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| Baltimore's uprising: rival gangs push for peace after Freddie Gray's death | Baltimore's uprising: rival gangs push for peace after Freddie Gray's death |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| On 27 April 2015, as police cars burned and pharmacies were looted, Bloods and Crips helped usher civilians and journalists to safety. They had formed a truce, they said, to help save their communities. | On 27 April 2015, as police cars burned and pharmacies were looted, Bloods and Crips helped usher civilians and journalists to safety. They had formed a truce, they said, to help save their communities. |
| Over the next week, as riot police lined the streets, some were more afraid of cops than they were of Bloods or Crips. The gangsters were appearing on national television, meeting with politicians, and working with community organizations. | Over the next week, as riot police lined the streets, some were more afraid of cops than they were of Bloods or Crips. The gangsters were appearing on national television, meeting with politicians, and working with community organizations. |
| As the city eased back into a new normal that included a record of 344 homicides in a city of just 625,000, some of these gangsters say they were inspired by the truce during this uprising to try and stop the killings. | As the city eased back into a new normal that included a record of 344 homicides in a city of just 625,000, some of these gangsters say they were inspired by the truce during this uprising to try and stop the killings. |
| “It’s based around police. People stop focusing on killing each other and focusing on the real problem – it’s the police, and it’s not just in Baltimore, it’s everywhere else. You got police actually literally gunning us down,” said a Blood, Robert Wolfe, who goes by Big Wolfe. | “It’s based around police. People stop focusing on killing each other and focusing on the real problem – it’s the police, and it’s not just in Baltimore, it’s everywhere else. You got police actually literally gunning us down,” said a Blood, Robert Wolfe, who goes by Big Wolfe. |
| Related: The Freddie Gray election: death fuels call for 'uprising' at Baltimore polls | Related: The Freddie Gray election: death fuels call for 'uprising' at Baltimore polls |
| Baltimore police have said the gang truce was actually formed to kill officers, and that the looting made homicides worse by injecting a new source of drugs into the community. | Baltimore police have said the gang truce was actually formed to kill officers, and that the looting made homicides worse by injecting a new source of drugs into the community. |
| But gangsters will tell you otherwise. A year after Gray’s death, they say they are still using the truce formed that day to decrease violence. | But gangsters will tell you otherwise. A year after Gray’s death, they say they are still using the truce formed that day to decrease violence. |
| “I gotta stay in tune with the streets. I’m a Blood I’ll be a Blood until the day I die,” said Wolfe. “I don’t gang-bang no more. I promote something different, I promote peace. And right now it’s not a lot of peace in Baltimore.” | |
| Wolfe and activist Davon Neverdon, who goes by the name PFK Boom, formed a group called “300 Gangstas” to reach the most dangerous people in the city. The name is a reference to the movie 300 – “The gangstas are the Spartans and the police are Persians,” Wolfe said – and a riff on the local 300 Man March, a city movement to combat the violence in Baltimore’s streets, which Wolfe dismisses as ineffective “police shit”. | Wolfe and activist Davon Neverdon, who goes by the name PFK Boom, formed a group called “300 Gangstas” to reach the most dangerous people in the city. The name is a reference to the movie 300 – “The gangstas are the Spartans and the police are Persians,” Wolfe said – and a riff on the local 300 Man March, a city movement to combat the violence in Baltimore’s streets, which Wolfe dismisses as ineffective “police shit”. |
| Wolfe’s vision, though inspired by last April’s uprising, is rooted in an older view of the world before the era of crack and mass incarceration, when gangs policed themselves. | Wolfe’s vision, though inspired by last April’s uprising, is rooted in an older view of the world before the era of crack and mass incarceration, when gangs policed themselves. |
| “300 Gangstas is basically, when I was coming up in neighborhoods, the older cats were the gangsters who ran the neighborhood. They was the ones who kept the neighborhood in line, kept the youngsters in check, they the ones who ran the neighborhood,” he said. “Right now, you don’t have that no more. Everyone just doing what they want to do. That’s why it is the way it is right now – everything’s in an uproar ... There was a protocol you had to follow, you had rules you had to follow and the ones who ran the hood was the gangsters.” | “300 Gangstas is basically, when I was coming up in neighborhoods, the older cats were the gangsters who ran the neighborhood. They was the ones who kept the neighborhood in line, kept the youngsters in check, they the ones who ran the neighborhood,” he said. “Right now, you don’t have that no more. Everyone just doing what they want to do. That’s why it is the way it is right now – everything’s in an uproar ... There was a protocol you had to follow, you had rules you had to follow and the ones who ran the hood was the gangsters.” |
