Recently released FBI Documents in regard to The Purple Gang

[Downrivergal]

Hi all

found a great website, wilth some old Purple Gang documents

http://vault.fbi.gov/Purple%20Gang%2...ouse%20Gang%29



I am lame so you will probably have to copy and paste the link

[j to the jeremy]

Fascinating! These are really cool old articles

[EL Jimbo]

I hear they made a great rhythm section.

[LodgeDodger]

Pretty funny, Jimbo.

Thanks for sharing DRG!

[j to the jeremy]

Interesting to see some addresses which were either homes of members, or places where shit went down back then. Here's one where an alleged Purple Gang member lived for a while: 20244 Keating St.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8...ed=0CBgQ8gEwAA

[GOAT]

Just curious. As these were real gangsters back in the day why do so many in Detroit then hate the playas and gangsta's of today?

[Vox]

I read through the documents, I just wish that the redacted portions were made available. It would be so much more informative, IMHO.

[j to the jeremy]

Using that FBI vault website, it was also interesting to read all the other stuff on there. They have files on Carl Sandburg, John Lennon, etc. As well as documents from the McCarthy era.

A search for "Detroit" reveals a ton of investigations into Malcom X, as well as hundreds of other people and events.

[Downrivergal]

I am glad guys liked it It is my new favorite website, at least this week ha ha. They have some "unexplained phenomena" that is also cool to read [[UFO's, ESP experiments)

j to the jeremy, I am glad its not just me who looks at the old addresses... I was quite amazed that almost all of the available addresses I found in the documents were still viable residences. I bet some of those houses have hidden surprises.

My great grandparents rented a house on 12th street in the 40's. Shortly after they moved in my great grandfather realized that the basement just didnt look right, so he started snooping and found a false wall.. behind that wall was a room that had old bottles and pallets and stuff, just as he was about to close it back up, the doorbell rang upstairs and that tripped a bell in that room too. From this evidence we figure that basement was a holding area for booze and or other things during the prohibition era

[Henry Whalley]

Just curious. As these were real gangsters back in the day why do so many in Detroit then hate the playas and gangsta's of today?

My dad told me about life in Purple Gang Detroit... about the assassination of Jerry Buckley. He left me with the impression that the Purple Gang was hated as much as today’s gangsta’s.

[Jimaz]

The Notorious Purple Gang. Detroit's most viscious crew of K***ers.

This is the story of the infamous Purple gang. The Loose organization of gangster who ruled Detroit with a bloody fist during prohibition.

[Henry Whalley]

The Notorious Purple Gang. Detroit's most viscious crew of K***ers.

Thanks.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The Notorious Purple Gang. Detroit's most viscious crew of K***ers.

And to think, people were so dismissive and judgemental about the Black Panthers, Blackstone Rangers, and Young Boys Inc. These guys were just as bad, if not worse.

[Richard]

Yea I do not know,take away the radical aspect of the Black Panthers and they were an admiration to their community,not to mention they were actually the first group that was allowed to openly carry long guns to protests and marches,and as they walked about patrolling the community.

The rest,African Americans in a majority African American city’s played a large role is destroying their own communities and brothers and sisters,mothers and fathers ,for generations to come.

At least the Purple gang was an equal opportunity for exploiting.

They made money bring the enforcement arm for the Union,pay your dues and join or die and because they got into the game because Detroit was already in a prohibition starting in 1917,so they already had the infrastructure in place when prohibition kicked in every where else.

75% of the liquor entering the U.S. came through Detroit from Windsor,so the brutality came from protecting that territory,thier downfalm came about like everybody else’s,greed.

They played around in Florida but respected that they had to kick up to Tampa but yet when it came to their own turf - it was a bit one sided.

They could have sat back and did nothing but collect a cut from all the others transactions.

It was easy for the Italians to come in afterwards and pick up the pieces,I guess he was just “Lucky “ in his timing or maybe not.

Most of those killed were other mob guys trying to infringe on territory,they had to send a message.

Different times now,murder carries a life sentence and lots of rats,so now they just put people on the shelf,has not been a mob hit in over 10 years it draws to much attention.

