Scissor Sisters
July 28, 2026
In March 2005, body parts were found in an Irish canal that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the infamous Scissor Sisters.
Bloods
"Crip killer till my casket drop"
Formed in the 1970’s in the city of Los Angeles, the Bloods street gang have become one of the strongest and most feared African-American organized criminal gangs in America, spreading from the West Coast to other cities. The gang is heavily involved in narcotics, burglary, drive-by shootings and the murder of their rivals.
The Bloods were born out of a fear of the hated Crips, an equally violent street gang, who grew in number during the 1960’s to dominate the streets of L.A. The Bloods are associated with Suge Knight and Death Row Records, and count among their membership a number of celebrities such as rapper Tupac Shakur and actor Lloyd Avery II, who both died because of their involvement with the Bloods gang.
The Birth of the Bloods
In California, the street gangs are a way of life, with their own culture and rules, especially in the dangerous city of L.A., where many gangs such as the Crips, Nortenos, Nazi Lowriders, Surenos and Bloods all battle one another for supremacy of the neighborhoods. These gangs have an almost universally negative effect on these neighborhoods, and none more so than the Bloods, a violent gang that has dominated the streets of L.A. for decades.
The founding of the Bloods street gang can be traced to the Summer of 1972, when the murder of a gang banger by the Crips ingnited an already explosive street war. At that time the blue bandana wearing Crips gang had grown in number to such an extent that no other L.A. street gang could offer resistance to their aggressive expansion under Raymond Washington and Stanley “Tookie” Williams.
Two of the later Bloods sets, or sub-factions was established by Centennial High School students Sylvester Scott and Benson Owens, who were attacked by Washington and other Crips members. Scott went on to found the Pirus street gang, while Owns formed the West Piru gang. By 1972, several of these smaller gangs felt victimized by the Crips due to their escalating attacks.
When in the Summer of 1973, a member of the L.A Brims, a westside independent gang, was shot and killed by a Crip after a confrontation, several gangs began co-operating. As the Compton Crips outnumbered them, the L.A. Brims turned to three other gangs for assistance, the Piru Street Boys, the Denver Lanes and the Lueders Park Hustlers.
Before these gangs went to war against the Crips, they called a meeting in Piru Street in Compton and there agreed to formed into a larger gang. This was how the Bloods came to be formed. In order to distinguish themselves from the Crips, the Bloods decided to wear red hats, bandanas and other clothing.
According to blood legend, the red symbolizes the blood they’ve shed, the white in the red symbolizes the celestial bodies, stars or heaven and the black in the red symbolizes the bangers as black people. In this way, the gangs were easily identifiable to their allies, as well as their enemies. The war of the colors had begun.
Of the four founding gangs of the Bloods, the Piru Street Boys would eventually grow with other sub-sets forming such as the Avenue Piru Gang, the Westside Pirus, the Cedar Block Piru Bloods and the notorious Mob Piru Bloods. The L.A. Brims equally fragmented into other sets, such as the Fruit Town Brims, the Harvard Park Brims and Van Ness Gangster Brims, who are all situated in the Westside of Compton and L.A. under the Brim Alliance.
The Van Ness Gangsters went on to become the Van Ness Gangster Brims and operate on the Westside of South L.A., and the original Green Jackets formed into the Bounty Hunter Bloods, who fight for control of the Eastside of the Watts district of South L.A. The Lueders Park Hustlers eventually became the Lueders Park Pirus, and settled on the Eastside of Compton, while the Denver Lanes became the Denver Lane Bloods of the Westside of South Los Angeles.
The Bloods eventually settled in New Jersey as the Double ii Bloods, and also San Diego, where they established many sets such as the Skyline Pirus, the Parkside Pirus and the O’Farrel Park Bankster Bloods. The Bloods and Piru sets are mostly interchangeable, and although they mainly fight the Crips, they can often fight each other.
Bloods vs. Crips
In the years since their founding, the Bloods have grown into one of the largest L.A. street gangs, with a membership of between approximately 15,000 and 20,000 active in 123 cities and in 33 U.S. states. Originally outnumbered by their Crip rivals three-to-one, they are now located in many areas of L.A, including the Westside of L.A and Eastside of Compton, as well as Inglewood where the Piru Bloods are dominant, and the Watts district where many Bloods and Pirus sets are active.
The primary difference to between the Bloods and their rival Crips gangs comes down to territory. The two opposing sides are essentially the same, but have developed a deep rooted rivalry that is more significant than just ideology or differences in musical tastes. The two gangs have developed a profound hatred of one another, that can be seen in their adopted culture.
