Tall Arabian Posse - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded in 1991 in or near Marquette Park (Chicago Lawn)
Founding story	Founded in Marquette Park near 63rd and Kedzie
Formerly known as	TAP Boys
Affiliations	People Nation — 1992 – give;
Colors	White and Red
Primary ethnicities	Arabian
Symbols	Diamond and 4 Point Star
Status	Extinct

The Tall Arabian Posse Boys came about in the year 1991 in the Marquette Park neighborhood at the intersection of 63^rd Street and Kedzie which was a small Arab community since the 1940s. The neighborhood around this Arab area was mostly Mexican with a white population. People all around the United States developed a strong anti-Muslim sentiment ever since Operation Desert Shield started on August 2, 1990 and that is when hate crime were happening to many Arabs and their businesses. Hate crimes against the Arabs on 63^rd Street were starting to happen in the late summer to early autumn mainly by members of street gangs like Ambrose, Krazy Getdown Boys and Satan Disciples. The teenage Arab youths formed the Tall Arabian Posse to protect the neighborhood against these gangs and soon these youths became armed with guns. It didn’t start out that way in 1991 of course, it would gradually become a gang but at first it was just a social club for only Arabs. This group extended into the suburbs of Orland Park, Burbank (78^th and Narragansett) and Bridgeview and other area suburbs that had a significant Arab population. Ridicule and bullying from kids in the neighborhood and gang primarily affiliating with the Folk alliance drove these kids closer together. In the suburbs TAP Boys had friction with Satan Disciples, Ambrose and Two Six.

In the year 1992 the TAP Boys made an alliance with the Latin Kings but never joined People, but were rumored to be under the five. This would allow TAP Boys to be supported to an extent by the Latin Kings. In Marquette Park the TAP Boys were large in numbers at Hubbard High School and were geared at protecting all Arab students from hate crimes, the same could be said at Reavis High School in Burbank, Victor J Andrew High School in Tinley Park, Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Argo High School in Argo-Summit and Oak Lawn High School in Oak Lawn. In all these schools TAP Boys assisted any Arab students that were bullied by anyone and this made many of those protected students want to join the gang. The TAP Boys became so big they spread into the more northern suburbs in the Lincolnwood and Skokie suburbs that also had a large Arab population, and they opened a section in the suburb of Villa Park.

TAP Boys were never classified as one of the more serious and dangerous gangs in Chicago or the southern suburbs. They were more known for graffiti, vandalism, burglary, theft or property damage. There were only few members that were down for more serious crimes but mostly this was a minor threat of a gang compared to their enemies and allies. TAP Boys did always strike back when one of their members was attacked or messed with but often the revenge could have just been broken windows or something like that. The TAP Boys did make a lot of noise though and made their presence very well-known in the 1990s and were at their peak by 1995 and 1996 swelling into the hundreds in gang membership.

In the year 1996, several TAP Boys and non-gang related Arab kids were hanging out in front of an arcade in Bridgeview when suddenly several of them were struck down by gun fire as Two Sixs shot them up. From this single shooting the TAP Boys were never the same as they suffered their first murdered members, the gangbanging got too real and they became very low key in their operations up until 1999 when they officially declared their organization extinct. The suburban police claimed they were still active in the early 2000s and they did have small activity until 9/11 in 2001. Most TAP Boys straightened out their lives and grew out of gang life while the few hardened members flipped to Folk gangs.