[Henry Whalley]

...enforcement arm for the Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit

https://thedudesthreads.com/collecti...ard-cotton-tee

[Richard]

^ how to show people how ignorant you are without telling them.

You could have spent the same amount of time actually researching.

The gang branched out into the union enforcement business in the professional laundry dispute known as the Cleaners and Dyers War. People were beaten and killed, and bombs were exploded to enforce union rules. The coffers of the gang swelled.

https://thecrimewire.com/institution...ts-Purple-Gang

[Henry Whalley]

[QUOTE=Richard;641222]The coffers of the gang swelled./QUOTE]

I see how you could mistake the Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association for a labor union. But it was a cartel. Cartel business owners paid dues to the Purple Gang, and cleaners who tried to remain independent were beaten, murdered, bombed, put out of business, etc. It wasn't a labor union AFAIK.

If I'm wrong, you can suck my Richard.

PS. Harry Rosman [1891–1958] was president and owner of Famous Cleaners & Dyers in Detroit, Michigan. He gained public notoriety for being the key witness testifying against the Purple Gang in a trial that lasted from 1928 to 1929. The prosecution alleged extortion activities against Detroit area businesses during the sometime violent showdown known as the Cleaners & Dyers Wars. Rosman testified that the Purple Gang asked for $1000 per week from his and other area cleaners & dyers' businesses for their "protection" against violence.

[jiminnm]

Peter Licavoli was one of the leaders of the Purple Gang.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Licavoli

Peter's son, Teddy Licavoli, had a band in the Detroit area during the '60s. the Human Beings. They released a few records, and this one was a small hit in Detroit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-M0CszyGLQ

[Richard]

[QUOTE=Henry Whalley;641226]

The coffers of the gang swelled./QUOTE]

I see how you could mistake the Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association for a labor union. But it was a cartel. Cartel business owners paid dues to the Purple Gang, and cleaners who tried to remain independent were beaten, murdered, bombed, put out of business, etc. It wasn't a labor union AFAIK.

If I'm wrong, you can suck my Richard.

PS. Harry Rosman [1891–1958] was president and owner of Famous Cleaners & Dyers in Detroit, Michigan. He gained public notoriety for being the key witness testifying against the Purple Gang in a trial that lasted from 1928 to 1929. The prosecution alleged extortion activities against Detroit area businesses during the sometime violent showdown known as the Cleaners & Dyers Wars. Rosman testified that the Purple Gang asked for $1000 per week from his and other area cleaners & dyers' businesses for their "protection" against violence.

In the 1920s, the Purple Gang was known for their instigation of the “Cleaners and Dyers War,” a dispute between the cleaning industry and its union. The Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association was formed by Abe Burnstein and the Detroit Federation of Labor. Membership was coerced by Purple Gang members, who often used violent means of persuasion. In 1928, 13 members of the Purple Gang were tried for extortion for their role in the war, but all were acquitted.

https://detroithistorical.org/learn/...%20of%20Labor.

what part are you confused on where I posted join the Union or die ?

It clearly reads cleaning industry and it’s Union.

You gunna ask DHS to clarify it for you ?

As for the other part,maybe you can get Fain to help you with that sense you seem to have a man crush on him.

[Henry Whalley]

[QUOTE=Richard;641230]

Purple Gang members, who often used violent means of persuasion.

In the trial 1928-29, the prosecution characterized the WCDA as a “price-fixing consortium” wherein each business paid $1,000 dues per month to the Purple Gang. The fees weren't union dues collected from workers. IIRC under Dave Beck, the Teamsters also ran some dry-cleaning extortion rackets that resulted in one union thug being burned to a crisp in a bombing gone wrong.

P.S. Sadly, you lack basic reading comprehension skills, and the Detroit Historical Society could use some writing lessons.

P.P.S. The U.S. Justice Department did this country a great service by cleaning-up the Teamsters and UAW. I prefer clean unions that represent labor interests.

Dry Times: Looking Back 100 Years After Prohibition - Hour Detroit Magazine

[Richard]

Lol Got it a local historical society has no clue about local history,I am sure you will take the appropriate steps and inform them how to rewrite history more to your liking.

