Stanley Williams - Founding of The Crips

Founding of The Crips

Seventeen year-old Stanley Williams was approached by Raymond Washington in the spring of 1971, at Washington Preparatory High School. Washington was from the East Side of South Central, while Williams was from the West Side of that area. A mutual friend of both young men informed Washington of Williams' toughness and his willingness to fight members of larger, more established street gangs like the L.A. Brims and the Chain Gang (both gangs would later become Bloods sets; The Brims and The Inglewood Family Bloods respectively). According to Williams' account of his initial meeting with Washington, what struck him about Washington was that, besides being incredibly muscular, Washington and his cohort were dressed similar to Williams and his clique (leather jackets with starched Levi's jeans and suspenders). They formed an alliance known first as the "Cribs," later changed to "Crips." (Ray Washington was killed in August 1979; his funeral took place on his birthday). Because Williams had befriended so many clique leaders and street toughs on the West Side, these leaders in turn rallied their members at Williams' behest and formed what would become the West Side Crips.

The purpose for creating the gang initially was to eliminate all street gangs and create a "bull force" neighborhood watch. Williams said: "We started out—at least my intent was to, in a sense, address all of the so-called neighboring gangs in the area and to put, in a sense—I thought 'I can cleanse the neighborhood of all these, you know, marauding gangs.' But I was totally wrong. And eventually, we morphed into the monster we were addressing." Washington himself has stated that he founded the Crips not with the intention of eliminating other gangs, but to create a force powerful enough to protect local black people from racism, corruption and brutality at the hands of the police.

At the time of the Crips' initial formation there were only three Crip sets: Washington's East Side Crips (later called East Coast Crips), Williams' West Side Crips and the Compton Crips, led by a teenager named Mac Thomas. Washington, Williams and Thomas went on an aggressive and violent recruitment campaign throughout the Black ghettos of Los Angeles. They challenged the leaders of other gangs to one-on-one street fights. Many gang leaders and their members acquiesed and joined the Crips. The few gangs that resisted would later form the alliance known as the Bloods, and would become the Crips' fiercest rivals.