Ross Kemp heads to St Louis, where he discovers the dark side of Middle America's gang culture. A shocking insight into the violence, drugs and turf wars that are prevalent in this once great city.
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00:00St. Louis, middle America at its finest.
00:07To the untrained eye, this is mom and apple pie country.
00:11But beneath the surface, it's a breeding ground
00:14for some of the toughest gangs in the U.S.
00:17Gangsta Disciples. Blood. Six Deuce.
00:21Swarm. Rolling Sixties. Crips.
00:2444 Bud. 44 Deuce. JBL. Four Trey.
00:29Man, there's so many.
00:32I want to find out about the impact of living with the gangs
00:35who have helped make this city of just 350,000 people
00:39one of the five most violent in the United States.
00:59Down there is the famous Route 66.
01:09It links the west coast of America to the eastern seaboard.
01:14Down there is the famous Route 66, it links the west coast of America to the eastern seaboard.
01:25And almost slap bang in the middle of it is the city of St. Louis, a mid-size mid-western town.
01:34It was once a major port on the Mississippi and a major industrial powerhouse.
01:40In the 1990s an import came down Route 66 which gave the city a very different reputation.
01:46It was Los Angeles gang culture.
01:48In the violence that followed, many people have been killed and injured.
01:52Now the city is trying to fight back and I've come here to find out about the war that's being waged on and by the gangs of St. Louis.
02:10They call the arch that dominates the St. Louis skyline the gateway to the west.
02:20And I want to find out if the west is as wild as I've been told.
02:26A.T.C. Alton St. Louis, 100.3 The Beat.
02:31A clear channel station.
02:32You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.
02:36This is Sam Moore, the governor of the north side of the city of St. Louis, coming to you talking about gangs and the effect of gangs on my community.
02:47Downtown is the business district and leaving behind the prosperous white suburbs with their personal fitness obsessions, I enter the black north side of the city where the concerns are very different.
03:00We're looking for solutions to the gang violence in our city.
03:04It ruins community, it hurts family, it hurts individuals.
03:07You know we got a lot of trees in this city with teddy bears on them to commemorate that character that guy killed.
03:16And RIP, rest in peace signs.
03:19And I think that gang members are unsupervised children.
03:23I want to know about the impact the gangs are having on their community.
03:27And the first thing that strikes me is the youth of the people involved in the violence.
03:31It's kids killing kids.
03:38Deadly gang shooting.
03:39Gang members.
03:40Bullets fly.
03:41Flurry of gunfire.
03:42Gang activity.
03:43Gang related.
03:44Gang graffiti.
03:45A laundry list of violent acts.
03:48One teenager is dead and two others injured.
03:52Police say the killers most likely are gang members.
03:55Gang graffiti covers buildings here.
03:57This neighborhood is well known for gang activity.
03:59A backpack full of bullets seized at the scene.
04:02Homicide detectives are very familiar with these corners.
04:05They've visited many times to investigate shootings.
04:08Witnesses say 17 year old Robert Walker was shot point blank in the head.
04:14He's also the father of a three month old baby boy.
04:21On the afternoon of the 5th of May 2006, Robert Walker was on his way home from school on a bus very much like this.
04:29As he approached his stop on the corner of Lillian and Emerson in his home neighborhood of Walnut Park, Robert and his cousin Tom got up to join the small queue of people waiting to get off the bus.
04:42The stop is just a couple of blocks from Robert's house just over there.
04:55The two cousins had only walked a matter of feet.
04:58When a group of hooded kids ran out from behind that building there and started shooting.
05:04The two cousins ran.
05:06And Tom, the eldest, made it to the corner of that building there when he heard a young girl screaming that someone was laying in the road.
05:14He turned to see the fallen figure of his cousin.
05:18Robert had been shot in the mouth, the head, the chest, the back and his legs.
05:27Tom ran over to his cousin but his cousin was dead.
05:30Robert was just 17 years old, another victim of St. Louis' gang wars.
05:37I'm in Walnut Park where Robert lived and died.
05:57Big bald white guys aren't a common sight here.
06:00This is ghetto gangland and kids are dying in places like this at a rate of 1 every couple of weeks.
06:07The graffiti is pretty basic and chilling.
06:11A tale of turf war and lives lost.
06:13In this case, it's Robert Walker, a.k.a. Short Dog.
06:18At 17, he wasn't much more than a kid.
06:20I've heard he left behind him a young girlfriend and a tiny baby.
06:26So how did you meet Robert?
06:28I met him, oh my, like in August, walking with my sister and her boyfriend.
06:36And her boyfriend was like, Robert, walk with Courtney.
06:39We was walking down a street called Thrush.
06:41So me and Robert started walking and it's just from that moment, we looked like, just that sparkle, like, dang, I love you.
06:50Courtney is still only 16 and still at school.
06:54A kid trying to bring up a kid on her own.
06:57And this is your little boy?
06:59Yeah.
07:00What?
07:01He's Robert's little boy as well, isn't he?
07:02Yeah.
07:03Yeah.
