Gangland (2007) s02e05 Episode Script
Crip or Die, LA Crips
male narrator: L.
A.
: A gang member walks into a House and opens fire with a Semiautomatic rifle.
we said, "why did you shoot Everybody in the house?" And his answer was, "because they were home.
" narrator: The killer is a Member of the crips.
real crips, compton nááááá.
narrator: In their gangland World, soldiers kill without a Second thought.
and you know who the [bleep.]
I am, nááááá.
And I'm comin' to get you.
any time you have a 13-year-old who could blow your Brains out and go home And play a video game Like nothing happened, there's Something wrong.
narrator: South central l.
A.
Is the battleground.
I don't challenge l.
A.
I don't test l.
A.
, 'cause I'm Ice-t.
A 15-year-old kid will kill me For a reputation.
narrator: It's a lifestyle Lived without rules.
real crip.
it's about death, man.
That's all that's coming out Of what we have fueled for so Many years.
I see no integrity.
I see no value system.
narrator: We go deep inside a World where there are only two Choices crips don't die.
They multiply.
Crip or die.
narrator: South central l.
A.
, May 9, 1988.
Ja'mee finney went for a ride to The store with next-door Neighbor latonjya "nikki" Stover.
Nikki was eager to show off her New red car.
if you live in the Inner city, you start Recognizing different things.
And they noticed that there Were some guys driving around.
And they saw them with these Hoods pulled down over their Face.
And these girls are "whoa, it looks like these dudes Are up to something.
We better get on home.
" narrator: What the girls Didn't know is that The young men Were members of the crips.
Earlier in the day, They'd been swindled In a drug deal.
these guys had been ganked Out of some money, got some Flour instead of cocaine, And they were angry, And they were looking for the People that sold them this Bad sale.
narrator: Unable to find the Dealer, they decided to take Revenge on the drug dealer's Sister.
They heard she was driving A red car.
At an intersection, The gang members pulled up Alongside ja'mee and nikki and Opened fire with an uzi and a Pistol.
Ja'mee's mother, charlotte, Was just blocks away.
I heard this gunfire, And it was likeyou would not Believe the number of shots That were ringing out.
It was crazy.
Just a few seconds later, I heard this knock on my door.
So I went to the door, and A girl said, "you need to come.
" narrator: She reached the Scene at the same time As the paramedics.
the car was totally riddled.
I went to my daughter, And she was laying back in the In the seat.
My daughter was shot 15 times.
My neighbor's daughter was shot Eight.
The car had hundreds of bullets In it.
those girls tried to get Home, and they never made it.
The children never knew what Hit them.
They never knew what hit them.
narrator: The gang members Had found their target: A red Car with a young woman behind The wheel.
when the police told me it Was a mistake, that was like, "no, it's not a mistake.
That was murder.
" narrator: Decades later, Charlotte's tragedy remains Business as usual in the Crip-infested streets of Los angeles.
In the city known as the gang Capital of the nation, the Crips are the reigning army.
With more than 10,000 members, They're the largest black gang In l.
A.
And can be found in Every corner of the city.
But their epicenter and home Base is south central, A 42-square-mile region just Below l.
A.
's downtown skyline.
The crips split their south Central turf between the East side and the west side, With the harbor freeway as a Dividing line.
The gang is split as well.
More than 200 different Divisions, or sets, control Dozens of neighborhoods in and Around south central.
Each set has its own name And its own leaders.
In this rarely seen video, A high-ranking member of The crips brags about his Gang's lust for power.
His identity has been protected For his safety.
narrator: Being a crip is a Lifestyle choice, and it's Forever.
narrator: Back in 1974, A teenager named barry bryant Chose the crip life.
I wanted a big brother who Could fight, who could protect Me.
I used to be like, "man, if I was a little bit Bigger, I wouldn't let you take Nothin' from me.
" So that's why I wanted to be A crip.
narrator: Bryant ended up With one of the biggest brothers Around.
I see this guy comin' down The street, big old guy, And it was tookie.
And that's who I wanted to see.
narrator: Bodybuilder tookie Williams was a leader in the Crips organization.
and he looked at me, And he was just like, "yeah, you gonna be a Little down crip.
" narrator: Bryant had found a Protector.
Another junior high school Kid named richard lawson Was still looking for his.
While riding on a school bus, Lawson was confronted by four Thugs from another neighborhood.
the older kids that had Got on were gang members.
I remember them jumping on me.
narrator: The gang members Beat him to the floor.
Lawson walked away with a Broken nose and a promise to Himself.
in my own mind and in my Own soul, I had took a Standpoint at that day that That would never happen to me Again.
narrator: Lawson joined up With a crip set in his Neighborhood known as The gardena paybaccs.
The paybaccs gave him a new Name, lil rick, And an outlet for his anger.
after that incident and And the pain that was inflicted On me, for a long time, I lived Where all I wanted to do was Inflict that pain back.
It kind of came naturally, You know.
And I thrived at it.
narrator: New recruits were Tasting power for the first Time and liking it.
Overnight, a kid could change His status from victim to Aggressor.
Once inside the gang, recruits Like lil rick and barry were Put on the front line.
Older gang members molded them Into soldiers.
some of the older homies From our community would come Up to the school, you know, And pick us up.
Then they'd come grab us, take Us on missions, you know, Burglarizing houses, some Thefts, and, you know, A couple robberies here and There.
narrator: It was all part of Their education on what it meant To live like a crip.
I'm in junior high school.
I'm with kids that's Older than me that are Full-fledged crips.
So I had to be what I said I was gonna be.
I had to be real crip now.
I had to be down.
I couldn't be no punk.
I had to be a soldier.
narrator: And being a soldier Meant staying strapped.
when I seen a.
357 for the First time, I wanted it.
I remember seeing a tec-9, And I wanted one of those.
I wanted anything that would put Me in the forefront of the Lifestyle I was living.
narrator: But you weren't a True crip until you put in work.
we would put in work on People that owed us money, You know, beat you down for $10, 20 bucks.
You know, it wasn't nothing.
Putting in work could be Anything from talking [bleep.]
To you to killing you.
narrator: Putting in work Became a daily activity for Thousands of crips terrorizing The streets of l.
A.
There was even a name for their New lifestyle.
It was called crippin'.
crippin' is full gangbanging Mode.
Whatever goes down, goes down.
You might shoot somebody, you Know, fight.
And there's no thought of, "wow, that's my mom" Or, "that's somebody's little Brother.
" Wanton gang violence, It doesn't matter.
You charge it to the game, And the game is gangbanging.
And that's straight-out Crippin'.
narrator: And when crippin', It just doesn't pay to think too Far ahead.
narrator: On the streets of South central l.
A.
, thousands of Gangbangers had adopted a Violent lifestyle called Crippin'.
