the Avenue Cribs and then took on the nickname Cribs because of the young age of the members. ^[2] The name Crips was first introduced in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in a description by crime victims of young men with canes, as if they were crippled (though there is some discussion that it may have initially been a simple spelling mistake). The Los Angeles Sentinel is a weekly African American -owned Newspaper published in Los Angeles California. The name stuck.

Stanley Tookie Williams, generally acknowledged as co-founder of the Crips (Community Revolution In Progress),^[3] started his own gang called the Westside Crips. Stanley Tookie Williams III ( December 29, 1953 &ndash The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs joined; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-Crip gangs, including the L. A. Brims, Athens Park Boys, the Bishops and the Denver Lanes. The Crips eventually became the most powerful gang in California. In response, all of the other besieged gangs, including the Pirus, formed an alliance that later became the Bloods. This article is about the street gang For other uses see Piru (disambiguation. The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles

Along with friends, Williams and Washington created the initial intent of continuing the revolutionary ideology of the 1960s. These aspirations were unattainable because of a general lack of political leadership and guidance. Washington and Williams were never able to develop an agenda for social change within the community and instead became obsessed with protecting themselves from other gangs in the community.

By 1971 the gang's notoriety had spread across Los Angeles. The gang became increasingly violent as they attempted to expand their turf. By the early 1980s the gang was heavily involved with drug trade. ^[4]

Crip on Crip violence

In 1971, a Crip set on Piru Street, Compton known as the Piru Street Boys was formed. Compton is a city located in Southern Los Angeles County California, USA, south-southeast of downtown Los Angeles. After two years of peace, a feud began between the Piru Street Boys and the other Crip sets. It would later turn violent as gang warfare ensued between former allies. This battle continued until the mid 1970s when the Piru Street Boys wanted to call an end to the violence and called a meeting with other gangs that were targeted by the Crips. After a long discussion, the Pirus broke off all connections to the Crips and started an organization that would later be called the Bloods, a street gang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips. The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles ^[2]

Since then, other conflicts and feuds were started between many of the remaining sets of the Crips gang. It is a popular misconception that Crips sets feud only with Bloods. In reality, they fight each other — for example, the Rollin' 60s and 83rd Street Gangster Crips ("Eight-Tray") have been rivals since 1979. This conflict has resulted in the majority of "Gangster Crip" sets feuding with most "Neighborhood Crip" sets. In Watts, Los Angeles, the Grape Street Watts Crips and the P Jay Crips have feuded so much that the P Jay Crips even teamed up with the local Bloods set, the Bounty Hunter Bloods, to fight against the Grape Street Crips^[5]. Watts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles California (more specifically part of South Los Angeles) Jordan Downs Housing Projects is a 700-unit Public housing apartment complex in Watts Los Angeles California. The P Jay Crips are a Crip gang that operates in Watts, South Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is a 1054-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California.

Gang identification

For many years, Crips were characterized by their tendency to wear blue in order to easily identify each other. One suggested origin of the selected color is traced to the school colors of Washington High School in South L.A. Another theory is the co-founder, Stanley Williams, had a good and close friend called "Buddha", who wore blue shirts, khakis, shoes, and a blue bandana from his back left pocket. George Washington Preparatory High School is a Secondary school in the Westmont section of unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South LA, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown When Buddha died, Williams made blue the Crip color in honor of Buddha. A particular set of Crips, the Grape Street Crips, have been known to wear purple in addition to blue. The Shotgun Crips (SGCs) are separated into three sub-sets: the Nine, 139th street; the Foe, 134th street; and the Deuce, 132nd street in the city of Gardena, California and have been known to wear dark-green, the city color of Gardena, in addition to blue to show that the Shotgun Crips are from Gardena. Gardena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Crips also wear blue bandanas and British Knights sport shoes (using the company moniker BK, which the Crips use as a backronym meaning "Blood Killas"). British Knights is a Shoe company founded in 1980 by the Jack Schwartz Shoes Inc, based in New York. A backronym (or bacronym) is a Phrase that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word or Abbreviation, the abbreviation They usually refer derisively to their rivals, the Bloods, as "slobs" and "busters". The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles

More recently, however, the Crips have begun to cease the use of colors as a means of identification, since it is likely to draw attention from police. Methods such as the use of college sport team jerseys and hats are sometimes used, but in general, what set a certain gang member claims can be determined solely by their tattoos. A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of Skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons

Many Crips will also change words containing the letter B or choose another word to replace it, the best being a word with a C. This is due to their hatred of Bloods. If no word can reasonably be substituted, the letter B will be crossed out to show disrespect. Sometimes excessive use of the letter C also occurs, such as "I'll C right baCC" to refrain from using the initials "ck" which stands for "Crip Killer", and not using "B" which is the first letter in Blood. Also, the letter B can be written Bk as in "Blood Killer".

The Crips wear blue bandanas out of their left pocket, opposite of the Bloods, who wear red bandanas out of their right pocket.

See also

• Bloods
• List of California street gangs

References

External links

• History of Crip Gangs in LA early formation of Los Angeles Crips
• Snopes Urban Legend – The origin of the name Crips
• L.A.-based gangs – An overview of LA-based gangs

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