All language subtitles for Gangland Chronicles S01E09 1080p WEB h264-EDITH (1)_track3_[eng]

[♪]

Gangs rule their territories
through ruthless enterprises,

fear,

and a strict code.

Deviate from this code

or challenge their power...

and retribution soon follows...

especially for

one of the most ferocious
street gangs in Los Angeles...

the Bloods.

From their start
as defiant underdogs

to becoming a powerful,
violent force in South Central,

here are three stories

that establish the brutal
reputation of the Bloods.

First, a turf war between
the Bloods and their arch-enemy

takes over
the city of Los Angeles.

By the time I was 16,

I had already been
to about 20 funerals.

[Narrator] Next, when two
iconic rappers are assassinated,

the war between the Bloods
and Crips goes national.

[Greg Kading] They see the BMW
that Tupac is in.

Orlando Anderson
simply leans out the window

and begins to fire.

[gunfire]

[Narrator] And last, a murder
spree catapults the Bloods

to the top of L.A.'s
Most Wanted List.

They were completely
out of control.

[gunfire]

[Narrator]
These are the stories

from inside
Los Angeles's Bloods.

This is Gangland Chronicles.

1972. Los Angeles.

Known as the Gang Capital
of America,

it's here where the Bloods

become one of the world's
most violent

and notorious street gangs.

But the Bloods wouldn't exist

without another well-known
Los Angeles gang...

the Crips.

The Crips
were a dominant force

that was taking over
almost every area,

every neighborhood
in 1971 and '72.

[Narrator] Using violence
and intimidation,

the Crips force smaller
neighborhood gangs

across the city to join them.

[Townsend]
The Crips were so powerful,

and there was so many of them,

a lot of people just said,

"Hey, if you can't
beat 'em, join them.

[Narrator] But there are
neighborhood gangs

who are sick of the Crips

bulldozing their way
through South Central.

They unite,
and become known as...

The Bloods.

[Townsend] The Bloods came
together to form an alliance

to fight against the advancement
and aggressiveness of the Crips.

[Narrator] Wearing red

to differentiate themselves
from the Crips, who wear blue,

the Bloods Alliance

is outnumbered three to one
by the Crips.

[Townsend] Being outnumbered
makes an individual know

that there may be
no help in sight.

You have to learn
how to maneuver,

manipulate a fight
with three guys.

[Narrator] They may be
outnumbered and outgunned,

but the Bloods are not content
to be L.A.'s criminal underdogs.

They became tougher, I think.

They were used to fighting.

They were always prepared.

They seemed to be better
organized and dedicated.

[Narrator] That includes

trying to make more money
than the Crips.

They knew how to diversify.

They would deal in drugs,
stolen cars,

they would do extortions.

[Narrator] And they attempt to
be more violent than the Crips.

You want the gang
to be feared...

...and so you've got to be able
to have people willing to go

and shoot somebody
in front of witnesses.

[Narrator]
As the Bloods' ranks grow,

it's only a matter of time

before Los Angeles is caught
in the middle of a deadly war.

June 5, 1972.

Compton.

A party is in full swing

when a Crip gang member
confronts

17-year-old Frederick
"Little Country" Garrett,

a member of a gang that
will soon join the Bloods.

Little Country, he was
a known fighter in L.A.

He didn't care about
the advancement of the Crips.

He would fight 'em.
He was good with his hands.

[Narrator] Details are sketchy,

but Garrett is shot
and killed by the Crip.

His death marks
the first Crips murder

against a rival gang member.

Three months later,
the Bloods strike back.

[automatic gunfire]

The Bloods kill
their first Crip, Thomas Ellis,

and the war between the Bloods
and Crips officially begins.

[Townsend] That just
turned everything around

to where the homicide rate
started going up.

[Narrator]
Between 1972 and 1979,

the hatred results
in 450 casualties.

If one of the homeboys
got shot,

I had to make it my business,

because if you don't retaliate,

then it's going to happen
more often.

It was all about fighting Crips,
and that was it.

[Narrator] But in 1982,

everything changes
with the introduction

of a new street drug, crack,

and it will spark
the deadliest era yet

in the war between
the Bloods and the Crips.

1982. Los Angeles.

A new drug floods the market,

and the feud between
the Bloods and Crips

reaches deadly heights.

The crack cocaine
was the escalation point

where these wars became
really out of hand.

A small rock could get you
a lot more money

than a vial of powdered cocaine,

and it was easier to control.

So they would cut
these cocaine cookies

up into little rocks,

and sell these rocks,

and it's highly addictive.

I mean, really addictive.

They made more and more money,

they were able to buy cocaine
in larger quantities,

they were able
to finance labs...

the escalation
just went out of sight.

[Sherrills]
The Crips and the Bloods

went from hustling
and selling dope

and making kibbles and bits

to making millions of dollars,

and so put them in a position

to buy a lot
of high-powered weapons

in order to protect
their territories

for where they were
hustling at.