It was a culture without Rules or remorse, One that included taking Whatever they wanted, no matter The cost.
March 1972.
At the hollywood palladium, a Group of crips confronted five Young men leaving a concert.
16-year-old robert ballou Refused to give up his leather Coat, and a fight broke out.
taking leather coats and You know, was a way of A lifestyle for us.
That became a part of being Crippin'.
they stomped this kid To death over his coat.
narrator: Ballou's murder Sent shock waves through the City.
these hoodlums are going into Business by what they call Ripping off the kids that have Jackets.
narrator: The citizens of L.
A.
Were getting their first Glimpse into this new world of Crippin'.
But the gang's roots had been Planted long before, During the turmoil of the 1960s.
Riots erupted in the watts Neighborhood in south central.
Sparked by an argument during a Traffic stop, residents took to The streets with six days of Retaliation.
For many, the riots came as no Surprise.
Community resentment had been Brewing for years.
the number one issue at that Time was police brutality.
So by the time you get to the Early '60s, you had an Environment that was ripe for a Riot, and that's exactly what Happened.
narrator: Out of the ashes Rose a flurry of groups riding The black power movement.
The most prominent was the Black panther party.
The panthers were outspoken and Militant.
Fbi director j.
Edgar hoover Called them the greatest threat To the internal security Of the country.
But in south central l.
A.
, Residents saw them differently.
they were all about cleaning Up the neighborhood, Preventing crime, And having a law enforcement That was fair to the black Community.
narrator: Aquil basheer Joined the panthers at the age Of 16.
we actually started out As a patrolling agency which Would patrol and police The police.
narrator: Well-armed Panthers blanketed the Neighborhoods.
most of us would have Our shotguns in one hand And our law books in the other.
And we would post up, And we would watch.
set our warrior free.
freedom! narrator: Then in 1969, The leaders Of the los angeles panthers, Bunchy carter and john huggins, Were murdered while attending A black student union meeting On the ucla campus.
With its leadership in ruins, The panther movement in l.
A.
Nearly ground to a halt.
what that ended up happening Is leaving a bunch of teenage Youths that were coming up That had no leadership.
And eventually, you know, The crips are kind of born out Of this vacuum.
narrator: Stepping into that Vacuum was a 15-year-old named Raymond washington.
He began rounding up a small Group of kids from fremont high School on the east side of South central.
Washington was no stranger to The streets and had already Spent time in a juvenile Detention center after being Kicked out of school for Fighting.
He built his new gang from the Ground up With his fists.
he would go to different Neighborhoods: "we fight.
Whoever wins gets to make the Rules.
" And he did that neighborhood By neighborhood.
And he was successful in Probably 75% of the communities He went to.
Pretty successful for a 15-, 16-year-old kid.
narrator: Despite his youth, Washington commanded respect.
I actually saw him drive down The street, lead a contingent Of guys, stop in the middle of An intersection, point that They were going to go left or Right, and everybody would Follow him.
if you're strong, If you're powerful, If you're intimidating, you're Gonna have a lot of people Follow you, and that's just what Raymond washington did.
narrator: His gang was called The baby cribs, a nod to The members' young age.
But before long, that name Would change to the crips.
The exact reason behind the Change is steeped in folklore.
I think I've gone over that Question, the origin of the Word "crip," I bet you maybe ten Different of the original guys.
And I probably got about eight Different stories about it.
narrator: Some believe the Name came from washington's Older brother, who had chronic Leg problems.
Raymond and the other kids Would tease him by writing "crip," short for "cripple," On his chuck taylor Tennis shoes.
Others believe it came from an Article in a local newspaper That linked the "cripple" Nickname to the gang's habit of Using canes as weapons.
narrator: By the early 1970s, Crips' influence on the streets Had spilled into the classroom.
A teen named tracy marrow was Introduced to the crippin' Lifestyle while attending high School in south central.
Marrow would go on to global Fame as rapper-entertainer Ice-t.
the whole school at crenshaw High school was basically A crip school.
I never was jumped into a gang, But I was more affiliated With crips than any other set.
narrator: The crips stood out In the halls.
They adopted the color blue And wore it with pride.
and basically, back in them Days, if you wore blue, You was cool.
narrator: It wasn't enough to Look like a crip.
You had to move like one too.
crip walkingthey call it "c" walking nowis a dance That the crips invented.
It was just a dance which Used a lot of footwork, But it was the coolest dance you Ever seen, and to do it meant You was in that gang.
If they can get their hands Going with their feet, then it's Cold.
It looks crazy, kind of Like a war dance.
narrator: The crips' Influence on ice-t would again Emerge in his music.
you want to hear a gang A gang rhyme? strollin' through the city in the middle of the night náááááon my left and náááááon my right yelling c-c-crip to every nááááI see if you bad enough come [bleep.]
with me narrator: The crips weren't The only game in south central.
On the west side, gangs like The smaks controlled The streets.
One of the smaks' leaders was Barefoot pookie.
One Sunday afternoon, raymond Washington approached barefoot Pookie and the smaks at a movie Theater.
raymond came in and walked Down the aisle and spoke out, "who the smaks?" And the whole show stood up.
narrator: It was the ideal Setting for a brawl.
But instead, washington and the Smaks agreed to join forces Against a rival white group.
They left the theater together In search of their common enemy.
we never did find them.
But that day had ended, And the word had spread All over the west side.
The three major neighborhoods, The 100s, the 80s, and The 60s were all original West side crips.
And from that point on, Raymond's legacy began.
Chitty-chitty bang-bang, Crips don't die.
They multiply.
Crip or die.
narrator: Washington Continued plowing through south Central, absorbing smaller Groups and their leaders, Including a west-sider named Tookie williams.
he had a bunch of kids over By washington high school that Were under him.
And raymond washington And him apparently met.
I don't know that there was a Fight, but at some point, tookie Decided to join the crips.
And eventually, he became the Leader of the west side crips.
narrator: Williams Immediately became the poster Boy for crippin'.
well, if you wanted to put Something symbolic to Gangbanging and crips, Tookie's physique would be That same kind of image.
narrator: He was an avid Bodybuilder with muscles narrator: Everyone gave him Respect.
at the time, I had a Girlfriend, and she was standing Out on the front porch, And she said some fools came up And was messing with her.
So I got all ready.
I went out to the front door Like, "what's up?" And it was tookie sitting a Lowrider, looking at me.
And I got back in the house and Said, "why was you out there?" You know.
I mean, nobody really wanted no Parts of took.
narrator: Under the Leadership of its two powerful Cocaptains, washington in the East and tookie in the west, The crips soon dominated the Streets of south central.
And in March 1972, after a Group of crips killed robert Ballou for his leather jacket, There would be no shortage of New recruits in other parts of The city.
narrator: But it wouldn't be Long before its generals got too Close to the flames.
narrator: By the end of the 1970s, the crips had hit the big Time.
