Gangland (2007) s05e11 Episode Script
Hunt and Kill
male narrator: There's a war Raging in the music city.
and they were just gonna Massacre and kill everybody.
narrator: One gang is taking On all comers narrator: And there's no Limit to their violence.
they would drive around Until they found somebody and They would start shooting At 'em.
almost a feeding frenzy Of blood violence.
narrator: They kill for Sport.
This is brown pride.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person.
For real.
narrator: Nashville, Tennessee.
Home of the grand ole opry.
This city is all about country Music.
great place to raise A family, laid-back, Southern charm.
narrator: And its values are True to its dixie roots.
yeah, to some extent, people Do expect to pull up on lower Broad and there be, you know, Horses tied up inout in front Of their bars and cowboys Singing and stuff, But whether you want to accept It or not, nashville's Becoming a bigger, more Metropolitan city every day.
narrator: In the '90s, The city began to change.
The auto industry came to town, Moving some of its largest Production plants to the area.
Many new immigrant families Followed the jobs to town.
But they brought something with Them.
Hardcore gangs.
we really noticed a large Increase of hispanic shootings That were taking place.
narrator: One of the biggest Hispanic gangs to emerge out of The new nashville Is a vicious set Brown pride.
we ain't no little báááááá Or nothing.
I love what I do.
I love what I represent.
narrator: Brown pride, or bp, Is notorious for beatings, Murders, robberies, And getting high.
we would have a beef with Anybody, whoever.
Black people.
White people.
Asian people.
Whatever.
We'll beat 'em up or hit 'em With a bat.
narrator: Deaderick ramirez, Aka "gordo," is one of the Gang's founders.
I mean it's fun, you see.
What I like about it is just You get, like, a thrill, just Going out there and doing some Chaos or breaking something Up or fáááááásomebody up.
narrator: 25-year-old gordo's Been on the front lines of Nashville's street war For more than a decade.
I been shot at a couple of Times, like, at least eight Times, but I've never been hit.
narrator: Gordo knows it's Kill or be killed, So brown pride is always on the Attack.
we'll go to a house, say When you, where somebody Live at, we'll go up there And just pull up and just blast In their house.
narrator: Gordo is always Prepared to protect his.
I have got my car burned.
I havethey done a drive-by At my mom's house.
I mean, it's the life I chose.
narrator: Brown pride Is a young gang.
But they're learning quick, By paying close attention to Rival gangs like vatos locos And the sureños, they've learned What it takes to make money.
These gangs also call Nashville's streets home.
And it doesn't matter the Circumstances when brown pride Sees its enemies.
one time we seen one of 'em, And homeboy start blasting At 'em.
He had his baby in his hand, And he justYou know, Dies with the baby.
Like I told ya, it's the life.
narrator: Brown pride Gangstas like Jonathan gutierrez, aka "spook," Live their life.
narrator: Spook currently Sits in the davidson county Criminal justice center, Awaiting trial on a first Degree murder charge.
The 18-year-old has been Fighting for the gang Since the fourth grade.
narrator: His family Moved to nashville From mexico in 1996.
They came to work the newly Created construction jobs.
narrator: The gang didn't Even exist when spook arrived.
narrator: Spook's older Brother was the first to join Bp, and he was eager to get in On the action.
if your brother's in brown Pride and your cousins are Brown pride and your uncle's a Brown pride, it's a no-brainer.
More than likely, you're Gonna be in brown pride.
narrator: Spook started Packing heat at age 10.
narrator: For spook and his Homeboys, crime and violence Are a way of life.
narrator: That game can Quickly turn deadly.
In nashville, gangs compete for Dominance and reputations are Important.
that was the goal, was just Going out there and putting our Name out there.
narrator: To build up its Rep, brown pride willingly went To war with the most feared Gang in the world.
if you could organize Sociopaths, you would get ms-13.
I mean, they're strong.
Their reputation is evil.
narrator: Summer 2006: Nashville's streets were about To run deep with blood.
June 17th.
Brown pride's angel flores and His friend, christian rios, Were out cruising.
Angel had built a lucrative Life as a drug dealer and he Was all about "the green.
" narrator: Angel was known for His black 1970 pontiac muscle Car and for being reckless With a gun.
he would get in fights or Shoot at the people and all Kinds of sááá.
narrator: Some of those Bullets were aimed at rivals From the mighty Mara salvatrucha, or ms-13.
angel had had problems with The ms-13 in the past.
There'd been some bullets Thrown at each other in Drive-bys, at houses, or Whatever.
There was some bad blood Between angel and the ms-13.
narrator: At 9:00 p.
M.
, Five ms-13 members were Driving on nolensville road With sinister intentions.
In the car was a.
380 Semiautomatic pistol.
ms went out hunting For angel.
They went out hunting for him.
narrator: One of the ms-13 Members in the car was 17-year-old manuel marquez, aka "morro.
" He was young and had a nasty Reputation on the streets.
the gang had the thing, The more violence you did, The higherthat's how you got Your status.
Morro had a lot of respect Because of the acts of violence That he did.
he wanted to be known as One of the baddest people In ms-13.
narrator: It wasn't long Before ms-13 spotted angel's Infamous ride.
they see this car, morro Recognizes the guy as a member Of brown pride.
narrator: After trailing the Black pontiac for a few blocks, Ms-13 picked their moment to Strike.
narrator: Angel stopped At a busy intersection.
as angel came up to Nolensville road on ocala It's a red light.
They're stopped, minding their Own business and then, from Behind, another car full of Ms-13 pulls up, stops.
narrator: Morro took the gun Out and marched up to the Passenger side window.
When angel and christian looked Over, morro leaned in to give Them a message.
you tell 'em la mara Salvatrucha And then you shoot 'em.
narrator: The brown pride Members had no idea what Happened.
I think he shot seven or Eight times.
if there was any knowledge of What was about to happen, It was quickly muffled by The gunshots.
it's fáááááup.