It was so easy
to use an assault rifle

as opposed to a . 38,
and you did more damage.

[automatic gunfire]

It was not unusual at all,

even within the small divisions
of South Central Los Angeles,

to have multiple murders
a night.

[Valdemar]
The local hospital there

named after Martin Luther King

became known as "Killer King"

because so many people
passed away

in that particular hospital.

[Narrator]
Between 1980 and 1989,

there are over 3,000
gang-related murders in L.A.

[Valdemar] The level of violence
and killing in Los Angeles

became so intense and common

that it ranks up there

with the casualties
of Vietnam or Korea.

In fact, the late 1980s
to the early 1990s

were the most violent period
in Los Angeles history.

[Sherrills] I've found dead
bodies in the neighborhood.

I've seen people brains
blowed out, point blank.

I watched my best friend
get cut in half with an AK 47.

By the time I was 16,

I had already been
to about 20 funerals.

[Narrator] The deadly war that's
been dominating local news

will soon
make national headlines...

when two of the world's most
famous rappers choose sides.

1991.

Los Angeles.

Death Row Records
catapults gangster rap

up the Billboard Charts.

Co-founder Suge Knight,
a Compton native,

hires his old friends
from a Blood group,

the Mob Piru,

as the label's security detail.

My job was to fight,

shut people up
and whatever it was,

whatever it takes
to fix the situation.

[Kading]
Suge began to dress in red

and identify himself

as being part
of this gang organization.

[Narrator] And Death Row's
biggest act, Tupac Shakur,

gets in on the action.

You've got all of these
Blood gang members

around Suge Knight,
around the studio,

they have a certain
influence on Tupac Shakur.

He's beginning to act more
and more, you know, gangster.

[Narrator] He's about
to get involved

in the war between
the Bloods and Crips.

September 7, 1996.

Las Vegas.

After watching his friend,
Mike Tyson,

win his fight
against Bruce Seldon,

Tupac steps into the lobby
of the MGM Grand

surrounded by the Bloods
security team.

What they don't know

is that a rival
from the Southside Compton Crips

is in the crowd.

Orlando Anderson
is known by law enforcement

and by his own group of friends

as a very dangerous guy,

a guy who won't hesitate
to pull a gun...

[Narrator]
Tensions between the gangs

are at a breaking point

after Anderson had attempted

to steal a diamond-encrusted
Death Row medallion

back in Compton.

Suddenly, Tupac
and his Bloods bodyguards

spot Anderson through the crowd.

[Kading] Doesn't matter
if you're in Los Angeles,

Las Vegas, wherever,

if a Crip sees a Blood,

there's always
going to be tension,

and one small thing
can spark it off.

[Narrator] What happens next

changes the American
rap industry forever...

and reignites a war
on the streets of Los Angeles.

[Narrator] September 7, 1996.

Las Vegas.

In the lobby of the MGM Grand,

Tupac Shakur
and his Bloods bodyguards

have spotted a rival Crip,
Orlando Anderson,

who's recently stolen a valuable
necklace from the group.

Tupac, siding with the Bloods,
sees an opportunity.

[Kading] He runs over,

he sucker-punches
Orlando Anderson,

the rest of the gang members
start stomping this individual

because he was trying to impress
the gang members around him.

[Narrator]
Strutting out of the MGM,

Tupac and his entourage
head to a party,

but Orlando Anderson and his
fellow Crips don't wait to act.

Orlando Anderson
has just been attacked.

He doesn't really have a choice
but to retaliate

if he wants
to maintain his reputation

within the gang.

[Narrator] The Southside Crips
load into a vehicle

and go hunting for Tupac.

We start hearing words

that Southside Crips
is coming to 662,

which is a club that we had
in Las Vegas.

[Narrator] Down the street
from the club,

the Southside Crips
spot their target.

They see the BMW
that Tupac is in.

Orlando Anderson
simply leans out the window

and begins to fire.

[Narrator] Tupac is shot
multiple times.

After six days
in the hospital...

the 25-year-old rapper dies.

Tupac is dead because
didn't nobody... stop him.

If he didn't want to fit in
or didn't try to fit in,

Tupac probably
would still be here.

[Narrator] Tupac's murder
is all over the news,

and the Bloods and Crips rivalry
makes national headlines.

When police question
Southside Crip Orlando Anderson,

he denies any involvement.

No arrests are made
in Tupac's murder,

and rumors start circulating

that his biggest rival,
Biggie Smalls,

AKA The Notorious B.I.G.,
is involved.

[Kading]
The street rumor started

that Biggie had hired the Crips,

and that really Biggie
was behind the murder of Tupac.

So the shooting started

if not that night,
the very next night.

In the city of Compton,

there was a war between
the Crips and the Bloods.

[Narrator] The violence
spirals out of control.