The gang that had started With a handful of kids on the East side of l.
A.
Had grown to Include 45 different sets Around the city.
In February 1979, stanley "tookie" williams was calling The shots for the powerful West side crips.
That sometimes meant giving his Street soldiers a lesson in Crippin'.
he sent his homies, a couple Of guys who were with him, In to do a robbery at a Little market.
They came out and didn't do it Because there were witnesses.
And he got very angry.
narrator: Tookie then led Them down the street to a 7-eleven.
a young guy, a young 20-some-odd-year-old man Working there, and he said, "I'll show you how to do it.
" And he robbed 'em, put the kid On the floor.
narrator: As the clerk lay Facedown, williams fired two Shots into his back.
A couple of weeks later, Williams reinforced the lesson During a motel robbery.
went in and killed a family Of three that owned the motel So he wouldn't leave witnesses.
narrator: Williams was later Caught and convicted of all four Murders.
His next stop would be his last: Death row at san quentin.
Five months after tookie was Arrested for the murders, The crips' leadership suffered Another blow.
Raymond washington, the gang's Founder and cocaptain, was shot And killed on the streets of South central, most likely by a Member of his own gang.
he walked up to the car, And somebody shot him Point-blank with a shotgun.
Raymond obviously knew somebody, 'cause he's not dumb enough To walk up on a car of somebody He doesn't know.
narrator: By the early 1980s, The two cornerstones of the crip Organization had fallen.
At the same time, a new And powerful force was rising up To claim south central, a drug Called crack cocaine.
Crack was cheap to buy, Lucrative to sell ask your mama what this is.
narrator: And instantly Addictive.
Without any central leadership, The crips splintered into dozens Of smaller groups, all bent on Making as much profit As possible selling crack.
Lil rick set up shop in Gardena, the home base for his Set, called the paybaccs.
I remember being Being in crack spots, man, And making $2,000, $3,000 A day, easy.
That was, like, a slow day.
narrator: With enormous Profits to be won or lost, Competition on the streets Heated up.
the financial gain of the Crack trade broughtbrought Confusion to the city as far as The gangs were concerned, Who was going to sell where, Who was going to sell when.
narrator: Old adversaries now Had new reasons to fight.
The crips' most powerful rivals Were the bloods.
In the early 1970s, small groups Had banded together under the Blood name in an effort to fight Against the larger, More powerful crips.
The easiest way to tell the Groups apart was by their Colors.
Crips wore blue.
Bloods wore red.
Wearing the wrong color in the Wrong neighborhood meant Trouble.
narrator: With the Introduction of crack to the Streets, the hatred between the Crips and bloods exploded.
Between 1984 and 1989, at the Height of the crack epidemic, The homicide rate for black Teenage males in l.
A.
More than Doubled.
Gang homicides topped 600 By 1990.
the crips and the bloods Turned out to be just like the Ku klux klan.
They have the same thing in Common.
They just kill each other, Kill náááááá.
narrator: But not all of the Killings were crips against Bloods.
Before long, crips who used to Consider themselves brothers Were fighting each other to Control every square inch Of south central's drug trade.
Crack's outrageous profits Started eating away at Traditional loyalties.
the gangs were our families.
We called each other cuz.
You know, that's what we called Each other.
That's how we felt compassionate With one another.
But after that, it got Out of hand.
It just got out of hand.
you start to have Crip-on-crip rivalry, Crips killing crips.
each group has their own Little group of leaders.
The only thing they had in Common was, they were all Called crips.
narrator: While the crips Waged war against each other, Crack cut a swath through the Community.
It changed everything, Especially the people who bought And sold it.
the devastation was swift: Mothers incapable of being Mothers, fathers incapable of Being fathers.
narrator: Lil rick was not Immune.
He became addicted to His own product.
The fast drug money soon Disappeared, and lil rick was Left homeless.
The drug continued to fuel his Criminal lifestyle as he began Committing armed robberies to Pay for his next hit.
narrator: Fellow crip barry Bryant also fell into addiction.
I got something good inside Of me that don't really want to Hurt nobody.
But when you get that drug Inside of you, everything else Don't mean nothing to you No more.
narrator: The drug that had Made the crips rich was also Destroying them.
we did start seeing people Fall off.
Eventually, I was one of the Ones that fell off.
narrator: Crippin' and crack Turned out to be a match made in Hell.
And the innocent citizens Of l.
A.
Would eventually pay A terrible price.
narrator: August 1984.
58-year-old ebora alexander Began her day at dawn, Watering the plants on her Front porch.
"madee," as her family called Her, was the mother of kermit Alexander, one of the national Football league's brightest Stars.
Madee walked from the porch Into the kitchen, leaving the Screen door open behind her.
As she poured a cup of coffee, Two men burst in, one wielding A.
30-caliber rifle.
ebora alexander was shot in The head.
coffee cup was still on the Table after all the shooting.
Her actual brains were blown Across the kitchen.
narrator: The gunman, still High from an all-night cocaine Binge, stormed through the house Searching for others.
In a front bedroom, he gunned Down 24-year-old dietra Alexander, who sat frozen In her bed.
the daughter was shot Multiple times.
narrator: Beside her, 13-year-old damani garner and 8-year-old damon bonner were Asleep.
two boys were shot, also In the head at point-blank Range.
the nephews have never Even awakened.
And they go up and are executed Still asleep.
narrator: 13-year-old ivan Scott hid in a closet as the men Fled the house.
imagine what it was lik For that little boy that ran Into the closet when he heard The gunshots and comes out and Sees all his family bloodied up.
It's just horrific.
narrator: The assailants were Part of the rollin' 60s, a crip Set from the west side of south Central.
On that summer morning, They were carrying out a hit in Return for drugs and cash.
and it turned out that they Went to the wrong house.
could have been your house, Could have been mine.
It could have been any place.
They weren't particular about Where they were going to do This, you know.
narrator: The crippin' Lifestyle had once again touched The innocent citizens of l.
A.
it becomes different value System where the value of life Just didn't mean anything.
And that was frightening to me.
narrator: And a police Interview with a high-ranking Crip only confirmed that fear.
He took the police deep inside The violent mind-set Of the gang.
narrator: Like all crips, He had a deep hatred for the Bloods, a rival gang.
The bloods were smaller in Number but just as vicious.
Crips referred to bloods as Slobs.
narrator: And as he told the Police, once you joined, you Were a crip forever.
Crippin' was a permanent Lifestyle choice.
narrator: In south central, Lil rick's crippin' had gotten Out of hand.
For five years, he'd been Selling drugs for his set, The gardena paybaccs.
Along the way, he'd become Addicted to his own product.
I was just kind of in and out Of jail.
And my alcohol and drug usage Had gotten deeper, and still had The criminal and violent Mentality.