I mean, who did this sááá? narrator: Nashville, Tennessee: The entertainment capital of The south.
But the city where elvis Recorded some of his biggest Hits has a problem.
It's also home to a large Homegrown hispanic gang: Brown pride.
narrator: The gang now runs Wild on these once-pristine Streets.
Nashville was always Considered a small town With little racial divide.
it was mainly caucasians And african-americans.
There was not a whole lot of Cultural diversity in nashville.
narrator: That changed in 1990, when saturn moved to town.
Bridgestone/firestone followed.
Nissan soon built their biggest North american factory nearby.
the population was boomin' Because business was boomin'.
narrator: Scores of Medical-related businesses also Flooded the city as nashville Became the heart of the Nation's healthcare industry.
At the same time, demand for Blue collar workers to Handle the huge increase In construction jobs exploded.
we saw a lot of hispanics Moving in to the south part of County, asians moving in, And you just don'tthe city Changed, you know? narrator: Within a decade, Nearly 250,000 new residents Moved to the nashville area, Increasing the population By 25%.
Along with the growth Came gangs of all kinds.
I think any city that goes Through the way nashville has Grown and started to thrive, There's always gonna be Growing pains.
narrator: In 1998, at the Height of the city's building Boom, deaderick "gordo" ramirez Moved to nashville with his mom.
The small family relocated From houston, texas, looking For work.
it's a lot different where, In texas, basically, where I was At, you see all hispanics, That's all you see.
You come up here, and you see Nothing but white people.
No hispanics out here.
narrator: The 14-year-old Started to hang out only with Fellow mexicans.
In the beginning, it wasn't About being in a gang.
in high school, we start Skipping school together, so it Was just skipping and acting Getting high, getting fáááááup.
then the next thing you know, They started getting involved In some criminal activity Together.
narrator: Gordo and his crew Started to clash with other Upstart gangs Like the vatos locos.
he was getting picked on by Other gang members and Other gangs.
He had to make a choice either To stand up for yourself or kind Of tuck your tail and run.
narrator: Running wasn't an Option, and gordo decided to Call his gang brown pride, A d to his mexican heritage.
but I ain't gonna back down.
Might whoop my ass, but sááá, I ain't fáááááwith it.
I ain't no báááá.
narrator: Spook joined the Gang when he was just 10 years Old as a pee-wee.
Brown pride taught him about Life on the streets.
narrator: The gang was small, Dangerous and growing quickly.
we just start, you know, Putting in work, Do our crazy sááá.
Try to put a name for ourselves.
it began to be obvious to Them that, "hey you know, We have more numbers now.
We can probably start defending Ourselves, and also take an Aggression toward other people As well.
" narrator: The gang was faced With a threat: The mexican gang sureños.
they were getting pretty bad.
There were a lot of fights at The fair, gunshots, people Getting shot.
the late '90s into the Mid-2000s, it was just type of A running feud because you're A sureño and I'm a brown pride Member and we don't like Each other.
narrator: The sureños flew A blue flag.
Bp's was brown.
And that was enough reason to Cause bloodshed.
there's not a philosophical Difference between the two.
And it's just a dislike of what Color flag you have.
narrator: But while the Mexican gangs were just trying To make a name for themselves, There was a much more evil group To contend with: Ms-13.
I don't know that there's a Gang in america that works like Ms-13 does.
they live by intimidation, Fear, assault, and murder.
That's their stock in trade.
That's their daily bread.
narrator: Ms-13's origins are In el salvador and aims much of Its violence at the mexican Gangs.
it's like the worst insult in The world to call someone from El salvador a mexican, you know? And they take offense to that.
it was such a rivalry, such a Hatred and I think a lot of the Crimes committed by ms was just Hatred for mexicans.
I, you know, I didn't understand It.
they figure they're in a Whole different race, like, They're different thanthan us.
narrator: The stage was set For battle.
The young upstart bp against The powerhouse ms-13.
But just as the war was Starting, ms-13 lost its leader.
Oscar serrano, aka "diablin," Was convicted and sent to Prison for attempted murder.
It devastated the gang.
when he got locked up, most Of the ms-13 members left Because that leadership was Gone.
narrator: Ms 13 was left with Just a handful of members, While brown pride's membership Exploded.
Bp quickly became nashville's Largest hispanic gang.
brown pride was, yeah, A lot bigger.
narrator: Vastly outnumbered, Ms-13's remaining members took A drastic step: Joining their rival, The sureños.
they kind of banded together For, you know, strength and Solidarity.
narrator: Manuel asked to Have his identity concealed.
narrator: A former member of Ms-13, manuel became A police informant.
narrator: Brown pride was not Fazed and was ready to fight.
narrator: In 2004, ms-13 Shot-caller diablin was Deported to el salvador after Serving his prison sentence.
He immediately met with his Ms superiors.
Their message End brown pride in nashville.
diablin was coming back with First word from el salvador and Basically saying, "we need to go Out and kill these chavalas.
narrator: In 2005, ms-13 took The battle to the streets.
these guys were just killin' To be killin', shootin' to be Shootin'.
narrator: And brown pride was In the cross hairs.
they went on what we called Brown pride hunts.
yeah.
narrator: Ms-13 went after Anyone who resembled Own pride, Even ups drivers.
one individual ms member was Willing and thinking about Shooting at a person because They were in a ups uniform.
he was so incensed by it, He thought it was brown pride And he wanted to retaliate, take Action against this ups driver And somebody had to tell him, "no, that's not That's not brown pride.
That's not a chavala.
That's a delivery guy.
" narrator: For brown pride, The war would be a rite of Passage, a test, and it was Either kill or be killed.
narrator: Nashville, The home of country music's Hall of fame, Is being overrun by gangs.
they kill, and there's gonna Be a revenge shooting.
Then after the revenge shooting, There's another murder.
Then everybody's got to go to The mattresses and get their Guns, 'cause, what, we're gonna Have a bigger gang murder.
narrator: In the midst of the Battle is a homegrown gang, Brown pride.