| Wolfe says that eventually the older guys who ran the neighborhoods all got locked up and “couldn’t guide the youth” anymore. | Wolfe says that eventually the older guys who ran the neighborhoods all got locked up and “couldn’t guide the youth” anymore. |
| Both Wolfe, who sports a scar on his neck and walks with a stiff limp, and Neverdon, who was arrested and ultimately acquitted of murder charges, have done time. Neverdon spent more than three years in solitary confinement and now regularly speaks and testifies about the effects of such punishment. | Both Wolfe, who sports a scar on his neck and walks with a stiff limp, and Neverdon, who was arrested and ultimately acquitted of murder charges, have done time. Neverdon spent more than three years in solitary confinement and now regularly speaks and testifies about the effects of such punishment. |
| “Right now, I got a bill on the table that a person can only do 15 days in solitary, and it might get pushed,” he said, noting that Maryland had double the national average of inmates in solitary. “We’re saying that once a man or a lady is confined like that, you’re dealing with a mental imbalance and you’re turning man to beast or woman to beast, inhumane.” | “Right now, I got a bill on the table that a person can only do 15 days in solitary, and it might get pushed,” he said, noting that Maryland had double the national average of inmates in solitary. “We’re saying that once a man or a lady is confined like that, you’re dealing with a mental imbalance and you’re turning man to beast or woman to beast, inhumane.” |
| Neverdon also played a role in the passage of a new law in Maryland this year that will allow ex-felons who are still on parole to vote. He says he is preparing to run for office in the next cycle. | Neverdon also played a role in the passage of a new law in Maryland this year that will allow ex-felons who are still on parole to vote. He says he is preparing to run for office in the next cycle. |
| “I be in the seats, he be in the streets,” Neverdon said of his partnership with Wolfe. “As you know, Wolfe is a street ambassador – that’s what he do. Myself, I’m that as well, but for this vehicle to move, somebody got to get in the seat … I beat them in court with the acquittal I got on the charges they gave me, but see, I want more. | “I be in the seats, he be in the streets,” Neverdon said of his partnership with Wolfe. “As you know, Wolfe is a street ambassador – that’s what he do. Myself, I’m that as well, but for this vehicle to move, somebody got to get in the seat … I beat them in court with the acquittal I got on the charges they gave me, but see, I want more. |
| “That’s why I’m coming for their seats. I play for keeps. I’m coming for all their shit. I used to run blocks ... now I’m about to run this whole motherfucking Maryland. They gonna have to kill me. I’m dead already.” | “That’s why I’m coming for their seats. I play for keeps. I’m coming for all their shit. I used to run blocks ... now I’m about to run this whole motherfucking Maryland. They gonna have to kill me. I’m dead already.” |
| Whether Maryland voters are ready for that kind of rhetoric from a candidate remains to be seen, but the streets are 300 Gangstas’ main audience right now. | Whether Maryland voters are ready for that kind of rhetoric from a candidate remains to be seen, but the streets are 300 Gangstas’ main audience right now. |
| “Listen, homie, you know if you do that and get caught, get found guilty, you’ll never come home,” he said, as if addressing a beefing gang-banger. “Is it worth it? It ain’t worth it, homie. So you got a beef with him, got a beef with each other, gimme them guns, let me hold these for you. Iron it out. A simple conversation can defuse the situation.” | |
| The approach is not far from that of Baltimore’s Safe Streets program, which was modelled on Chicago’s Ceasefire, and uses former offenders and gang members to intervene in areas where murders, according to the theory, spread like an epidemic. | The approach is not far from that of Baltimore’s Safe Streets program, which was modelled on Chicago’s Ceasefire, and uses former offenders and gang members to intervene in areas where murders, according to the theory, spread like an epidemic. |