07:04Act alike, look alike.
07:07Yeah.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Yeah.
07:10Yeah.
07:11You miss him dearly, don't you?
07:13Yeah.
07:16What's the future for you now?
07:17What do you see for yourself?
07:19I just feel, stay in school, go to college, get married and have some more kids.
07:28Yeah.
07:29That's what I want to do.
07:30And look after this little fella.
07:32Oh, yes.
07:33Yeah.
07:34Thank you for talking to us.
07:36Gang warfare rips through the generations and it's the women who are left behind to deal
07:49with the devastation.
07:52I'm going to meet Robert's sister, grandmother and mother.
07:57Man's whole fuckies and the chick's pocket of brains.
08:00I thought she wasn't a kid.
08:01Hi, I'm Ross.
08:02Pleased to meet you.
08:03Okay.
08:04You tell me a little bit about Robert and what he was like.
08:07Whatever I asked Robert, he would do it.
08:10Whatever I cooked, Robert would eat it.
08:13He wouldn't have no problems like some of the other kids.
08:17Your mama, I don't want none, I don't want fat, you know.
08:20But Robert would eat it and ever since that day I haven't cooked.
08:23You know, I don't feel I have to cook, you know, because who I'm cooking for now.
08:30How do you feel about living here after Robert's death?
08:36I don't like living over here anymore because of what happened to my son.
08:40You know, I'm crushed.
08:42You know, the place where he got murdered, I used to go to work that way.
08:46So now I go all the way around to go to work.
08:50But I plan to move further.
08:53If not, I'm moving out of town with my brother.
08:56You know, I just can't stand here no more.
08:59It's hell on earth, as they say.
09:01Heaven must be the place, because this is not it.
09:05Can I ask you a question about, you know,
09:09we know that there were two other guys that were injured
09:12and the attack that was placed on Robert.
09:15How do you feel about the people that did that?
09:17I'm very angry about what happened.
09:21Like, I really, truly want justice served.
09:24You know, because here something happened to these kids around here
09:30and it's nothing done about it.
09:32It's nothing.
09:33It's just like, oh, he just got shot so well.
09:36He just got killed.
09:37And, you know, it's a lot of teenagers around here that got murdered
09:43and nothing has been done about it.
09:46Nothing.
09:48They have done nothing about it.
09:51And this needs to get out so other officials and people can see
09:57there's nothing done about these kids being over me and got killed.
10:02No, they don't care.
10:05They don't care.
10:07They don't care what nature.
10:10So they don't care.
10:12They don't care what happened to nobody over here.
10:16Well, rest in peace, Robert.
10:22A schoolboy shot getting off his school bus by other schoolboys.
10:28And whether it was gang-related or not,
10:31I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that question.
10:33And I don't suppose it really matters at the moment to his four-month-old child
10:37or to his grandmother or to his sister or to his mother.
10:40They've lost someone who they love dearly and pointlessly.
10:43It's approaching the end of my first day in the city,
10:49and the tell-tale signs of gang activity are becoming more apparent to me.
10:53Blue means you're a member of the Crips,
10:56and red means you're a member of the Bloods.
10:58On these streets, hundreds of subgroups are fighting an ongoing turf war,
11:02and I want to know more about it.
11:04Pretty Tony here, red from tip to toe, seems a good way in.
11:09I've just been over at Robert's parents or mother.
11:13Can you tell me a little bit about this area, what it's like to live in?
11:16What can I say about this area, huh?
11:18Well, I can tell you for sure it's not a playground, you know what I'm saying?
11:22It's just been, you know, real rough, you know what I'm saying?
11:26But it's what you make it, you know what I'm saying?
11:28You know, the guys that supposedly were responsible for shooting him
11:32were affiliated to a gang of some sort. Have you heard that?
11:35I mean, I don't know the dude, you know what I'm saying?
11:38Like that or what else I couldn't say, you know?
11:41Everybody round here knows each other and they protect each other, that is true, isn't it?
11:44Basically, yeah.
11:45I mean, Robert was shot many times. He wasn't just shot once, was he?
11:49He was shot numerous times. Where do kids, I've been told that one of the youngest was 15 or 14,
11:56and the oldest was 17. Where do kids that young get that kind of gun?
12:01Oh, probably from that, you know what I'm saying?
12:05Probably stole them, steal them, you know, do anything.
12:08I mean, there's some little grimy little kids around here.
12:11They do those type of things, you know what I'm saying?
12:14I've been shot before, so, you know.
12:16Have you been shot?
12:17Yeah, I've been shot before.
12:18Where did you get shot?
12:20Where?
12:21Yeah, in your body.
12:22In my area around here.
12:23In your torso, yeah?
12:24In the middle here, yeah?
12:25Yeah, like right up in the middle.
12:26Who shot you?
12:27Who shot me?
12:28I never know.
12:29He left you for dead though, yeah?
12:31Basically.
12:34You recovered?
12:35You okay?
12:36Yeah, I'm cool.
12:37That's great.
12:38Yeah.
12:39That's great.
12:40Glad to hear it.