Fighting, shooting, tagging, Creating chaos.
just kick it And get fáááááup and just, That was basically it.
It was almost an everyday thing, Especially on the weekends.
narrator: The gang's founding Members tell a simple story About how they decided on their Name.
it was just a whole pride Full of brown people.
narrator: Brown pride has no Real hierarchy, And silence is their only code.
without any structure, it's Kind of like mass chaos.
There's, there's three or four Going to do their own thing Here.
There's five or six that go do Their own thing there.
narrator: The lack of Structure means no meetings and No monthly dues.
narrator: Bp's founder gordo Says he likes the chaotic nature Because it keeps cops guessing.
cops don't know nothing, man.
They assume.
That's the thing.
They assume, but they don't Know sááá.
narrator: Members of brown Pride don't plan to live long.
They just aim to bang as long As they can.
everything's fun.
Even if you getI mean, you Might get beat up one time, you Might get beat up two times.
You mightit's things that Happen.
You see what I'm saying? narrator: Brown pride Represents with hand signs.
that's how we throw it up.
narrator: They also mark Their allegiance with ink, Including the legendary tattoo Designed by chicano artist Freddy negrete.
just a mexican thing.
Smile now, cry later.
narrator: The gang also tags All the territory it claims.
you'll see the brown pride 2-1-8 or 2-18.
narrator: Using the spanish Alphabet, the number 2 Represents the letter "b," While the number 18 matches up With the letter "p.
" bp 218.
Then we've got 218 down the Middle with brown pride.
at some point and time the Brown pride came through here And tagged this up.
You can see the "b" and the "p" Here.
And then you can see that it Looks like at some point and Time the sureños came back.
Then brown pride came back and Marked that out with the bp.
narrator: Nashville is Different than most cities In that no gang controls any one Hood.
it's so spread out that you May go one street and you've Got three known gangs here Basically laying claim to this One alley.
And then you may go a half block Over and see somebody else Laying claim.
narrator: And bp feels they Own the entire city.
narrator: Bp members love to Pack heat, from handguns To semi-automatics.
to be a gang, to be the bully Of the block, to be the Strong man, to control the Neighborhood, There's no way that a gang's Gonna do that Without a boatload of guns.
narrator: Tennessee has some Of the loosest gun laws of any State.
No permits or licenses are Required to purchase a shotgun, A rifle, or a handgun.
you can get 'em from a gun Show.
You don't even got to show Them no permit or nothing.
Say I can just come up to you And be like, "hey, you wanna buy This? Here.
" You give them the money and That's it.
narrator: The gang often Steals weapons while committing Its favorite crime: Home invasions.
these kind of guys will Frequently steal the guns In burglaries, so, you know, There's no real difficulty for Them to get guns in tennessee.
white people is the ones that Got the guns, especially the Older folks.
narrator: The nashville Pd's gang unit takes weapons From brown pride and their Rivals weekly.
you know, this is a sks With a folding stock.
You know, it's even got A bayonet on it.
This is a pretty good haul.
Forty cal.
narrator: The gang still Prefers handguns.
concealable, easy to carry, Pull out at a moment's notice, Spot a rival gang member, Whip out your automatic handgun, You know, kill 'em and go on.
anything.
A rusty gun, a regular gun, A good gun.
As long as it shoot.
narrator: Gordo's favorite? the 40.
It's justit's big man.
It's big.
40 glock.
It's big.
narrator: Bp loves to shoot Anyone or anything.
once I get started, I can't Stop, man.
It's a feeling, man.
It's just a feeling you get.
I don't know.
You just get a rush.
I get trigger happy.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person, For real.
narrator: Soon a gang war Would explode and brown pride Would need all its weapons to Defend itself.
you gotta retaliate.
You gotta doyou gotta get Them back.
Either way it went, it was gonna Get fáááááup.
narrator: Nashville, 2006.
The gang brown pride is ruling The music city's streets with an Iron fist.
Its founder, gordo, loved the Gangster lifestyle.
I mean, it's fun, you see? Everything's fun.
If that's what you chose, What happens happens.
Ain't no telling when the Sááá's gonna come back to me.
narrator: But brown pride was At war with ms-13.
Ms-13 leader oscar serrano, aka "diablin," had returned to the Streets of nashville, sneaking Back into the country after Being deported to el salvador.
His mission: End bp.
they wanted to be the most Dominant gang in the city, And in order to do that, It required a higher level of Violence.
narrator: Diablin had strict Orders from the bosses in El salvador.
ms-13 has a policy, a stated Policy, a vision statement that Is kill, rape, control.
And like any corporate board, They try to live up to their Policy.
narrator: Their target was Clear.
brown pride was a threat in Terms of numbers.
They were a large gang.
ms-q3 hated brown pride, So they wouldthey'd get out On the weekends and drive Around and try to find brown Pride members to shoot.
narrator: One young bp member And an associate were early Victims.
June 17, 2006.
Angel flores was driving with His friend, christian rios, in His tricked-out 1970 pontiac.
nice car, you know, had nice Rims on it.
It was black and tinted Windows, I mean it's, It's a very distinguishable car.
narrator: Angel's homeboy, Gordo, saw the two that night.
and we were driving, he was Driving, we seen him stop.
Saw each other, talked to each Other, like, "hey what's up? Where you going?" narrator: Around 9:00 p.
M.
, Angel and christian stopped At a red light on ocala drive, Waiting to turn.
Ms-13 was hunting that night, Led by their youngest and most Vicious killer, Manuel marquez, aka "morro.
" morro grabs the gun, runs Out of the car, runs up to the Passenger side and unloads A.
380 into the car.
his foot came off the The brake and the car rolled Across nolensville road Into a ditch where it stopped, Just off the road.
narrator: Angel and christian Were killed instantly.
Gordo drove by shortly Afterwards, assuming angel had Just gotten into a car wreck.
we're thinking, he must have Just, must have been fáááááup, Or took off running or stuff.