| Edward “Ted” Sutton, a former gang member who now works as a certified gang awareness instructor and intervention specialist, says that Safe Streets is “reactive”, whereas something like 300 Gangstas has the possibility to be proactive and stop violence before it starts. | Edward “Ted” Sutton, a former gang member who now works as a certified gang awareness instructor and intervention specialist, says that Safe Streets is “reactive”, whereas something like 300 Gangstas has the possibility to be proactive and stop violence before it starts. |
| “You’re going to have people who are in the community, in the streets, coming home from prison, and they would never connect with the establishment and the powers that be, but they understand that there are people who made mistakes and are trying to do something different now,” Sutton said. | “You’re going to have people who are in the community, in the streets, coming home from prison, and they would never connect with the establishment and the powers that be, but they understand that there are people who made mistakes and are trying to do something different now,” Sutton said. |
| But many in the establishment – and even just ordinary citizens frightened by the crime that plagues the city – are deeply skeptical of any group like 300 Gangstas, and outraged that politicians or even journalists would talk to criminals. | But many in the establishment – and even just ordinary citizens frightened by the crime that plagues the city – are deeply skeptical of any group like 300 Gangstas, and outraged that politicians or even journalists would talk to criminals. |
| “You’re a de facto gang-controlled city if you give them any power,” George Knox, of the Chicago-based National Gang Crime Research Institute, told the Baltimore Sun. “They are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.” | “You’re a de facto gang-controlled city if you give them any power,” George Knox, of the Chicago-based National Gang Crime Research Institute, told the Baltimore Sun. “They are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.” |
| Anthony Batts, the police commissioner who was fired in July, had blamed gangs for Baltimore’s homicide rate since he came to town in 2012 from California, where Bloods and Crips were a major force, and said that most of the city’s homicides that year were a result of turf battles between Bloods and the Black Guerrilla Family, or BGF, which began in prison and is now Baltimore’s most powerful gang. | Anthony Batts, the police commissioner who was fired in July, had blamed gangs for Baltimore’s homicide rate since he came to town in 2012 from California, where Bloods and Crips were a major force, and said that most of the city’s homicides that year were a result of turf battles between Bloods and the Black Guerrilla Family, or BGF, which began in prison and is now Baltimore’s most powerful gang. |
| “Those gangs were shooting each other in the head,” Batts said. “They were assassinating each other.” | “Those gangs were shooting each other in the head,” Batts said. “They were assassinating each other.” |
| But many thought Batts overplayed the role of gangs. Baltimore, like many cities, is now characterized not by massive monolithic gangs, like the mythologized Bloods and Crips of LA in the last century, but by small, loosely organized “families”. Even among Bloods, there are numerous small sets, or groups, that don’t necessarily interact often. | But many thought Batts overplayed the role of gangs. Baltimore, like many cities, is now characterized not by massive monolithic gangs, like the mythologized Bloods and Crips of LA in the last century, but by small, loosely organized “families”. Even among Bloods, there are numerous small sets, or groups, that don’t necessarily interact often. |
| “The gangs in Baltimore are relatively unsophisticated,” said Kevin Davis, who replaced Batts as commissioner in July. “They exist, but they exist for the purposes of drug distribution ... whether we call them gangs or drug organizations, and I think those terms are synonymous.” | “The gangs in Baltimore are relatively unsophisticated,” said Kevin Davis, who replaced Batts as commissioner in July. “They exist, but they exist for the purposes of drug distribution ... whether we call them gangs or drug organizations, and I think those terms are synonymous.” |
| Still, no one would dispute that BGF is a criminal force to be reckoned with, as articulated in numerous wide-ranging indictments for a wide variety of crimes –especially the widely publicized investigation that showed the gang controlled Baltimore’s jail, ultimately resulting in its closure. | Still, no one would dispute that BGF is a criminal force to be reckoned with, as articulated in numerous wide-ranging indictments for a wide variety of crimes –especially the widely publicized investigation that showed the gang controlled Baltimore’s jail, ultimately resulting in its closure. |
| It was the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, Arnesha Bowers, in what authorities called an initiation into the Piru set of the Bloods gang that seemed to make a mockery of the positive image some gang members were trying to present. | It was the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, Arnesha Bowers, in what authorities called an initiation into the Piru set of the Bloods gang that seemed to make a mockery of the positive image some gang members were trying to present. |