12:41Yeah.
12:45Despite the colours and tattoos on these streets,
12:47there is a reluctance to open up about the gangs.
12:50I can only guess this is out of fear.
12:52But is it fear of gang reprisals,
12:54or fear of the heavy police presence on these streets?
12:58And as the people who share the streets with the gangs,
13:00the police will be the next stop in my search for the gangsters of St. Louis.
13:06St. Louis.
13:18St. Louis gang culture is one of the most violent in America.
13:21It's been heavily influenced by the gangs of Los Angeles,
13:24who came to the city in the 90s to expand their drugs trade.
13:36Well, the biggest discussion surrounding St. Louis' gang culture
13:38is how the L.A. Bloods and Crips became so influential in it.
13:41Some people maintained that it was just pure imitation,
13:44that they mimicked what they heard in music or saw in films.
13:48Others believe that the L.A. gangs physically came here,
13:51down the old Route 66, to spread their drug empires.
13:57However it arrived in the city,
13:58the importation of L.A. gang culture caused an explosion of gang violence.
14:03It's a legacy that still plagues the city today.
14:06I want to meet the gangs,
14:08and on the grounds that nobody knows the bad boys like the good boys,
14:12I'm off to hang with the police.
14:14All right, listen up.
14:16This is the agenda for the day.
14:19Sergeant Carlos Ross is head of the gang unit of the St. Louis police,
14:23and he's invited me to ride with him and his eight-man crew
14:26as they work some of the city's most gang-infested streets.
14:29You all be the fourth car, and let's try to take those alleys or whatever.
14:33So if the guys take off running, we can head them off that way.
14:37If they get away, we'll catch them again another day.
14:42Sergeant Ross and his men know where the gangs hang out,
14:45and can read the signs of their gang activity like old-time cavalry scouts.
14:50What we get here is just people calling,
14:52saying, hey, I'm tired of these guys hanging out,
14:54and they don't belong on my street.
14:59A call comes in.
15:01The gang unit outriders have spotted some suspicious activity up ahead.
15:05Let them get out and do what they're going to do.
15:08Right, sure.
15:13Sergeant Ross needs to establish whether these are gang members.
15:16But first, the kids are quickly frisked for drugs and weapons.
15:20Let's get some information.
15:22What's your name?
15:26What's your name?
15:27We want to know who you are.
15:30To me, these kids could be teenagers anywhere,
15:34with their international adolescent uniform of baggy jeans and T-shirts.
15:38But Sergeant Ross has his suspicions,
15:41and he gets his men to check for gang tattoos
15:44and take photographs for police records.
15:47We've been here for about five minutes,
15:49and we're beginning to gather quite an audience, actually.
15:52And these guys seem quite laid back about what's been happening to them.
15:56But if you look over here, we're getting our own special audience.
16:01Yeah, but they're going to have it in the UK, right?
16:05Yeah, once you do that, I'm going to start running the names on the mic then.
16:09I can't help but feel that this exercise
16:11is just about the gang unit flexing its muscles on the street.
16:15I ain't got no warrant. They been jumping on me.
16:17If I had a warrant, they would have took me down.
16:20But then a records check turns up to outstanding warrants,
16:23and the kids are taken in.
16:25And one of the first guys that's just gone in the car now,
16:31he's just come out of prison two days ago. Is that correct?
16:34Uh...
16:35That's what he just said.
16:37Yeah, that's what he just said.
16:39Initially, this all felt a little like the sixth form beating up the fourth year.
16:45But then Sergeant Ross shows me what this is all about.
16:48Last week, a gang member was killed on these streets.
16:52What we do is, when we have situations like that, we come into the area,
16:57we try to see who the agitated people are, whatever,
17:02and just let them know, hey, the police department's going to handle this now.
17:05You don't have to worry about what you're going to do.
17:07There's no retaliation. There's no retaliation.
17:08Exactly.
17:09And that's basically what he was trying to tell them.
17:11Hey, I heard that you all mad upset,
17:14and y'all talking about y'all going to get on somebody's head,
17:17meaning that they're going to go after somebody.
17:19And he's like, we got this, we're handling this.
17:22There is something of the Wild West about the way that lampposts are used as totem poles here.
17:27But, see, these are the colors over here.
17:28The yellow and the blue, yeah.
17:29Right.
17:30That's for 6-0.
17:326-0 colors are blue and gold.
17:34Now, you go up.
17:35You got...
17:36These are O'Fallon Park associated quilts.
17:39There's an association of different gangs in this area.
17:43Right.
17:44You know?
17:45So, we have here a 484 bud.
17:46That's an X right now.
17:47It looks like a 4, but that's an X, because they're a Crips,
17:51so they're X-ing out the B for blood.
17:53X-ing out the B, right.
17:54Right.
17:55So that's that.
17:56There are hundreds of weapons on these streets,
18:00hidden in derelict buildings like these.
18:02Sergeant Ross takes me on a search of a house he suspects may contain an arms cache.
18:08See, this will be a good location.
18:12Oh, I didn't even see this.
