Pirus

Street gang alliance in Los Angeles

Criminal organization

Pirus

Piru graffiti

Founded| 1969; 56 years ago (1969)
Founder| Sylvester Puddin Scott, Vincent Benson Owens
Founding location| Compton, California, United States
Years active| 1969–present
Ethnicity| Primarily Black American
Activities| Drug trafficking, robbery, extortion and murder
Allies| Bloods[1]
Rivals| Crips[1]

The Pirus (/ˈpaɪruː/ ⓘ) are a subset of the larger Bloods gang alliance, an organized crime group in the United States.[2]

## Etymology

[edit]

The name "Piru" is derived from the Piru Street Boys, a gang which was founded in 1969 by Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens in Compton.[3] The Piru Street Boys are considered the forerunners to the Bloods,[4] which is why the terms "Piru" and "Blood" are often used interchangeably. However, this interchangeable use of the terms is inaccurate,[5] as many non-Piru gangs such as the Denver Lanes and Brims were also instrumental in the formation of the Bloods.[6]

Furthermore, the Pirus are an alliance of street gangs within the larger Bloods alliance,[2] meaning that not all Bloods sets will identify as "Pirus".

## History

[edit]

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,[7] but later had a falling-out. However, other sources dispute any alliance, claiming that the Piru Street Boys were victimised by the Crips.[8] Nevertheless, by the early 1970s, 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.[9] This alliance became known as the Bloods, as the members of this alliance called each other "blood".[9]

Eventually, more Piru sets would form. There are 15 known Piru sets within the Greater Los Angeles area.[10] Piru sets have fought against each other. For example, the Mob Piru and Fruit Town Piru developed a rivalry by the late 1990s, which resulted in the murders of several Mob Pirus associated with Death Row Records.[11]

Piru sets often use burgundy or red bandanas as a form of identification, although other colors may be used to evade detection from law enforcement[12]

## Piru sets

[edit]

* Cedar Block Piru[13]
* Elm Street Piru[14]
* Fruit Town Piru[14]
* Lueders Park Piru[14]
* Mob Piru
* Tree Top Piru

## In popular culture

[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

* The song "Piru Love" from Bangin' on Wax (1993) by Bloods & Crips makes references to various Piru sets, including Holly Hood, Elm Street and Lueders Park.
* The song "M.A.A.D City" from good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) by Kendrick Lamar makes references to the Bloods, being Pirus particularly with the line "If Pirus and Crips, all got along" in the song.
* In the song "Strange Clouds" from Strange Clouds (2012) by B.o.B. featuring Lil Wayne, Lil Wayne references the Piru: "Piru, gangsters, outlaws" at the end of his verse.
* In the song "Let The Beat Build" from Tha Carter III (2008) by Lil Wayne, Lil Wayne references the Piru: "I can buy you, but I wouldn't try you, feed you to Piru".
* In the song "Stop Breathing" from Whole Lotta Red (2020) by Playboi Carti, he references the Piru:"I’m hangin' with the Pirus, hangin' with the Fives".

## See also

[edit]

* African-American organized crime
* Gangs in Los Angeles
* List of California street gangs

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Bloods Street Gang Intelligence Report Virginia State Police (November 2008)
2. ^ a b "Pirus". April 6, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2023. "The Pirus is an umbrella street gang alliance (under the larger alliance, Bloods)"
3. ^ Covey, Herbert C. (2015). Crips and Bloods : a guide to an American subculture. Santa Barbara, California. p. 27\. ISBN 978-0-313-39929-9. OCLC 768800412.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. ^ Carlin, Michael Douglas (November 6, 2019). "Piru Origins, Precursor to the Bloods". centurycity.news. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
5. ^ "Piru Meaning & Origin | Slang by Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023. "Some people incorrectly interchange the terms Piru and Blood, believing that the two terms mean the same thing."
6. ^ Gann, Brian (June 9, 2011). "The Bloods (1972 - ) •". Black Past. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
7. ^ Cawthorne, Nigel (2010). The World's Most Evil Gangsters. John Blake. ISBN 9781784184339. "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"
8. ^ Flores, R. D. (October 1997). "Crips and Bloods". www.ojp.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2023. "Other gangs began to form to defend themselves against the Crips. Two of these gangs were the GnG Mob, Brims and the Pirus."
9. ^ a b "Bloods Street Gang Intelligence Report" (PDF). Commonwealth of Virginia Department of State Police. p. 4\. "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"
10. ^ "Pirus". April 6, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
11. ^ Phillips, Chuck (August 1, 2003). "As Associates Fall, Is 'Suge' Next?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
12. ^ Finley, Laura L. (2018). Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave [2 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 38\. ISBN 9781440844744.
13. ^ Lee, Chris (June 25, 2008). "The Game gets back to roots". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
14. ^ a b c Roberts, Randall; Priya, Krishnakumar (January 19, 2018). "Rap's Main Street: The music of Rosecrans Avenue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Bloods