It was a very unstable Lifestyle.
narrator: In 1988, after Being caught with guns and Cocaine, lil rick was sentenced To 11 years in soledad, A northern california Penitentiary.
He was just 19 years old.
I had hit the big house When I got to soledad.
I seen some things in there And did some things in there That I didn't know I was Capable of doing.
I thought the wars on the street Were insurmountable, but the Wars that were going on in Prison were just as profound, And they were just as Devastating and just as violent.
narrator: Lil rick was out In less than five years.
Once back on the streets, The battle he fought was against Himself.
I was kind of tinkering with Wanting to straighten up and Still leaning towards wanting To be on the streets.
narrator: The balancing act Was torture.
He sank further into drug And alcohol abuse.
The crippin' life had finally Caught up with him.
I could remember days I just, Like, wanted to blow my [bleep.]
Head off, man, based on I couldn't change my lifestyle.
narrator: Lil rick would Have to hit rock bottom before He could rise again, and so Would los angeles.
The bloody decade of the 1980s Was finally over.
And in the most unlikely places, The tide started to turn.
there was something different In the air.
I felt it talking to some of These youngsters.
That was a legit feeling that These guys wanted toto make Some changes.
narrator: May 9, 1988.
Charlotte austin was startled By the sound of gunshots being Fired outside her south central Home.
I said, "well, you know, I need to call the police, 'cause somebody's child just Got hurt.
" But then it felt like something Dropped from me, and I had This really strange feeling.
narrator: Moments later, she Was running down the street Towards a car that was Surrounded by police and Paramedics.
A red pontiac was riddled With bullets.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Ja'mee, was in The passenger seat.
I remember I went to open The door, and the fire rescue Stopped me.
I thought they were going to go Get a gurney, because they Went back to the car.
And when they came back, They had sheets.
And there was nobody saying, "your daughter's deceased; I'm sorry," None of that movie stuff.
They just covered them up.
narrator: Ja'mee had been Riding with her next-door Neighbor nikki stover.
Both girls were dead, sprayed With bullets from a 9-millimeter Uzi and a pistol.
The gunmen were members of the Infamous eight tray crips, one Of the most violent sets of the Gang.
Their mission had been to kill The sister of a drug dealer who Had ripped them off.
They heard the sister was Driving a red car.
Afterwards, the shooters Celebrated with their homies.
they came back bragging about It, how they shot these girls.
And their heads were bouncing, And, "we need a 40-ounce" And, "let's get some barbecue.
" And they were going to have this Party, 'cause they did This murder.
narrator: The only problem Was that it was the wrong red Car and the wrong girls.
That didn't seem to faze the Gunmen while they stood trial.
the part in that case that Really grabbed me is that for Some reason, the young men who Were suspects in this case, They never showed remorse.
Even when these parents were Talking about their children, I heard sniggles.
narrator: The trial brought Home a cold reality That shook even hard-nosed cops Like ken bell.
I wondered, "where was the Human fiber? Wherewhere was the remorse?" narrator: After the loss of Her daughter, charlotte austin Turned her grief into action.
Her ongoing mission has become To break the cycle of gang Violence.
On that, she is an expert.
The day after her daughter Died, charlotte discovered that Her teenage son corey had Somehow gotten ahold of two Handguns and had planned to seek Revenge.
I had to sit him down and Explain that that was not The answer, that he was only Going to make another mother Feel the way I was feeling.
narrator: Eight years later, Cory was shot and killed by a Gang member for wearing the Wrong color in the wrong Neighborhood.
they weren't in gangs.
Corey wasn't in a gang.
They were kids living In the neighborhood, Doing what they do.
narrator: In the middle of This sea of hate were the watts Housing projects.
In 1992, gang members and Citizens inside the projects Were growing tired of the Violent world surrounding them.
I think a lot of individuals In the different arenas and the Different gang sets were really Fed up of not being able to Walk the streets, of brothers Being shot, of mothers being Shot, of sisters being shot.
narrator: Leaders from rival Blood and crip sets decided to Start talking.
With the help of law Enforcement, they came together For a peace summit.
narrator: The two sides came To an agreement.
The terms: Mutual respect and An end to the killing.
Some say the peace that followed Lasted a few months.
Others say a few years.
In 1993, gang murders in l.
A.
Were down more than 10%.
narrator: There were other Changes within the world of the Crips.
In san quentin, tookie williams, The one-time leader of the West side crips, had been on Death row for over a decade.
By 2000, williams had renounced His criminal past and made a Public apology for his role in Promoting the crippin' Lifestyle.
narrator: Williams cowrote a Series of children's books and Launched a website with antigang Messages for kids and adults.
In 2001, his efforts earned Him a nobel peace prize Nomination by a member of the Swiss parliament.
As williams' execution date Inched closer, celebrities Latched on to his cause and Rallied around an effort to Overturn his death sentence.
Others weren't as ready to hold Williams up as a role model.
the image that bothered me The most about, you know, The whole tookie thing was the Image that he was the guy that Was going to free los angeles Of the gangbangers.
And I say bull crap.
You know, there's guys who grew Up with tookie, who lived in That same era, who walked the Same streets as tookie And never killed or was accused Of killing anybody like that.
narrator: On December 12, 2005, california governor arnold Schwarzenegger denied his bid For clemency.
The next day, Stanley "tookie" williams was Put to death by lethal Injection.
The sense of accountability That changed tookie williams Was being felt elsewhere.
Some original gangsters, known As ogs, were finally ready to Move on.
Lil rick survived jail time And substance abuse.
Then, at age 33, he made a Decision that changed his life.
and I'm not this big guru or Religious-type dude.
I just know something happened Deep down in my spirit where I couldn't take it no more.
I quit being influenced and Started being an influencer.
Since then, a lot has happened.
narrator: Lil rick joined up With other ogs who work with Kids to improve their lives and Communities.
He says you can be against Violence but still be a crip.
I don't denounce the crippin' Part.
I denounce the negative energy.
I denounce the killings.
I denounce the [bleep.]
in it.
I love crippin'.
But I'm clear that it's went Somewhere that I don't want To be.
narrator: Lil rick is not Alone.
I spent from 19 all the way To 29 in prisons, in and out Of prisons.
Now today I'm trying to give Back.
narrator: The message is Simple.
it's time for us to grow up And raise up.
if it's death you looking For, then continue on, man.
But if it's life you looking For, you probably need to search Somewhere else.
narrator: In 2007, the lapd Released a list of the 11 most Violent gangs in los angeles.
Four of them were crips, who Remain the largest black gang In the city, with over 10,000 Members.
And while people like Charlotte austin and the ogs Have made a dent, for every Crip who puts down a gun, Another is there to pick it Back up.
in the minds of those Soldiers, they feel this is a Real war.
