| Founded | Founded in 1953 by Juan Santos, Julio Munoz, Fast Eddy, and Joe Gunn in or near Near West Side |
|---|---|
| Founding story | Founded as Imperials then adopted “Latin Kings” in 1960 |
| Formerly known as | Imperials |
| Affiliations | Give details |
| Colors | Give details |
| Primary ethnicities | Latino (Puerto Rican) |
| Symbols | Give details |
| Status | Extinct |
I have decided the make this page to hopefully clear up some confusion about the Almighty Latin King history that has been a subject of debate for decades. For those that follow this site you may notice me alter the Latin King history continuously, that is because I am a trial and error researcher and I put out my best knowledge until I find better knowledge and sometimes putting it out there as I know it can lead to people reaching out to me to correct me. In a recent development I have learned that there were possibly two Latin King gangs in Chicago and one of them died out while the later group successfully developed and even took in members of the old gang. The stories of the older group that went defunt has dominated Latin King legend for decades but the story remained confusing and with no evidence to support the way it was told on the streets. I made this page to develop an understanding of the older group and how the older later group impacted the newer group. The newer group is the Almighty Latin King Nation and it was founded by King Phil and King Rory on May 15, 1964, and that is it, there is no earlier founding and no prior leaders/founders for the ALKN in particular; however, there is an older group, but they are not ALKN, and I will explain.
Below are a list of Latin King foundation legends that have been told orally on the streets for decades and on the internet:
Latin Kings started in Chicago in 1940
Latin Kings started in Chicago in 1944
Latin Kings started in Chicago in 1950
Latin Kings started in Chicago in the 1940s
Latin Kings started in Chicago in 1954 at Laflin and VanBuren
Latin Kings started in New York then came to Chicago and started here long ago
Latin Kings were born out of the Noble Knights
Latin Kings started at Beach and Spaulding
Latin Kings started in the Boulevards (24th and Marshall)
Latin Kings were a merger of Imperials gang and MarKings gang
Latin Kings were founded by Ramon Santos (King Papo)
From the list I presented above, none of these are correct and it took me decades to find out they are all incorrect. The Latin Kings were started at Leavitt and Schiller and Kedzie and Ohio in 1964 then came to the Boulevards then came Beach and Spaulding. The Latin Kings were not founded by Santos. King Phil and King Rory are alive and well and King Rory has shared recent photos that are being passed around the internet as proof, Ramon Santos’ story has never carried evidence; however, there is some truth to it and that’s what this page is for, to filter out the Ramon Santos founding and give it credit for what it is.
I have heard of Juan (Ramon) Santos being born as early as 1938 and as late as 1954 but the later does not coincide with actual stories from older men that I have been told or seen on social media. I got emailed long ago from an anonymous person that only emailed me one time telling me he was born August 28, 1940 and I have seen on Facebook groups others make this claim, that is unless they got that info from this site. It is a known fact that Latin Kings had members born in the 30s, Julio “Compa” Munoz is one of them. For proof of Compa’s age, I can refer to the Chicago Tribune July 22, 1981 article about the murder Compa did that got him put in prison until he died in 2012. The article states that his age was 45 years old at the time of the article in 1981 making him born in 1936, I have this article posted on my main Latin King page. Compa is well known and was a big time Latin King from Maplewood and Wabansia. I also have a mug shot I printed off back in the mid-2000s of a man named Edwardo Gonzalez who was born March 24, 1938. I printed this from the IDOC database inmate search and IDOC said that he has a tattoo of a crown with “LK” on his left arm, this is proof of another older Latin King. The question then comes to mind as to why would men that are almost 30 years old join a gang founded by high school age teenagers? The ALKN was for sure founded by King Phil who was 18 when he started the Latin Kings and his friends were around the same age but no older. It is certified and verified that is the founding story of the ALKN and is on my ALKN main page. But then how would guys almost 30 have an interest in joining the Latin Kings? One can be dismissive and say they were just in another gang and flipped. I would have to laugh at that because no one flips when they are almost 30! I have no doubt at all that Juan Santos was around the same age as Edwardo and Julio; therefore, I agree that he was either born in 1938 or 1940.
