male narrator: There's a war
Raging in the music city.
and they were just gonna
Massacre and kill everybody.
narrator: One gang is taking
On all comers...
narrator: And there's no
Limit to their violence.
they would drive around
Until they found somebody and
They would start shooting
At 'em.
almost a feeding frenzy
Of blood violence.
narrator: They kill for
Sport.
This is brown pride.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person.
For real.
narrator: Nashville,
Tennessee.
Home of the grand ole opry.
This city is all about country
Music.
great place to raise
A family, laid-back,
Southern charm.
narrator: And its values are
True to its dixie roots.
yeah, to some extent, people
Do expect to pull up on lower
Broad and there be, you know,
Horses tied up in...out in front
Of their bars and cowboys
Singing and stuff,
But whether you want to accept
It or not, nashville's
Becoming a bigger, more
Metropolitan city every day.
narrator: In the '90s,
The city began to change.
The auto industry came to town,
Moving some of its largest
Production plants to the area.
Many new immigrant families
Followed the jobs to town.
But they brought something with
Them.
Hardcore gangs.
we really noticed a large
Increase of hispanic shootings
That were taking place.
narrator: One of the biggest
Hispanic gangs to emerge out of
The new nashville
Is a vicious set...
Brown pride.
we ain't no little báááááá
Or nothing.
I love what I do.
I love what I represent.
narrator: Brown pride, or bp,
Is notorious for beatings,
Murders, robberies,
And getting high.
we would have a beef with
Anybody, whoever.
Black people.
White people.
Asian people.
Whatever.
We'll beat 'em up or hit 'em
With a bat.
narrator: Deaderick ramirez,
Aka "gordo," is one of the
Gang's founders.
I mean it's fun, you see.
What I like about it is just
You get, like, a thrill, just
Going out there and doing some
Chaos or breaking something
Up or fáááááásomebody up.
narrator: 25-year-old gordo's
Been on the front lines of
Nashville's street war
For more than a decade.
I been shot at a couple of
Times, like, at least eight
Times, but I've never been hit.
narrator: Gordo knows it's
Kill or be killed,
So brown pride is always on the
Attack.
we'll go to a house, say
When you, where somebody
Live at, we'll go up there
And just pull up and just blast
In their house.
narrator: Gordo is always
Prepared to protect his.
I have got my car burned.
I have...they done a drive-by
At my mom's house.
I mean, it's the life I chose.
narrator: Brown pride
Is a young gang.
But they're learning quick,
By paying close attention to
Rival gangs like vatos locos
And the sureños, they've learned
What it takes to make money.
These gangs also call
Nashville's streets home.
And it doesn't matter the
Circumstances when brown pride
Sees its enemies.
one time we seen one of 'em,
And homeboy start blasting
At 'em.
He had his baby in his hand,
And he just...You know,
Dies with the baby.
Like I told ya, it's the life.
narrator: Brown pride
Gangstas like
Jonathan gutierrez, aka "spook,"
Live their life.
narrator: Spook currently
Sits in the davidson county
Criminal justice center,
Awaiting trial on a first
Degree murder charge.
The 18-year-old has been
Fighting for the gang
Since the fourth grade.
narrator: His family
Moved to nashville
From mexico in 1996.
They came to work the newly
Created construction jobs.
narrator: The gang didn't
Even exist when spook arrived.
narrator: Spook's older
Brother was the first to join
Bp, and he was eager to get in
On the action.
if your brother's in brown
Pride and your cousins are
Brown pride and your uncle's a
Brown pride, it's a no-brainer.
More than likely, you're
Gonna be in brown pride.
narrator: Spook started
Packing heat at age 10.
narrator: For spook and his
Homeboys, crime and violence
Are a way of life.
narrator: That game can
Quickly turn deadly.
In nashville, gangs compete for
Dominance and reputations are
Important.
that was the goal, was just
Going out there and putting our
Name out there.
narrator: To build up its
Rep, brown pride willingly went
To war with the most feared
Gang in the world.
if you could organize
Sociopaths, you would get ms-13.
I mean, they're strong.
Their reputation is evil.
narrator: Summer 2006:
Nashville's streets were about
To run deep with blood.
June 17th.
Brown pride's angel flores and
His friend, christian rios,
Were out cruising.