18:13Hey, man.
18:14Hello, killer.
18:15All right.
18:16I'm on the bike.
18:17Disrespect to the beat.
18:18Which is odd.
18:19Okay.
18:20You know, normally, you wouldn't see this in this area because...
18:23This blood.
18:24Six deuces.
18:25This is a blood.
18:2687 kitchen crips get along with them.
18:28But somewhere along the line, maybe they're feuding.
18:30Maybe...
18:31Somebody get mad.
18:32What we do is also, when we interpret these, this is like...
18:35How do you find out what's going on?
18:36This is like the newspaper.
18:37The newspaper.
18:38They're not very bright, are they?
18:39Because they're letting you know exactly who they're falling out with.
18:41Right.
18:42So this is like, this is like the newspaper.
18:44So we go and start, you know, we take a look at this.
18:47And now we know that, hey, somewhere along the line...
18:50The kitchen.
18:51They're having problems with...
18:52Kitchen crips have got a bit of a problem with the local...
18:53They're having problems with the blood.
18:54With the bloods around here.
18:55Some people get it confused because they think because crips are always going to get along with crips.
18:59That's not true.
19:00And we're not like Los Angeles or a lot of Chicago.
19:02We're different than everybody else.
19:03It's more neighborhood here, isn't it?
19:05It really is neighborhood.
19:06Yeah, it is neighborhood.
19:07Or even block or cross street.
19:08Yeah.
19:09I mean, you could have one gang that sit here and another gang that sit at the end of the
19:12street virtually.
19:13But if you notice...
19:14And they're coming different colors.
19:15But if you notice, you always...
19:18You always see...
19:19Wherever you see one little gang, there's always that their enemies are somewhere in their
19:22biases.
19:23They get into a problem somewhere in school or somewhere else.
19:26It's also, isn't it?
19:27I mean, they go up together in the same road.
19:29They then go to the same school together and then they join the same gang together.
19:33They're very close, aren't they?
19:34When blood gets spilled, it's really, really personal.
19:36Yes.
19:37The kids trying to get out, most times they run into the fact that, you know, they say
19:42your brother killed, you know, my brother or my partner, but they're never going to forget
19:46that.
19:47And so, no matter how old you get, you still have that same problem.
19:50Your enemies are always going to be your enemies.
19:51You can get out of the gang and go move somewhere else.
19:53But if they see you, they're still coming after you because you're still their enemy,
19:57you know, for life.
19:58They've been drinking and everything.
19:59Right.
20:00I mean, this would be an excellent spot for a gun to be hidden.
20:05How can we get in here?
20:08Right around the other way.
20:10It's a whole path.
20:11They go right down.
20:12Come on.
20:13Let's see.
20:14Where do you want to get in there?
20:15I really don't fancy the look of this.
20:21It stinks, and despite the police torches, it's hard to see anything.
20:25But this is exactly the kind of place the unit have found guns before.
20:30So if it was something around, it'll be right around here.
20:34Because they don't want to go too far to get it.
20:37Right.
20:38And reach where they can get it quick.
20:41And they can put it back quick.
20:43So you use it and get rid of it.
20:46They put it right back.
20:47They'll shoot at something and put it back, cover it up with some bricks.
20:51It's called a community weapon.
20:54Yeah.
20:55Yeah.
20:56Everybody on the block know where it is.
20:57If they need it, they'll get it, use it, and put it back.
21:01And they can have these crevices.
21:07Yeah.
21:08It can be in a lot of locations.
21:17We have pockets in the city.
21:22The majority of the downtown area, no gangs.
21:26In this area here, we've got a couple of gangs.
21:30Drugs are a major cause of the conflicts on these streets.
21:33It's how the gangs get money, and it's what the police are constantly on the lookout for.
21:37My own street senses must be becoming more finely tuned.
21:41Just as we're heading home, I spot something out of the corner of my eye.
21:44Run, let's look.
21:45They're on.
21:46Where's Rob?
21:47Rob ran?
21:48The rest of the team have gone ahead to cut the runners off, leaving Sergeant Ross and
22:16me in pursuit of potentially armed gang members.
22:23I've got one more.
22:34A lot of times, they're going to say, oh, I didn't know who they were.
22:38So that's why we want to make sure that we were something.
22:42Surely.
22:43So you can see it.
22:44You can see exactly.
22:45It's not inside, is it?
22:47I ain't going to say anything that affects the phone.
22:50But I didn't have nothing to do with none of that just whatever just went on.
22:53All right.
22:54Right on, brother.
22:55I got to take out and run.
22:56I just ran because everybody is interested, man.
22:58What does that say?
22:59LBCG.
23:00Bone Beach Prep.
23:01Let me see that one again.
23:03A penny.
23:04If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.
23:06This is how old my mama was when she died.
23:09That's a new one.
23:11Yeah, I ain't got to write that one down.
23:13I'm going to write that one down.
23:15Once again, a check is made for gang tattoos.
23:18But these people are older and more street smart.
23:21And the excuses start to flow like a market trader's pattern.