I prefer winning the lottery,which the odds are about the same as finding a historically non corrupt union that represents labor interests over their own.

[Henry Whalley]

Lol

Agreed, I can write more clearly than the amateurs at the Detroit Historical Society. But since you have zero reading comprehension skills, please watch this video circa minute 16-17. It's clear that the union was a cartel rather than a labor union.

https://youtu.be/HSXJP_WFNp4

Also, read page 8 of this pdf, though I don't expect you to comprehend it:
ResearchGate

[Richard]

Seeing an opportunity to bring organized crime to Detroit, Francis X. Martel of the Detroit Federation of Labor asked Chicagoan Ben Abrams to establish a cleaner’s organization that could be used as a front for the Purple Gang. Abrams founded the Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association, which pledged to stabilize the market by controlling prices and prevent tailors from switching cleaning companies without cause. Before returning to Chicago, Abrams named Charles Jacoby Jr. as the president of the new association. Jacoby was the brother-in-law of Abe Burnstein, who with his brothers formed the core of the Purple Gang.

https://detroithistorical.org/learn/...-and-dyers-war

Its not my reading comprehension,you are confusing two different methods of exploiting companies and workers.

They made money on setting up a co-op of sorts where you can price fix and force the companies to join in order to control.

But you cannot do that with out leverage,they tried using fear as a leverage,they would not be calling themselves the Detroit Federation Of Labor or ask Ben Abrams to establish an organization.

To prevent tailors from switching companies without cause - you can call it what you like but they formed a union and was using the labor force as leverage instead of violence because they wanted to have the credibility to use it as a front.

They would not had to have done none of that,they could have just forced the business to pay protection money.

It was no different the how the mob was tied to the unions for the next 90 years and could possibly be the same as it is today.

They would not have just been exploiting the businesses,they would have formed the union so they could also exploit the workers,why would they leave money on the table and why would they have had to ask the Chicago outfit to show them how to do it,maybe because they were already doing it in Chicago.

The purple gang was not mobsters,they started out as thieves robbing bootleggers as they landed back on shore from Canada and candy stores,at best they were a bunch of thugs that was in the right place in time and had to ask Chicago and the Italians how to be a mobster,but even at that they were careless and reckless which is what brought them down.

It does not take a genius to walk into a store and say pay me $50 every week or I will blow your store up.

But that is why they call them a gang,no different then the bloods or crips,just on a smaller scale.

You keep calling them a cartel,they were not a cartel.

Years ago we formed a “cartel” in the auto salvage business,we all put money in the pot and bought up salvage vehicles and prevented the competition from buying,because we could pay more.

Nobody was forced to join and we did not threaten anybody,did not need to.

That method has never been illegal,you can argue it is immoral,but to this day it is common practice to buy up all the competition in order to gain market share and control prices.

Standard oil did it back them,The Chinese do it today.

So what they were doing already in forming the cartel was not illegal in it self,it was the methods that they used,but in order to use it as a front,they could not be blowing things up,so they asked Chicago to show them how to use the labor force as in a union to force the companies to pay.

So they were able to double dip,forcing companies to pay to join the cartel and forcing the union members to pay dues,it was legal and could be used as a front.

it’s not reading comprehension,you just do not understand how it works and the only thing you have is the reading part which tells you what happened but not the how and why.

That’s book smarts without the ability to apply it in real life.

Short of that,maybe take the time to read the files in their entirety that was posted at the beginning.

But that was probably another TLDR for you,you need pictures and things that are small words and just a couple to comprehend without being overwhelmed.

[Henry Whalley]

You keep calling them a cartel, they were not a cartel.

Cartel - Wikipedia

P.S. You're so dense, I'm done discussing this with you except to note that the Detroit Federation of Labor was a labor federation while the Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association was a compulsory cartel. Previously linked documents and videos identify a dozen participating businesses.

God, you're dumb as a stump. Darwin suggests that stupid people often don't survive to pass their genes down in adulthood. Please for the good of the species neuter yourself.

On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin | Project Gutenberg

[jcole]

Cartel is a group of companies joined to price fix, etc

Union is a group of employees that group together to protect themselves against the company.

Fairly simple.