Angel had built a lucrative
Life as a drug dealer and he
Was all about "the green."
narrator: Angel was known for
His black 1970 pontiac muscle
Car and for being reckless
With a gun.
he would get in fights or
Shoot at the people and all
Kinds of sááá.
narrator: Some of those
Bullets were aimed at rivals
From the mighty
Mara salvatrucha, or ms-13.
angel had had problems with
The ms-13 in the past.
There'd been some bullets
Thrown at each other in
Drive-bys, at houses, or
Whatever.
There was some bad blood
Between angel and the ms-13.
narrator: At 9:00 p.M.,
Five ms-13 members were
Driving on nolensville road
With sinister intentions.
In the car was a.380
Semiautomatic pistol.
ms went out hunting
For angel.
They went out hunting for him.
narrator: One of the ms-13
Members in the car was
17-year-old manuel marquez, aka
"morro."
He was young and had a nasty
Reputation on the streets.
the gang had the thing,
The more violence you did,
The higher...that's how you got
Your status.
Morro had a lot of respect
Because of the acts of violence
That he did.
he wanted to be known as
One of the baddest people
In ms-13.
narrator: It wasn't long
Before ms-13 spotted angel's
Infamous ride.
they see this car, morro
Recognizes the guy as a member
Of brown pride.
narrator: After trailing the
Black pontiac for a few blocks,
Ms-13 picked their moment to
Strike.
narrator: Angel stopped
At a busy intersection.
as angel came up to
Nolensville road on ocala...
It's a red light.
They're stopped, minding their
Own business and then, from
Behind, another car full of
Ms-13 pulls up, stops.
narrator: Morro took the gun
Out and marched up to the
Passenger side window.
When angel and christian looked
Over, morro leaned in to give
Them a message.
you tell 'em la mara
Salvatrucha
And then you shoot 'em.
narrator: The brown pride
Members had no idea what
Happened.
I think he shot seven or
Eight times.
if there was any knowledge of
What was about to happen,
It was quickly muffled by
The gunshots.
it's fáááááup.
I mean, who did this sááá?
narrator: Nashville,
Tennessee:
The entertainment capital of
The south.
But the city where elvis
Recorded some of his biggest
Hits has a problem.
It's also home to a large
Homegrown hispanic gang:
Brown pride.
narrator: The gang now runs
Wild on these once-pristine
Streets.
Nashville was always
Considered a small town
With little racial divide.
it was mainly caucasians
And african-americans.
There was not a whole lot of
Cultural diversity in nashville.
narrator: That changed in
1990, when saturn moved to town.
Bridgestone/firestone followed.
Nissan soon built their biggest
North american factory nearby.
the population was boomin'
Because business was boomin'.
narrator: Scores of
Medical-related businesses also
Flooded the city as nashville
Became the heart of the
Nation's healthcare industry.
At the same time, demand for
Blue collar workers to
Handle the huge increase
In construction jobs exploded.
we saw a lot of hispanics
Moving in to the south part of
County, asians moving in,
And you just don't...the city
Changed, you know?
narrator: Within a decade,
Nearly 250,000 new residents
Moved to the nashville area,
Increasing the population
By 25%.
Along with the growth
Came gangs of all kinds.
I think any city that goes
Through the way nashville has
Grown and started to thrive,
There's always gonna be
Growing pains.
narrator: In 1998, at the
Height of the city's building
Boom, deaderick "gordo" ramirez
Moved to nashville with his mom.
The small family relocated
From houston, texas, looking
For work.
it's a lot different where,
In texas, basically, where I was
At, you see all hispanics,
That's all you see.
You come up here, and you see
Nothing but white people.
No hispanics out here.
narrator: The 14-year-old
Started to hang out only with
Fellow mexicans.
In the beginning, it wasn't
About being in a gang.
in high school, we start
Skipping school together, so it
Was just skipping and acting...
Getting high, getting fáááááup.
then the next thing you know,
They started getting involved
In some criminal activity
Together.
narrator: Gordo and his crew
Started to clash with other
Upstart gangs
Like the vatos locos.
he was getting picked on by
Other gang members and
Other gangs.
He had to make a choice either
To stand up for yourself or kind
Of tuck your tail and run.
narrator: Running wasn't an
Option, and gordo decided to
Call his gang brown pride,
A d to his mexican heritage.
but I ain't gonna back down.