Sets|

* Black P. Stones
* Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods
* Crenshaw Mafia Gangster Bloods
* Dixon Bloods
* LRGP
* Pirus
* Cedar Block Piru
* Elm Street Piru
* Fruit Town Piru
* Lueders Park Piru
* Mob Piru
* Tree Top Piru
* United Blood Nation
* Nine Trey Gangsters
* Sex Money Murder

Members|

* Wardell Fouse
* Suge Knight
* Alton McDonald
* Aaron Palmer
* Omar Portee
* Cle Shaheed Sloan
* Henry Smith
* Regis Deon Thomas
* Skipp Townsend

Related|

| Media|

* Crips and Bloods: Made in America
* Slippin': Ten Years with the Bloods
* Why We Bang

|

* Crips–Bloods gang war
* Timeline of the Crips–Bloods gang war
* Lee Correctional Prison Riot
* Operation Blue Storm
* People Nation
* Almighty Black P. Stone Nation
* Project Wildfire
* Rampart scandal
* 2022 Sacramento shooting
* Watts truce

Category: Bloods

* v
* t
* e

Organized crime groups in the United States

African-American|

* 31 Gang
* 39ers gang
* Bailey Boys
* Black Disciples
* Black Guerrilla Family
* Black Mafia
* Junior Black Mafia
* Black Mafia Family
* Black P. Stone Nation
* Bloods
* Black Spades
* Bloods
* Black P. Stones
* Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods
* Cedar Block Piru
* Crenshaw Mafia Gangster Bloods
* Elm Street Piru
* Fruit Town Piru
* Mob Piru
* Nine Trey Gangsters
* Pirus
* Sex Money Murder
* Tree Top Piru
* United Blood Nation
* Byrd Gang
* CBL/BFL
* Chambers Brothers
* The Council
* Crips
* Grape Street Watts Crips
* Kelly Park Compton Crips
* Nutty Blocc Compton Crips
* Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips
* Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips
* Rollin' 90s Neighborhood Crips
* South Side Compton Crips
* Venice Shoreline Crips
* D-Block Boys
* D.C. Blacks
* The Family
* Four Corner Hustlers
* Fruit Belt Gang
* Gangster Disciples
* OutLaw Gangster Disciples
* Hidden Valley Kings
* KUMI 415
* Lenox Street Boys
* LRGP
* Lucerne Street Doggz
* Metz Gang
* Miami Boys
* Mickey Cobras
* Orchard Park Trailblazers
* Savage Nomads
* Schuele Boys
* Somali Outlaws
* Supreme Team
* Vice Lord Nation
* Westmob
* Young Boys Inc.

