Gangland (2007) s02e06 Episode Script

male narrator: Their Membership reaches into the tens Of thousands and stretches from Coast to coast.
you can't turn your back On them.
They will violently attack, Shoot, kill anybody.
narrator: The 18th street Gang rewrote the rules of Gangsta culture and forged A massive criminal enterprise.
it's kind of like a large Corporation, where it's Branching out to different parts Of the country, and it allowed The gang to spread its wings.
they were taking over turfs, Taking over drug areas, Taking over criminal activities, And if you didn't cooperate With them, you got hurt, And you got hurt bad.
narrator: In these streets, The victors don't just beat the Competition; they destroy them.
narrator: And while anyone Can join 18th street, no one can Leave.
there's only one way to Get out, and that's getting Killed.
narrator: L.
A.
September 4, 1994.
West of downtown, in the Westlake neighborhood, two Assassins wait in ambush for Their target.
Armed with ak-47s, they sink Into the shadows under the Cloak of nightfall.
this is in one of those Classic los angeles alleyways Where one car can barely get Through.
Two can never pass.
narrator: One of the gunmen, Juan "termite" romero, was a Fast-rising foot soldier in a Subset of the 18th street gang Called the columbia lil' cycos.
The gang specialized in Extortion, shaking down Everyone from dealers to Legitimate businessmen in Return for protection.
A cut of the money went to Termite's boss, frank "puppet" Martinez.
Puppet also belonged to the Mexican mafia, or la eme, The most powerful prison gang In california.
The target, a rival of puppet's, Was making a grab for profits And sending his own tax Collector into puppet's turf.
So his most promising soldier, Termite, was to handle the Problem.
termite was what they Would call doing work.
And that meant, whatever needed To be done in the neighborhood, They would go to a guy like Termite and say, "we need you To do this.
" narrator: Ruthless, brazen Violence: That is how the 18th Street gang estaished their Foothold in los angeles.
With up to 20,000 members, The predominately latino 18th Street is the largest criminal Network in l.
A.
County, Twice the size as the next Largest gang, ms-13.
18th street is the group to Join in los angeles county.
It's the one with the boldest Reputation, the one that's the Most notorious, if you will.
narrator: 18th street is Unlike any other major street Gang for its sheer size and lack Of central leadership.
In fact, 18th street is made up Of a loose coalition of over Two dozen cliques.
I would consider it more like A federation as opposed to a Hierarchy, you know, structure.
narrator: These crews go by Names like the hoover locos, Shatto park locos, And the columbia lil' cycos.
the 18th street gang members Identify themselves by the Neighborhoods they were in.
So they took the street name They were from or the city They were from, and they were That clique.
narrator: Each group operates Independently of the other, And each is led by a "shot caller.
" The shot callers represent the Driving forces of the 18th Street gang, yet they typically Don't communicate with each Other.
it's sort of like the squad Leader in the military.
Even though everybody's part of The army, there's 50 million Different squads, and the squads Don't know what they're doing Sometimes.
But they all have their own Little program they run.
narrator: Shot callers like This man, who we'll call jesse, Ran a set on the outskirts of L.
A.
's south side, earning his Place at the top with a Willingness to do whatever it Takes.
narrator: Becoming A shot caller often means Committing a murder.
The choice of target has To benefit the gang.
narrator: And the method Of killing is just as important.
narrator: Taken together, The sets that make up 18th street generate Several million dollars a year From car theft, extortion, Firearms smuggling, False I.
D.
Sales, and narcotics.
Each group tends to specialize In one area of criminal Activity over another.
there have been cliques that Have been heavily involved in The dope industry.
There's some cliques of 18th Street that solely collect taxes On people who operate In their area.
They've cut the criminal pie up, And they rely on each other.
narrator: This Divide-and-conquer mentality Has allowed the gang To grow and spread.
One high school dropout who Goes by the name javier says He joined at 15.
Initiation into the gang was Painful, javier says, Consisting of an 18-second Jump-in.
narrator: Oscar, Also an alias, is a former High-ranking member Of a rival gang.
He spent 20 years of his life Battling 18th street.
narrator: And membership Has its privileges.
18th street ranks as one of The most feared criminal Networks in the country.
And with fear comes what every Gangbanger wants: Respect.
if you're a member of 18th Street, you have an immediate Reet credibility.
narrator: The promise of Power and money motivates some To climb their way to the top At any cost.
narrator: In a free market Of vice, greed, and murder, 18th street would spread Like a wildfire, Expanding beyond l.