There are several legends around Juan “Ramon” Santos and I have been hearing about them since I was a kid in the mid-90s when he was referred to as “Papa King” and I grew up in the suburbs. Many Latin Kings I knew paid homage to him and it took me until I was much older to find out the name and pictures of this man called “Papa King” and later learned he was actually “King Papo.” I had heard since I was young that he was the founder of the Almighty Latin King Nation and for many years I have supported that and wrote about it on my main Latin King page but recent evidence has shown that he was not THE founder of the nation and according to some he never claimed he was, it seems as if the streets painted a picture as him as the founder and the story got passed around for decades. Juan Santos was on record with George W. Knox’s “Gang Profile: The Latin Kings” he wrote for the NATIONAL GANG CRIME RESEARCH CENTER in the year 2000; however, Knox withheld Santo’s name and only referred to him as “Papa Santos.” According to his research oral legends pointed to Santos starting the Latin Kings at 18th and Wabash which is in the South Loop community. I have heard of something involving him on 18th Street but legends of Latin Kings starting on 18th street have always been much weaker compared to Laflin and VanBuren claims. Knox also said Santos lived at Leavitt and Schiller next, but street legends I had encountered have said that is untrue and the founders of the ALKN did not associate with Santos at Leavitt and Schiller at all when they were running the nation in the mid-60s. Knox also mentioned a documented gang called the “Royal Kings” but no one I have talked to or anyone I’ve seen post on Facebook recalls a “Royal Kings” and I did not see them on the 1959 list of gangs made by social services that the Chicago History Museum gave to me; therefore, Knox must have possession of police files or other social worker gang lists the public does not have. I must admit, my older versions of the Latin King history including my time with Chicagogangs.org used this reference made by Knox as one of my biggest sources, but now I have learned the source has flaws but it still is a great read and Knox did a good job researching the best he could in an era with far less sources. He also listed the original Latin Kings as: Jose Rivera (now out of prison, AKA “Cadillac Joe”), Eddie Rodriguez (AKA “Tiger), Joe Gunn, and Fast Eddy. Joe Gunn if for real and was killed in 1960. Eddie Rodriguez is for real and was an older Latin King. Fast Eddy I know nothing about and Jose Rivera was way too young to be an original Latin King so that part if not true. It is true that Rivera joined in 1964 as soon as the ALKN was formed but he was only 12 and just a pee wee member from Leavitt and Schiller so he is not one of the top original guys, his time would begin in the 70s. Knox also listed Santos but there was no mention of Compa which is a huge omission (https://www.ngcrc.com/ngcrc/page15.htm). Knox had access to the criminal aspect of the Latin Kings but not with the guys that never went to prison and had no real criminal history like King Phil and King Rory as examples.
Juan Santos was born in Cuba according to most legends and credible sources but when he was very young he was moved to Puerto Rico and became a citizen there as a child. Multiple sources agree Santos lived in Puerto Rico for 5 years then he moved to Chicago in 1952. Some have said Santos was from New York before Chicago and this was said in the Knox article but I have found no evidence through oral legends in recent years to support this but for many years until here in 2025 that is what I believed but stronger legends have come out lately that said he was always from Chicago, before that Puerto Rico. Santos came to President’s Row in the Near West Side community in 1952 and moved into a yellow apartment building that once stood at Laflin Street and VanBuren Street. According to older people that lived right at that corner that knew Santos, he started the “Imperials” street gang in 1953 to fight back against the many African American gangs in the neighborhood because President’s Row was mostly African American. Imperials also fought against white gangs too. Multiple racial and ethnic groups preyed upon the poorest youths especially if they were Puerto Rican. Santos came up with the Imperials alongside his brother Fast Eddie and the two of them were the original Imperials. An older youth in the neighborhood named Julio “Compa” Munoz was next to join the Imperials and was 17 years old at the time. Joe Gunn was next to join and I believe he was Mexican. Munoz and Eddy were Puerto Rican and Santos was Cuban by blood but Puerto Rican by citizenship. I have no idea which exact gangs the Imperials fought.
In New York City a “Latin Kings” gang was born in the Bronx by 1955 and made the newspaper more than once in 1955. New York City had proof but in Chicago there is zero proof of a “Latin Kings” but many swear up and down there was a “Latin Kings” in Chicago in the 50s. After seeing testimony from old timers that lived by Santos and his crew they did start referring to themselves as “Latin Kings” but it seems like it never was an official club name and the Imperials name stood out more. Legend is that Santos and the crew began calling themselves “Latin Kings” at Laflin and VanBuren in 1954. I am not going to verify that they used that name that far back in time but I will confirm these same men eventually did and I will get into the details of this.
