Sarno Boys fight against Latin King man

[furiofromnaples]

Brief synopsis from behind the paywall:

 Per SBs reporting and ‘exclusive’ sources, a fight broke out this past weekend in the Chicagoland area (Burr Ridge, IL) allegedly involving some members of the Cicero crew of the Outfit and a member of the Latin Kings.

 As described by SB, the ‘fisticuffs’ took place at the Capri Ristorante, which is owned/operated by alleged Cicero crew member Philip ‘Gigi’ Rovito.

 What allegedly went down is reported by SB as follows & supposedly occurred on Sat (3/22): a Latin King (only referred to as ‘Rooster’ in the article) was drunk and acted belligerently after staff members at Capri approached him about his behavior. He was then allegedly confronted by some reputed Cicero crew members who were also present at the restaurant leading to a fist fight between the groups (SB notes that Rovito, himself, was apparently *not* involved with the dust up directly).

 Notably, SBs sources suggest that the Latin King (‘Rooster’) is well-known in OC/LCN circles in Chicagoland and reputedly has some connections to, and shared rackets with, members of the Outfit's Grand Avenue crew. Apparently, some Cicero faction members have a history of ‘bad blood’ with Rooster, dating back to the 1980s & 1990s, when Rooster apparently caused some mischief at a tavern owned by a 12^(th) Street Player (of note, the 12^(th) Street Players are a street gang closely aligned with the Outfit’s Cicero crew).

 SB wraps up this report briefly discussing the current status of the Cicero crew, describing a group he calls the ‘Sarno Boys’ who are a faction of that crew, some of whom he alleges were present at the dust up on Saturday (and many of whom are either former 12^(th) Street Players, or have connections to that gang).

 Re: this ‘Sarno Boys’ sub-faction, SB continues to assert that now-imprisoned former Outfit street boss Mike Sarno made around a little over two dozen men into the Cicero crew in the early 2000s (and before going to jail). Per SBs reporting, this group made by Sarno is largely responsible for overseeing day-to-day affairs for Cicero while Sarno awaits his eventual release from prison.

[johnny_scootch]

Brief synopsis from behind the paywall:

Grazie, Furio.

[Ivan]

Someone on Reddit had a good line about Gigi locking the door to Capri and saying "now youse can't leave" right before the Cicero guys come out to take care of the Latin King.

[PolackTony]

Notably, SBs sources suggest that the Latin King (‘Rooster’) is well-known in OC/LCN circles in Chicagoland and reputedly has some connections to, and shared rackets with, members of the Outfit's Grand Avenue crew. Apparently, some Cicero faction members have a history of ‘bad blood’ with Rooster, dating back to the 1980s & 1990s, when Rooster apparently caused some mischief at a tavern owned by a 12^(th) Street Player (of note, the 12^(th) Street Players are a street gang closely aligned with the Outfit’s Cicero crew).

If any such altercation occurred, it was the least violent incident in all of Chicagoland that weekend lol. In other words, even if true, this sounds minor and little dust-ups of this sort happen with rough guys like this all the time.

Because I can just imagine guys on the internet turning this into “wow the Outfit is going to war with the Latin Kings!”, good to add some perspective here. The 12th St Players are also People (large alliance of street/prison gang organizations in Chicago/IL) and thus close and longtime allies of the LKs. Even if some guys with the Cicero crew had some (apparently minor) altercation with an old head from the Kings, this isn’t an issue with the Kings per se, just one guy. If it turned into something more serious, the leadership of those two organizations would serve to mediate any issues. I have no idea if King Rooster is actually with the Grand Ave crew (that crew has close ties to the C-Notes, who are bitter enemies of the Kings, though when you have guys making money off rackets that sort of gang animosity might not trump business), but if he did, than guys from Cicero and Grand Ave could also presumably smooth things out. Again, that would be assuming that something worth noting even happened and that it would amount to anything beyond the usual petty beefs that can pop off when rough guys get to drinking in public.

[PolackTony]

Also worth noting that Furio’s post was a verbatim cut and paste of a post from the mafia subreddit by Reddit poster “CT-CT”. We all know that it’s Furio and he means no harm, but I still don’t like to see what some other guy wrote go unattributed like this.

[Ivan]

If any such altercation occurred, it was the least violent incident in all of Chicagoland that weekend lol.

Sadly even if it was almost no one cares about the bloodier incidents that no doubt occurred. That's not how this all works, as I'm sure you know.

If a dozen black and Latino kids get brutally slaughtered on one of the busier weekends, no one bats an eye, but if entertaining and charismatic middle-aged Italian mafia guys have a nonlethal fistfight, it's gonna draw some interest.

[PolackTony]

If any such altercation occurred, it was the least violent incident in all of Chicagoland that weekend lol.

Sadly even if it was almost no one cares about the bloodier incidents that no doubt occurred. That's not how this all works, as I'm sure you know.