A.
And into other cities across America, recruiting legions of Newcomers.
narrator: Turf and numbers Are exactly what Juan "termite" romero Had in mind as he waited In ambush for his target In westlake.
Around midnight, a car pulled Into this alleyway.
It belonged to termite's target: Carlos "truco" lopez.
As truco inched closer to the Exit, termite and another Gunman, armed with ak-47s, Took aim at the approaching car.
and when they saw truco Driving up the street, they Opened up with their ak-47s.
narrator: The message being Sent was clear: "we're keeping This neighborhood.
" narrator: Here in l.
A.
, The gang capital of america, The biggest gang of them all, The notorious 18th street, Draws its power in numbers.
narrator: In the heart Of the westlake neighborhood On the city's west side, Nothing is more emblematic Of the gang's influence than This 18th street mural.
this mural is the gang's Identity.
It's just as real to them as A tattoo.
This mural has never been Painted over.
It's never been grafjitied over By another gang.
And that's a sign of respect.
With the names of some of 18th Street's most legendary figures, Including termite romero, Emblazoned on the wall, The message that the mural sends Is clear: This neighborhood Belongs to 18th street.
you see sort of the whole History of people who are either Driven or pushed from another Country into our country, In this country, form a gang, And in that gang, they see Happiness, sadness, joy, Violence, and ultimately prison And death.
narrator: In the beginning, 18th street was nothing more Than a small bd of misfits.
In the mid-1960s, immigrants From central and south america, As well as blacks and koreans, Began moving into an area just West of downtown l.
A.
The neighborhood, called Pico-union, was run by a Powerful, exclusively mexican Gang called the clanton 14, Or c14.
Turned away from c14 because Of their race, the non-mexican Kids formed their own gang: 18th street, named after A street in the heart Of pico-union.
these kids hung around at A prostitute's house, sadie's.
18th street was by her house.
It was sort of in the middle Of the neighborhood where all These throwaway kids lived.
narrator: It was the Beginning of a gang revolution.
The 18th streeters were, By default, a diverse group, Embracing anyone who wanted to Be in a gang.
That, some say, has been The reason for their success.
you organize around this Multicultural multiethnicity, And that multiethnicity then Gave it the impetus to be A very large gang, And that made it a force to be Contended with.
narrator: Compared to most Other gangs, they had the Easiest standards for joining.
narrator: In time, 18th street grew large enough To challenge their rivals.
they get involved in all Types of fights, and they raise The level of violence so high That 18th street develops this Reputation of being the most Violent gang in los angeles.
narrator: Throughout the 1970s, 18th street's membership Rose steadily.
Then, in the 1980s, there was An explosion of new recruits.
Central america.
Brutal civil wars in el salvador And guatemala drove thousands Of refugees out of their War-torn countries and into The United States.
The pico-union neighborhood Experienced a flood of new Immigrants.
18th street saw the teenage kids Of these new arrivals as Candidates for recruitment and Embraced them.
their parents work several Jobs, and they're left home Alone.
And these guys on the street Take them in or start buying Them things, spending money, Telling them that they could Have the same thing as far as Money goes if they join the Gang.
narrator: 18th street gave These immigrant kids an identity In their new country.
But the gang wanted much more In return.
18th street probably grew The quickest and expanded most Rapidly of all the gangs.
narrator: 18th street's open Recruiting policy even extends To children, some as young as 11 years old.
they got the nickname "the children's army," because They try to solicit kids To join their gang in elementary School.
narrator: As 18th street's Membership soared, its sets Spread out, expanding their Control into neighborhoods Across l.
A.
, absorbing territory Once held by their rivals.
they were like in A blitzkrieg.
They were taking over turfs, Taking over drug areas, taking Over criminal activities.
And if you didn't cooperate with Them, you got hurt.
narrator: Oscar, A high-ranking member of a rival Gang, witnessed 18th street's Explosive growth.
He says that the cliques, Or sets, used fear And intimidation to force New members to join.
narrator: By 1990, 18th street ranked As one of the largest And deadliest gangs In l.
A.
County.
they're dangerous in large Measure because of their Numbers.
