Pirus

In 1969, the Pirus were created by teenagers and young black men based in Compton, California. The term originally refers to Piru Street, a residential street in Compton and neighboring Willowbrook; it has been adapted as a backronym for Powerful Indestructible Revengeful United , or alternatively Powerful Indestructible Ruthless Untouchables. In 1969 the Crip alliance made by smaller gangs, the Pirus also joined, making a large "set" of the Crips. At that time, there were various sets throughout the region of Los Angeles, California. However, these sets were small groups of hustlers. In 1969, fifteen-year-old Raymond Washington started the Crips street gang with friends from his neighborhood on the East Side of South Central Los Angeles. The Crips began to attack hustler groups and cliques in order to create a larger organization.[2]

The Pirus soon joined with the Brims gang, a victim of the Crips attacks, and together in jail they created the Bloods, starting off at first as a way to address one another. Following this, new inmates entering the LA County Jail were asked by intake/deputies, "Who do you run with, the Crips or the Bloods?" Those who were victimized by the Crips joined the Pirus and Brims and ran with the Blood identity, which is how the Blood gang was formed. The Bloods started in jail in LA County in 1974, and the Pirus and Brims both formed on the streets in 1969.

A notorious subset of the Pirus, Tree Top Pirus has several territories, stretching from California (mostly Compton, California, where the gang originated) to Maryland (where a popular branch of the gang is based). This gang is notoriously known for its excessive violence and several members have been convicted of violent crimes, such as Michelle “Michelle Hell” Hebron, a violent and notorious criminal and high-ranking member of the Tree Top Pirus. Leader of the female branch of Tree Top Pirus (known as Tree Top Pirettes) in Baltimore, Maryland, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2010 for drug trafficking and murder.[3] Another notorious case involving the Tree Top Pirus took place in 2017, when a dangerous member of the Texan branch of the gang, Javan Oxavia Williams, killed two men, Charlie Bennett Jr. and Tonius Wayne Frank, killed 2 dogs (both owned by Tonius Wayne Frank) and seriously injured a woman, that although her identity was not revealed, it was confirmed in the investigations that she was the girlfriend of one of the fatal victims, Charlie Bennett Jr. Both crimes took place in Harris County, Texas and due to the seriousness of the crimes, in December 2021, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.[4]

A subset, Murdaland Mafia Pirus, was created in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2018, Dontray Johnson was convicted of murder for shooting and killing two fellow members in November 2012 for violating rules of the gang. Johnson had posted on his Facebook profile, "198 n risen" referring to Baltimore's homicide toll of that year.[5]

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

• Tree-Top Piru Gang Leader Sentenced to 25 Years for Racketeering Conspiracy: Defendant Led Violent Gang from Jail Through Phone Calls and Letters