You dig? And how do you stop a war? I wish I knew.
A.
: A gang member walks into a House and opens fire with a Semiautomatic rifle.
we said, "why did you shoot Everybody in the house?" And his answer was, "because they were home.
" narrator: The killer is a Member of the crips.
real crips, compton nááááá.
narrator: In their gangland World, soldiers kill without a Second thought.
and you know who the [bleep.]
I am, nááááá.
And I'm comin' to get you.
any time you have a 13-year-old who could blow your Brains out and go home And play a video game Like nothing happened, there's Something wrong.
narrator: South central l.
A.
Is the battleground.
I don't challenge l.
A.
I don't test l.
A.
, 'cause I'm Ice-t.
A 15-year-old kid will kill me For a reputation.
narrator: It's a lifestyle Lived without rules.
real crip.
it's about death, man.
That's all that's coming out Of what we have fueled for so Many years.
I see no integrity.
I see no value system.
narrator: We go deep inside a World where there are only two Choices crips don't die.
They multiply.
Crip or die.
narrator: South central l.
A.
, May 9, 1988.
Ja'mee finney went for a ride to The store with next-door Neighbor latonjya "nikki" Stover.
Nikki was eager to show off her New red car.
if you live in the Inner city, you start Recognizing different things.
And they noticed that there Were some guys driving around.
And they saw them with these Hoods pulled down over their Face.
And these girls are "whoa, it looks like these dudes Are up to something.
We better get on home.
" narrator: What the girls Didn't know is that The young men Were members of the crips.
Earlier in the day, They'd been swindled In a drug deal.
these guys had been ganked Out of some money, got some Flour instead of cocaine, And they were angry, And they were looking for the People that sold them this Bad sale.
narrator: Unable to find the Dealer, they decided to take Revenge on the drug dealer's Sister.
They heard she was driving A red car.
At an intersection, The gang members pulled up Alongside ja'mee and nikki and Opened fire with an uzi and a Pistol.
Ja'mee's mother, charlotte, Was just blocks away.
I heard this gunfire, And it was likeyou would not Believe the number of shots That were ringing out.
It was crazy.
Just a few seconds later, I heard this knock on my door.
So I went to the door, and A girl said, "you need to come.
" narrator: She reached the Scene at the same time As the paramedics.
the car was totally riddled.
I went to my daughter, And she was laying back in the In the seat.
My daughter was shot 15 times.
My neighbor's daughter was shot Eight.
The car had hundreds of bullets In it.
those girls tried to get Home, and they never made it.
The children never knew what Hit them.
They never knew what hit them.
narrator: The gang members Had found their target: A red Car with a young woman behind The wheel.
when the police told me it Was a mistake, that was like, "no, it's not a mistake.
That was murder.
" narrator: Decades later, Charlotte's tragedy remains Business as usual in the Crip-infested streets of Los angeles.
In the city known as the gang Capital of the nation, the Crips are the reigning army.
With more than 10,000 members, They're the largest black gang In l.
A.
And can be found in Every corner of the city.
But their epicenter and home Base is south central, A 42-square-mile region just Below l.
A.
's downtown skyline.
The crips split their south Central turf between the East side and the west side, With the harbor freeway as a Dividing line.
The gang is split as well.
More than 200 different Divisions, or sets, control Dozens of neighborhoods in and Around south central.
Each set has its own name And its own leaders.
In this rarely seen video, A high-ranking member of The crips brags about his Gang's lust for power.
His identity has been protected For his safety.
narrator: Being a crip is a Lifestyle choice, and it's Forever.
narrator: Back in 1974, A teenager named barry bryant Chose the crip life.
I wanted a big brother who Could fight, who could protect Me.
I used to be like, "man, if I was a little bit Bigger, I wouldn't let you take Nothin' from me.
" So that's why I wanted to be A crip.
narrator: Bryant ended up With one of the biggest brothers Around.
I see this guy comin' down The street, big old guy, And it was tookie.
And that's who I wanted to see.
narrator: Bodybuilder tookie Williams was a leader in the Crips organization.
and he looked at me, And he was just like, "yeah, you gonna be a Little down crip.
" narrator: Bryant had found a Protector.
Another junior high school Kid named richard lawson Was still looking for his.
While riding on a school bus, Lawson was confronted by four Thugs from another neighborhood.
the older kids that had Got on were gang members.
I remember them jumping on me.
narrator: The gang members Beat him to the floor.
Lawson walked away with a Broken nose and a promise to Himself.
in my own mind and in my Own soul, I had took a Standpoint at that day that That would never happen to me Again.
narrator: Lawson joined up With a crip set in his Neighborhood known as The gardena paybaccs.
The paybaccs gave him a new Name, lil rick, And an outlet for his anger.
after that incident and And the pain that was inflicted On me, for a long time, I lived Where all I wanted to do was Inflict that pain back.
It kind of came naturally, You know.
And I thrived at it.
narrator: New recruits were Tasting power for the first Time and liking it.
Overnight, a kid could change His status from victim to Aggressor.
Once inside the gang, recruits Like lil rick and barry were Put on the front line.
Older gang members molded them Into soldiers.
some of the older homies From our community would come Up to the school, you know, And pick us up.
Then they'd come grab us, take Us on missions, you know, Burglarizing houses, some Thefts, and, you know, A couple robberies here and There.
narrator: It was all part of Their education on what it meant To live like a crip.
I'm in junior high school.
I'm with kids that's Older than me that are Full-fledged crips.
So I had to be what I said I was gonna be.
I had to be real crip now.
I had to be down.
I couldn't be no punk.
I had to be a soldier.
narrator: And being a soldier Meant staying strapped.
when I seen a.
357 for the First time, I wanted it.
I remember seeing a tec-9, And I wanted one of those.
I wanted anything that would put Me in the forefront of the Lifestyle I was living.
narrator: But you weren't a True crip until you put in work.
we would put in work on People that owed us money, You know, beat you down for $10, 20 bucks.
You know, it wasn't nothing.
Putting in work could be Anything from talking [bleep.]
To you to killing you.
narrator: Putting in work Became a daily activity for Thousands of crips terrorizing The streets of l.
A.
There was even a name for their New lifestyle.
It was called crippin'.
crippin' is full gangbanging Mode.
Whatever goes down, goes down.
You might shoot somebody, you Know, fight.
And there's no thought of, "wow, that's my mom" Or, "that's somebody's little Brother.
" Wanton gang violence, It doesn't matter.
You charge it to the game, And the game is gangbanging.
And that's straight-out Crippin'.
narrator: And when crippin', It just doesn't pay to think too Far ahead.
narrator: On the streets of South central l.
A.
, thousands of Gangbangers had adopted a Violent lifestyle called Crippin'.
It was a culture without Rules or remorse, One that included taking Whatever they wanted, no matter The cost.