If you're a resident of the Community and you have a beef Or a dispute with one member Of the gang, you have a beef Or a dispute with 100, 200, 500 members of the gang.
narrator: But the Independence of 18th street's Dozens of different sets did not Sit well with california's most Powerful prison gang, The mexican mafia, or la eme.
the mafia, in its attempt to Control hispanic gangs in Southern california Many hispanic gangs fall in line Because they fear the mafia.
narrator: For those who Defied their orders, the mexican Mafia meted out violent Punishment.
gang members, if they go to Prison, they know they're going To be assaulted.
They're gonna be green-lighted.
So that's a fear that's Out there.
Second, other members of their Clique in prison are Green-lighted.
So that they literally get calls Back from prison or letters, "hey, homeboy, you got to pay Up; you got to get in line, Or else, we're gonna get beaten Or killed in prison.
" narrator: In 1992, the mafia Called for a summit with Representatives of 18th street.
Investigator richard duran was Tipped off to the event, which Was secretly videotaped.
that meeting was conducted by Mexican mafia members to set Down some guidelines for the Neighborhoods.
narrator: The mafia ordered Every 18th street crew to pay Them street taxes from now on.
They also instructed them to Purge their ranks of black Members and to put a stop to Drive-by shootings.
there was an incident where We believe that a mexican mafia Kid was killed during A drive-by shooting Accidentally.
That order came down from the Mafia that says, "you know, If you're gonna kill somebody, You're gonna have to walk up On them.
" narrator: The 18th street Representatives at the summit Made a practical choice.
They agreed to the mafia's Conditions.
But in practice, not all of the Sets followed the new rules.
Few threw out their black Members, and according to one Shot caller, gunmen found a way To skirt the ban on drive-by Shootings.
narrator: But 18th street Did gain something Out of the deal: More respect on the streets.
narrator: By the mid-1990s, 18th street had become So massive that its members Spread beyond the borders Of los angeles county.
it was more because family Movedthey moved to a different Location, and because they were Gang members in l.
A.
, They are now gang members in The city that they've landed in.
narrator: 18th street Extended its reach across the U.
S.
As gang members began Relocating in the midwest, The south, and the east coast.
the tentacles of 18th street Have spread to some such Unlikely places as omaha, Nebraska; nashville, tennessee; Baltimore; places you wouldn't Usually associate los angeles County gang membership.
narrator: And wherever 18th Street has taken root, violence Has followed.
Vadnais heights, minnesota.
April 9, 2006.
As convenience store clerk amar Al-bosaad neared the end of a Sunday night shift, two 18th Street members, wielding knives, Rushed in and leapt over The counter.
They slashed at him as he Desperately tried to shield Himself from the onslaught.
Al-bosaad survived the attack And chased the two men out of The store with a baseball bat.
Both gang members were later Captured and convicted of Attempted murder.
While their robbery was A failure, the incident served To cement 18th street's Reputation in the region.
that's one example of how They could just go out there And do violent crime for no Reason, just to show alliance And show pride in the gang and Try and elevate themselves or Their status in the gang.
narrator: The incident Offered proof that the 18th Street gang was becoming A national problem.
narrator: No one was immune From the gang's reprisals, Not even the police.
to them, it's, like, The ultimate goal.
They will take out anybody.
narrator: In l.
A.
's Criminal underworld, respect Means everything.
Members of the city's biggest Street gang, 18th street, Flaunt their gang symbols Proudly.
Sporting the number 18 on their Jerseys and body tattoos, These bangers want to announce To the world who's boss.
they'll take their shirts Off, and they'll strut their Stuff out there that, "hey, I'm a big, bad 18th street Gang member.
" And nobody's gonna touch them, Andbecause if you go and pick On that guy, then he's gonna Have ten other guys coming Backing him.
narrator: Growing up in an Area bordering l.
A.
's south Side, jesse saw who got respect In his neighborhood and who Didn't.
narrator: Jesse became A soldier in 18th street And worked hard to gain The respect of the shot caller In his set.
narrator: The streets That jesse and his Fellow soldiers hustled are the Same ones that detective James corcoran patrols.
you can see right now, it's Relatively early in the Morning, so it's quiet.
These are, by and large, good People just trying to make A living, raise their families.
It is, however, certain times Inespecially in the late Afternoon and during times of Darkness, gang members tend to Come out and basically take over The streets.
narrator: 18th street's mark, Or tag, can be found everywhere.
Different variations on the Number 18 are the most common Markings.
you can see here, ss, South side, the roman numerals 18 right here, and then "st," Street.