The Bloods want payback
for Tupac's murder,

and look for
a high-profile target.

March 9, 1997.

Los Angeles.

Biggie Smalls arrives in town

with his record producer,
Sean "Puffy" Combs.

Combs hires the Southside Crips,

the same group

that is most likely responsible
for Tupac's death,

to act as bodyguards.

Suge was affiliated
with the Bloods.

Their natural rivals
were the Crips.

Puffy Combs decided
"The best thing I can do

is affiliate myself with Crips

so that I have
a layer of protection

when I'm in Los Angeles
to protect me from Suge."

[Narrator] And the Bloods see
their opportunity for revenge

when Biggie Smalls
leaves a party

at the Peterson
Automotive Museum.

[gunfire]

Smalls is shot dead.

[Kading] The individual

that shot
and killed Biggie Smalls,

he was a member of the Bloods
in Compton

closely affiliated
with Suge Knight,

so it's just
tit for tat, tit for tat.

It's just your stereotypical
gang retaliation.

[Narrator] Tupac and Biggie's
assassinations

make the Bloods and Crips
feud famous,

but the Bloods find a new enemy
coming after them

when their crime spree
turns them into...

L.A.'s Most Wanted.

August 4, 2007.

Lynwood, California.

On the border of Compton,

a young woman and her boyfriend

are leaving a liquor store
with some snacks.

[Rose] The liquor store
is a gang area.

The Mob Pirus are Bloods,
and Palm and Oaks are Crips,

and they frequently feud
over the territory.

[Narrator] As the young couple
head to their car,

they pass two Crips
standing outside.

And all of a sudden,

four vehicles drive by
the liquor store...

[automatic gunfire]

[Narrator]
And gunfire erupts...

...putting the couple
in the crossfire of a turf war.

August 4, 2007.

Lynwood, California.

A young couple
leaving a liquor store

in Bloods and Crips
disputed territory

are caught in the middle
of a drive-by.

[gunfire]

[sirens wailing]

[Narrator]
A bullet hits the young woman,

and she dies at the scene.

It's only the beginning
of the Bloods' deadly rampage.

[Rose] Multiple shootings
continued to occur.

Over a three-month period,
there had been four shootings.

[Narrator]
The drive-bys are a tactic

to raise the gang's reputation.

[Sanchez] They were
completely out of control.

We really did have to stop it.

Let's start taking
these individuals down.

[Narrator] The L.A. County
Sheriff's Department

launches Operation Killen Court.

Using surveillance
and wiretaps,

they hope not only to solve
the liquor store homicide,

but also take down the Bloods.

Weeks into the operation,

officers catch wind
of a deadly plan.

[Rose] There was one night when
we were listening to the phones.

They planned to do
a drive-by shooting

at a nightclub in Orange County.

They were saying they had
some AK 47 assault rifles

that they were going to use

on Crips coming out
of the nightclub.

[Narrator] But before the gang
gets to the nightclub,

they're tipped off
that police are in the area,

and abort the mission.

We were able
to prevent a mass shooting.

If they would've been able
to pull this off,

their reputation would've
been huge in the gang world.

[Narrator] The Bloods' crimes
are escalating,

but police still
don't have enough

to solve the murder

of the young victim
at the liquor store.

Their intel points them

to a gang associate
named Maurice Bennett.

[Rose] We don't believe that
he's a full-fledged gang member,

but he certainly
hangs out with them

and participates
in some of their activity...

so we think that Maurice
might be a weak link.

[Narrator] To their surprise,

Bennett breaks down

and confesses to his role
in the drive-by shooting.

[Rose] So, Bennett identifies

the other three gang members
that were involved,

so we had to scramble.

We had to find them
and arrest them

before they knew that we knew.

[Narrator] Alex Graves,
Robert Maxwell,

and a juvenile are arrested.

Along with Bennett,

they are charged
with first-degree murder.

But the Sheriff's department
isn't done yet.

[Rose] This investigation
was twofold.

We were going to solve
the homicide,

but we were also going
to dismantle the gang,

so now we put into effect
phase two.

July 8, 2008.

Compton.

Based on information
from the wiretaps,

about 450
law enforcement officers

conduct raids,

seizing drugs and guns

and arresting 16 gang members.

[Rose] We disrupted that gang.

We were able to stop
the violence that was going on.

[Narrator] While Operation
Killen Court is successful,

the Bloods continue to exist

and still have a strong presence

in their birthplace,
Los Angeles.

[Townsend] The Bloods changed
Los Angeles for the worse.

I believe it started out
to be protective

and stop the aggression
of other people

coming in our communities,

but it turned into lawlessness.

[Narrator]
Currently, there are between

15,000 and 20,000 members

across the United States.

[Kading] The Bloods' legacy
is well established.

It's kind of tentacles
that continue to go out,

and it now plagues
an entire nation.