Latin Brothers

The Latin Brothers may date back to the late1960s but at that time they were known as the “Unicorns.”  I do not know much of anything about the Unicorn days, but I know it was a short lived and by 1970 they changed their name to the “Latin Brothers.”

The Latin Brothers formed in the year 1970 in the Pilsen section of the Lower West Side neighborhood at the intersection of 17th and Racine. The founder of the organization was “Butler” and some of the first members were Wino, Big Foot, Dizzy, Player, and Mr. Lucky.  The Latin Brother originals were closely related to the Latin Counts and were in consideration for joining the Counts but for some reason it was decided for these guys to not be part of the Counts, therefore, these guys started the Latin Brothers, a decision that was honored by both the Counts and Brothers.  Once the Latin Brothers formed they became very close allies with the Bishops and Latin Counts as they joined in their fight against the Ambrose street gang from 18th and Throop and their other enemies like Satan Disciples and Latin Kings.  A big power struggle was going on between Ambrose, Latin Counts and several other gangs along 18th.  The Latin Brothers laid claim to the biggest intersection in Pilsen at 18th and Ashland which was basically the heart of Pilsen which was a great accomplishment for any gang to have this territory.

The Latin Brothers adopted the colors of black and purple and their own symbols as a Trojan helmet instead of a knight’s helmet.  The LBs also adopted the spear as their symbol, and this angered the rival Ambrose gang.  Ambrose viciously gunned for the LBs trying to force them to give up the spear but the LBs refused to comply and instead fought viciously back against Ambrose.  Another big enemy of the Latin Brothers was the Satan Disciples of West Pilsen that ruled the west side of 18th Street.

In the same year the Latin Brothers formed they began a section in the Little Village community at 26th and Lawndale started by Darrell, once again taking bold territory.  At this section the Latin Brothers were fighting with Ridgeway Lords and Latin Kings but mostly Ridgeway Lords.  This section closed in 1971 when Darrell moved back to 18th Street.

In the summer of 1978, the entire Pilsen area called for a major gang truce that even caught the attention of the news.  This was colossal because Pilsen was well known to be a violent neighborhood and there were several different gangs in the neighborhood.  Rivals now stopped all their wars and shook hands for the first time.  The truce all came to an end in the fall of 1978 when Ambrose shot up the founder/leader of the Latin Brothers Butler.  After Butler was slain, “Mr. Lucky” took over leadership of the Latin Brothers.  Latin Brother operations in Pilsen would never be the same again after the death of Butler.

In the year 1979 some members of the Latin Brothers moved out of Pilsen and into the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.  They settled on the north side of the Austin neighborhood north of North Ave which was a neighborhood very friendly to newly arriving Hispanics and still for whites too.  The first Latin Brothers to come here from 18th Street were the Burgos brothers.  Mike “Mr. LB” Burgos along with Oscar and Abraham were the founders of this new section in Austin. Some of the original Latin Brothers of North Avenue and Latrobe were Godfather, Professor, Slick, Green Eyes, He Man, Harvey, Thief, Tank, Taco, Pillsbury, Jeckel and Hyde, Toto Alex, Jr., Oscar, Psycho and Clemente. The rest of Austin south of North Ave was becoming an all-African American neighborhood fast.  The Latin Brothers settled at the intersection of North and Latrobe in 1979 and soon found new allies and new enemies.   These Latin Brothers began going by “Latin Brothers Organization” or “LBO.” The Latin Brothers mainly slugged it out with gangs that occupied nearby Hansen Park that was in the nearby Belmont-Cragin neighborhood and right across the train tracks, such as the Taylor Jousters that were building up a strong presence there.  The Latin Brothers also fought with the Gaylords from nearby Belmont-Cragin and Sayre Park in the early 1980s before the Gaylords had fully embraced the fact that they were People Nation too.  Other major rivals of the Brothers became Imperial Gangsters from Belmont-Cragin and Maniac Latin Disciples from Belmont-Cragin.  Eventually the Latin Brothers would open turf at North Ave and Lockwood and Bloomingdale and Laramie in Austin as well.

One of the biggest enemies of the Latin Brothers in Austin was the Latin Stylers that arrived in the same year.  These two groups would have violent gang altercations.  The rivalry with the Sayre Park Gaylords was intense too as the Gaylords also arrived in 1979.  The Latin Brothers established a tight alliance with Spanish Cobras from Cicero and Armitage in Belmont-Cragin because of strong family ties along Mexican blood lines.  This is where the “Insane” moniker in the Insane Latin Brothers name comes from because of this old alliance.  Spanish Cobras would join Folks when it first came out between 79-81 and became prominent Folks but the Latin Brothers did not join Folks at any point in time.  When the People alliance was created in 1981 the Latin Brothers joined People instead mostly because of their Pilsen ties and tightness with Latin Counts and Bishops.  To clarify, the Latin Brothers only had relations with the Armitage and Cicero Spanish Cobras and not the whole Spanish Cobras organization.  Cicero and Armitage Spanish Cobras have deep history at that intersection going back to 1980 when they were the first Hispanic gang in Belmont-Cragin.

During the 1980s as Traveling Vice Lords colonized more of Austin and connected with the Latin Brothers.  The two groups became tight allies and began doing lots of business together along North Ave especially since they were both People.  This established a close relationship with TVLs as Latin Brothers also hung out with Four Corner Hustlers and Mafia Insane Vice Lords.  Eventually black members of the LB would flip to one of these Vice Lord gangs as the north side of North Ave became more African American.