Might whoop my ass, but sááá,
I ain't fáááááwith it.
I ain't no báááá.
narrator: Spook joined the
Gang when he was just 10 years
Old as a pee-wee.
Brown pride taught him about
Life on the streets.
narrator: The gang was small,
Dangerous and growing quickly.
we just start, you know,
Putting in work,
Do our crazy sááá.
Try to put a name for ourselves.
it began to be obvious to
Them that, "hey you know,
We have more numbers now.
We can probably start defending
Ourselves, and also take an
Aggression toward other people
As well."
narrator: The gang was faced
With a threat:
The mexican gang sureños.
they were getting pretty bad.
There were a lot of fights at
The fair, gunshots, people
Getting shot.
the late '90s into the
Mid-2000s, it was just type of
A running feud because you're
A sureño and I'm a brown pride
Member and we don't like
Each other.
narrator: The sureños flew
A blue flag.
Bp's was brown.
And that was enough reason to
Cause bloodshed.
there's not a philosophical
Difference between the two.
And it's just a dislike of what
Color flag you have.
narrator: But while the
Mexican gangs were just trying
To make a name for themselves,
There was a much more evil group
To contend with: Ms-13.
I don't know that there's a
Gang in america that works like
Ms-13 does.
they live by intimidation,
Fear, assault, and murder.
That's their stock in trade.
That's their daily bread.
narrator: Ms-13's origins are
In el salvador and aims much of
Its violence at the mexican
Gangs.
it's like the worst insult in
The world to call someone from
El salvador a mexican, you know?
And they take offense to that.
it was such a rivalry, such a
Hatred and I think a lot of the
Crimes committed by ms was just
Hatred for mexicans.
I, you know, I didn't understand
It.
they figure they're in a
Whole different race, like,
They're different than...than us.
narrator: The stage was set
For battle.
The young upstart bp against
The powerhouse ms-13.
But just as the war was
Starting, ms-13 lost its leader.
Oscar serrano, aka "diablin,"
Was convicted and sent to
Prison for attempted murder.
It devastated the gang.
when he got locked up, most
Of the ms-13 members left
Because that leadership was
Gone.
narrator: Ms 13 was left with
Just a handful of members,
While brown pride's membership
Exploded.
Bp quickly became nashville's
Largest hispanic gang.
brown pride was, yeah,
A lot bigger.
narrator: Vastly outnumbered,
Ms-13's remaining members took
A drastic step:
Joining their rival,
The sureños.
they kind of banded together
For, you know, strength and
Solidarity.
narrator: Manuel asked to
Have his identity concealed.
narrator: A former member of
Ms-13, manuel became
A police informant.
narrator: Brown pride was not
Fazed and was ready to fight.
narrator: In 2004, ms-13
Shot-caller diablin was
Deported to el salvador after
Serving his prison sentence.
He immediately met with his
Ms superiors.
Their message...
End brown pride in nashville.
diablin was coming back with
First word from el salvador and
Basically saying, "we need to go
Out and kill these chavalas.
narrator: In 2005, ms-13 took
The battle to the streets.
these guys were just killin'
To be killin', shootin' to be
Shootin'.
narrator: And brown pride was
In the cross hairs.
they went on what we called
Brown pride hunts.
yeah.
narrator: Ms-13 went after
Anyone who resembled
Own pride,
Even ups drivers.
one individual ms member was
Willing and thinking about
Shooting at a person because
They were in a ups uniform.
he was so incensed by it,
He thought it was brown pride
And he wanted to retaliate, take
Action against this ups driver
And somebody had to tell him,
"no, that's not...
That's not brown pride.
That's not a chavala.
That's a delivery guy."
narrator: For brown pride,
The war would be a rite of
Passage, a test, and it was
Either kill or be killed.
narrator: Nashville,
The home of country music's
Hall of fame,
Is being overrun by gangs.
they kill, and there's gonna
Be a revenge shooting.
Then after the revenge shooting,
There's another murder.
Then everybody's got to go to
The mattresses and get their
Guns, 'cause, what, we're gonna
Have a bigger gang murder.
narrator: In the midst of the
Battle is a homegrown gang,
Brown pride.
