I just thought it was weird paintings on the wall.'Īnother tour passenger, Daniel Auld, is a young backpacker from Australia. 'I had never thought about what is graffiti. 'What are the Crips, what are the Bloods, what is grafitti?' Rietveld asks. Safely seated on the air conditioned bus, Rietveld is eager to learn the ins and outs of thug life. This stop includes lunch and guest speakers who have firsthand experience in L.A.'s inner city. Pico Union Graff Lab (Graffiti Lab), which is a canvas for local graffiti artists. Hall of Justice Jail, which housed Charles Manson and Robert Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan riots of 1992įirestone Sheriff Station was used by the National Guard as a command center during the 1965 Watts riots. chapterįlorence District, a notorious battleground for rival gangsįlorence Avenue, the site of one of the major mob uprisings during the L.A. Florencia 13 allegedly has ties to the Mexican mafia and was involved in the 1940s Zoot Suit Riots.īirthplace of the Black Panther Party's L.A. Site of the Symbionese Liberation Army shootout where, on May 17, 1974, a two-hour gun battle ended in the deaths of six SLA membersįlorencia 13, one of the largest Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles County. The Metropolitan Detention Center, which houses convicted bank robbers The tour stops here for a class on the history and intricacies of tagging and graffiti. The Los Angeles River Bed, home to several L.A. The Los Angeles County Jail, which was once home to O.J. I once took a wrong turn off the freeway, and I ended up in some neighborhoods where I thought better get out of here as quickly as possible.' 'Probably because I always thought, well, you can't really go there on your own,' Rietveld says. Still, he has never ventured into South Central. and this is so close by,' says Bert Rietveld, who is Dutch but has lived in Los Angeles for years. 'You go to Paris to see things and understand that culture. On the tour's inaugural run, passengers settled in for a new experience. Now there's a tour to show that side of the city - LA Gang Tours.įor $65 organizers promise a chance to 'experience areas that were forbidden until now.'

In Los Angeles there have long been star tours where people can get a peek at the lifestyles of the rich and famous.īut aside from being the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles also has the more dubious distinction of being famous for gangs.

Now, in addition to running the tours, Lomas also manages a mobile food bank. Alfred Lomas used to be in the Florencia 13 gang before he founded LA Gang Tours.

Flip side 13 gang