First, we need to take some time to get to know the legends behind the NYC Latin Kings of the deep past. According to legends I heard the origin traces back to New York City in the year 1930 once the Great Depression hit. Frustrated people from various areas of New York came to Spanish Harlem to attack Hispanic and poor people because they felt these people were taking away the jobs that were sorely needed. It is true that a repatriation law was put in effect in 1930 in the United States to deport the mostly Hispanic people that were coaxed into moving to this country during the first world war to aid in the war effort in building materials for the war, now in 1930 there were not enough jobs for citizens and repatriation was needed but it was a fact that many citizens often took to the streets to speed the process up through the use of intimidation and violence. An individual named “Lord Bomba” organized the young men in the neighborhood and they called themselves “The Lions” and their organization was the “Sun Tribe” and they were the “Lions of the Sun Tribe.” This was the first organization that helped the Hispanic people and the poor in Spanish Harlem fight back and at some point the “Latin Crowns” were born out of this then the struggle was passed to the Latin Kings of New York that were founded by 1955. Another Latin Kings group was founded in Brooklyn in 1959 with “Spooky” as the founder (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e89vlBbipJo). It was said that at least one group of these Latin Kings was inspired or linked to the Crowns and Sun Tribe but I am not sure. Allegedly, Santos was somehow connected with the NYC stories and the Latin Kings which possibly gave him the idea to adopt the name of “Latin Kings.”
In the late 50s, Chicago police and social services began keeping track of gang names and in March of 1959, social services made a list of gangs but no “Latin Kings” was on that list neither was an “Imperials” gang, the only thing with the “Imperials” was African American groups from the North Lawndale area but none from the Near West Side. The likely reason no documents surfaced is because Santos and his crew were already too old to be working with social services because social services worked with youths and Santo’s crew was in their 20s in age and remained small. It does surprise me that there were not even police files, this is why I am highly skeptical that Santos and his crew actually used the term “Latin Kings” in the 50s at all. Santos and Compa, especially Compa were pretty hard core so I don’t see how it is remotely possible for them to be this active on the streets without police documenting their club name of “Latin Kings” but then again the “Imperials” were not documented either.
In the year 1960, the Latin King name finally appeared on the streets of Chicago but not in social service documents or police files, the name was only known in detail by opposing gangs. I have found two pieces of solid evidence on social media to support this 1960 claim. One has been on the internet since the year 2000 on YouTube called “Great American Youth (Part 1 of 4) Documentary” that can be found in this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUv0Vf6sag&t=1s). This is the founder of the Gaylords 712 gang, Anthony “Johnny Boy” Anarina” who was about 60 years old at time telling the story of the founding of the Gaylords in his own words. He talked about his first encounter with the “Latin Kings” in 1960. Anarina said one of the Gaylords was beaten badly and needed to be taken to a downtown area hospital because some Hispanic guys beat him up. Anarina and his friends went to Milwaukee Avenue (somewhere between Bucktown and Wicker Park) to find out who did it because the police wouldn’t do anything. He said in the video that they encountered a group of Puerto Ricans that were “giving them the fingers” and claiming they were the “Latin Kings coming from New York.” He said he met the leader and did not go into more details. His story is full of confusing and contradictory info such as him saying he was a Korean War vet but he also said he started the Gaylords as a teenager in the later 50s making him far too young to be in the Korean War. The second source is a clearer one and comes from the bloodline of the Biedron family that had strong involvement in the original Simon City gang that later had some part in the founding of the notorious Simon City Royals. Andy Biedron was a leader of Simon City until he was killed in Vietnam and his family was members and knows the stories well and lived them. I kept a screenshot from a Facebook group of him interacting with another member telling his story about witnessing the “Latin Kings” in the Kedzie and Ohio area in West Humboldt Park in the exact year of 1960. Biedron said “Todge” a Warlord from the Jokers gang found out about a “Latin Kings” group in the neighborhood and walked over to them and demanded they stop being Latin Kings immediately or be beaten the next day. The other person asked if he was recalling the Latin Kings retrospectively which was a great question and Biedron said no, it was 1960. This is a more credible source than Anarina but then again Anarina is the founder of the Gaylords. Two sources point to their personal encounters with a “Latin Kings” in the same year of 1960. To make sense of this it appears Santos and his crew attempted to make the Latin Kings official in 1960 but there was too much push back. Back in 1960, Puerto Rican people were just moving to Wicker Park and West Humboldt Park; therefore, they likely faced heavy opposition trying to push the name onto the streets. Another thing to understand is back then using a name like “Latin Kings” was highly scandalous in a mostly racist community full of whites; therefore, they likely did not have the momentum to keep it up and disbanded, all stories ended in 1960. Joe Gunn was shot to death on the streets in 1960 and maybe this ended the older Latin King group.