East and
Southeast Asian|

* Asian Boyz (Southeast Asian)
* Bahala Na Gang (Filipino)
* Born To Kill (Vietnamese)
* Fullerton Boys (Korean)
* Menace of Destruction (Hmong)
* Satanas (Filipino)
* Tiny Rascal Gang (primarily Cambodian)
* Tokyo Boyz (Japanese)
* Yakuza (Japanese)

Chinese and
Chinese-American|

* Bamboo Union
* Big Circle Gang
* Black Dragons
* Chung Ching Yee
* Flying Dragons
* Four Seas Gang
* Fujianese organized crime
* Snakeheads
* Ghost Shadows
* Jackson Street Boys
* Ping On
* Tongs
* Bing Kong
* Four Brothers
* Hip Sing
* Hop Sing
* On Leong
* Suey Sing
* Ying On
* Triads
* 14K
* Sun Yee On
* Wo Hop To
* Wah Ching
* White Tigers

Hispanic and
Latin American|

* 10th Street Gang (primarily Hispanic, also African-Americans)
* 7th Street Gang
* Almighty Saints (primarily Hispanic, also Whites)
* Barrio Azteca (Mexican)
* The Corporation (Cuban)
* Dominicans Don't Play
* Fresno Bulldogs (Mexican)
* Ghetto Brothers
* Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (primarily Mexican)
* Jheri Curls (Dominican)
* La Raza Nation (Mexican)
* Latin Counts (Mexican)
* Latin Eagles
* Latin Kings (Mexican / Puerto Rican)
* Maniac Latin Disciples
* Marielitos (Cuban)
* Mexican Mafia
* Mexikanemi
* MS-13 (Central American)
* Ñetas (Puerto Rican)
* Norteños (Mexican)
* Nuestra Familia (Mexican)
* Puro Tango Blast (Mexican)
* Savage Skulls
* Los Solidos
* Spanish Cobras
* Spanish Gangster Disciples
* Sureños (Mexican)
* 18th Street gang
* 38th Street gang
* Avenues
* Azusa 13
* Barriox13
* Culver City Boys
* El Monte Flores
* Florencia 13
* Logan Heights Gang
* OVS
* Playboys
* Puente 13
* Santa Monica 13
* Toonerville Rifa 13
* Varrio Nuevo Estrada
* Venice 13
* Vineland Boys
* Westside Locos
* White Fence
* Temple Street
* Texas Syndicate (primarily Mexican)
* Tren de Aragua (Venezuelan)
* Trinitarios (Dominican)
* Vatos Locos
* Young Lords

White American|

* Chicago Gaylords
* Dead Man Incorporated
* Dixie Mafia
* State Line Mob
* Popes
* Simon City Royals (primarily White, also Hispanics)

European-American|

* Albanian mafia
* Albanian Boys
* Rudaj Organization
* Greek mafia
* Philadelphia Greek Mob
* Velentzas crime family
* Polish Mob
* Russian mafia
* Serbian mafia

Irish-American|

* Irish mob
* Charlestown Gang
* Egan's Rats
* Gustin Gang
* Hogan Gang
* K&A Gang
* Mullen Gang
* North Side Gang
* Westies
* White Hand Gang
* Winter Hill Gang

Italian and
Italian-American|

* American Mafia
* Bufalino crime family
* Buffalo crime family
* Chicago Outfit
* Cleveland crime family
* Colorado crime family
* D'Aquila crime family
* Dallas crime family
* DeCavalcante crime family
* Detroit Partnership
* Five Families (New York City)
* Genna crime family
* Kansas City crime family
* Los Angeles crime family
* Lucchese crime family
* Milwaukee crime family
* Morello crime family
* New Orleans crime family
* Patriarca crime family
* Philadelphia crime family
* Pittsburgh crime family
* Rochester crime family
* San Francisco crime family
* San Jose crime family
* Seattle crime family
* St. Louis crime family
* Trafficante crime family
* 10th & Oregon Crew
* Broadway Mob
* Camorra
* New York City
* East Harlem Purple Gang
* Jousters
* Murder, Inc.
* 'Ndrangheta
* New Springville Boys
* Sicilian Mafia
* South Brooklyn Boys
* Tanglewood Boys

Jewish-American|

* Jewish Mob
* Bugs and Meyer Mob
* Eastman Gang
* Lenox Avenue Gang
* Murder, Inc.
* Odesa mafia
* The Purple Gang
* Yiddish Black Hand
* Zwi Migdal
* Israeli mafia
* Abergil crime family
* New York divorce coercion gang

