Insane Vice Lords - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded c. 1968 by Bennie Lee in or near Austin
Formerly known as	Apache Vice Lords
Affiliations	People Nation — c. 1981 – 2000 or later;
Colors	Give details
Primary ethnicities	African American
Symbols	Give details
Status	Active

The story of the Insane Vice Lords goes back to the year 1968 in the Austin neighborhood. Bennie Lee was the founder of this faction of the Vice Lords after he moved to Austin at Cicero Ave and Jackson in 1967. In 1968, Vice Lords began appearing in the Austin neighborhood at Cicero and Jackson which was the spot that the first African American families moved to in the neighborhood. Bennie soon got into it with the first Austin area Vice Lords known as “Cicero Vice Lords.” Bennie was tasked with fighting one on one against Cicero Vice Lord member Freddie Pie. Freddie was older and trained in boxing, but Bennie was still able to put up a very good fight which gave him a reputation. A few days later Cicero Vice Lords approached Bennie and his crew and asked them to come to a meeting at Mandel Church (5000 W Congress Pkwy) at Lavergne and Congress Parkway. The Vice Lords then ordained Bennie as a Vice Lord leader of his own group of Vice Lords that he called “Apache Vice Lords,” Bennie was only 13 and the youngest Vice Lord leader in the whole Vice Lord nation. The first piece of territory for the Apaches was at Lavergne and Gladys.

The Apaches soon developed a reputation for violence. In one incident on Christmas Eve in the year 1970, two members of the Apaches robbed someone of their welfare checks. When the police came to seize the two members these two Apaches engaged in a gun battle with police that resulted in both boys getting killed. Bennie Lee himself ended up in juvenile detention for two years around this same time. From 1972 to 1974 Bennie was in and out of jail until he ended up in prison in 1974 where he served 6 years.

In the year 1971, the Apache Vice Lords changed their name to “Insane Vice Lords” because of Tim, but it wasn’t Bennie who changed the name, he was in Juvenile detention at that time. In the same year, the Cicero Vice Lords and Central Vice Lords formed, and alliance called “Insane” and the Apache Vice Lords were invited which may have also contributed to their name change.

Through the 1970s, Insane Vice Lords were one of the crazier factions of Vice Lords and lived up to the “Insane Vice Lord” name. Insane Vice Lords were also a lead distributor of cocaine and heroin along the Chicago Avenue corridor from Austin to West Humboldt Park, they would arrive in West Humboldt Park in 1976 alongside the first major wave of African American migration. Insane Vice Lords also fought racial wars in this community against mostly Puerto Rican groups and gangs.

Insane Vice Lords eventually spread to the south side of Chicago in 1980 and flipped members of the Black P Stones that were avoiding sanctions from the El Rukns. The Insane Vice Lords now were operating in the Pocket Town area of the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood alongside Conservative Vice Lords. This territory didn’t last long but the Insane Vice Lords remained on the south side, but I don’t know where they were located or really much more about them at all.

In the early 1980s, Insane Vice Lords began spreading outside of Chicago landing in the city of Rockford, Illinois on the southwest side of Rockford. Insane Vice Lords may have also spread to Maywood and Bellwood.

In the year 1990, the “Insane” alliance was no more because Troy Martin of the Central Insane Vice Lords changed the name of his organization to “Mafia Insane Vice Lords” and flipped the majority of Cicero Insane Vice Lords and Undertaker Vice Lords The Insane Vice Lords would also follow suit as they left the Austin community and maintained only a small presence in Chicago for a few more years as they migrated their operations out of state. Insane Vice Lords established a presence all over the state of Indiana and several other states like Wisconsin, Kentucky, Nebraska and Iowa along with possible other states. 1990 was the beginning of the end of the Insane Vice Lord legacy in the Chicago area and few years later IVL became extinct in Illinois.