It's fáááááup.
That's why we started shooting At them more.
narrator: The war was Instantly kicked up to another Level.
they hated us.
We fááááááhate 'em.
Fááá'em.
narrator: Brown pride's Founder, gordo, was a prime Target for ms-13.
narrator: Gordo didn't care.
we shot at 'em back, seen 'em In clubs, beat 'em up.
It was just a going, going Situation.
narrator: Nashville's Nightclubs were a prime hunting Ground.
they would meet at a club, Realize that they were Outnumbered, call for back-up, And have people lying in wait in The bushes, And when they came out, They would ambush The brown pride guys.
every time we went to the Club, it was just a fight, and Then after that it was just Shoot outs in the parking lot Or anything.
narrator: Coco loco, one of The most popular hispanic Nightclubs, was among the Bloodiest.
it did seem like a weekend Didn't go by we weren't getting Called out to coco loco's on Some type of shooting.
narrator: But ms-13 was about To up the ante.
August 28th.
The tropicana nightclub.
Ms-13 was planning a massacre.
they were gonna take Assault rifles, shotguns, Pistols.
Five or six of 'em were gonna Go into tropicana on a busy Night, maybe a Saturday or a Sunday night or a Friday night.
narrator: Ms-13 didn't care Who got in the way.
they were gonna lock the door Behind them, and they were just Gonna massacre and kill Everybody that was in the Tropicana that night, And if the police showed up, They were gonna kill them too.
narrator: The gang didn't Know that the nashville pd Had a mole inside ms-13.
narrator: Manuel had decided The hit at the tropicana Was taking it much too far And told his police handler About it.
we felt the best avenue Was to make sure this didn't Happen and stop it the best way We could.
We didn't want any civilians to Be hurt.
narrator: Some of the weapons To be used for the tropicana hit Were stored in manuel's Vehicle.
The police staged a robbery.
we just put dark clothes on And took a crow bar and smashed A window and, you know, took out What we needed to take out, so That it would protect the Identity of our informant.
narrator: With the massacre Averted, the nashville pd and The atf decided it was time To stop the war.
To do so, they went after the More organized of the two gangs.
a well structured Organization is easier to Investigate than this loosely Structured organization.
The ms-13 was very structured.
narrator: In 2007, the Nashville police and the atf Arrested 14 ranking members of Ms-13 and charged them with Racketeering.
Brown pride was once again free To claim control of the streets.
they try to break us, but we Still here.
narrator: Nashville, Tennessee.
Brown pride had survived its First big rite of passage: A war with one of the nation's Most violent gangs, ms-13.
narrator: Bp still had Another enemy to contend with: The sureños.
a few brown pride members Actually did firebomb two Residence and one vehicle of One of a local sureño leaders, So that sort of got things Started.
narrator: Bp members like Spook got caught in the Crossfire.
narrator: By August 2007, He was ready to fight back.
they witnessed a couple of Cars make a couple of trips Around the neighborhood, and as They were actually leaving the Driveway, a derogatory remark Was made towards them.
at that point in time, they Decided to take o their Own hands and to do something About it so they began to Follow the vehicle.
narrator: The result was A high-speed chase through the Streets of nashville.
brown pride members began To shoot at the car, which They knew at that point was Driven by a sureño.
They fired one round at The driver, striking the driver.
narrator: He was killed Instantly.
Spook and two other brown pride Members were arrested.
He was charged with first degree Murder.
narrator: In January 2008, Deaderick "gordo" ramirez and Three other gang members Were pulled over by Officer kevin akin, After making an illegal turn.
When the officer searched the Car, he found a suspicious Combination of materials Suggestive of a kidnapping plot: Three rolls of duct tape, an Eye-hole cut ski mask, and more.
there was a pistol in plain View stuck behind the seat.
There was, I believe, about 462 Grams of marijuana.
In the trunk there was A sawed-off pump shotgun.
we weren't gonna kidnap Nobody or nothing.
They say we was but I mean, they found duct tape And ski masks, But it was cold outside.
narrator: Prosecutors charged Gordo under tennessee's newly Enacted "crooks with guns" law.
He was sentenced to a year in Prison on weapons plus Marijuana charges.
He was released in February 2009, but his troubles with the Law were just starting.
days after he gets released, His ex-wife gets killed.
It was a deliberate homicide.
narrator: Gordo's estranged Wife, melissa ann tyler ramirez, Was found murdered in her home.
now, is it related to his Release? We don't know.
It is an ongoing investigation.
narrator: Gordo says he's not Responsible.
Now under surveillance, He's trying to let gang life Take a back seat.
I mean, I'm just chillin'.
I mean, I'm gonna be banging all The time.
But I'm just After that sááá, I'm just laying low.
gordo's one of those people That, you know, we keep track Of him.
We know where he is.
We know where he's going.
narrator: Brown pride has had A hard time maintaining its Dominance on the streets.
there's no one there to Really call any shots.
There's no one there to To give any guidance to the Peewees.
Not that there was a lot of Structure to begin with, But even now, there's even less Structure.
narrator: Yet the gang has Always thrived on chaos.
They have come through the wars And are still kicking it.
there's a lot of people Within that gang community that Still respect gordo.
Whether or note's calling the Shots or not, I don't know, but The opportunity is there.
narrator: Gordo says he'll be Brown pride forever, but he has No illusions about what the Future could hold for him.
tomorrow? Ain't no telling if I'm here Tomorrow.
Ain't no telling when it's my Turn.
Like they say, "what goes Around, comes around.
" the brown pride that started Here, they're a young gang, And if they continue in the way That they're going, Recruiting these young boys, And these young boys Doing these crimes, that's just The ball that keeps rolling.
narrator: Authorities know The gang has the potential to Be a major threat.
I don't look forward to the Day when leadership takes Takes hold of that organization.
we still have brown pride.
We're always gonna have brown Pride.
