Almighty Black P. Stone Nation

Almighty Black P. Stone Nation
Founded1959
Named afterBlackstone Avenue
Founding locationWoodlawn, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Years active1959–present
TerritoryPrimarily concentrated in Chicago, some areas of NW Indiana, Michigan, and the neighborhood of Baldwin Village in Los Angeles Rockford Illinois, very populuated on the north side of Rockford Illinois with tons of sets that claim “Black P Stone”.
EthnicityPredominantly African American
Membership6,000–8,000+[1]
Activities
Allies
Rivals
Notable membersJeff Fort
Eugene "Bull" Hairston

The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation (often abbreviated as BPS, BPSN, Black Peace Stones, Black P. Stones, Stones, or Moes) is an American street gang founded in Chicago. The gang was originally formed in the late 1950s as the Blackstone Rangers. The organization was co-founded by Eugene Hairston and Jeff Fort. In later years, under Fort's leadership, an Islamic faction of the gang emerged, naming themselves the "El Rukn tribe of the Moorish Science Temple of America" (or simply El Rukn, Arabic for "the pillar" or "the foundation").[2][3][4] They eventually started describing themselves as Orthodox Sunni Muslims. Jeff Fort changed their fort name from El Rukn Moorish Science Mosque, to El Rukn Sunni Masjid al-Malik.[5][6]

Considered by law enforcement authorities to be Chicago's most powerful and sophisticated street gang,[7] the BPSN finances itself through a wide array of criminal activities and is part of the large Chicago gang alliance known as the People Nation.[8] Under Fort's command, the BPSN assumed an increasingly revolutionary outlook as it became associated with the black nationalism movement, eventually attracting the attention of the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who introduced them to Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and Nicaragua's Sandinistas. In 1986 four of its members were indicted for conspiring to commit terrorist acts in the United States for the Libyan Government.[2][7] The verdict marked the first time American citizens had been found guilty of planning terrorist acts for a foreign government in return for money.[9]

  1. ^ "National Gang Threat Assessment 2009". United States Department of Justice. January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b Malcolm, Andrew H. (October 31, 1986). "4 In Chicago Gang Indicted In Libyan Terror Plot". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Blau, Robert; O'Brien, John (September 8, 1991). "Rise And Fall Of El Rukn: Jeff Fort's Evil Empire". Chicago Tribune.
  4. ^ Florida Department of Corrections. "Street Gangs — Chicago Based or Influenced: People Nation and Folk Nation". Archived from the original on 2008-03-16. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  5. ^ Shipp, E. R. (27 December 1985). "Chicago Gang Sues to Be Recognized as Religion". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  6. ^ Smith, Brent L. (1994). Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791417591.
  7. ^ a b Maurice Possley and William B. Crawford Jr. (October 31, 1986). "El Rukns Indicted In Libya Scheme". Chicago Tribune.
  8. ^ Kenneth O'Reilly, Racial Matters: The FBI's File on Black America, 1960 - 1972 (New York: Free Press, 1991), 409.
  9. ^ "Gaddafi's Goons". Time. December 7, 1987.