Fighting, shooting, tagging,
Creating chaos.
just kick it
And get fáááááup and just,
That was basically it.
It was almost an everyday thing,
Especially on the weekends.
narrator: The gang's founding
Members tell a simple story
About how they decided on their
Name.
it was just a whole pride
Full of brown people.
narrator: Brown pride has no
Real hierarchy,
And silence is their only code.
without any structure, it's
Kind of like mass chaos.
There's, there's three or four
Going to do their own thing
Here.
There's five or six that go do
Their own thing there.
narrator: The lack of
Structure means no meetings and
No monthly dues.
narrator: Bp's founder gordo
Says he likes the chaotic nature
Because it keeps cops guessing.
cops don't know nothing, man.
They assume.
That's the thing.
They assume, but they don't
Know sááá.
narrator: Members of brown
Pride don't plan to live long.
They just aim to bang as long
As they can.
everything's fun.
Even if you get...I mean, you
Might get beat up one time, you
Might get beat up two times.
You might...it's things that
Happen.
You see what I'm saying?
narrator: Brown pride
Represents with hand signs.
that's how we throw it up.
narrator: They also mark
Their allegiance with ink,
Including the legendary tattoo
Designed by chicano artist
Freddy negrete.
just a mexican thing.
Smile now, cry later.
narrator: The gang also tags
All the territory it claims.
you'll see the brown pride
2-1-8 or 2-18.
narrator: Using the spanish
Alphabet, the number 2
Represents the letter "b,"
While the number 18 matches up
With the letter "p."
bp 218.
Then we've got 218 down the
Middle with brown pride.
at some point and time the
Brown pride came through here
And tagged this up.
You can see the "b" and the "p"
Here.
And then you can see that it
Looks like at some point and
Time the sureños came back.
Then brown pride came back and
Marked that out with the bp.
narrator: Nashville is
Different than most cities
In that no gang controls any one
Hood.
it's so spread out that you
May go one street and you've
Got three known gangs here
Basically laying claim to this
One alley.
And then you may go a half block
Over and see somebody else
Laying claim.
narrator: And bp feels they
Own the entire city.
narrator: Bp members love to
Pack heat, from handguns
To semi-automatics.
to be a gang, to be the bully
Of the block, to be the
Strong man, to control the
Neighborhood,
There's no way that a gang's
Gonna do that
Without a boatload of guns.
narrator: Tennessee has some
Of the loosest gun laws of any
State.
No permits or licenses are
Required to purchase a shotgun,
A rifle, or a handgun.
you can get 'em from a gun
Show.
You don't even got to show
Them no permit or nothing.
Say I can just come up to you
And be like, "hey, you wanna buy
This? Here."
You give them the money and
That's it.
narrator: The gang often
Steals weapons while committing
Its favorite crime:
Home invasions.
these kind of guys will
Frequently steal the guns
In burglaries, so, you know,
There's no real difficulty for
Them to get guns in tennessee.
white people is the ones that
Got the guns, especially the
Older folks.
narrator: The nashville
Pd's gang unit takes weapons
From brown pride and their
Rivals weekly.
you know, this is a sks
With a folding stock.
You know, it's even got
A bayonet on it.
This is a pretty good haul.
Forty cal.
narrator: The gang still
Prefers handguns.
concealable, easy to carry,
Pull out at a moment's notice,
Spot a rival gang member,
Whip out your automatic handgun,
You know, kill 'em and go on.
anything.
A rusty gun, a regular gun,
A good gun.
As long as it shoot.
narrator: Gordo's favorite?
the 40.
It's just...it's big man.
It's big.
40 glock.
It's big.
narrator: Bp loves to shoot
Anyone or anything.
once I get started, I can't
Stop, man.
It's a feeling, man.
It's just a feeling you get.
I don't know.
You just get a rush.
I get trigger happy.
I'm trigger happy.
I'm a trigger happy person,
For real.
narrator: Soon a gang war
Would explode and brown pride
Would need all its weapons to
Defend itself.
you gotta retaliate.
You gotta do...you gotta get
Them back.
Either way it went, it was gonna
Get fáááááup.
narrator: Nashville, 2006.
The gang brown pride is ruling
The music city's streets with an
Iron fist.
Its founder, gordo, loved the
Gangster lifestyle.
