Incredible Photos Show LA’s Notorious Crips Gangsters Posing With Drugs And Guns In The 90s
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These extraordinary images give an intimate look inside the infamous LA street gang the Crips at the height of their power in the 90s. With more than 30,000 members, the African-American mob has been in a virtual state of war with rivals the Bloods since the late 60s.
h/t: thesun
Members of the same branch throw the G and W sign to show their allegiance to the Grape Street Watts crew:
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A member of the Grape Street Watts Crips gang cradles a shotgun:
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Drug dealing forms a large part of the gang’s illegal activities. Here, a member of the Dodge City Crips poses with a rock of crack cocaine:
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Obscuring his identity in shades and trademark bandanna, a Crips member makes the gang’s famous ‘C’ hand signal:
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Members stage a mock execution of a young boy, pointing sawn-off shotguns at the child’s head:
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Two young men stand in front of a wall bearing the names of fellow gang members:
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The sign is used as a means of pledging loyalty to the LA-based street gang:
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The gang is notorious for its rivalry with the Bloods, a fellow street gang from the South Side of LA:
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Youngsters are groomed to become members of the gang:
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A toddler walks up to a group of gang members posing for the camera:
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The gang mark their territory with graffiti:
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A teenage member of the Crips poses with his little brother draped in the gang’s colours:
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Posing with shotguns, these members of the gang wear their signature Vikings hats:
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The gang originate from the Jordan Downs housing project on the South Side of Los Angeles:
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Since its foundation in 1969, it has grown to a size in excess of 30,000 members:
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Two members of the gang grapple in a playful fight on the street:
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The gang and its rivals the Bloods has spread across America as far as Chicago and New York:
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The gang is even reported to have infiltrated the US Army:
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The leader of the Sons of Samoa – a gang the Crips have teamed up with – poses in bed after being paralysed from the waist down in a shooting:
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Members of the Sons of Samoa originate from the Pacific and quickly allied themselves with the Crips:
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Its female arm has been named the East Coast Baby Dolls. Two members pose here with a young child:
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Many members of the Crips are barely teenagers. Many will die before they reach adulthood thanks to the violence that plagues LA:
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Up to 15,000 deaths are believed to have been a result of the near-50 year feud between the Bloods and Crips:
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Several men are handcuffed as police carry out searches:
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The vast majority of the gang come from LA’s African American community:
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Wearing their trademark purple bandannas, members of the gang greet each other:
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Their illegal activities have branched out from drug-dealing into prostitution, extortion and murder:
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Two more members are handcuffed by police officers. Gang membership is just as prevalent in America’s prison system:
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One member of the gang wears a jumper that pays tribute to a friend killed in the bloody feud:
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Law enforcement face a battle to stop the next generation of youngsters being caught up in the violence:
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Members of the street gang pose for a picture with a wheelchair-bound friend:
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