You can see, it's already been Crossed out, been disrespected By a rival gang, and that Means trouble.
weh're here to the rear Of 500 south westlake, which is A stronghold for 18th street.
This area is controlled By 18th street, the clique of Clcs, which is columbia Lil' cycos.
As you can tell right here, The tagging, the "b" for the Barrio and then the arrow Pointing down claiming their Neighborhood, also the 1 And the 8 claiming the gang 18.
narrator: Police are all too Familiar with the ways in which 18th street members compete for Notoriety and respect.
August 9, 1998.
Lapd officer filbert cuesta and His partner were patrolling 18th street territory on the City's west side.
They were checking out a tip About a gang party.
They parked about a half block Away from the location and Began their surveillance.
With their attention on the House, they failed to notice A man approaching the back of Their cruiser.
20-year-old catarino gonzalez, A member of 18th street, aimed His 9-millimeter glock at the Officers and fired One round after another.
fil put the car in gear, And he started to drive away.
And he took a roundone round In the back of the head And it killed him.
narrator: Cuesta's partner Was uninjured.
Gonzalez was later arrested And convicted of murder.
But he never offered an Explanation for the shooting.
there's speculation on that, But we believe that gonzalez Had been stopped previously by Cuesta and his partner.
And this was his way of getting Back as a disrespect.
narrator: Gonzalez became A hero to his fellow gang Members.
They would pay honor to him While taunting police at the Same time.
a couple years after fil was Killed, near the anniversary Of his death, 18th street had Written all kinds of graffiti And disrespect to the Los angeles police department.
If they take out a police Officer, then to them, it's, Like, the ultimate goal.
narrator: For 18th street, Your neighborhood is your turf, And you defend it to the death.
For jesse, his south side set Challenged other kids that Wandered into their territory.
narrator: For jesse, Using violence was Just part of getting respect.
He also had to be a good earner.
narrator: Jesse never Lost sight of what he wanted: To rise to the top of his set.
By age 20, he became A shot caller.
narrator: No matter how much Power jesse wielded In his set, he knew That on the south side of l.
A.
County, he remained on the Outskirts of 18th street power.
The heart of 18th street is the West side, where jesse says Everything is more sophisticated And more lucrative.
narrator: Here In the westlake neighborhood On the west side, 18th street's most vicious set, The columbia lil' cycos, rose to Power during the 1990s.
For years, 18th street was A sprawling gang with no formal Structure, All heart and no brain.
But then 18th street's columbia Lil' cycos changed all that.
With puppet martinez overseeing The gang from prison And termite romero running Operations on the streets, they Would transform their extortion And drug rings into something Rivaling that of the italian Mob.
Yet their success would Ultimately prove to be their Undoing, and authorities would Move in for the kill.
narrator: By the mid-1990s, 18th street had grown to become A vast criminal network Unmatched by its l.
A.
Rivals.
With over two dozen sets united Under the umbrella of 18th Stststreet, this loose coalition Controlled much of the drug Turf across los angeles county.
narrator: However, The gang lacked any Central leadership.
Two gangster entrepreneurs knew This, and they set out to take 18th street to the next level.
Juan "termite" romero And frank "puppet" martinez Began working together on l.
A.
's West side in 1992.
Termite romero was an Up-and-coming soldier in the 18th street crew called the Columbia lil' cycos, or clcs.
Puppet martinez was A high-ranking member of the Mexican mafia pris gang who Also oversaw the operations of The lil' cycos.
But the lil' cycos facfd A threat when one of puppet's Mexican mafia rivals tried to Cut into their profits.
Puppet's rival had sent 18th Street member carlos "truco" Lopez into lil' cycos territory To collect street taxes.
was asked to go in And basically take over the Collections.
Long story short, there was A feud going on.
Puppet basically said, In a nutshell, "that's not gonna Happen.
" narrator: On the night of September 4, 1994, termite and Another gunman waited for Truco in this narrow alleyway In the westlake neighborhood.
Around midnight, truco's car Pulled into the alleyway.
Termite and the other gunman Aimed their ak-47s at the Approaching car.
Neither truco nor his girlfriend In the passenger seat had A chance.
truco was driving through The neighborhood on a warm Summer night down a tight, Tight alleyway.
The gang members knew that.
And as he came out of this tiny Alleyway They filled his little truck Full of bullets.
They were gonna stand their Ground.