23:24What's the G for?
23:26Community?
23:27Community starting with a G now.
23:29What's it say?
23:30It says, it says, on Fowling Park, what was that again?
23:36Area.
23:37Area.
23:38Community group.
23:39Doesn't say what.
23:40Or in translation.
23:41Oh, it could say.
23:42On Fowling Park associated against the Crips.
23:44That's what an awesome thing to say.
23:45I don't hustle.
23:46And I don't shoot people.
23:47I've been shot three times.
23:48My old brother got killed in these streets.
23:50I ain't heard from faking none of that.
23:51Or my grandmother lived like that, man.
23:52You can have your tattoos.
23:53Your tattoos can be on there for life.
23:54You know, we understand that.
23:55But you don't have to do this.
23:56You don't have to sport the shoes.
23:57I mean, this is just representation, man.
23:58I know.
23:59That's what I'm saying.
24:00It's just representation, man.
24:01The way I'm perceiving it is that...
24:02I'm still acting.
24:03Yeah, you are acting.
24:04But this is my life.
24:05Okay.
24:06This is like...
24:07I swear to you calling in the street or something.
24:08This is a poacher.
24:09Okay.
24:10But what I'm saying is that you can start...
24:11You can start helping the loved ones by not flagging, not showing your colors or whatever
24:27to try to get it out.
24:28Tell them what you're telling us.
24:29I do.
24:30Real shit.
24:31But you gotta walk the walk.
24:33I do.
24:35You still remember?
24:36You still?
24:37Yeah.
24:38Brothers, please.
24:39Don't get me confused.
24:40Because I'm gonna stay true to what I believed in.
24:43And I believed in it.
24:44And I believed in it.
24:46It's a waste of time.
24:47It might not make no sense to you or whatever.
24:49No, no, no.
24:50I ain't saying that.
24:51I ain't not hurt out there bad like that, man.
24:53I know, but they are.
24:54But they are.
24:55But they are.
24:56Yes, they are, brother.
24:57Not right here, they not, man.
24:58Yes, they are, brother.
24:59No, they not, man.
25:00The police can't arrest these people just for wearing their colors or sporting tattoos.
25:04So instead, they make life impossible for them on the streets.
25:08It's an in-your-face strategy, but it feels like the only option.
25:12I mean, for all your efforts, your valiant efforts that you're putting in place here,
25:16there doesn't seem to be any kind of halt to it, and it seems to be coming more and more attractive to a lot of those kids.
25:21I think that it's a worthy cause, whether we get one person out or whether we get a hundred out.
25:31Yeah, sure.
25:32You know, I think that it's a worthy cause.
25:33Totally.
25:34And I think that this is something that's needed in this city and a lot of cities.
25:38And what's going on here in St. Louis is going on everywhere.
25:41From the beginning, I've been struck by the youth of the gangsters of St. Louis.
26:00It almost seems to be an inevitable part of life for kids from the ghettos.
26:15I'm going to a school where they run a program to get the kids out of gangs.
26:22It's run by a Muslim ex-gang banger, Kabir Muhammad.
26:27I don't know this poor shit about gangbangers.
26:30And then I got people coming to me and I'm like,
26:32Well, you don't need to talk to them like that.
26:33Fuck you!
26:36I'm trying to save your life, man!
26:40I got people out here that want to kill me for what I do.
26:44And then we got society feeding you with all this old fucked up music,
26:48all these old fucked up videos.
26:55So no.
26:56I ain't changing shit.
26:58This is how it's going to be.
27:00This is how we get down.
27:01This is straight, raw, to the fucking point.
27:04Now, goddammit, you can accept the truth and live,
27:09or you can reject it and fucking die.
27:12Kabir's approach is brutal, but it needs to be.
27:16Bloods kiss ass.
27:17Big Bloods.
27:18Little Old Trades, which is another gang.
27:20And you can see this is what it's all about.
27:22I mean, but these are pencils.
27:25This is a graphite pencil that you'd find, you know,
27:28in a school of 14-year-old boys.
27:30Only Crips use this, i.e. Bloods don't wash their hands.
27:33Fuck blood.
27:35And that's what these people are up against,
27:38trying to teach these kids.
27:40This thing is so indoctrinated into them at such an early age,
27:44the color of red or the color of blue.
27:46You know, it's not up your struggle.
27:50But I do think that people like Kabir are making a difference here.
27:53At least somebody's doing something.
27:56You really want to get your perspective on why young people your age
28:00get in gangs, even knowing that it could cost you your life.
28:04Let's talk to you, Blood.
28:06Ain't no blood, but I think people get in gangs
28:09so they can feel like they belong to something.
28:12Like, if, you know, your family messed up and stuff,
28:16your mom on crack and stuff,
28:18it make you feel like you belong to somebody,
28:20like you want to be somewhere.
28:22Talk about some of the environments that y'all live in, man.
28:24I was born on the east side.
28:26For real.
28:27Gangster disciples?
28:28Yeah.
28:29Vice or lords?
28:30Uh-huh.
