Ever wonder what all the graffiti is for? here's how gang wars starts in Los Angeles.
I live in North Hollywood, territory of these guys, the NH 'Locos' (crazies). The red 'NH' lets others know who's hood they have wondered into.
Enter the neighbors boyfriend, he's from "CX3", a gang from the city of Cudahy AKA "Cudahy 13". His homie is from a cliq in Lennox. He's moved in to NoHo and decided to disrespect the locos by doing these:
Its easy to read, WS = West Side
V = Vario meaning this is my neighborhood.
LNX = Lennox; many gangs use the LA Sheriffs acronyms, LNX being the Lennox sub station.
13 = "del sur" meaning "The South", any Hispanic gang(member) south of Bakersfield Ca is from 13, 'Nortenos" or northerners represent with a "14"
"TxKs" = his cliq
"Lentoe" = is gang moniker.
The wall reads as "Lentoe from West Side Lennox cliq Txks is here to say F you Locos"
The sidewalk spray-paint is different, and even more of an insult.. that's called a "rub out". You can see NHLS (NoHo Locos) in dark blue has been crossed out and replaced with "Cudahy X3 (for 13)", signed by "Blackie".
Blackie & Lentoe have basically moved into a rival gang hood and taken 2 square blocks they now claim belongs to them. Of course the Locos will not just take this, soon enough the bullets will be flying.
...and that's how gang wars start in LA, as Sublime said in one of their songs, the news isn't in the papers, it's on the walls.