In George Knox’s Latin King genesis section he mentions the “Royal Kings” as a gang from the Near West Side mainly in the area of Harrison Street to Roosevelt Road, and from Loomis Street to Ashland Avenue with hangouts at Polk Street and Laflin Street and a snack shop at Loomis Street and Fillmore Street. Knox said members were 16-22 years old which would have been Santos’ crew age for the oldest age of the Royal Kings. Knox points out that the Royal Kings fought with Ambrose just like how Latin Kings fight with Ambrose and tried to establish a link. He also stated the “operating area” of the Royal Kings was Madison Street to 26th Street and from Halsted Street to Western Avenue. This is a huge area and extends from Presidents Row to Pilsen but this area does not include 18th and Wabash. Knox did not say this group had anything to do with Latin Kings but showed that they could have. The Royal Kings indeed were close to Laflin and VanBuren and was part of their “operating area.” Although not documented with social services there was the “MarKings” or “Marshall Kings” that were in existence by 1962 in the Little Village community and the Near West Side. The Near West Side MarKings is documented in the book by Jinx titled “Compliments of Chicagohoodz: Chicago Street Gang Art & Culture” on a page showing a drawing made by a teenage non-gang member in 1962 that grew up in the Near West Side and made a roughly drawn map with the gang names on each block. He wrote “Markings” at Newberry Avenue and Taylor Street. The same artist wrote “Taylor Kings” for Fillmore and Loomis which is supposed to be Royal King hood according to Knox. At Polk and Laflin he wrote “Vicounts” which was another hangout for Royal Kings according to Knox. This either means the Royal Kings were already extinct by 1962 or broke up into other gangs. The MarKings got their name because they were from 24th Street and Marshall Boulevard in Little Village and were the first Mexican gang in Little Village that were from the first Mexican families to arrive in Little Village and fought against racism from white gangs. I had heard that Raul “Baby King” Gonzalez was part of this group before becoming a Latin King. It puzzles me that the MarKings were on Taylor Street which says to me that they were becoming a serious group and perhaps they decended from the Royal Kings and maybe even Santos Latin Kings, it is legend that Santos had a strong connection to the south side and had some kind of attachment to the Little Village area (The Boulevards). This can also explain the legends that say Imperials and MarKings came together to start the Little Village Latin Kings (Boulevards), perhaps the Royal King network if what brought them into contact?
What I am gathering from all these pieces of the story is that “Latin Kings” prior to 1964 was not exactly a gang in and of itself and perhaps was a term used for several different gangs. Perhaps it was an overall term for a league of gangs from multiple neighborhoods all over the city. This was the first Latin King nation but it was a nation that did not pan out and went extinct. In the year 1964 King Phil created the “Latin Kings” that are the black and gold wearing guys that we know today that are in all 50 states and in other countries with several thousand members world wide. King Phil previously ran a gang called the “Skulls” from 1958-1964 in Eckhart Park in the Noble Square community. Phil moved to Leavitt and Schiller in 1964 in Wicker Park and got together with his friends and his allies from the Kedzie and Ohio Boys from West Humboldt Park and during a vote made on May 15, 1964 they elected to call themselves the “Latin Kings” and history was made and the ALKN was born. These guys had the balls to use the term “Latin Kings” on the streets proudly during a time when it was forbidden and they were well organized while it appears Santos’ older group was not organized enough to use that name. Phil and the guys kept their mob at Kedzie and Ohio and Leavitt and Schiller for two years exclusively which gave them the chance to strengthen themselves and build a solid existence, they also knew how to make youths excited to want to be a Latin King instead of creating a criminal empire. Santos and his crew were too much older to have experienced the racial changed in West Town and Humboldt Park in the 60s at the youth level; therefore, he likely could not relate as well to the youths like Phil did. Santos and his crew found out about the Latin Kings and instead of claiming they were first and rightfully owed the organization they simply joined the Latin Kings and established Laflin and VanBuren in 1964 for the ALKN but their “Latin Kings” group was completely extinct at that point and they would need to represent the black and gold mob now and they did carry it on leading many to believe the ALKN started there but it did not. Laflin and VanBuren was not recognized by Phil or his circle as a ALKN branch even though Santos and his crew were repping it because I don’t think Phil and Santos had any interactions and may not have even known each other.