28:31Went up because my uncle got killed over there in the apartment.
28:35Was he a gang member?
28:36Yeah.
28:37He was going downstairs.
28:39Some dudes came and I shot him on the ground.
28:42I was in my room and they were shooting out of my window.
28:44A bullet came through my window.
28:46All I remember was I saw him on the ground.
28:48Blood was all on the ground.
28:49They told me to go back in my room.
28:50How old were you then?
28:51I was seven.
28:52What ages were you when you first experienced
28:54or knew that there were drugs in your neighborhood?
28:56My grandma always tell me this story about
28:58when I was little and I used to come up her house
29:00and it was, like, December.
29:02And, you know, like, when a car drove by
29:04and there's snow on her in the street
29:06and I fell in the snow and I picked up and said,
29:09my mama eat this stuff.
29:10And she said she ain't never realized
29:12that my mama was on crack and stuff.
29:22The baby-faced gangsters in Kabir's class
29:25had made me feel sad rather than scared.
29:28And after a week in the city,
29:30I still felt I hadn't met the real gangsters
29:32who were wreaking havoc in their own communities.
29:36So I found a guy who could help me in my quest.
29:39Jason Hampton earned a fearsome reputation as a JVL blood,
29:43part of a gang who fought a vicious turf war
29:46against their local rivals.
29:48That's the alley right there.
29:50A lot of crimes that took place in that alley right there.
29:53This alley and this street alone,
29:55a lot of crimes, man.
29:57A lot of them.
29:58What kind of crimes?
29:59Shootings, robberies, court thefts, jackings.
30:05Anything that you can name took place
30:07on these one, two little streets right here.
30:10See all them little shots, all them little holes and stuff.
30:13Yeah, yeah, I can see the holes up there, yeah.
30:15Them bullet holes.
30:16All this bullet holes.
30:19That big shot right there at the top,
30:21that's a bullet hole.
30:22That right there, that's a bullet hole.
30:24That's a bullet hole.
30:25That's one, that's one, that's one.
30:29There should be some more in these doors
30:31that they try to paint over.
30:33And what are they, just drive by random?
30:35Just drive by.
30:36No, you coming off this lot right here.
30:38This lot right here, they coming off of here.
30:41That's the enemy coming from there?
30:43That's the enemy coming from right over there.
30:45Straight across, walking.
30:46Or they'll drive their car and get out in this alley
30:48behind these houses and come.
30:50This was a classic turf war.
30:52Jason's gang was fighting to protect the drugs trade
30:55they ran from these streets.
30:58In terms of dealing then, who are the clients out with?
31:02People coming from out?
31:03Not from this?
31:04People coming from everywhere.
31:05We had people from St. Charles.
31:06We had guys coming from Springfield.
31:08People from out of town.
31:09Truck drivers stopping, picking up little hookers down here on Cass.
31:12They bringing the hookers, coming, bringing them over here.
31:14My first day of school, I had $800 in my pocket.
31:17$800?
31:18$800.
31:19Jewelry owned, everything.
31:21It was just how you just get money.
31:23And that's just what we were doing.
31:24We were just getting money.
31:25What does this signify, please?
31:27BIP.
31:28That's BIP Vidal.
31:29That's the homeboy who got killed in a high speed chase with the police.
31:33BIP staff for Blood and Peace.
31:3631, Trey Ace.
31:38That's just, 31 is the block right here.
31:41The address, 31.
31:43Right.
31:44So that's what it is.
31:45Trey Ace is just, well, three is Trey, one is Ace.
31:47So we just break it down so it sound better.
31:49It sound fly that way.
31:51Then it's BIP BIMP.
31:53That's the other homeboy who got killed.
31:55If y'all get a chance, y'all ask the gang tags about him.
31:58They'll break him down to you.
31:59He was a, he was a menace to society.
32:02So have you lost a lot of friends over the years?
32:05No.
32:06That's the good thing about it.
32:08We lost, what, three?
32:11The whole time we've been, since Bright and the Bloods,
32:14we only lost three to death.
32:16That's good, isn't it, considering?
32:23Straight across, Jason?
32:25No, we can't really go straight across because I'm in two of the guys over there.
32:29You have trouble with the guys?
32:30Yeah, on that side right there too.
32:32Really?
32:33This is my only side I really can go.
32:34So really, we've only just, we've done the bit that you're safe in?
32:36That's the only zone I'm safe in.
32:38Anything out of this for real, I can't go.
32:41I can't go, man.
32:42I'm 25, I can't go over there.
32:44Today, Jason is on probation.
32:47He has to avoid any gang association or risk going down.
32:51But after two weeks in the city, I am more convinced than ever that I need to meet the guys still living the gangster life.
32:57Then, I get a lead that could take me into the heart of one of the most notorious gangs in the city.
33:09After more than two weeks in the city, I have seen the devastation caused by gang violence, met the police trying to combat it and spoken to a former gangster.
33:27To me, it all feels like part of the decline of a once great city, where the demise of traditional industries has left a massive gap into which the gangs have stepped with their graffiti, drugs and turf wars.