I hope that they stay Unorganized like they are.
like I said, it's just A matter of time.
and they were just gonna Massacre and kill everybody.
narrator: One gang is taking On all comers narrator: And there's no Limit to their violence.
they would drive around Until they found somebody and They would start shooting At 'em.
almost a feeding frenzy Of blood violence.
narrator: They kill for Sport.
This is brown pride.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person.
For real.
narrator: Nashville, Tennessee.
Home of the grand ole opry.
This city is all about country Music.
great place to raise A family, laid-back, Southern charm.
narrator: And its values are True to its dixie roots.
yeah, to some extent, people Do expect to pull up on lower Broad and there be, you know, Horses tied up inout in front Of their bars and cowboys Singing and stuff, But whether you want to accept It or not, nashville's Becoming a bigger, more Metropolitan city every day.
narrator: In the '90s, The city began to change.
The auto industry came to town, Moving some of its largest Production plants to the area.
Many new immigrant families Followed the jobs to town.
But they brought something with Them.
Hardcore gangs.
we really noticed a large Increase of hispanic shootings That were taking place.
narrator: One of the biggest Hispanic gangs to emerge out of The new nashville Is a vicious set Brown pride.
we ain't no little báááááá Or nothing.
I love what I do.
I love what I represent.
narrator: Brown pride, or bp, Is notorious for beatings, Murders, robberies, And getting high.
we would have a beef with Anybody, whoever.
Black people.
White people.
Asian people.
Whatever.
We'll beat 'em up or hit 'em With a bat.
narrator: Deaderick ramirez, Aka "gordo," is one of the Gang's founders.
I mean it's fun, you see.
What I like about it is just You get, like, a thrill, just Going out there and doing some Chaos or breaking something Up or fáááááásomebody up.
narrator: 25-year-old gordo's Been on the front lines of Nashville's street war For more than a decade.
I been shot at a couple of Times, like, at least eight Times, but I've never been hit.
narrator: Gordo knows it's Kill or be killed, So brown pride is always on the Attack.
we'll go to a house, say When you, where somebody Live at, we'll go up there And just pull up and just blast In their house.
narrator: Gordo is always Prepared to protect his.
I have got my car burned.
I havethey done a drive-by At my mom's house.
I mean, it's the life I chose.
narrator: Brown pride Is a young gang.
But they're learning quick, By paying close attention to Rival gangs like vatos locos And the sureños, they've learned What it takes to make money.
These gangs also call Nashville's streets home.
And it doesn't matter the Circumstances when brown pride Sees its enemies.
one time we seen one of 'em, And homeboy start blasting At 'em.
He had his baby in his hand, And he justYou know, Dies with the baby.
Like I told ya, it's the life.
narrator: Brown pride Gangstas like Jonathan gutierrez, aka "spook," Live their life.
narrator: Spook currently Sits in the davidson county Criminal justice center, Awaiting trial on a first Degree murder charge.
The 18-year-old has been Fighting for the gang Since the fourth grade.
narrator: His family Moved to nashville From mexico in 1996.
They came to work the newly Created construction jobs.
narrator: The gang didn't Even exist when spook arrived.
narrator: Spook's older Brother was the first to join Bp, and he was eager to get in On the action.
if your brother's in brown Pride and your cousins are Brown pride and your uncle's a Brown pride, it's a no-brainer.
More than likely, you're Gonna be in brown pride.
narrator: Spook started Packing heat at age 10.
narrator: For spook and his Homeboys, crime and violence Are a way of life.
narrator: That game can Quickly turn deadly.
In nashville, gangs compete for Dominance and reputations are Important.
that was the goal, was just Going out there and putting our Name out there.
narrator: To build up its Rep, brown pride willingly went To war with the most feared Gang in the world.
if you could organize Sociopaths, you would get ms-13.
I mean, they're strong.
Their reputation is evil.
narrator: Summer 2006: Nashville's streets were about To run deep with blood.
June 17th.
Brown pride's angel flores and His friend, christian rios, Were out cruising.
Angel had built a lucrative Life as a drug dealer and he Was all about "the green.
" narrator: Angel was known for His black 1970 pontiac muscle Car and for being reckless With a gun.
he would get in fights or Shoot at the people and all Kinds of sááá.
narrator: Some of those Bullets were aimed at rivals From the mighty Mara salvatrucha, or ms-13.
angel had had problems with The ms-13 in the past.
There'd been some bullets Thrown at each other in Drive-bys, at houses, or Whatever.
There was some bad blood Between angel and the ms-13.
narrator: At 9:00 p.
M.
, Five ms-13 members were Driving on nolensville road With sinister intentions.
In the car was a.
380 Semiautomatic pistol.
ms went out hunting For angel.
They went out hunting for him.
narrator: One of the ms-13 Members in the car was 17-year-old manuel marquez, aka "morro.
" He was young and had a nasty Reputation on the streets.
the gang had the thing, The more violence you did, The higherthat's how you got Your status.
Morro had a lot of respect Because of the acts of violence That he did.
he wanted to be known as One of the baddest people In ms-13.
narrator: It wasn't long Before ms-13 spotted angel's Infamous ride.
they see this car, morro Recognizes the guy as a member Of brown pride.
narrator: After trailing the Black pontiac for a few blocks, Ms-13 picked their moment to Strike.
narrator: Angel stopped At a busy intersection.
as angel came up to Nolensville road on ocala It's a red light.
They're stopped, minding their Own business and then, from Behind, another car full of Ms-13 pulls up, stops.
narrator: Morro took the gun Out and marched up to the Passenger side window.
When angel and christian looked Over, morro leaned in to give Them a message.
you tell 'em la mara Salvatrucha And then you shoot 'em.
narrator: The brown pride Members had no idea what Happened.
I think he shot seven or Eight times.
if there was any knowledge of What was about to happen, It was quickly muffled by The gunshots.
it's fáááááup.
I mean, who did this sááá? narrator: Nashville, Tennessee: The entertainment capital of The south.