Polynesian and
Native American|

* The Company
* Native Mob
* Red Skin Kingz
* Sons of Samoa
* Tongan Crip Gang

West and South Asian|

* Armenian Power
* Chaldean mafia
* Independent Soldiers
* Israeli mafia
* Punjabi mafia
* Turkish mafia
* VVT (Tamil)

West African|

* Cape Verdean organized crime
* Nigerian mafia

Outlaw motorcycle gangs|

* Bandidos
* Breed
* Brother Speed
* Devils Diciples
* Diablos
* Dirty Dozen
* El Forastero
* Free Souls
* Galloping Goose
* Grim Reapers
* Gypsy Jokers
* Hells Angels
* Red Devils
* Highwaymen
* Iron Horsemen
* Mongols
* Outlaws
* Black Pistons
* Pagans
* Sons of Satan
* Sons of Silence
* Vagos
* Warlocks (Florida)
* Warlocks (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
* Wheels of Soul

White supremacist|

* 211 Crew
* Aryan Brotherhood
* Aryan Brotherhood of Texas
* Aryan Circle
* Aryan Nations
* Aryan Republican Army
* Atomwaffen Division
* Combat 18
* The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord
* European Kindred
* Hammerskins
* Keystone United
* Lynwood Vikings
* Manson Family
* Nazi Lowriders
* The Order
* Public Enemy No. 1
* Soldiers of Aryan Culture
* Spook Hunters
* Universal Aryan Brotherhood
* Volksfront

See also
Gangs in the United States
List of gangs
Organized crime groups in the Americas

* v
* t
* e

Organized crime groups in Los Angeles

African-American|

| Active|

* Bloods
* Black P. Stones
* Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods
* Cedar Block Piru
* Crenshaw Mafia Gangster Bloods
* Elm Street Piru
* Fruit Town Piru
* Mob Piru
* Pirus
* Tree Top Piru
* Crips
* Grape Street Watts Crips
* Kelly Park Compton Crips
* Nutty Blocc Compton Crips
* Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips
* Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips
* Rollin' 90s Neighborhood Crips
* South Side Compton Crips
* Venice Shoreline Crips

|

Deputy gangs|

| Active|

* Compton Executioners
* Lynwood Vikings

|

East and Southeast Asian|

| Active|

* 14K
* Asian Boyz
* Bahala Na Gang‎
* Satanas
* Tiny Rascal Gang
* Wah Ching

|

Inactive|

* Black Dragons

Hispanic and Latin American|

| Active|

* Mexican Mafia
* Sureños
* 18th Street gang
* 38th Street gang
* Avenues
* Azusa 13
* Culver City Boys
* El Monte Flores
* Florencia 13
* MS-13
* Ontario Varrio Sur
* Playboys
* Puente 13
* Santa Monica 13
* Temple Street
* Toonerville Rifa 13
* Varrio Nuevo Estrada
* Venice 13
* Vineland Boys
* Westside Locos
* White Fence

|

Italian-American|

| Active|

* Chicago Outfit
* Colombo crime family
* Gambino crime family
* Genovese crime family
* Los Angeles crime family

|

Jewish-American|

| Inactive|

* Mickey Cohen
* Bugsy Siegel

|

Outlaw motorcycle gangs|

| Active|

* Chosen Few
* Diablos
* Devils Diciples
* Hells Angels
* Hessians
* Mongols
* Vagos

|

Inactive|

* Straight Satans

Polynesian|

| Active|

* Sons of Samoa
* Tongan Crip Gang

|

West Asian|

| Active|

* Armenian mafia
* Armenian Power
* Israeli mafia
* Abergil crime family

|

White American|

| Inactive|

* FFF
* Wonderland Gang

|

White Supremacist|

| Active|

* Aryan Brotherhood
* Nazi Lowriders
* Public Enemy No. 1

|

Events|

* Crips–Bloods gang war
* Operation Hammer
* Operation Power Outage
* Watts truce
* Wonderland murders

See also
List of criminal gangs in Los Angeles
Organized crime groups in the United States
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