In the year 1966, the Latin Kings connected with the Boulevards in Little Village and turned them Latin Kings and many say Santos was involved but according to the originals around Phil and several others, Don Juan was sent to Little Village to make this happen not Santos and the stories behind Don Juan are far more colorful than with Santos which is always just a quick mention. After the Boulevards was created Freddie of the Ohio and Kedzie Latin Kings turned out the Division and Kedzie area Noble Knights which would include Beach and Spaulding. Since the Kedzie and Ohio area once had “Latin Kings” in 1960 before Freddie and the Ohio and Kedzie Boys got started this is why many say Beach and Spaulding is the motherland because that area of Kings later turned out Beach and Spaulding in 1966, but it was likely not the same group of Latin Kings, this was Freddie’s group and it is a fact that Freddie, the founder of Ohio and Kedzie was not linked to Santos, the group before him in the same area that called themselves “Latin Kings” that Todge and Jokers encountered was a different group.
Santos would indeed become the nation leader of the Latin Kings once Phil and his closest circle grew out of everyday gang life and started families and got legit jobs. The originals were not about criminal life and only carried on in the gang in their younger life to get by, once they got older they established the lives they previously wanted that they were held back from due to racism. Once Phil, Rory and the others left the life they were no longer connected with the Latin Kings for many years and when they returned to Chicago they were shocked at the empire that was built.
The building of the Latin King empire credit goes much to Santos because after he took over, he networked in several neighborhoods around the city to grow the Latin King nation. Santos had an activist side and criminal side. On the activist side Santos connected in politics and even connected with the Black Panthers, Young Lords and many other groups to advance the Latin Kings politically. On the dark side the Latin Kings became heavily involved in drug trafficking and drug use which was originally meant to fund political advances and to protect members but turned into trafficking. As Santos was growing the nation in the late 60s he personally robbed drug dealers in the neighborhood but got high on the supply he took. Santos was using heroin with Spanish Lord founders and this is possibly what led to a bloody war with Spanish Lords between 1968-1969. Santos did not live at Leavitt and Schiller in the earlier 60s, in 1966 he began dating a girl from there for a while and that’s how he linked to Leavitt and Schiller and by then Phil and the others had moved out. Latin Kings would open major sections in Lincoln Park (Armitage), Uptown and Logan Square (Lawrence and Kedzie) in 1969 during the reign of Santos and even in Pilsen along 18th Street (the Coulters) and this is why the legacy of Phil and the guys was swept away because Santos became the main face of the mob and told his stories as the first group of Latin Kings that has been misunderstood and told incorrectly through the decades putting him as the founder even though Santos himself did not exactly claim to be the founder of the ALKN but his stories of the older group of Latin Kings may have brought confusion. A Latin King by the name of “Cookie” from Kedzie and Ohio came up with the term “Latin Kings” for the name that was finally voted on in 1964 but there was no mention of where he got that name, it is possible that when Cookie was just a kid he heard the name used by the older group but that would be the only link the old group had to the foundation of the ALKN, other than that the older group of Latin Kings around Santos joined Phil’s creation. Compa joined the ALKN and was put in prison for murder in the 70s until he died behind bars in 2012, he was always considered a senior member and an original.
Santos would run the nation until 1972 when he got so bad on heroin that he was forced out of a leadership role and Leavitt and Schiller was closed. Santos took over Leavitt and Schiller after the originals departed and Santos promoted Gustavo Colon (Hercules, Hippie or Lord Gino) and Lord Gino became a nation leader in 1972 as a replacement for Santos while behind bars for the murder of a Vice Lord. Raul Gonzalez (Rayo or Baby King) was promoted to run the Boulevards and all south side while he was locked up for the murder of a Bishop. Many legends have mistaken these two men as Latin King founders but they were just like Jose “Cadillac Joe” Rivera, just kids that happened to join during the debut year of 1964 but were not founders. Santos would carry on in life moving from one place to another around the north side until he ended up in prison for a long time from at least 1980 to the later 80s. When Santos got out in 1988 it was said he wanted to regain some kind of control until the Cardona family killed him in Humboldt Park that summer.
To further clarify, the ALKN was not founded in 1954, not at Laflin and VanBuren and not by Juan Ramon Santos and was certainly not founded in New York City. No part of the ALKN comes from NYC at all. The older group of Latin Kings that went defunct in 1960 very likely was from New York City and branched out here in Chicago but that is NOT ALKN, but that group did join ALKN after Phil and the originals assembled it. The Latin Kings of NYC went extinct in the mid-60s with some members lingering into the 80s but once the ALKN came to NYC in the 80s it overwrote that older Latin King group. I hope this clarifies some of the confusion of the Latin King history. I myself have been mislead several times and have changed the history many times on this site. For the ALKN history check out my main Latin King page.