But the city where elvis Recorded some of his biggest Hits has a problem.
It's also home to a large Homegrown hispanic gang: Brown pride.
narrator: The gang now runs Wild on these once-pristine Streets.
Nashville was always Considered a small town With little racial divide.
it was mainly caucasians And african-americans.
There was not a whole lot of Cultural diversity in nashville.
narrator: That changed in 1990, when saturn moved to town.
Bridgestone/firestone followed.
Nissan soon built their biggest North american factory nearby.
the population was boomin' Because business was boomin'.
narrator: Scores of Medical-related businesses also Flooded the city as nashville Became the heart of the Nation's healthcare industry.
At the same time, demand for Blue collar workers to Handle the huge increase In construction jobs exploded.
we saw a lot of hispanics Moving in to the south part of County, asians moving in, And you just don'tthe city Changed, you know? narrator: Within a decade, Nearly 250,000 new residents Moved to the nashville area, Increasing the population By 25%.
Along with the growth Came gangs of all kinds.
I think any city that goes Through the way nashville has Grown and started to thrive, There's always gonna be Growing pains.
narrator: In 1998, at the Height of the city's building Boom, deaderick "gordo" ramirez Moved to nashville with his mom.
The small family relocated From houston, texas, looking For work.
it's a lot different where, In texas, basically, where I was At, you see all hispanics, That's all you see.
You come up here, and you see Nothing but white people.
No hispanics out here.
narrator: The 14-year-old Started to hang out only with Fellow mexicans.
In the beginning, it wasn't About being in a gang.
in high school, we start Skipping school together, so it Was just skipping and acting Getting high, getting fáááááup.
then the next thing you know, They started getting involved In some criminal activity Together.
narrator: Gordo and his crew Started to clash with other Upstart gangs Like the vatos locos.
he was getting picked on by Other gang members and Other gangs.
He had to make a choice either To stand up for yourself or kind Of tuck your tail and run.
narrator: Running wasn't an Option, and gordo decided to Call his gang brown pride, A d to his mexican heritage.
but I ain't gonna back down.
Might whoop my ass, but sááá, I ain't fáááááwith it.
I ain't no báááá.
narrator: Spook joined the Gang when he was just 10 years Old as a pee-wee.
Brown pride taught him about Life on the streets.
narrator: The gang was small, Dangerous and growing quickly.
we just start, you know, Putting in work, Do our crazy sááá.
Try to put a name for ourselves.
it began to be obvious to Them that, "hey you know, We have more numbers now.
We can probably start defending Ourselves, and also take an Aggression toward other people As well.
" narrator: The gang was faced With a threat: The mexican gang sureños.
they were getting pretty bad.
There were a lot of fights at The fair, gunshots, people Getting shot.
the late '90s into the Mid-2000s, it was just type of A running feud because you're A sureño and I'm a brown pride Member and we don't like Each other.
narrator: The sureños flew A blue flag.
Bp's was brown.
And that was enough reason to Cause bloodshed.
there's not a philosophical Difference between the two.
And it's just a dislike of what Color flag you have.
narrator: But while the Mexican gangs were just trying To make a name for themselves, There was a much more evil group To contend with: Ms-13.
I don't know that there's a Gang in america that works like Ms-13 does.
they live by intimidation, Fear, assault, and murder.
That's their stock in trade.
That's their daily bread.
narrator: Ms-13's origins are In el salvador and aims much of Its violence at the mexican Gangs.
it's like the worst insult in The world to call someone from El salvador a mexican, you know? And they take offense to that.
it was such a rivalry, such a Hatred and I think a lot of the Crimes committed by ms was just Hatred for mexicans.
I, you know, I didn't understand It.
they figure they're in a Whole different race, like, They're different thanthan us.
narrator: The stage was set For battle.
The young upstart bp against The powerhouse ms-13.
But just as the war was Starting, ms-13 lost its leader.
Oscar serrano, aka "diablin," Was convicted and sent to Prison for attempted murder.
It devastated the gang.
when he got locked up, most Of the ms-13 members left Because that leadership was Gone.
narrator: Ms 13 was left with Just a handful of members, While brown pride's membership Exploded.
Bp quickly became nashville's Largest hispanic gang.
brown pride was, yeah, A lot bigger.
narrator: Vastly outnumbered, Ms-13's remaining members took A drastic step: Joining their rival, The sureños.
they kind of banded together For, you know, strength and Solidarity.
narrator: Manuel asked to Have his identity concealed.
narrator: A former member of Ms-13, manuel became A police informant.
narrator: Brown pride was not Fazed and was ready to fight.
narrator: In 2004, ms-13 Shot-caller diablin was Deported to el salvador after Serving his prison sentence.
He immediately met with his Ms superiors.
Their message End brown pride in nashville.
diablin was coming back with First word from el salvador and Basically saying, "we need to go Out and kill these chavalas.
narrator: In 2005, ms-13 took The battle to the streets.
these guys were just killin' To be killin', shootin' to be Shootin'.
narrator: And brown pride was In the cross hairs.
they went on what we called Brown pride hunts.
yeah.
narrator: Ms-13 went after Anyone who resembled Own pride, Even ups drivers.
one individual ms member was Willing and thinking about Shooting at a person because They were in a ups uniform.
he was so incensed by it, He thought it was brown pride And he wanted to retaliate, take Action against this ups driver And somebody had to tell him, "no, that's not That's not brown pride.
That's not a chavala.
That's a delivery guy.
" narrator: For brown pride, The war would be a rite of Passage, a test, and it was Either kill or be killed.
narrator: Nashville, The home of country music's Hall of fame, Is being overrun by gangs.
they kill, and there's gonna Be a revenge shooting.
Then after the revenge shooting, There's another murder.
Then everybody's got to go to The mattresses and get their Guns, 'cause, what, we're gonna Have a bigger gang murder.
narrator: In the midst of the Battle is a homegrown gang, Brown pride.
