Territory | East Compton South Lynwood |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Primarily African American |
Activities | Drug trafficking [1] Robbery [1] Arms trafficking [1] |
Allies | Elm Street Piru |
Rivals | Santana Blocc Compton Crips Compton Varrio 3 Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats Lueders Park Piru, Cross Atlantic Piru, Southside Compton Crips |
Notable members | Wardell "Poochie" Fouse Alton "Buntry" McDonald |
The East Side Mob Piru (also known as MOB Piru, Insane Mob Gang or Mob Piru) are a "set" of the Piru gang alliance, which is itself part of the larger Bloods alliance. [2] Suge Knight, the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records, is an affiliate. [3] [4]
In 1969, a gang called the Piru Street Boys was founded by Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens. According to some sources, the Piru Street Boys were initially associated with the Crips, [5] but later had a falling out. However, other sources dispute any alliance, claiming that the Piru Street Boys were victimised by the Crips. [6] Nevertheless, by 1972, the Piru Street Boys formed an alliance with other smaller street gangs such as the Brims, Bishops and Denver Lanes, which also opposed the Crips. [7] This alliance became known as the Bloods, as the members of this alliance called each other "blood". [7]
Over time, more Blood "sets" would form, including the Mob Piru Bloods. According to Reggie Wright Jr., the Mob Piru and Lueders Park Piru were previously one gang, until they split apart. [8]
Suge Knight, who would co-found Death Row Records, became affiliated with the Mob Piru set at some point [3] and hired many Mob Piru members in Death Row Records. [9] When Tupac Shakur joined Death Row Records in 1995, he also became affiliated with the Mob Piru. [10] Other notable Mob Pirus who were associated with Death Row Records include:
Although the two gangs were allies, a rivalry developed after a Lueders Park Piru member was murdered in April 2009, leading to a series of shootings between 2009 and 2013. [16]
The Mob Piru engage in drug trafficking, arms dealing and robbery. [16] Suge Knight is alleged to have provided the Mob Piru with large quantities of assault rifles. [2]
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American record executive who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in the 1990s. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in 2015.
Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and 2Pac, during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US $150 million a year.
Orlando Tive "Baby Lane" Anderson was an American gang member suspected in the murder of Tupac Shakur. Anderson belonged to the California-based gang known as the South Side Compton Crips. Detective Tim Brennan of the Compton Police Department filed an affidavit naming Anderson as a suspect; he denied involvement and was never charged. Anderson's uncle, Duane Keith Davis, was charged with Shakur's murder on September 29, 2023.
Biggie & Tupac is a 2002 feature-length documentary film about the murdered American rappers Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur by Nick Broomfield.
The Crips are an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips began as an alliance between two autonomous gangs, and developed into a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members have traditionally worn blue clothing since around 1973.
Russell Wayne Poole was a Los Angeles Police Department detective who investigated the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., a rapper also known as Biggie Smalls. Poole also investigated the killing of LAPD Officer Kevin Gaines by LAPD Officer Frank Lyga on March 18, 1997. After retiring in 1999, he formed a private detective agency.
The Pirus are a subset of the larger Bloods gang alliance, an organized crime group in the United States.
Sanyika Shakur, also known by his former street moniker Monster or Monster Kody, was an American author and former gangster. He was a member of the Los Angeles-based Eight Tray Gangster Crips. He got his nickname as a 13-year-old gang member when he beat and stomped a robbery victim until he was disfigured. Shakur claimed to have reformed in prison, joined the Republic of New Afrika movement, and wrote a 1993 memoir called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member.
The Killing of Tupac Shakur is a biographical, true crime account by American journalist and author Cathy Scott of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The book made news upon its September 1997 release, on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, because of an autopsy photo included in its pages. It was the first book to be released covering the rapper's death. The book was reprinted in the UK by Plexus Publishing and in Poland by Kagra. Coverage of the autopsy photo, taken of Shakur's body on a gurney in the coroner's examining room, catapulted the book onto the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. New editions of the book were released in 2002 and 2014.
