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The Bloods are one of the two largest Los Angeles, California youth gangs, and are also one of a number of gangs operating on a worldwide level. The Bloods, like their rivals the Crips, are African American. Due to the loose network of territorial gangs, there are significant differences between the various cliques. The Bloods are identified by the red color worn by their members.

The gang was formed in response to the growth of the Crips, who at one point had outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1. When several members of the LA Brims and the Pirus were killed by Crips in 1973, the two embattled gangs met to form an alliance called the Bloods. Other smaller gangs besieged by the Crips soon joined the Bloods.

While there have been bloody rivalries between the Crips and Bloods, a peace treaty was recently negotiated, partly by Crips' former member and founder Stan "Tookie" Williams, prompting a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for him. The Blood gangs have branched out throughout the United States and even internationally. During the 1990s, some Blood gangs in the New York City area became infamous for a spate of slashings of people on the street.

• Gangs