Fighting, shooting, tagging, Creating chaos.
just kick it And get fáááááup and just, That was basically it.
It was almost an everyday thing, Especially on the weekends.
narrator: The gang's founding Members tell a simple story About how they decided on their Name.
it was just a whole pride Full of brown people.
narrator: Brown pride has no Real hierarchy, And silence is their only code.
without any structure, it's Kind of like mass chaos.
There's, there's three or four Going to do their own thing Here.
There's five or six that go do Their own thing there.
narrator: The lack of Structure means no meetings and No monthly dues.
narrator: Bp's founder gordo Says he likes the chaotic nature Because it keeps cops guessing.
cops don't know nothing, man.
They assume.
That's the thing.
They assume, but they don't Know sááá.
narrator: Members of brown Pride don't plan to live long.
They just aim to bang as long As they can.
everything's fun.
Even if you getI mean, you Might get beat up one time, you Might get beat up two times.
You mightit's things that Happen.
You see what I'm saying? narrator: Brown pride Represents with hand signs.
that's how we throw it up.
narrator: They also mark Their allegiance with ink, Including the legendary tattoo Designed by chicano artist Freddy negrete.
just a mexican thing.
Smile now, cry later.
narrator: The gang also tags All the territory it claims.
you'll see the brown pride 2-1-8 or 2-18.
narrator: Using the spanish Alphabet, the number 2 Represents the letter "b," While the number 18 matches up With the letter "p.
" bp 218.
Then we've got 218 down the Middle with brown pride.
at some point and time the Brown pride came through here And tagged this up.
You can see the "b" and the "p" Here.
And then you can see that it Looks like at some point and Time the sureños came back.
Then brown pride came back and Marked that out with the bp.
narrator: Nashville is Different than most cities In that no gang controls any one Hood.
it's so spread out that you May go one street and you've Got three known gangs here Basically laying claim to this One alley.
And then you may go a half block Over and see somebody else Laying claim.
narrator: And bp feels they Own the entire city.
narrator: Bp members love to Pack heat, from handguns To semi-automatics.
to be a gang, to be the bully Of the block, to be the Strong man, to control the Neighborhood, There's no way that a gang's Gonna do that Without a boatload of guns.
narrator: Tennessee has some Of the loosest gun laws of any State.
No permits or licenses are Required to purchase a shotgun, A rifle, or a handgun.
you can get 'em from a gun Show.
You don't even got to show Them no permit or nothing.
Say I can just come up to you And be like, "hey, you wanna buy This? Here.
" You give them the money and That's it.
narrator: The gang often Steals weapons while committing Its favorite crime: Home invasions.
these kind of guys will Frequently steal the guns In burglaries, so, you know, There's no real difficulty for Them to get guns in tennessee.
white people is the ones that Got the guns, especially the Older folks.
narrator: The nashville Pd's gang unit takes weapons From brown pride and their Rivals weekly.
you know, this is a sks With a folding stock.
You know, it's even got A bayonet on it.
This is a pretty good haul.
Forty cal.
narrator: The gang still Prefers handguns.
concealable, easy to carry, Pull out at a moment's notice, Spot a rival gang member, Whip out your automatic handgun, You know, kill 'em and go on.
anything.
A rusty gun, a regular gun, A good gun.
As long as it shoot.
narrator: Gordo's favorite? the 40.
It's justit's big man.
It's big.
40 glock.
It's big.
narrator: Bp loves to shoot Anyone or anything.
once I get started, I can't Stop, man.
It's a feeling, man.
It's just a feeling you get.
I don't know.
You just get a rush.
I get trigger happy.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person, For real.
narrator: Soon a gang war Would explode and brown pride Would need all its weapons to Defend itself.
you gotta retaliate.
You gotta doyou gotta get Them back.
Either way it went, it was gonna Get fáááááup.
narrator: Nashville, 2006.
The gang brown pride is ruling The music city's streets with an Iron fist.
Its founder, gordo, loved the Gangster lifestyle.
I mean, it's fun, you see? Everything's fun.
If that's what you chose, What happens happens.
Ain't no telling when the Sááá's gonna come back to me.
narrator: But brown pride was At war with ms-13.
Ms-13 leader oscar serrano, aka "diablin," had returned to the Streets of nashville, sneaking Back into the country after Being deported to el salvador.
His mission: End bp.
they wanted to be the most Dominant gang in the city, And in order to do that, It required a higher level of Violence.
narrator: Diablin had strict Orders from the bosses in El salvador.
ms-13 has a policy, a stated Policy, a vision statement that Is kill, rape, control.
And like any corporate board, They try to live up to their Policy.
narrator: Their target was Clear.
brown pride was a threat in Terms of numbers.
They were a large gang.
ms-q3 hated brown pride, So they wouldthey'd get out On the weekends and drive Around and try to find brown Pride members to shoot.
narrator: One young bp member And an associate were early Victims.
June 17, 2006.
Angel flores was driving with His friend, christian rios, in His tricked-out 1970 pontiac.
nice car, you know, had nice Rims on it.
It was black and tinted Windows, I mean it's, It's a very distinguishable car.
narrator: Angel's homeboy, Gordo, saw the two that night.
and we were driving, he was Driving, we seen him stop.
Saw each other, talked to each Other, like, "hey what's up? Where you going?" narrator: Around 9:00 p.
M.
, Angel and christian stopped At a red light on ocala drive, Waiting to turn.
Ms-13 was hunting that night, Led by their youngest and most Vicious killer, Manuel marquez, aka "morro.
" morro grabs the gun, runs Out of the car, runs up to the Passenger side and unloads A.
380 into the car.
his foot came off the The brake and the car rolled Across nolensville road Into a ditch where it stopped, Just off the road.
narrator: Angel and christian Were killed instantly.
Gordo drove by shortly Afterwards, assuming angel had Just gotten into a car wreck.
we're thinking, he must have Just, must have been fáááááup, Or took off running or stuff.