The Bloods often display a 5-pointed star, while the Crips use a 6-pointed star. In response, the Bloods have a popular saying among their members. “Five popping, six dropping, Crip killer till my casket drop, five alive, six must die, rest in peace to OG ty.” The meaning being Bloods “poppin” (shooting) while the Crips are “droppin” (dying).
The Bloods often display a hand sign using the thumb and fingers to spell out the word Blood, while the Crips have developed a distinctive dance movement known as the “Crip Walk,” or “C-Walk”. Bloods often refer to themselves as “Crip killer,” and will often avoid using the letter “C” in their words, and replacing it with a “B,” such as referring to Compton as Bompton.
Some Bloods sets have put aside their rivalry with Crip sub-sets, such as the Bounty Hunter Bloods in Watts, who support the local Crips set the PJ Watts Crips against their rivals the Grape Street Crips, who have feuded for many years. Other Bloods sets fight against one another, such as the Bloodstone Villains and 92 Be-Bop Watts Bloods who fight in the Eastside of South L.A., and the Tree Top Piru Bloods of Compton and the Fruit Town and 145 Neighbourhood Pirus.
Bloods graffiti, used to show ownership of their claimed territory, can often include Crip gang symbols drawn upside down, which is meant as an insult. Bloods member often refer to each other as “blood,” and proudly wear their red gang colors to show their allegiance to other Bloods, and warn rivals such as the Crips or Aryan Brotherhood.
The East Coast vs. West Coast
During the 1990’s, the Bloods and Crips were involved in the growing feud between the East Coast and West Coast rappers that had emerged during the Hip Hop scene. When Death Row Records was founded by Dr. Dre, D.O.C. and Suge Knight, their gang affiliations had significant influence over the progression of the music industry.
Knight was a poster boy for gangbanging, and openly began boasting about his affiliation with the Mob Piru Bloods, by opening a nightclub in Las Vegas called Club 662, so named because the numbers spelled out MOB on telephone keypads, MOB standing for Member of Bloods, he made no bones about his Blood membership.
He also forged alliances with other Blood sets, and began hiring members of the Lueders Park Pirus as staff/security for his entertainment label Death Row Records. He used his gang affiliations to muscle journalists and industry insiders, even musicians. Suge Knight epitomised what it was to be a Blood gangbanger who earned money through hip-hop.
Suge Knight developed a feud with the East Coast rapper and owner of Bad Boys Records, Sean “Puffy” Combs, and his mentor Notorious B.I.G. Combs allegedly had affiliations with Soutside Crips, and this feud eventually escalated, resulting in the murders of both Notorious B.I.G. and Knight’s star rapper at Death Row, Tupac Shakur, who were both gunned down during the East Coast vs. West Coast feud.
This feud was based around rappers using the lyrics of their songs to insult and publicly humiliate their rivals, who in turn, would release songs aimed at getting their own revenge. The cycle would often continue, and sometimes ended in bloodshed, with rappers being gunned down as a result of their musical feuds, that had been exacerbated through the involvement of rival gang affiliations.
Many other rappers and R&B stars have links to L.A. gangs. Rappers Bloody Mary and Redrum 781 are associated with the Inglewood Pirus/Bloods, and rappers Squeak Ru and 2Eleven are reported members of the Inglewood Neighbourhood Pirus from the Westside of Inglewood. Even rapper Cardi B has been linked to the Bloods, while famed rapper Snoog Dogg has reported links to the Bloods hated enemy the Crips.
The Bloods attract not only rappers and Hip Hop stars to the gang lifestyle, but also actors, such as the Boyz n’ the Hood actor Lloyd Avery II, who portrayed a Blood gang banger in that film, then went on to join the Black P Stones set in real life. Avery would eventually be incarcerated for killing two drug dealers, and was himself murdered in his prison cell by Kevin Roby, his Satan worshipping cell mate.
The Bloods Hierarchy
The Bloods can be considered an umbrella terms for a group of smaller loosely associated street gangs, known as “sets,” who form part of the larger Bloods organization. With no overall leader, each set has its own leader who acts independently from each other. Each set has it own hierachical ranking system, with defined positions for each of its members, that can be likened to an almost paramilitary structure.
A set leader is often an older members with a extensive criminal record, known as an “OG,” or “Original Gangster”. This OG will maintain control of his set through his own violent reputation. Respect also plays a large role in who leads and who follows, and those OG’s who have earned respect through criminals acts, are often the most ruthless and violent members who have experienced much of the Bloods vs. Crips conflict.
A triple OG is often a first generation gang-banger who has seen much and survived the fighting on the streets during the 1970’s and 80’s. He will most likely have served prison sentences for selling drugs, and will be one of the most respected and venerated members of the gang. Earning the position of “Triple OG” is the highest honour bestowed by the gang.