33:42Now, I'm waiting for a contact who's promised to put me in touch with one of these gangs.
33:48The situation is this. We've been waiting now for an hour to meet a contact in a parking lot.
33:54We've just been sussed by a couple of low riders accused of being undercover cops.
34:01And so, if this guy doesn't turn up pretty soon, we've full decided that it's time to leave because they think it might be pretty unhealthy for us if we hang around much longer.
34:10Let's hope he turns up.
34:18We waited for three hours for these guys while they didn't show, so we left.
34:21And of course, as soon as we left, we get a phone call to say it's all back on again.
34:25So, we're off to meet them in a secret location.
34:40Well, actually, we're at the venue where we meet the gang members now.
34:51We obviously can't film outside because it would draw unwarranted attention from A, the police, and B, other gangs, which could lead to it all kicking off.
34:59So, just about to go through and meet the guys.
35:05This is truly bizarre.
35:07They're burying a pit bull puppy, and I'm the chief mourner.
35:11I just had to bury a dog yesterday right here.
35:14There it is, though.
35:15And it gets stranger and scarier.
35:17Anyway, thanks for talking to us, guys.
35:18I know we're not going to mention who you are.
35:19We're not going to say what gang you're affiliated to, but you are a gang member.
35:35Blood gang.
35:36You are a blood gang, yeah.
35:38Can you tell us how you became members of the gang?
35:43On the set.
35:45Grew up all our life on the set.
35:48That's what's up.
35:50And was there pressure under you?
35:52I don't have no pressure.
35:53You got to be a leader in this shit.
35:55If you ain't no leader, you keep following us.
35:58That's what's up.
36:00How young were you?
36:06I heard, uh, show us some love about fitting.
36:10Shit, the streets is up.
36:14That's what's up.
36:15You know what I'm saying?
36:16The streets are going to feed you around here.
36:18Shit.
36:19Ain't no job going to feed you.
36:21Well, even because there were little choices for you then, you know?
36:25There wasn't much just getting a job in you.
36:27It's a lot of choices out here.
36:29I wear my mask like it's sweat.
36:32You smell me.
36:33It's a lot of choices out here.
36:36You can do a lot of nice things, positive things.
36:39But that ain't what I choose.
36:41I choose the streets.
36:43It's like if you don't know nobody around here, you can't eat around here.
36:47How much money would be that?
36:48This right here?
36:49If I'm bagging up and selling it.
36:51Which I'm not going to bag it up and sell it.
36:54Yeah.
36:55A quarter ounce of this L right here.
36:57Shit, I'll fucking give it to you.
37:00Oh, shit.
37:02Fuck it.
37:03I'll fucking sell you an ounce for $85.
37:06Anybody else I sell an ounce $125.
37:09So you're saying that you're 30 years old, you've got a family and you sell the weed.
37:15And you said water.
37:16Can you explain to me what water is?
37:19Water is PCP.
37:21They love it.
37:22They love it.
37:23Take the cigarette out.
37:25Take the filter out.
37:28Loosen the squirrel.
37:31Motherfuckers ain't going to show you.
37:34This ain't no game.
37:36My, my.
37:38You can smell it to make sure that's the real deal.
37:44Holy fuck.
37:45Mike Tyson.
37:46How do it smell to you?
37:48Give me the truth.
37:49It smells like paint, like glue or paint thinner when you.
37:54Do you dip the cigarette in the bottle?
37:58Surely.
37:59About right there.
38:00I'll show it.
38:01It's fucking nothing.
38:03You blow it down.
38:06You see how it run.
38:09It's gone down the length of the horse.
38:11They love it for $20 all the time.
38:13All the time.
38:14All the time.
38:15And what about, if I may ask, crack?
38:18Does that, does that deal?
38:19Does that happen here?
38:20Crack?
38:21Yeah, yeah.
38:22They love that.
38:23That shit, that shit make them strong.
38:24You know, you know, it's like a shortcut.
38:26You know, you gotta, some type of way you have a steep, a spot.
38:30You know.
38:31Got it.
38:32Crack.
38:33They be more than crack.
38:34You be no fool.
38:37Yeah.
38:38That's what they want.
38:39But the selling of the drugs, do you have to protect your area, don't you?
38:42Oh, yeah.
38:43I protect my area.
38:44Shit.
38:45That's what's up.
38:46Pop the bitch ass.
38:47You carry that?
38:48It's, it's one in her.
38:49One in the chain, yeah?
38:50Yeah, it's, it's always one in the chain, but I don't want it.
38:53Yep.
38:54There you go.
38:55Yeah, it's one in her.
38:56Got it.
38:57Just be careful with that.
38:58Oh, yeah.
38:59Take that camera off.
39:00All the time.
39:01We careful.
39:02Okay, cool.
39:03But, you know, I'm talking about, you know, you're carrying that weapon around with you.
39:06Can you relax any time?
39:07No, I relax without the nine majority of the time.
39:10My nine, it's like, it's your best friend.
39:16You hear me?
