Friends Stand United
Friends Stand United (FSU) is an American organization that is rated as a street gang by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Her supporters reject this interpretation. FSU sees itself as an anti-fascist group with straight-edge ideals and consists of members of various nationalities.
history
Elgin James founded FSU in Boston , Massachusetts in the late 1980s under the name "Fuck Shit Up" ( " beat up the shit"). He founded FSU to face White Power - skinheads and racist groups proceed in Boston, rated from hardcore punk keep -Konzerten. Shortly thereafter, the direction in Boston changed and under the influence of bands like Slapshot , SSD and Uniform Choice became part of the group "straight edge" and hunted down drug dealers.
FSU has several groups, called chapters, in many major cities in the United States and Canada and in Northeast England . The individual groups have dissolved and found again several times and sometimes have different goals and values. What they have in common, however, is a tendency to use violence in order to achieve their goals and to resolve their conflicts.
The founding members of FSU have now split up, with a large number joining the Outlaws motorcycle club. Elgin James and other members subsequently attempted a rather positive continuation of FSU, which was no longer criminal. So they changed the militant name to "Friends Stand United" (something like: "Friends stick together") and set up a foundation on behalf of the members of FSU who had died. This foundation awards scholarships to the universities of Berklee College of Music and Suffolk University Law School . A benefit concert for charities takes place in Boston every year. James today denies another membership in FSU. He was arrested on July 14, 2009 and sentenced to one year in prison for extortion in 2005.
About James and FSU were in a National Geographic - documentary and in the Gangland series of History Channel reported. In 2004, James published the documentary Boston Beatdown Vol. 2 , which consists of interviews, filmed brawls and clips from Death Before Dishonor , Blood for Blood and Ten Yard Fight .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Alleged Founder of Street Gang that Uses Violence to Control Hardcore Punk Rock Music Scene Arrested on Extortion Charge for Shaking Down $ 5,000 from Recording Artist for Protection
- ↑ a b Boston Beatdown Vol. 2 , DVD self- release , distributed by Cargo Records , 2004
- ↑ Friends Stand Charged
- ↑ Catalano, Debbie, “Elgin James: Truth and Fiction,” Soundcheck magazine (November 2003), pp. 14-16
- ^ National Geographic : Inside Straight Edge. 2007. Online version: Overview ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ "Punk Rock Fight Club" by Mark Binelli Rolling Stone magazine August 23, 2007 issue 1033