It's fáááááup.
That's why we started shooting At them more.
narrator: The war was Instantly kicked up to another Level.
they hated us.
We fááááááhate 'em.
Fááá'em.
narrator: Brown pride's Founder, gordo, was a prime Target for ms-13.
narrator: Gordo didn't care.
we shot at 'em back, seen 'em In clubs, beat 'em up.
It was just a going, going Situation.
narrator: Nashville's Nightclubs were a prime hunting Ground.
they would meet at a club, Realize that they were Outnumbered, call for back-up, And have people lying in wait in The bushes, And when they came out, They would ambush The brown pride guys.
every time we went to the Club, it was just a fight, and Then after that it was just Shoot outs in the parking lot Or anything.
narrator: Coco loco, one of The most popular hispanic Nightclubs, was among the Bloodiest.
it did seem like a weekend Didn't go by we weren't getting Called out to coco loco's on Some type of shooting.
narrator: But ms-13 was about To up the ante.
August 28th.
The tropicana nightclub.
Ms-13 was planning a massacre.
they were gonna take Assault rifles, shotguns, Pistols.
Five or six of 'em were gonna Go into tropicana on a busy Night, maybe a Saturday or a Sunday night or a Friday night.
narrator: Ms-13 didn't care Who got in the way.
they were gonna lock the door Behind them, and they were just Gonna massacre and kill Everybody that was in the Tropicana that night, And if the police showed up, They were gonna kill them too.
narrator: The gang didn't Know that the nashville pd Had a mole inside ms-13.
narrator: Manuel had decided The hit at the tropicana Was taking it much too far And told his police handler About it.
we felt the best avenue Was to make sure this didn't Happen and stop it the best way We could.
We didn't want any civilians to Be hurt.
narrator: Some of the weapons To be used for the tropicana hit Were stored in manuel's Vehicle.
The police staged a robbery.
we just put dark clothes on And took a crow bar and smashed A window and, you know, took out What we needed to take out, so That it would protect the Identity of our informant.
narrator: With the massacre Averted, the nashville pd and The atf decided it was time To stop the war.
To do so, they went after the More organized of the two gangs.
a well structured Organization is easier to Investigate than this loosely Structured organization.
The ms-13 was very structured.
narrator: In 2007, the Nashville police and the atf Arrested 14 ranking members of Ms-13 and charged them with Racketeering.
Brown pride was once again free To claim control of the streets.
they try to break us, but we Still here.
narrator: Nashville, Tennessee.
Brown pride had survived its First big rite of passage: A war with one of the nation's Most violent gangs, ms-13.
narrator: Bp still had Another enemy to contend with: The sureños.
a few brown pride members Actually did firebomb two Residence and one vehicle of One of a local sureño leaders, So that sort of got things Started.
narrator: Bp members like Spook got caught in the Crossfire.
narrator: By August 2007, He was ready to fight back.
they witnessed a couple of Cars make a couple of trips Around the neighborhood, and as They were actually leaving the Driveway, a derogatory remark Was made towards them.
at that point in time, they Decided to take o their Own hands and to do something About it so they began to Follow the vehicle.
narrator: The result was A high-speed chase through the Streets of nashville.
brown pride members began To shoot at the car, which They knew at that point was Driven by a sureño.
They fired one round at The driver, striking the driver.
narrator: He was killed Instantly.
Spook and two other brown pride Members were arrested.
He was charged with first degree Murder.
narrator: In January 2008, Deaderick "gordo" ramirez and Three other gang members Were pulled over by Officer kevin akin, After making an illegal turn.
When the officer searched the Car, he found a suspicious Combination of materials Suggestive of a kidnapping plot: Three rolls of duct tape, an Eye-hole cut ski mask, and more.
there was a pistol in plain View stuck behind the seat.
There was, I believe, about 462 Grams of marijuana.
In the trunk there was A sawed-off pump shotgun.
we weren't gonna kidnap Nobody or nothing.
They say we was but I mean, they found duct tape And ski masks, But it was cold outside.
narrator: Prosecutors charged Gordo under tennessee's newly Enacted "crooks with guns" law.
He was sentenced to a year in Prison on weapons plus Marijuana charges.
He was released in February 2009, but his troubles with the Law were just starting.
days after he gets released, His ex-wife gets killed.
It was a deliberate homicide.
narrator: Gordo's estranged Wife, melissa ann tyler ramirez, Was found murdered in her home.
now, is it related to his Release? We don't know.
It is an ongoing investigation.
narrator: Gordo says he's not Responsible.
Now under surveillance, He's trying to let gang life Take a back seat.
I mean, I'm just chillin'.
I mean, I'm gonna be banging all The time.
But I'm just After that sááá, I'm just laying low.
gordo's one of those people That, you know, we keep track Of him.
We know where he is.
We know where he's going.
narrator: Brown pride has had A hard time maintaining its Dominance on the streets.
there's no one there to Really call any shots.
There's no one there to To give any guidance to the Peewees.
Not that there was a lot of Structure to begin with, But even now, there's even less Structure.
narrator: Yet the gang has Always thrived on chaos.
They have come through the wars And are still kicking it.
there's a lot of people Within that gang community that Still respect gordo.
Whether or note's calling the Shots or not, I don't know, but The opportunity is there.
narrator: Gordo says he'll be Brown pride forever, but he has No illusions about what the Future could hold for him.
tomorrow? Ain't no telling if I'm here Tomorrow.
Ain't no telling when it's my Turn.
Like they say, "what goes Around, comes around.
" the brown pride that started Here, they're a young gang, And if they continue in the way That they're going, Recruiting these young boys, And these young boys Doing these crimes, that's just The ball that keeps rolling.
narrator: Authorities know The gang has the potential to Be a major threat.
I don't look forward to the Day when leadership takes Takes hold of that organization.
we still have brown pride.
We're always gonna have brown Pride.
I hope that they stay Unorganized like they are.
like I said, it's just A matter of time.