| Wolfe acknowledges that one of the people arrested for the crime was affiliated with the Bloods, but he denies that the crime was tied to the gang and says there aren’t any violent initiation rituals. | Wolfe acknowledges that one of the people arrested for the crime was affiliated with the Bloods, but he denies that the crime was tied to the gang and says there aren’t any violent initiation rituals. |
| Since Davis became commissioner, the murder rate has begun to come down – in part, Davis says, because of a strategy that targets a list of the city’s most violent offenders they call “trigger pullers”. | Since Davis became commissioner, the murder rate has begun to come down – in part, Davis says, because of a strategy that targets a list of the city’s most violent offenders they call “trigger pullers”. |
| “Of the 614 people on the list we’ve been able to charge well over, I think 150, with other crimes. 47 of the 614 we put on the list have been killed, have been murdered,” Davis said. “It’s a vulnerable group and they’re just as likely to kill as to be killed. So we know we have the right group we’re looking at.” | “Of the 614 people on the list we’ve been able to charge well over, I think 150, with other crimes. 47 of the 614 we put on the list have been killed, have been murdered,” Davis said. “It’s a vulnerable group and they’re just as likely to kill as to be killed. So we know we have the right group we’re looking at.” |
| This is the same vulnerable group that the 300 Gangstas think they can reach. | This is the same vulnerable group that the 300 Gangstas think they can reach. |
| According to Wolfe, the fact that so many crimes in Baltimore are committed by people with some gang affiliation – but without gang direction – gives his group its strength. | According to Wolfe, the fact that so many crimes in Baltimore are committed by people with some gang affiliation – but without gang direction – gives his group its strength. |
| “Everybody’s part of a gang in Baltimore, I don’t care what you say. Eighty-five per cent of the people in Baltimore running the streets right now are in a gang, Blood, Crip, BGF, whatever the case may be,” he said. | “Everybody’s part of a gang in Baltimore, I don’t care what you say. Eighty-five per cent of the people in Baltimore running the streets right now are in a gang, Blood, Crip, BGF, whatever the case may be,” he said. |
| “They have to answer to somebody,” he said. And once leaders say, “‘Enough is enough, stop the senseless killings. Stop it. If you don’t, you come in here [to jail], we’re gonna deal with you’ – once that happens, you start seeing the murder rate go like that,” he said, moving his hand sharply down. | “They have to answer to somebody,” he said. And once leaders say, “‘Enough is enough, stop the senseless killings. Stop it. If you don’t, you come in here [to jail], we’re gonna deal with you’ – once that happens, you start seeing the murder rate go like that,” he said, moving his hand sharply down. |
| Other Bloods who aren’t officially affiliated with the 300 Gangstas movement are working in similar directions. Eric Bowman, who also goes by the names Bones and Flex, was among the gang members who appeared on the Nightly Show during last year’s unrest. He began working with the Center for Urban Families and volunteering in schools, while working a straight job with Under Armour at night. | Other Bloods who aren’t officially affiliated with the 300 Gangstas movement are working in similar directions. Eric Bowman, who also goes by the names Bones and Flex, was among the gang members who appeared on the Nightly Show during last year’s unrest. He began working with the Center for Urban Families and volunteering in schools, while working a straight job with Under Armour at night. |
| Though he was inspired by the uprising, which he says changed his life, Bowman has been moving in this direction since before Gray’s death. Several years ago, when Bowman wanted to take a college class, he had to tell his crew that he was in jail so they wouldn’t think he was going soft. | Though he was inspired by the uprising, which he says changed his life, Bowman has been moving in this direction since before Gray’s death. Several years ago, when Bowman wanted to take a college class, he had to tell his crew that he was in jail so they wouldn’t think he was going soft. |
| “ “I looked at it like I don’t want individuals to look at me wrong to mess up my street cred. Not really thinking,” Bowman said. “But street cred? You can’t buy a house with street cred. You can’t build family wealth with street cred. You can’t raise your kids with street cred.” | “ “I looked at it like I don’t want individuals to look at me wrong to mess up my street cred. Not really thinking,” Bowman said. “But street cred? You can’t buy a house with street cred. You can’t build family wealth with street cred. You can’t raise your kids with street cred.” |