I mean, it's fun, you see?
Everything's fun.
If that's what you chose,
What happens happens.
Ain't no telling when the
Sááá's gonna come back to me.
narrator: But brown pride was
At war with ms-13.
Ms-13 leader oscar serrano, aka
"diablin," had returned to the
Streets of nashville, sneaking
Back into the country after
Being deported to el salvador.
His mission: End bp.
they wanted to be the most
Dominant gang in the city,
And in order to do that,
It required a higher level of
Violence.
narrator: Diablin had strict
Orders from the bosses in
El salvador.
ms-13 has a policy, a stated
Policy, a vision statement that
Is kill, rape, control.
And like any corporate board,
They try to live up to their
Policy.
narrator: Their target was
Clear.
brown pride was a threat in
Terms of numbers.
They were a large gang.
ms-q3 hated brown pride,
So they would...they'd get out
On the weekends and drive
Around and try to find brown
Pride members to shoot.
narrator: One young bp member
And an associate were early
Victims.
June 17, 2006.
Angel flores was driving with
His friend, christian rios, in
His tricked-out 1970 pontiac.
nice car, you know, had nice
Rims on it.
It was black and tinted
Windows, I mean it's,
It's a very distinguishable car.
narrator: Angel's homeboy,
Gordo, saw the two that night.
and we were driving, he was
Driving, we seen him stop.
Saw each other, talked to each
Other, like, "hey what's up?
Where you going?"
narrator: Around 9:00 p.M.,
Angel and christian stopped
At a red light on ocala drive,
Waiting to turn.
Ms-13 was hunting that night,
Led by their youngest and most
Vicious killer,
Manuel marquez, aka "morro."
morro grabs the gun, runs
Out of the car, runs up to the
Passenger side and unloads
A.380 into the car.
his foot came off the...
The brake and the car rolled
Across nolensville road
Into a ditch where it stopped,
Just off the road.
narrator: Angel and christian
Were killed instantly.
Gordo drove by shortly
Afterwards, assuming angel had
Just gotten into a car wreck.
we're thinking, he must have
Just, must have been fáááááup,
Or took off running or stuff.
It's fáááááup.
That's why we started shooting
At them more.
narrator: The war was
Instantly kicked up to another
Level.
they hated us.
We fááááááhate 'em.
Fááá'em.
narrator: Brown pride's
Founder, gordo, was a prime
Target for ms-13.
narrator: Gordo didn't care.
we shot at 'em back, seen 'em
In clubs, beat 'em up.
It was just a going, going
Situation.
narrator: Nashville's
Nightclubs were a prime hunting
Ground.
they would meet at a club,
Realize that they were
Outnumbered, call for back-up,
And have people lying in wait in
The bushes,
And when they came out,
They would ambush
The brown pride guys.
every time we went to the
Club, it was just a fight, and
Then after that it was just
Shoot outs in the parking lot
Or anything.
narrator: Coco loco, one of
The most popular hispanic
Nightclubs, was among the
Bloodiest.
it did seem like a weekend
Didn't go by we weren't getting
Called out to coco loco's on
Some type of shooting.
narrator: But ms-13 was about
To up the ante.
August 28th.
The tropicana nightclub.
Ms-13 was planning a massacre.
they were gonna take
Assault rifles, shotguns,
Pistols.
Five or six of 'em were gonna
Go into tropicana on a busy
Night, maybe a Saturday or a
Sunday night or a Friday night.
narrator: Ms-13 didn't care
Who got in the way.
they were gonna lock the door
Behind them, and they were just
Gonna massacre and kill
Everybody that was in the
Tropicana that night,
And if the police showed up,
They were gonna kill them too.
narrator: The gang didn't
Know that the nashville pd
Had a mole inside ms-13.
narrator: Manuel had decided
The hit at the tropicana
Was taking it much too far
And told his police handler
About it.
we felt the best avenue
Was to make sure this didn't
Happen and stop it the best way
We could.
We didn't want any civilians to
Be hurt.
narrator: Some of the weapons
To be used for the tropicana hit
Were stored in manuel's
Vehicle.
The police staged a robbery.
we just put dark clothes on
And took a crow bar and smashed
A window and, you know, took out
What we needed to take out, so
That it would protect the
Identity of our informant.
narrator: With the massacre
Averted, the nashville pd and
The atf decided it was time
To stop the war.