On New Years Day 1984, a Latin Brother member named Mario Flores shot a Latin Styler to death with a shot gun during a road rage incident.  The Styler was shot up so bad he was riddled with gun shots.  Mario Flores was thought the have no gang ties to those around him nor did they even think he was violent.  Flores was becoming a professional diver and could have competed in the 1988 Olympics but instead he would be convicted of murder and sat on deathrow until that was overturned.    This was the first gang related homicide in Chicago to lead of 1984 and caught lots of attention.  In the same of year 1984, the Latin Brothers had a vicious war with the North Ave and Harding Spanish Cobras that cost Hector his life and the Latin Brothers killed “Chaci-C” from the Spanish Cobras.  These were Spanish Cobras from the West Humboldt Park community.   Law enforcement now targeted the Latin Brothers Organization after these murders.

In the year 1985 Carlos Hernandez, also known as Penguin opened up Belmont and Cicero “Brother City” in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood which became the LBs first piece of territory in this community.  Multiple Hernandez family members opened this new section, and “Boner B” was one of the most prominent and celebrated co-founders of this section.  From Belmont and Cicero, the LBs would eventually open Lockwood and Barry “Trojans Point,” Lamon and Barry “LB St,” Natchez and Palmer, Lamon and Fletcher, Belmont Ave and Kilpatrick, Cornelia and Lavergne, Cornelia and Long (Chopin Park), Wellington and Kilpatrick.  I don’t have the exact dates of when these sections opened but Lockwood and Barry goes back to the 80s between 1985 and the end of the decade.  Lamon and Barry is from the later 80s between 1985-1989.   These new sections did not go by “LBO” and were just “Insane Latin Brothers.”

On April 19, 1989, Steven O’Callaghan, also known as Pyro of the Latin Brothers was gunned down outside of Steinmetz High School that made the news.  Pyro was the son of police officer Thomas O’Callaghan.  Pyro was shot to death by a 15-year-old Imperial Gangster at a time when Imperial Gangsters were trying to push their way into the neighborhood.

In the year 1992, the Natchez and Palmer Latin Brothers became heavily targeted by police who built a RICO case against these NP Latin Brothers which caused this legendary section to close.  This was also the same year that Spanish Cobras declared that all “Insane” allies had to fall in line with the tighter alliance.  The Latin Brothers were partially in with the Insanes but never Folks but now they would be forced to join Folks with this new alignment but the new section that opened in 1992 at Barry and Knox (Evil Side) were the first to say no way to this.  This caused a war within bloodlines between Spanish Cobras and Latin Brothers.  Barry and Knox LBs then went back to Belmont and Cicero LBs and laid out a new order that would part ways with Spanish Cobras and keep their People alliance status intact and to never turn Folks.  All sections of Latin Brothers fell in line with this and relations with Spanish Cobras were done.  This also breathed new life into the Latin Brothers as they closed some more sections and added onto Belmont and Cicero, Barry and Knox and Wellington and Laramie.  The Latin Brothers started getting really big heading into the more mid-1990s.

Latin Brothers remained active all through the 1980s in Pilsen and Austin but as the decade unfolded their recruitment slowed as momentum of the organization became more Belmont-Cragin based.  By the early 1990s 18^th and Ashland and North Ave and Latrobe were sections more for older guys with families; however, graffiti and members hanging in the streets was still common site until the later 1990s when the LBs had a faded presence in these communities.

The year 1996 was the last stand for the Gaylords in Austin as they fought a vicious gang war involving many shootings against the Latin Brothers.  In the end the war was very costly for both sides causing Gaylords to become more of an underground group around Sayre Park.  Many can see this as a victory for the LBs; however, LB activity stopped after this for the most part in Austin because of the cost of this war.

In the year 2002 both Pilsen and Austin operations closed.  Austin closed because the northern part of Austin became majority African American, and the Latin Brothers stood out too much to the Chicago Police.  Pilsen perhaps closed because of retirement of members.  The stronghold of the Latin Brothers then moved to Barry and Knox in 2002.

Big Mando Garcia also known as Big Flaco helped take over Barry and Knox in the year 2002 after having a strong presence there in the 1990s.  Now Barry and Knox was completely ran by LBs and it became a major stronghold and investment.  They also have been known to have serious operations at Belmont and Cicero and many gangs have tried to take this turf but it is always no dice for the rivals that come there.

Please send in old school pics.   1970s pics will be especially appreciated!

Known sections of the Latin Brothers past and present

Austin neighborhood (LBO) Established 1979-2002

Sections of Austin

Bloomingdale & Laramie

North Ave & Lockwood

North Ave & Latrobe

Belmont-Cragin neighborhood Established 1985-present years

Sections of Belmont-Cragin

Roscoe to Belmont, Lavergne to Cicero (Brother City) Established 1985-present years

Barry to Wellington, Lotus to Laramie (Trojan’s Point) Late 1980s-present years

Belmont to Wellington, Lavergne to Knox (Evil Side, LB St) Established 1992-present years

Eddy to Cornelia, Lavergne to Cicero

Cornelia & Long (Chopin Park)

Palmer & Natchez Established 1985-1992

Little Village neighborhood Established 1970-1971

Sections of Little Village

26^th & Lawndale

Pilsen neighborhood Established 1970-2002

Sections of Pilsen

18^th & Ashland Established

Portage Park neighborhood 90s, 2000s

Sections of Portage Park

Berteau & Central Ave

Suburbs

Elmwood Park