39:17Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, you carry that.
39:21Do you have to, have you used it?
39:22Have you had to use it?
39:23This one right here?
39:24Yeah.
39:25This one got served to some players.
39:30Right.
39:31They was playing a game, but they also got played.
39:35Sure.
39:36But this just a little toy.
39:38Sure.
39:39You have bigger toys?
39:40Yeah.
39:41Yeah.
39:42Yeah, them big toys, they shoot like, hmm, lots of times.
39:45Yeah, sure.
39:46Yeah.
39:47If he 15, he gots to use it.
39:49If he don't know how to use it, he was born using it.
39:51How you use that?
39:53Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
39:56Yeah.
39:57No aiming, just using.
39:59Yeah.
40:00Till they come to an aim.
40:02Shit.
40:03Oh.
40:05Spend time smoking weed.
40:06I'm nervous.
40:07I'm nervous.
40:08Okay.
40:09These people out here working.
40:10You know what I'm saying?
40:12The people that's working, they working hard.
40:14I'm working hard too, pushing it.
40:16We running that dog kennel at the same time.
40:19What's up here?
40:20Yeah, I've got it.
40:21I'm not supposed to catch, yeah?
40:22Yeah.
40:23Some old ounces.
40:24Shit real.
40:25Shit real.
40:26What do you think about the police around here?
40:27The police, they suck.
40:28Fuck the police.
40:29Yeah.
40:30For my life.
40:31And I thank you very much for talking to us.
40:32Thank you very much for talking to us.
40:33That's what's up.
40:38I'll say thank you very much.
40:40You got to do the hood shake.
40:41Show me.
40:42There.
40:43There.
40:44Is that it?
40:46And I thank you very much for talking to us. Thank you very much. That's what's up. Thank you
40:51Thank you. I say thank you very much. You got to do the hood shake show me
40:55There there that it. Thank you. You know come on like this. All right. I
41:01Got it. Thank you very much
41:09Well, we've just met two members of the Bloods I
41:12I have to say I've never been in a room with that amount and that variety of drugs before
41:21He also kept going on about how stressed he was the man in the mask
41:24Well, I have to say I was quite stressed when he pulled out that
41:26Colt 45 had the hammer back with a round in the chamber. I
41:30Have to say I'm very glad I'm going home
41:32Mm-hmm
41:40Before I leave town I want to check on my man Jason to see how he's progressing on his road out of the gang life
41:46I'm all right now. Yeah, everything is going great, man. And I see you again. Come on
41:51We just going up here on the front man. Yeah, perfect. Let's make it happen. Thank you
41:55All right
41:57Is every day I wake up I wake up before I have to just this sit back and just thank the Lord for waking me up and let me see another day
42:04But about the excitement and the kudos it's faking this stuff is not no game
42:08This stuff ain't no game when somebody walk up on you and put a gun to your head and a trigger don't go off
42:16It wasn't cuz they guns broke that mean that was the same wake up brother get out of there
42:21Why would you want to live your life like that watching your back all day? That's not living watching your back?
42:28You can't stop it stop signs. You can't stop it red lights because you don't want to get caught sleeping
42:33It's a better life than just games. He just kind of leave it alone
42:36It's a certain point certain time you just had to look at yourself and like man
42:40This is this what you want is this example you gonna set for your kids as they get older
42:44I'm tired of seeing my partners my friends my associates are going to jail or end up dead it hurts
42:51It's just time to rise up man leave this gang stuff alone man cuz it's not no life man. It's not life
42:58In terms of of your enemies in that environment is is there still a war going on or is it quiet down?
43:06No, it's never gonna quiet down the war is still going on as we speak because the young guys
43:11The ones we roll past and look that's keeping it going
43:14They gonna keep it going and they young guys gonna keep it going and this gonna last on from generation to generation
43:19Until somebody just finally come down here and speak and talk to us talk to them to our black community
43:25Let them know that let's leave it alone until that come
43:29St. Louis is gonna always be a very violent places just like New Orleans
43:32They just violent we like the second murder rate capital of the world probably to us, you know
43:38There's a war going on across seas. Well, there's a war going on in the United States every day
43:44For me the gang culture in St. Louis is no different from any other
44:00There are lots of young men looking for money or respect to prepare to use a gun to get them
44:05What does surprise me is the fact that in a country that prides itself on its commitment to liberty and freedom
44:10that St. Louis is such a racially divided city
44:14For me, a black mother in St. Louis is no different from any other
44:19And what I never want to hear again was a woman crying because gang violence has taken her son away from her
44:26để todo Why they don't suffer Female
44:29andний – listen and let them die
44:31She stairwell, bless cái decis Celine
44:33I don't think the lof will ever leave
44:35They hope they've had a lot of emotional loss
44:37They hope you're so grateful for all off
44:37They'll never be getting paid
44:39We'll always be greeted by Pangaei
44:39ETH
44:40OBo
44:41A
44:42Ik
44:48I
44:50I
44:50I
44:50I
44:51I
44:51I
44:52I
44:53O
44:54We'll see you next time.