They were gonna hold their Territory, and they weren't Giving it up to anybody.
narrator: For a job well Done, puppet martinez gave Termite a promotion, appointing Him the shot caller of the 18th street lil' cycos.
termite was literally chosen By frank martinez, the mexican Mafia brother.
That's how tightly run The clcs was.
narrator: Termite quickly set Out to prove his worth.
He saw a big moneymaking Opportunity on 18th street's Turf in and around macarthur Park.
A gang-infested haven, the park Catered to all walks of life And provided one-stop shopping For anyone seeking a fix.
Termite was determined to Squeeze every last penny out of The drug merchants in the Macarthur park area, and he Ordered the lil' cycos to step Up their extortion schemes.
termite had the gang working 24/7 with two shifts a day Of collectors.
He took an operation that Was making maybe $1,000 To $2,000 a week to making $5,000 to 0,000.
So he doubled, tripled, Quadrupled the profits.
narrator: He made sure every Peddler paid his street dues.
No free agents were allowed to Push their drugs in his Neighborhood.
Fbi special agent james j.
Explains how the rent Collection worked.
Due to ongoing cases, he Requested that his face be Obscured.
they would essentially rent Streets to the drug dealer Who was willing to pay The largest amount of rent In return for exclusive Distribution rights within that Area.
To break it down, there were Certain streets that were being Rented for $10,000 to $12,000 A week, other streets being Rented for $5,000 to $7,000 A week.
narrator: Termite and his Crew brought in an estimated $85,000 dollars a week.
To keep 18th street's lil' cycos Running like a well-oiled Machine, he established A strict hierarchy within His set.
At the top of the power Structure was puppet martinez, Who ran operations from jail.
Next in line was puppet's wife, Janie garcia, who served as his Eyes and ears on the outside.
janie garcia was known as The señora or the lady boss.
She collected his money and Ran his business on the street.
narrator: Then, after janie, There was termite.
He was followed by a group of Lieutenants assigned to Different parts of the lil' Cycos' territory.
they might sell heroin on One corner.
They might sell cocaine on Another corner, crack cocaine, Whatever the drugs are.
Most of it was crack cocaine.
Those lieutenants, then, would Get people under them to watch The streets, to watch the Street corners.
Those little street gangsters Or whatever would go out And observe the streets, See who's selling the drugs, Collect the money.
narrator: Only the Lieutenants dealt with the foot Soldiers that carried out the Gang's dirty work.
This helped to insulate puppet, His wife, and termite from The cops.
And there was no shortage of Foot soldiers willing to work The front lines.
I mean, of course, narcotics, Local police would come in.
They would arrest three or four Or five street level dealers, But the next night, there'd be Three or four other people there To replace them.
narrator: By 1995, the lil' Cycos had transformed into A sophisticated criminal Enterprise.
This was a bold new step for any 18th street clique And represented a model For others to follow.
they were one of the largest, Most well-organized and most Violent cliques of the 18th Street gang.
And they were behind a lot of The violence in the westlake District of los angeles.
narrator: But their success Brought them unwelcome scrutiny.
Federal authorities began taking An interest in termite And the profitable 18th street Clique.
we would hear about columbia And how much money columbia Was making and how they were Making their money and the fact That they had a hierarchy Of leadership.
narrator: Termite had proven Himself too good at his job.
Beuse of the innovations that He brought to the gang, the fbi Slowly built an organized crime Case against them.
The feds conducted surveillance On the lil' cycos and tapped Their phones.
On March 4, 1999, fbi agents Raided the homes of janie Garcia, her sister, and her Mother based on information They'd gathered from the Wiretaps.
in those homes, they found Three stashes of money, A stash of $450,000.
They found another stash of $80,000 and a final stash of $9,000.
The $9,000 was actually A payment that termite had just Dropped off at the house A couple of days before.
narrator: The raids set the Wheels in motion for termite's Downfall.
They prompted suspicion within The ranks of 18th street's Lil' cycos that someone had cut A deal with the feds.
Rumors circulated, and without Any evidence to prove it, Janie garcia concluded that Termite was the rat.
She convinced her husband, Puppet martinez, that his Ambitious shot caller had Betrayed them.
Puppet sent a note from prison That simply stated, "fumigate the rat.
" November 1, 1999.
At his office, termite romero Awaited the weekly delivery From one of his rent collectors.
Afterwards, he returned To his car.
