The Savage Nomads were a mostly Puerto Rican and

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

started in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

area of

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s. The gang was involved in a number of running battles with rival gangs Seven Immortals,

Savage Skulls The Savage Skulls are a mostly Puerto Rican and African American street gang started in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s. The gang declared war on the drug dealers operating in the Hunts Poi ...

, and the Dirty Dozen. The Savage Nomads were alleged to be involved in numerous small crime activities in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area.

History

The Savage Nomads were founded on August 5th, 1970 by Benjamin Melendez, who was nicknamed "Yellow Benji". The members were mostly Puerto Rican and African American, but they had one teenage Jewish girl. One notable member is

Iran Nazario Iran "Smurf" Nazario (born ) is an American former gang member and activist. Early life Nazario was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and grew up around violence in his foster family. He was first introduced to gang life at age 11, when he was b ...

, who was convicted to 27 years for a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene before l ...

and

firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary d ...

. Like the

, gang members would appropriate

Nazi symbolism The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very ...

to project "how menacing and terrible they were." This included wearing ''

swastikas The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

'', wearing Nazi helmets and having positions called "

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

" within the gang's ranks. In 2017, after many Savage Nomads members were released from prison, the gang made a resurgence, with 2 homicides being linked to them.

In popular culture

In 1979, the gang was one of many featured in the

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' 80 Blocks from Tiffany's''.

History

In popular culture

References

See also