The Gangster Disciple Nation, also known as Growth & Development, is an African American street and prison gang founded by former rivals David Barksdale and Larry Hoover; in 1968, the two came together to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN).
The Almighty InsanePopesNation is a Chicago, Illinois street gang, formed in the late 1950s on the north side of Chicago, primarily building membership from a Greek greaser gang that hung out at the corner of Lawrence and Rockwell. This small group had problems with the much larger Latin Kings gang on the north side, and so they began to associate with the Almighty Simon City Royals in an attempt to protect themselves. However, rather than joining the Royals outright, they eventually decided to form their own gang, which they named the Popes: this stood for "Protecting Our People Eliminating Spics".
The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago, Illinois. Its total membership is estimated to be between 80,000 and 85,000. It is also one of the founding members of the People Nation multi-gang alliance.
Larry Hoover is an American former gangster and street gang kingpin. He is the founder of the Chicago street gang, the Gangster Disciples.
The Almighty Latin Eagles Nation (ALEN) originated in the area of Halsted and Addison on the Northside of Chicago during the mid 1960s. Famous for spawning a strong Latino political organization in the late 1960’s, by the 1970s it had transformed into a nefarious criminal street gang.
The Almighty Saints is a street gang founded in the early 1960s by Polish youth at Davis Square Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago, but later was largely made up of Hispanics due to the change in the community's ethnic makeup.
The Simon City Royals, also known as the Almighty Simon City Royal Nation, are a street and prison gang which began in Chicago during 1952 as Simon City, a greaser gang. They named themselves for Simons Park, which is located on the corner of Drake and Wabansia in the Humboldt Park neighborhood where they originally formed. The gang had a major influence on other gangs around Chicago and the wider gang culture in Humboldt Park. The Royals are one of the oldest and largest white gangs in the US.
About one to two percent of United States Armed Forces members are estimated to belong to criminal gangs in the United States, a much higher proportion than in the civilian population.
My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King is an autobiography by Reymundo Sanchez about his life as a teenage street gang member in Chicago.
The People Nation is an alliance of street gangs generally associated with the Chicago area. They are rivals of the Folk Nation alliance of gangs.
The Spanish Gangster Disciples is a street gang that originated on the south side of Chicago, respectively in the vicinity of 88th & Houston in the South Chicago neighborhood. The gang was founded by Rudy Rios, who was a former member of the Latin Scorpions street gang. It is an offshoot from Gangster Disciples.
The Maniac Latin Disciples Nation is a Hispanic street gang in Chicago and the largest in the Latino Folks Nation alliance. Originally known as only the Latin Disciples, the gang was founded by Albert "Hitler" Hernandez and other Puerto Rican teenagers in the Humboldt Park community in approximately 1966. They were influential in the culture and history of gangs in Humboldt Park, and continue to be active there today.
La Raza is a street gang founded in Chicago in 1973. Their colors are green, white, and red. Their symbols include the Mexican flag, cross, and a six-point star.
The Spanish Cobras is a primarily Latino street gang, present in multiple states throughout the Midwestern United States, with a strong presence on the north and west sides of Chicago, Illinois.
The OutLaw Gangster Disciple Nation is a subset of the Gangster Disciples street gang. It was formed in the Chicago Housing Authority's Cabrini-Green public housing project on the Near-North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the early 1990s, by Gangster Disciple board member and Cabrini resident Charles "Big Chuck" Dorsey. It has now branched out to the South-Side of the city.
A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system, that has a corporate entity, exists into perpetuity, and whose membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Political scientist David Skarbekargues the emergence of prison gangs are due to the dramatic increase in the prison population and inmate's demand for safety. Skarbek observes that in a small, homogeneous environment, people can use social norms to interpret what behavior is acceptable, but a large, heterogeneous setting undermines social norms and acceptable behavior is more difficult to determine. Prison gangs are geographically and racially divided, and about 70% of prison gang members are in California and Texas. Skarbek suggests prison gangs function similar to a community responsibility system. Interactions between strangers are facilitated because you do not have to know an individual's reputation, only a gang's reputation. Some prison gangs are transplanted from the street. In some circumstances, prison gangs "outgrow" the internal world of life inside the penitentiary, and go on to engage in criminal activities on the outside. Gang umbrella organizations like the Folk Nation and People Nation have originated in prisons.
Project Wildfire was a nationwide, multi-agency investigation of various transnational criminal gangs in 2015 that resulted in the arrests of 976 individuals, representing 239 different organizations, in 282 cities in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Eighty-two firearms, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.8 kilograms of marijuana, 5.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of heroin, US$379,399, counterfeit merchandise with a suggested retail price of US$547,534 and five vehicles were also seized.
Chicago is considered the most gang-occupied city in the United States, with 150,000 gang-affiliated tenants, representing more than 100 gangs. Gang warfare and retaliation are common in Chicago. Gangs were responsible for 61% of the homicides in Chicago in 2011.
The Chicago neighborhood of Humboldt Park is the founding grounds for several major gangs, including the Latin Kings, Simon City Royals, and Maniac Latin Disciples, among a number of other gangs with active chapters in the area as of 2023. With its roots dating back to the 1950s, the continuous presence and activity of gangs around the neighborhood has caused it to be a frequent subject of law enforcement, media, and residents over the years.
