What do you mean by “encounters”? It’s Chicago, all kinds of guys encounter each other.Shellackhead wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2023 1:52 pm Has the Outfit had any encounters with Black Disciple/Gangster Disciples street gangs?
Having said that, I’m not aware of any claims to specific links to those specific organizations, though I would presume some have existed at some level at some point in time (keeping in mind that, at the very least, mob-connected guys have done time in the IL and Federal prison systems with GDs and BDs). The Grand Ave crew has of course had ties to the Insane C-Notes (e.g., Albie Vena and Bobby Panozzo were Notes, and I suspect that Vic Spilotro was as well), and the C-Notes are Folks, so that could well have been an avenue of connection to the leadership of the GDs and BDs.
The outfit has been rumored to have had ties to other black gangs in the past, such as claims to narcotics trafficking links in the ‘70s to the Black P Stones and Vice Lords. In 2010, Bobby Di Diana, owner of the Bacci’s Pizzeria chain rumored to have mob ties, was convicted on arson charges for hiring a member of the Traveling Vice Lords to torch one of his buildings on the Near West Side. That seemed like a personal tie, as Di Diana supposedly attended high school with the VL, but again, it’s Chicago and there are ways that all sorts of people encounter each other.
BTW, I was told by an associate of one of the NYC Families once that in the Federal prison system, LCN in general has a lot of respect for Chicago gang leaders, who the mob sees as “true gangsters”.