Unknown Vice Lords - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded c. 1964
Affiliations	Give details
Colors	Give details
Primary ethnicities	African American
Symbols	Give details
Status	Active

The story of the Unknown Vice Lords doesn’t start with Willie Lloyd. The Unknown Vice Lords were founded during the 1964 splitting of the Vice Lord nation into separate factions. Willie Lloyd was indeed an original member of the Unknown Vice Lords as he joined right upon inception at age 12 or 13. Willie may have been a regular Vice Lord in 1963 but for sure by 1964 he became an original UVL and possible co-founder. I am not sure if Willie came up with the name but the name “Unknown” came from these Vice Lords reading newspapers and joking about how criminals were committing crimes and the police were reporting an “Unknown” suspect was at large. I am not sure who the original leader of the Unknown Vice Lords was, but I do know the UVLs began on 16^th Street in the North Lawndale neighborhood.

In the year 1965, Willie Lloyd now took over leadership of the UVLs and hyped them up into a massive recruitment drive and soon UVL numbers swelled into the hundreds making them one of the larger branches besides the Conservative Vice Lords. By the later 1960s the UVLs were able to take a nice chunk of the East Garfield Park neighborhood in the area bounded by Congress to Monroe to Central Park Ave to Kedzie (Ghost Town). Also by the later 1960s UVLs settled into the Wicker Park neighborhood around Evergreen and Hoyne where they fought with all white and Hispanic gangs.

By the early 1970s, UVLs were colonizing near Chicago Ave in the southern part of the West Humboldt Park neighborhood. Around this time period the UVLs were making headlines for various violent crimes as they were making much more noise than ever. In the years of 1970 and 1971 the UVLs engaged in violent shootings in the North Lawndale and East Garfield Park area that resulted in deaths and they went at it with Egyptian Cobras and Black Souls that made the newspapers. The UVLs seemed to be on a violent rampage and much of this was incited by their leader Willie Lloyd who was also developing a reputation for being a violent gang leader.

Willie Lloyd’s reputation for violence exceeded him further in December of 1971. Willie Lloyd and four others took a long drive out to the quad cities to Davenport, Iowa where one of their members was residing. The men came to this small city to do stick up robberies and their first spot was the Little Green Apple Tavern. The men held up the tavern at gun point and took cash and took a nickel plated .38 caliber revolver from the tavern. Then on December 5, 1971, the crew visited the Quality Inn Motel in downtown Davenport in search of a room frequented by a Davenport police officer Leon Washington thanks to a tipster. They were hoping to break into his room when he wasn’t there and steal his money and weapons, but they picked the wrong room and robbed another man instead. After robbing the man, they tied him up then went back to looking for Washington’s room. When the men found the room, the other man tied up in the previous room broke free and called the police while the crew robbed and tied up Leon Washington. This is when Davenport rookie police officer Michael Farnsworth showed up with his partner and both men were shot at immediately, upon the second shot from the .38 caliber revolver a bullet struck Farnsworth in the head killing him instantly. Four of the five men were arrested and charged with murder. Willie Lloyd himself did not fire any weapons at the officers but he was still convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but he only served 15 of those years. Even though he didn’t shoot anyone he was still hailed as a cold-blooded killer by authorities and by UVL members back in Chicago which not only boosted the reputation of Willie Lloyd but also of the UVLs. During his time in prison out in Iowa, Willie Lloyd still controlled UVL operations.

UVLs even got involved in politics and voter’s leagues under the name “Unknown Conservative Vice Lords” in 1984 which was said to help mask their illegal activities.

In 1985 to 1986 UVLs opened up the biggest section of UVLs at 5th City in the East Garfield Park community. This large piece of turf stretched from Madison Street on the north, Congress Parkway on the south, Kedzie Avenue on the east and Hamlin Boulevard on the west allowed the UVLs to operate through the entire south side of Garfield Park along Jackson Boulevard. This section was cherished by Willie Lloyd and is long standing section for the UVLs.

In December of 1986, Willie Lloyd was paroled much to the objection of Iowa State police and Davenport police, but Willie was headed back to Chicago’s west side. When Willie got back, he had earned high rank in the overall Almighty Vice Lord Nation and now that he was free he took over all leadership of the whole nation which meant he was in command of all Vice Lord branches while still being in charge of UVLs simultaneously. The police nationwide were still upset about Lloyd’s release and some Minneapolis police officers got revenge in October of 1988 when they beat Willie in the streets of Minneapolis. The reason why Lloyd was in Minneapolis is because he had family that lived there, and it was said that he was drug trafficking and/or holding meetings at his sister’s house for operations between Minneapolis and Chicago. Lloyd oversaw 150 UVL members in Minneapolis and they were best known for selling Crack and robbing other drug dealers.

More troubles fell upon Willie Lloyd in 1989 when he was arrested and convicted on illegal weapons charges possessing a Mac-10 machine gun and for attempting to shoot down a police officer. Lloyd was convicted and went back to prison, this time he was in an Illinois prison for the first time. While locked away in this short prison stint of about 2 ½ years Lloyd began using heroin and got addicted to the drug. He became somewhat reckless while addicted and much of the nation wanted him removed from power as he was now viewed as a high risk.

On December 30, 1992, Willie Lloyd was released from prison once again and strutted out of prison surrounded by body guards while wearing flashy clothing. Lloyd was determined to restore his power of the Vice Lord Nation even in the face of adversaries. As soon as Willie got home there was already disputes over drugs and monies owed. There was also a major war erupting over the North Ave drug trade with the Four Corner Hustlers making Willie a marked man. Willie Lloyd faced more legal issues as he was now facing charges of armed Robbery and unlawful restraint leading off the year 1993. During his trials there were a few attempted hits made on him. Once was on the Eisenhower Expressway when men shot his car up when his girlfriend and child and driver were the only occupants, no one was killed. One of Willie’s former top Lieutenants Cardell Williams and his faction of the Unknown Vice Lords was responsible for the shooting of the car on March 26^th. Earlier that month Willie himself ordered the kidnapping of Tyrone Williams, the brother of Cardell. Cardell’s crew had gotten revenge by kidnapping two young teen boys working drug spots for Lloyd’s faction and they were dragged to railroad trucks as they cried and begged for their lives, but they were both shot to death execution style. Both these UVL factions were accustomed to robbing each other and were at total war. It got to the point where Willie and even his lawyer needed to wear a bullet proof vest to court. In October of 1993, another attempt was made on Willie as his car was shot about 30 times, but Willie was only shot in the leg while his girlfriend and his daughter once again survived unscathed.

Despite Willie Lloyd’s departure the spirit of what he helped create and build continues presently as the Unknown Vice Lords are perhaps the fourth largest Vice Lord faction with branches all through the suburbs and nationwide.

There is a faction of Vice Lords called the “Unknown Traveling Vice Lords” which I am sure is partially formed by an Unknown Vice Lord faction merging with some Travelors but I don’t know any of their story.

UVLs have expanded to operate at Chicago Ave and Laramie (Dirty UVLs), Kilpatrick and Maypole and 5th City (Shotgun UVLs)