Below this is a double OG, a second or third generation Blood who has served the gang on the streets and through the various inter-gang fighting and wars. He too will have been in prison and is steeped in gang culture, and is familiar with all the gang politics and rivalries. If he survives to an older age, he will be a prime candidate for a triple OG.
The OG’s are next in the hierarchy, and will include an gangster from the 1980’s or early years who is still standing. He will be respected as an OG for this singular impressive feat, and even those who leave the gang behind to work in the community or to better themselves are still considered respected OG’s.
The soldiers form the bulk of the gang, and follow orders from the most senior amongst them, who is known as a clique leader. The soldiers serve as the muscle and carry out any criminals acts on behalf of the gang. A soldier will have proved his worth by going to prison for the Bloods and surviving, making him dangerous and willing to do whatever is necessary on behalf of the gang.
This is known as “putting in the work,” and when he returns to the gang, he has earned the admiration and respect of his peers. Those who rise to the position of clique leader call the shots of his particular cell, many of which make up a set, or sub-faction of the Bloods. Clique leaders report directly to OG’s, are held accountable for following and issuing orders, and making sure the gang business is handled.
The lowest level within the gang is clique member, who is essentially a hanger-on or “wannabe,” who has recently joined the gang but is yet to “pay his dues” by committing acts of violence or taking a charge and going to prison for the gang. These members are usually young teenagers or men in their early 20’s, who are at the bottom rung of the gang and can only go one way to rise to the top.
There are female members of the gang, however they tend to be associates who are relatives of gang members, and used by them to carry guns, drugs or as lookouts and prostitutes to earn money for the gang. The Bloods will recruits heavily from school-aged African-American children, indoctrinating them into Blood and gang culture from a young age.
Bloods Criminal Activity
With the introduction of crack in the 1980’s, the Bloods vs. Crips war intensified and as more and more drugs hit the scene, it became even fiercer. With millions of dollars to be made from selling cocaine, the gangs soon adapted and became complex criminal organizations that controlled retail drugs corners.
Bloods members often travelled out of town to sell drugs, and protected their own territories, often exacting revenge on anyone who trespassed. Soon enough the gang spread out to other cities, and eventually whole Blood sets were established from a single L.A. gang member who turned the neighborhoods red.
“I’m a second generation Damu (Blood),” said OG Clifford “Spud” Johnson. “I was affiliated heavily with those wicked streets of Inglewood growing up as a teenager. I got caught up in the gang lifestyle and drug dealing (crack) in the early 1980’s. That in turn made me very aggressive towards getting money.”
“Hungry for real. I ended up in Oklahoma City in 1992 selling drugs and made that city mu home after meeting the mother of my children. I was arrested by the FBI in 1999 and received a 210-month sentence for distribution of 13.5 kilos of crack. I’m from 111 Street Center Park Bloods (CPB).”
“We were originally a branch of the Inglewood Family Gangsters (IFG) until our OG homies decided we should stand on our own and make the name CPB mean something without the help of our originators. Inglewood has always been dominated by Damus. My set, CPB, is one of the smaller sets in Inglewood, yet still one of the most dangerous,” he said.
“I love my hood and I will forever be linked to the set, but my life is headed in a different direction now.” With younger members of Blood sets usually taking orders from their Clique leaders, who in turn are given orders by their OG superiors, it tends of protect higher ranking members from exposure at street level.
These younger clique members or soldiers carry out the shootings, robberies, assaults and drug dealing at the behest of the OG’s. This often has the effect of ensuring the younger members treat their OG’s with respect and even awe, while aspiring to rise in the ranks so that one day they too can give orders and wield such power.
Blood members control stash houses, outdoor drug markets and other associated locations, as well as shooting galleries, crack dens and places where prostitution is carried out. These communities often have high levels of heorin and cocaine addiction. These drug operations are carried out like legitimate businesses operate, with drug dealers offering discounts to their best customers.
If a rival gang encroaches on their territory, the entire set is often alerted by a lookout, and every member is called to arms to push out the invaders. This use of force is two-fold. Firstly to protect their investment in the area, and secondly to assert their power, and to show other gangs that they are not be messed with.
Owing to pressure from law enforcement, gun battles between Crip and Blood rivals are less frequent than during the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. However they do still occur, and when they do they are bloody and violent owing to the use of automatic weapons, that often result in many casualties of both wounded and dead on both sides.
Although the gang wars of yesteryear are long gone, the drug warfare on the streets of L.A. continues, albeit on a diminished scale. The rivalry between the Crips and Bloods continues, as fierce as it was when the two sides first took aim at one another, and with neither side looking to form a ceasefire with their hated enemy, the loss of life will continue to rise.
Written by Nucleus
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