March 1972.
At the hollywood palladium, a Group of crips confronted five Young men leaving a concert.
16-year-old robert ballou Refused to give up his leather Coat, and a fight broke out.
taking leather coats and You know, was a way of A lifestyle for us.
That became a part of being Crippin'.
they stomped this kid To death over his coat.
narrator: Ballou's murder Sent shock waves through the City.
these hoodlums are going into Business by what they call Ripping off the kids that have Jackets.
narrator: The citizens of L.
A.
Were getting their first Glimpse into this new world of Crippin'.
But the gang's roots had been Planted long before, During the turmoil of the 1960s.
Riots erupted in the watts Neighborhood in south central.
Sparked by an argument during a Traffic stop, residents took to The streets with six days of Retaliation.
For many, the riots came as no Surprise.
Community resentment had been Brewing for years.
the number one issue at that Time was police brutality.
So by the time you get to the Early '60s, you had an Environment that was ripe for a Riot, and that's exactly what Happened.
narrator: Out of the ashes Rose a flurry of groups riding The black power movement.
The most prominent was the Black panther party.
The panthers were outspoken and Militant.
Fbi director j.
Edgar hoover Called them the greatest threat To the internal security Of the country.
But in south central l.
A.
, Residents saw them differently.
they were all about cleaning Up the neighborhood, Preventing crime, And having a law enforcement That was fair to the black Community.
narrator: Aquil basheer Joined the panthers at the age Of 16.
we actually started out As a patrolling agency which Would patrol and police The police.
narrator: Well-armed Panthers blanketed the Neighborhoods.
most of us would have Our shotguns in one hand And our law books in the other.
And we would post up, And we would watch.
set our warrior free.
freedom! narrator: Then in 1969, The leaders Of the los angeles panthers, Bunchy carter and john huggins, Were murdered while attending A black student union meeting On the ucla campus.
With its leadership in ruins, The panther movement in l.
A.
Nearly ground to a halt.
what that ended up happening Is leaving a bunch of teenage Youths that were coming up That had no leadership.
And eventually, you know, The crips are kind of born out Of this vacuum.
narrator: Stepping into that Vacuum was a 15-year-old named Raymond washington.
He began rounding up a small Group of kids from fremont high School on the east side of South central.
Washington was no stranger to The streets and had already Spent time in a juvenile Detention center after being Kicked out of school for Fighting.
He built his new gang from the Ground up With his fists.
he would go to different Neighborhoods: "we fight.
Whoever wins gets to make the Rules.
" And he did that neighborhood By neighborhood.
And he was successful in Probably 75% of the communities He went to.
Pretty successful for a 15-, 16-year-old kid.
narrator: Despite his youth, Washington commanded respect.
I actually saw him drive down The street, lead a contingent Of guys, stop in the middle of An intersection, point that They were going to go left or Right, and everybody would Follow him.
if you're strong, If you're powerful, If you're intimidating, you're Gonna have a lot of people Follow you, and that's just what Raymond washington did.
narrator: His gang was called The baby cribs, a nod to The members' young age.
But before long, that name Would change to the crips.
The exact reason behind the Change is steeped in folklore.
I think I've gone over that Question, the origin of the Word "crip," I bet you maybe ten Different of the original guys.
And I probably got about eight Different stories about it.
narrator: Some believe the Name came from washington's Older brother, who had chronic Leg problems.
Raymond and the other kids Would tease him by writing "crip," short for "cripple," On his chuck taylor Tennis shoes.
Others believe it came from an Article in a local newspaper That linked the "cripple" Nickname to the gang's habit of Using canes as weapons.
narrator: By the early 1970s, Crips' influence on the streets Had spilled into the classroom.
A teen named tracy marrow was Introduced to the crippin' Lifestyle while attending high School in south central.
Marrow would go on to global Fame as rapper-entertainer Ice-t.
the whole school at crenshaw High school was basically A crip school.
I never was jumped into a gang, But I was more affiliated With crips than any other set.
narrator: The crips stood out In the halls.
They adopted the color blue And wore it with pride.
and basically, back in them Days, if you wore blue, You was cool.
narrator: It wasn't enough to Look like a crip.
You had to move like one too.
crip walkingthey call it "c" walking nowis a dance That the crips invented.
It was just a dance which Used a lot of footwork, But it was the coolest dance you Ever seen, and to do it meant You was in that gang.
If they can get their hands Going with their feet, then it's Cold.
It looks crazy, kind of Like a war dance.
narrator: The crips' Influence on ice-t would again Emerge in his music.
you want to hear a gang A gang rhyme? strollin' through the city in the middle of the night náááááon my left and náááááon my right yelling c-c-crip to every nááááI see if you bad enough come [bleep.]
with me narrator: The crips weren't The only game in south central.
On the west side, gangs like The smaks controlled The streets.
One of the smaks' leaders was Barefoot pookie.
One Sunday afternoon, raymond Washington approached barefoot Pookie and the smaks at a movie Theater.
raymond came in and walked Down the aisle and spoke out, "who the smaks?" And the whole show stood up.
narrator: It was the ideal Setting for a brawl.
But instead, washington and the Smaks agreed to join forces Against a rival white group.
They left the theater together In search of their common enemy.
we never did find them.
But that day had ended, And the word had spread All over the west side.
The three major neighborhoods, The 100s, the 80s, and The 60s were all original West side crips.
And from that point on, Raymond's legacy began.
Chitty-chitty bang-bang, Crips don't die.
They multiply.
Crip or die.
narrator: Washington Continued plowing through south Central, absorbing smaller Groups and their leaders, Including a west-sider named Tookie williams.
he had a bunch of kids over By washington high school that Were under him.
And raymond washington And him apparently met.
I don't know that there was a Fight, but at some point, tookie Decided to join the crips.
And eventually, he became the Leader of the west side crips.
narrator: Williams Immediately became the poster Boy for crippin'.
well, if you wanted to put Something symbolic to Gangbanging and crips, Tookie's physique would be That same kind of image.
narrator: He was an avid Bodybuilder with muscles narrator: Everyone gave him Respect.
at the time, I had a Girlfriend, and she was standing Out on the front porch, And she said some fools came up And was messing with her.
So I got all ready.
I went out to the front door Like, "what's up?" And it was tookie sitting a Lowrider, looking at me.
And I got back in the house and Said, "why was you out there?" You know.
I mean, nobody really wanted no Parts of took.
narrator: Under the Leadership of its two powerful Cocaptains, washington in the East and tookie in the west, The crips soon dominated the Streets of south central.
And in March 1972, after a Group of crips killed robert Ballou for his leather jacket, There would be no shortage of New recruits in other parts of The city.
narrator: But it wouldn't be Long before its generals got too Close to the flames.
narrator: By the end of the 1970s, the crips had hit the big Time.