To do so, they went after the
More organized of the two gangs.
a well structured
Organization is easier to
Investigate than this loosely
Structured organization.
The ms-13 was very structured.
narrator: In 2007, the
Nashville police and the atf
Arrested 14 ranking members of
Ms-13 and charged them with
Racketeering.
Brown pride was once again free
To claim control of the streets.
they try to break us, but we
Still here.
narrator: Nashville,
Tennessee.
Brown pride had survived its
First big rite of passage:
A war with one of the nation's
Most violent gangs, ms-13.
narrator: Bp still had
Another enemy to contend with:
The sureños.
a few brown pride members
Actually did firebomb two
Residence and one vehicle of
One of a local sureño leaders,
So that sort of got things
Started.
narrator: Bp members like
Spook got caught in the
Crossfire.
narrator: By August 2007,
He was ready to fight back.
they witnessed a couple of
Cars make a couple of trips
Around the neighborhood, and as
They were actually leaving the
Driveway, a derogatory remark
Was made towards them.
at that point in time, they
Decided to take o their
Own hands and to do something
About it so they began to
Follow the vehicle.
narrator: The result was
A high-speed chase through the
Streets of nashville.
brown pride members began
To shoot at the car, which
They knew at that point was
Driven by a sureño.
They fired one round at
The driver, striking the driver.
narrator: He was killed
Instantly.
Spook and two other brown pride
Members were arrested.
He was charged with first degree
Murder.
narrator: In January 2008,
Deaderick "gordo" ramirez and
Three other gang members
Were pulled over by
Officer kevin akin,
After making an illegal turn.
When the officer searched the
Car, he found a suspicious
Combination of materials
Suggestive of a kidnapping plot:
Three rolls of duct tape, an
Eye-hole cut ski mask, and more.
there was a pistol in plain
View stuck behind the seat.
There was, I believe, about 462
Grams of marijuana.
In the trunk there was
A sawed-off pump shotgun.
we weren't gonna kidnap
Nobody or nothing.
They say we was but...
I mean, they found duct tape
And ski masks,
But it was cold outside.
narrator: Prosecutors charged
Gordo under tennessee's newly
Enacted "crooks with guns" law.
He was sentenced to a year in
Prison on weapons plus
Marijuana charges.
He was released in February
2009, but his troubles with the
Law were just starting.
days after he gets released,
His ex-wife gets killed.
It was a deliberate homicide.
narrator: Gordo's estranged
Wife, melissa ann tyler ramirez,
Was found murdered in her home.
now, is it related to his
Release?
We don't know.
It is an ongoing investigation.
narrator: Gordo says he's not
Responsible.
Now under surveillance,
He's trying to let gang life
Take a back seat.
I mean, I'm just chillin'.
I mean, I'm gonna be banging all
The time.
But I'm just...
After that sááá,
I'm just laying low.
gordo's one of those people
That, you know, we keep track
Of him.
We know where he is.
We know where he's going.
narrator: Brown pride has had
A hard time maintaining its
Dominance on the streets.
there's no one there to
Really call any shots.
There's no one there to...
To give any guidance to the
Peewees.
Not that there was a lot of
Structure to begin with,
But even now, there's even less
Structure.
narrator: Yet the gang has
Always thrived on chaos.
They have come through the wars
And are still kicking it.
there's a lot of people
Within that gang community that
Still respect gordo.
Whether or note's calling the
Shots or not, I don't know, but
The opportunity is there.
narrator: Gordo says he'll be
Brown pride forever, but he has
No illusions about what the
Future could hold for him.
tomorrow?
Ain't no telling if I'm here
Tomorrow.
Ain't no telling when it's my
Turn.
Like they say, "what goes
Around, comes around."
the brown pride that started
Here, they're a young gang,
And if they continue in the way
That they're going,
Recruiting these young boys,
And these young boys
Doing these crimes, that's just
The ball that keeps rolling.
narrator: Authorities know
The gang has the potential to
Be a major threat.
I don't look forward to the
Day when leadership takes...
Takes hold of that organization.
we still have brown pride.
We're always gonna have brown
Pride.
I hope that they stay
Unorganized like they are.
like I said, it's just
A matter of time.