Suddenly, several members of 18th street descended on him With their guns blazing.
termite saw them coming.
They filled the car full of Bullets.
They filled romero and His driver full of bullets.
narrator: Though he was shot Five times, termite managed To survive.
He awoke in the hospital with The knowledge that his own crew Had tried to kill him.
they turned on him without Any evidence at all that he was Doing anything wrong.
In fact, he wasin my opinion, He was their most loyal soldier Out on the street.
And if they wouldn't have Turned on him and tried to kill Him, he probably wouldn't have Cooperated with us.
narrator: November 1999.
After a failed assassination Attempt on juan "termite" Romero, the leader of the 18th Street columbia lil' cycos, The gang found itself In disarray.
The lil' cycos had come into Their own as a sophisticated Criminal enterprise, making Money hand over fist.
But when they fell under fbi Scrutiny, gang members feared There was a rat in their ranks.
Frank "puppet" martinez, The mexican mafia boss who Helped run the 18th street set, Had put a greenlight on The gang's shot caller, Termite romero.
Termite survived the hit, And authorities set out to stop Further reprisals.
it was at that point we knew That we had to do something, That it was gonna just escalate In violence.
narrator: Special agent carl Sandford knew that termite had Been recovering at a friend's House.
Once he got a warrant for his Arrest, he took him into custody On federal money laundering And drug trafficking charges.
Sandford found termite more Than willing to cooperate with Investigators.
The 33-year-old gang leader Wanted to exact revenge against His boss, frank "puppet" Martinez.
I think he was hurt.
I mean, he was loyal to frank.
He was a good soldier for frank.
And because of, you know, A misconception that he was A rat, he decided to come On board andand cooperate With us.
termite wasby the time The fbi arrested him in Late '99, in December of '99, He was exhausted, worn out, And stressed out, just like any Other middle manager in A profitable business In america.
He had worked himself to the Bone for the organization, The organization that tried to Kill him.
narrator: Termite provided Authorities with enough Information to help bring down The 18th street lil' cycos and Their top brass.
Based on his testimony and other Evidence that the fbi gathered, The u.
S.
Government indicted 26 members of 18th street And the mexican mafia on charges Ranging from extortion To racketeering to murder.
it was vital to have An insider, not only an insider But a leader of the gang that Not only dealt with the people Above him but the people Below him.
His cooperation, you can't put A value on it.
narrator: In the end, 24 of 26 defendants were convicted, Many of them termite's former Crew members.
Two remain fugitives To this day.
the judge in the case Determined that termite deserved A reduced sentence.
And he has the chance, if he Conducts himself well in prison, To get out in the future.
narrator: The feds had Successfully taken down one of 18th street's sets.
But they didn't pursue any other Crews largely because no one Se had built an operation Quite like the lil' cycos did.
narrator: Today 18th street remains A deadly coalition of nearly 30 sets that show no sign of Letting up.
They've even embraced the 21st Century with an official Website.
they use the internet In order to strive to get their Message out there that they're One of the biggest And baddest gangs In southern california.
narrator: Recruitment has Ebbed and flowed over the years, But most experts believe that Gang life will never lose its Appeal in troubled urban Environments.
imagine your dad's gone; Your dad's in prison.
You live in a really low-rent Apartment.
There's cockroaches.
Sometimes you eat.
Sometimes you don't eat.
I'm an 18th street gang member, And I tell you, "I'm gonna give You $300 a week.
All you do is stand on the Corner and let me know when the Police come.
" How do you tell a kid like That, "don't do that?" How do you compete with that? narrator: Some 18th street Members have grown apart from The gang and struck out On their own.
South side shot caller jesse Decided that gang life was no Longer worth it and is currently In hiding with his family.
narrator: But jesse's Decision to break away Didn't sit well with his Fellow 18th street gangbangers.
narrator: Jesse is just As determined to fight For the life that he leads Now as when he belonged to 18th street.
He expresses no doubt about What he must do to protect Himself and his family.
narrator: Gang members Come and go with each New generation, yet the Most enduring figures of 18th street have been Immortalized in myth and legend.
Their names appear on this wall And are now part of the Community's identity.
really, about half of The people or more on this wall Were either prosecuted by the Fbi and convicted or are dead By the hands of other gangsters.
narrator: Their stories, However treacherous or tragic, Define 18th street and will last For the ages.
And as the gang continues to Grow and evolve, the next