The gang that had started With a handful of kids on the East side of l.
A.
Had grown to Include 45 different sets Around the city.
In February 1979, stanley "tookie" williams was calling The shots for the powerful West side crips.
That sometimes meant giving his Street soldiers a lesson in Crippin'.
he sent his homies, a couple Of guys who were with him, In to do a robbery at a Little market.
They came out and didn't do it Because there were witnesses.
And he got very angry.
narrator: Tookie then led Them down the street to a 7-eleven.
a young guy, a young 20-some-odd-year-old man Working there, and he said, "I'll show you how to do it.
" And he robbed 'em, put the kid On the floor.
narrator: As the clerk lay Facedown, williams fired two Shots into his back.
A couple of weeks later, Williams reinforced the lesson During a motel robbery.
went in and killed a family Of three that owned the motel So he wouldn't leave witnesses.
narrator: Williams was later Caught and convicted of all four Murders.
His next stop would be his last: Death row at san quentin.
Five months after tookie was Arrested for the murders, The crips' leadership suffered Another blow.
Raymond washington, the gang's Founder and cocaptain, was shot And killed on the streets of South central, most likely by a Member of his own gang.
he walked up to the car, And somebody shot him Point-blank with a shotgun.
Raymond obviously knew somebody, 'cause he's not dumb enough To walk up on a car of somebody He doesn't know.
narrator: By the early 1980s, The two cornerstones of the crip Organization had fallen.
At the same time, a new And powerful force was rising up To claim south central, a drug Called crack cocaine.
Crack was cheap to buy, Lucrative to sell ask your mama what this is.
narrator: And instantly Addictive.
Without any central leadership, The crips splintered into dozens Of smaller groups, all bent on Making as much profit As possible selling crack.
Lil rick set up shop in Gardena, the home base for his Set, called the paybaccs.
I remember being Being in crack spots, man, And making $2,000, $3,000 A day, easy.
That was, like, a slow day.
narrator: With enormous Profits to be won or lost, Competition on the streets Heated up.
the financial gain of the Crack trade broughtbrought Confusion to the city as far as The gangs were concerned, Who was going to sell where, Who was going to sell when.
narrator: Old adversaries now Had new reasons to fight.
The crips' most powerful rivals Were the bloods.
In the early 1970s, small groups Had banded together under the Blood name in an effort to fight Against the larger, More powerful crips.
The easiest way to tell the Groups apart was by their Colors.
Crips wore blue.
Bloods wore red.
Wearing the wrong color in the Wrong neighborhood meant Trouble.
narrator: With the Introduction of crack to the Streets, the hatred between the Crips and bloods exploded.
Between 1984 and 1989, at the Height of the crack epidemic, The homicide rate for black Teenage males in l.
A.
More than Doubled.
Gang homicides topped 600 By 1990.
the crips and the bloods Turned out to be just like the Ku klux klan.
They have the same thing in Common.
They just kill each other, Kill náááááá.
narrator: But not all of the Killings were crips against Bloods.
Before long, crips who used to Consider themselves brothers Were fighting each other to Control every square inch Of south central's drug trade.
Crack's outrageous profits Started eating away at Traditional loyalties.
the gangs were our families.
We called each other cuz.
You know, that's what we called Each other.
That's how we felt compassionate With one another.
But after that, it got Out of hand.
It just got out of hand.
you start to have Crip-on-crip rivalry, Crips killing crips.
each group has their own Little group of leaders.
The only thing they had in Common was, they were all Called crips.
narrator: While the crips Waged war against each other, Crack cut a swath through the Community.
It changed everything, Especially the people who bought And sold it.
the devastation was swift: Mothers incapable of being Mothers, fathers incapable of Being fathers.
narrator: Lil rick was not Immune.
He became addicted to His own product.
The fast drug money soon Disappeared, and lil rick was Left homeless.
The drug continued to fuel his Criminal lifestyle as he began Committing armed robberies to Pay for his next hit.
narrator: Fellow crip barry Bryant also fell into addiction.
I got something good inside Of me that don't really want to Hurt nobody.
But when you get that drug Inside of you, everything else Don't mean nothing to you No more.
narrator: The drug that had Made the crips rich was also Destroying them.
we did start seeing people Fall off.
Eventually, I was one of the Ones that fell off.
narrator: Crippin' and crack Turned out to be a match made in Hell.
And the innocent citizens Of l.
A.
Would eventually pay A terrible price.
narrator: August 1984.
58-year-old ebora alexander Began her day at dawn, Watering the plants on her Front porch.
"madee," as her family called Her, was the mother of kermit Alexander, one of the national Football league's brightest Stars.
Madee walked from the porch Into the kitchen, leaving the Screen door open behind her.
As she poured a cup of coffee, Two men burst in, one wielding A.
30-caliber rifle.
ebora alexander was shot in The head.
coffee cup was still on the Table after all the shooting.
Her actual brains were blown Across the kitchen.
narrator: The gunman, still High from an all-night cocaine Binge, stormed through the house Searching for others.
In a front bedroom, he gunned Down 24-year-old dietra Alexander, who sat frozen In her bed.
the daughter was shot Multiple times.
narrator: Beside her, 13-year-old damani garner and 8-year-old damon bonner were Asleep.
two boys were shot, also In the head at point-blank Range.
the nephews have never Even awakened.
And they go up and are executed Still asleep.
narrator: 13-year-old ivan Scott hid in a closet as the men Fled the house.
imagine what it was lik For that little boy that ran Into the closet when he heard The gunshots and comes out and Sees all his family bloodied up.
It's just horrific.
narrator: The assailants were Part of the rollin' 60s, a crip Set from the west side of south Central.
On that summer morning, They were carrying out a hit in Return for drugs and cash.
and it turned out that they Went to the wrong house.
could have been your house, Could have been mine.
It could have been any place.
They weren't particular about Where they were going to do This, you know.
narrator: The crippin' Lifestyle had once again touched The innocent citizens of l.
A.
it becomes different value System where the value of life Just didn't mean anything.
And that was frightening to me.
narrator: And a police Interview with a high-ranking Crip only confirmed that fear.
He took the police deep inside The violent mind-set Of the gang.
narrator: Like all crips, He had a deep hatred for the Bloods, a rival gang.
The bloods were smaller in Number but just as vicious.
Crips referred to bloods as Slobs.
narrator: And as he told the Police, once you joined, you Were a crip forever.
Crippin' was a permanent Lifestyle choice.
narrator: In south central, Lil rick's crippin' had gotten Out of hand.
For five years, he'd been Selling drugs for his set, The gardena paybaccs.
Along the way, he'd become Addicted to his own product.
I was just kind of in and out Of jail.
And my alcohol and drug usage Had gotten deeper, and still had The criminal and violent Mentality.