| He recently self-published a book, Knowledge from a King, full of short aphorisms that he hopes will pass on some of the lessons he’s learned from a hard life. | |
| Instead of hiding his intellectual interests, Bowman is trying to bring his family of Bloods back in line with what he sees as their origins in the Black Panther Party. | Instead of hiding his intellectual interests, Bowman is trying to bring his family of Bloods back in line with what he sees as their origins in the Black Panther Party. |
| On the night that the the trial of the first officer charged in Gray’s death ended with a hung jury, Bowman was walking through the streets wearing a Black Panther uniform instead of his customary red. | On the night that the the trial of the first officer charged in Gray’s death ended with a hung jury, Bowman was walking through the streets wearing a Black Panther uniform instead of his customary red. |
| “Now we are actually in the different positive stages and we actually touched back to the roots,” he said. “It was supposed to restore self-respect and self-love – that was the beginning. That’s old school.” | “Now we are actually in the different positive stages and we actually touched back to the roots,” he said. “It was supposed to restore self-respect and self-love – that was the beginning. That’s old school.” |
| Even the BGF grew out of radical roots – the Black Book that contains the group’s philosophy and bylaws is full of talk of empowerment – but it has been an incredibly destructive force in the city. | Even the BGF grew out of radical roots – the Black Book that contains the group’s philosophy and bylaws is full of talk of empowerment – but it has been an incredibly destructive force in the city. |
| “Me personally, I’m one of the individuals that actually is a reason for a lot of the young crowd being lost,” Bowman said. “I accept my faults because I didn’t teach the younger generation how to actually grow up and be adults. I should have been doing that, but how am I able to teach individuals to do certain things if I don’t know? Now I actually know how to be a young adult, I know how to be a man now, after I done went through so many types of different things. I know now.” | “Me personally, I’m one of the individuals that actually is a reason for a lot of the young crowd being lost,” Bowman said. “I accept my faults because I didn’t teach the younger generation how to actually grow up and be adults. I should have been doing that, but how am I able to teach individuals to do certain things if I don’t know? Now I actually know how to be a young adult, I know how to be a man now, after I done went through so many types of different things. I know now.” |
| Like 300 Gangstas, which he supports, Bowman says he would like to “help heal the community I helped to destroy”. | Like 300 Gangstas, which he supports, Bowman says he would like to “help heal the community I helped to destroy”. |
| PFK Boom and 300 Gangstas have been working in the community and visiting local schools. At a block party they hosted with hamburgers, hot dogs, and spoken word music, Sutton was speaking about his transformation. | PFK Boom and 300 Gangstas have been working in the community and visiting local schools. At a block party they hosted with hamburgers, hot dogs, and spoken word music, Sutton was speaking about his transformation. |
| “I carried a sawed-off shotgun, 357, 9mm, two-shot derringer on a light day,” he said. “I don’t brag about that lifestyle, I just need you people to know how far God brought this cat right here.” | “I carried a sawed-off shotgun, 357, 9mm, two-shot derringer on a light day,” he said. “I don’t brag about that lifestyle, I just need you people to know how far God brought this cat right here.” |
| Lt Col Melvin Russell, a high-ranking police official who has long championed the community policing model that is now increasingly favored, showed up at the party and was standing beside Wolfe. | Lt Col Melvin Russell, a high-ranking police official who has long championed the community policing model that is now increasingly favored, showed up at the party and was standing beside Wolfe. |
| When Sutton finished speaking, Wolfe said he had something to say. “Fuck the police,” he said as he stepped up to the mic. | When Sutton finished speaking, Wolfe said he had something to say. “Fuck the police,” he said as he stepped up to the mic. |
| Russell waited a moment and then walked back to his truck and drove away. | Russell waited a moment and then walked back to his truck and drove away. |
| Wolfe may want to help heal his community, but he’s still not willing to work with the cops, which he considers Baltimore’s biggest gang. | Wolfe may want to help heal his community, but he’s still not willing to work with the cops, which he considers Baltimore’s biggest gang. |