On September 7, 1996, at 11:15 p.m. (PDT), Tupac Shakur, a 25-year-old American rapper, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. The shooting occurred when the car carrying Shakur was stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.
RedruM 781 was an American rapper from Inglewood, California. RedruM 781, Tweedy Bird Loc and producer Ronnie Phillips organized the hip hop project Bloods & Crips, a collaboration between Bloods and Crips members. He was a Piru gang member himself. redruM 781 is also known for his key role on "Bangin' on Wax", he and his fellow female MC Bloody Mary were the two key players for getting this particular Bangin' on Wax project off the ground. He was the cousin of the rapper Kurupt, with whom they had a long-time beef.
O.F.T.B. was an American hip hop group from the Watts district of Los Angeles, California. The group O.F.T.B. consisted of three founding actual gang members Kevin "Flipside" White, Sammy "Bust Stop" Williams, and Ronald "Low M.B." Watkins, who grew up in Nickerson Gardens Project, which is home to the notorious gang Bounty Hunter Bloods. They were signed to Big Beat Records where they released their debut album Straight Up Watts in 1992 with the hit single "Slangin' Dope".
The American rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., was murdered in a drive-by shooting in the early hours of March 9, 1997 in Los Angeles, California. He was 24 years old. Prior to the event, Wallace promoted his second studio album Life After Death, and attended an after-party in Los Angeles instead of traveling to London.
Timothy M. Brennan and Robert Ladd joined the Compton Police Department as officers in 1982 and 1983, respectively. In 1988, they were promoted to become Compton's two-man gang unit. The police department could only afford to have two people at the time, even though many smaller cities typically had up to four times as many. As the gang unit, Brennan and Ladd were responsible for dealing with and investigating over fifty-five gangs in the 10.1 square mile area that make up the City of Compton. They have served as the primary or assisting investigating officers on hundreds of gang-related murders and thousands of gang-related shootings, and witnessed instances of gang-related rapes, robberies, drive-by shootings, and shootings at police officers.
Duane Keith "Keefe D" Davis is an American gang member. He was charged with involvement in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
Wardell Fouse, also known by his aliases Darnell Bolton and Poochie, was a Bloods gang member who was implicated in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. Since Fouse was deceased by the time his alleged involvement became known to the investigating police, no charges were filed against him.
On April 3, 2002, Alton "Buntry" McDonald, a member of the Mob Piru Bloods and a production manager at Death Row Records, was shot dead at a gas station in Compton, California. The murder was believed to be the result of fighting between two rival "sets" of the Bloods, the Mob Pirus and the Fruit Town Pirus.
The South Side Compton Crips are a "set" of the Crips gang alliance, based in Compton, California. This gang is known for the murder of Tupac Shakur.
The Fruit Town Piru are a "set" of the Piru gang alliance, which itself is part of the larger Bloods alliance. This Piru set is known for its rivalry with the Mob Piru Bloods during the early 2000s.
"Piru Love" is a song from the 1993 album Bangin' on Wax by the gangsta rap group Blood & Crips. It was subsequently released as a single, along with several alternate versions of the song. It is the group's most popular single.
Then came Marion 'Sugar Bear' Knight – a one-time gang banger with the North Side's MOB Piru.
Knight began to flaunt his connection to an obscure street gang called the Mob Piru.
Their origins lay in the Piru Street Boys, who once wore the blue bandana of the Crips gang and were known, for a short time, as the Piru Street Crips
Other gangs began to form to defend themselves against the Crips. Two of these gangs were the Brims and the Pirus.
The local sets of anti-Crips included the Piru Street Boys, the LA Brims, the Denver Lanes, the Inglewood Family, the Swans, and the Pueblo Bishops
In the early 1990s, Knight employed both Mob Pirus
Shakur was tied to the Mob Piru Bloods, a street gang that often battled with the Crips over territory and personal slights.