It was a very unstable Lifestyle.
narrator: In 1988, after Being caught with guns and Cocaine, lil rick was sentenced To 11 years in soledad, A northern california Penitentiary.
He was just 19 years old.
I had hit the big house When I got to soledad.
I seen some things in there And did some things in there That I didn't know I was Capable of doing.
I thought the wars on the street Were insurmountable, but the Wars that were going on in Prison were just as profound, And they were just as Devastating and just as violent.
narrator: Lil rick was out In less than five years.
Once back on the streets, The battle he fought was against Himself.
I was kind of tinkering with Wanting to straighten up and Still leaning towards wanting To be on the streets.
narrator: The balancing act Was torture.
He sank further into drug And alcohol abuse.
The crippin' life had finally Caught up with him.
I could remember days I just, Like, wanted to blow my [bleep.]
Head off, man, based on I couldn't change my lifestyle.
narrator: Lil rick would Have to hit rock bottom before He could rise again, and so Would los angeles.
The bloody decade of the 1980s Was finally over.
And in the most unlikely places, The tide started to turn.
there was something different In the air.
I felt it talking to some of These youngsters.
That was a legit feeling that These guys wanted toto make Some changes.
narrator: May 9, 1988.
Charlotte austin was startled By the sound of gunshots being Fired outside her south central Home.
I said, "well, you know, I need to call the police, 'cause somebody's child just Got hurt.
" But then it felt like something Dropped from me, and I had This really strange feeling.
narrator: Moments later, she Was running down the street Towards a car that was Surrounded by police and Paramedics.
A red pontiac was riddled With bullets.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Ja'mee, was in The passenger seat.
I remember I went to open The door, and the fire rescue Stopped me.
I thought they were going to go Get a gurney, because they Went back to the car.
And when they came back, They had sheets.
And there was nobody saying, "your daughter's deceased; I'm sorry," None of that movie stuff.
They just covered them up.
narrator: Ja'mee had been Riding with her next-door Neighbor nikki stover.
Both girls were dead, sprayed With bullets from a 9-millimeter Uzi and a pistol.
The gunmen were members of the Infamous eight tray crips, one Of the most violent sets of the Gang.
Their mission had been to kill The sister of a drug dealer who Had ripped them off.
They heard the sister was Driving a red car.
Afterwards, the shooters Celebrated with their homies.
they came back bragging about It, how they shot these girls.
And their heads were bouncing, And, "we need a 40-ounce" And, "let's get some barbecue.
" And they were going to have this Party, 'cause they did This murder.
narrator: The only problem Was that it was the wrong red Car and the wrong girls.
That didn't seem to faze the Gunmen while they stood trial.
the part in that case that Really grabbed me is that for Some reason, the young men who Were suspects in this case, They never showed remorse.
Even when these parents were Talking about their children, I heard sniggles.
narrator: The trial brought Home a cold reality That shook even hard-nosed cops Like ken bell.
I wondered, "where was the Human fiber? Wherewhere was the remorse?" narrator: After the loss of Her daughter, charlotte austin Turned her grief into action.
Her ongoing mission has become To break the cycle of gang Violence.
On that, she is an expert.
The day after her daughter Died, charlotte discovered that Her teenage son corey had Somehow gotten ahold of two Handguns and had planned to seek Revenge.
I had to sit him down and Explain that that was not The answer, that he was only Going to make another mother Feel the way I was feeling.
narrator: Eight years later, Cory was shot and killed by a Gang member for wearing the Wrong color in the wrong Neighborhood.
they weren't in gangs.
Corey wasn't in a gang.
They were kids living In the neighborhood, Doing what they do.
narrator: In the middle of This sea of hate were the watts Housing projects.
In 1992, gang members and Citizens inside the projects Were growing tired of the Violent world surrounding them.
I think a lot of individuals In the different arenas and the Different gang sets were really Fed up of not being able to Walk the streets, of brothers Being shot, of mothers being Shot, of sisters being shot.
narrator: Leaders from rival Blood and crip sets decided to Start talking.
With the help of law Enforcement, they came together For a peace summit.
narrator: The two sides came To an agreement.
The terms: Mutual respect and An end to the killing.
Some say the peace that followed Lasted a few months.
Others say a few years.
In 1993, gang murders in l.
A.
Were down more than 10%.
narrator: There were other Changes within the world of the Crips.
In san quentin, tookie williams, The one-time leader of the West side crips, had been on Death row for over a decade.
By 2000, williams had renounced His criminal past and made a Public apology for his role in Promoting the crippin' Lifestyle.
narrator: Williams cowrote a Series of children's books and Launched a website with antigang Messages for kids and adults.
In 2001, his efforts earned Him a nobel peace prize Nomination by a member of the Swiss parliament.
As williams' execution date Inched closer, celebrities Latched on to his cause and Rallied around an effort to Overturn his death sentence.
Others weren't as ready to hold Williams up as a role model.
the image that bothered me The most about, you know, The whole tookie thing was the Image that he was the guy that Was going to free los angeles Of the gangbangers.
And I say bull crap.
You know, there's guys who grew Up with tookie, who lived in That same era, who walked the Same streets as tookie And never killed or was accused Of killing anybody like that.
narrator: On December 12, 2005, california governor arnold Schwarzenegger denied his bid For clemency.
The next day, Stanley "tookie" williams was Put to death by lethal Injection.
The sense of accountability That changed tookie williams Was being felt elsewhere.
Some original gangsters, known As ogs, were finally ready to Move on.
Lil rick survived jail time And substance abuse.
Then, at age 33, he made a Decision that changed his life.
and I'm not this big guru or Religious-type dude.
I just know something happened Deep down in my spirit where I couldn't take it no more.
I quit being influenced and Started being an influencer.
Since then, a lot has happened.
narrator: Lil rick joined up With other ogs who work with Kids to improve their lives and Communities.
He says you can be against Violence but still be a crip.
I don't denounce the crippin' Part.
I denounce the negative energy.
I denounce the killings.
I denounce the [bleep.]
in it.
I love crippin'.
But I'm clear that it's went Somewhere that I don't want To be.
narrator: Lil rick is not Alone.
I spent from 19 all the way To 29 in prisons, in and out Of prisons.
Now today I'm trying to give Back.
narrator: The message is Simple.
it's time for us to grow up And raise up.
if it's death you looking For, then continue on, man.
But if it's life you looking For, you probably need to search Somewhere else.
narrator: In 2007, the lapd Released a list of the 11 most Violent gangs in los angeles.
Four of them were crips, who Remain the largest black gang In the city, with over 10,000 Members.
And while people like Charlotte austin and the ogs Have made a dent, for every Crip who puts down a gun, Another is there to pick it Back up.
in the minds of those Soldiers, they feel this is a Real war.
You dig? And how do you stop a war? I wish I knew.