If a dozen black and Latino kids get brutally slaughtered on one of the busier weekends, no one bats an eye, but if entertaining and charismatic middle-aged Italian mafia guys have a nonlethal fistfight, it's gonna draw some interest.

No one outside of their social circles and (keeping things in perspective) a *tiny* number of people online care about some Italian mobsters getting into a minor fight in a suburban Chicagoland restaurant though. Literally, no one cares but a few people like us. Something like this certainly isn’t making headlines in Chicago.

[Ivan]

If any such altercation occurred, it was the least violent incident in all of Chicagoland that weekend lol.

Sadly even if it was almost no one cares about the bloodier incidents that no doubt occurred. That's not how this all works, as I'm sure you know.

If a dozen black and Latino kids get brutally slaughtered on one of the busier weekends, no one bats an eye, but if entertaining and charismatic middle-aged Italian mafia guys have a nonlethal fistfight, it's gonna draw some interest.

No one outside of their social circles and (keeping things in perspective) a *tiny* number of people online care about some Italian mobsters getting into a minor fight in a suburban Chicagoland restaurant though. Literally, no one cares but a few people like us. Something like this certainly isn’t making headlines in Chicago.

Yeah you're right, there was actually some discussion elsewhere about how that Alto Knights movie flopped badly in part because the general public is no longer interested in this stuff like they were up to the Sopranos era.

I don't think the random gangbangers getting killed every week have any enthusiasts/hobbyists keeping tabs on their activities as individuals though. Or do they?

[PolackTony]

If any such altercation occurred, it was the least violent incident in all of Chicagoland that weekend lol.

Sadly even if it was almost no one cares about the bloodier incidents that no doubt occurred. That's not how this all works, as I'm sure you know.

If a dozen black and Latino kids get brutally slaughtered on one of the busier weekends, no one bats an eye, but if entertaining and charismatic middle-aged Italian mafia guys have a nonlethal fistfight, it's gonna draw some interest.

No one outside of their social circles and (keeping things in perspective) a *tiny* number of people online care about some Italian mobsters getting into a minor fight in a suburban Chicagoland restaurant though. Literally, no one cares but a few people like us. Something like this certainly isn’t making headlines in Chicago.

I don't think the random gangbangers getting killed every week have any enthusiasts/hobbyists keeping tabs on their activities as individuals though. Or do they?

Not in exactly the way that we obsessively research primary source documents etc on long deceased mafiosi, etc., but there are all sorts of things online about Chicago gangs and the more recent intersections with drill rap music especially. I have met guys here in the Bronx (and not guys that have been to Chicago or have family there) who know all kinds of stuff about Chicago gangs and notorious neighborhoods etc., because they are obsessed with Chicago drill message boards etc. (e.g., r/Chiraqology on Reddit). They are the exact equivalent of guys like us who obsessively follow every little bit of news about mob guys, but there are almost certainly more of them out there.

I don’t think it’s even a question that *waaay* more people care about the murders of guys like FBG Duck and King Von than would ever know or care if someone whacked any Chicago LCN guy around today. Now those guys were more than just “random gangbangers”, but they are the more public facing and charismatic facet of the current day Chicago gang culture.

[Ivan]

I don’t think it’s even a question that *waaay* more people care about the murders of guys like FBG Duck and King Von than would ever know or care if someone whacked any Chicago LCN guy around today. Now those guys were more than just “random gangbangers”, but they are the more public facing and charismatic facet of the current day Chicago gang culture.

Yeah, rather than celebrity gangster-rappers I was thinking more of the quickly-forgotten guys that pile up every weekend in those "7 shot, 3 fatally at party in Austin" type incidents. There's probably like a memorial quilt with their names sewn into it or something, but otherwise no one except their friends and family care. Whereas quirky 'n fun mafia guys do get attention from hobbyists for very mild shenanigans like this and we actually know their names. Almost no one could name the guys involved in that shooting-crash in Cicero a few months back, but there are some hobbyists/enthusiasts who can name the uninvolved extremely-obscure possible-mobster pawnbroker who gave a bunch of weird interviews about it (just not a lot in relative terms, like you noted).

My favorite murdered rapper is Big L. This song has to be heard to be believed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reUbVJyTBYM

[RushStreet]

Its much easier to become involved in gangs thanit is to be chosen and accepted by the Outfit. Most people in Chicago especially young ones located in the burbs know nothing about the Outfit and know that they would never ever have the connections to be involved in the life. They find street gang culture more appealing because its much easier to fit in and even false flag to impress their buddies and naive young girls in their local high school.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Sarno made more than 2 dozen guys just in the Cicero crew.

Does anyone seriously believe this?

[Ivan]

Sarno made more than 2 dozen guys just in the Cicero crew.

He's been saying this forever but I'm pretty skeptical of it. Unless Sarno was just making relative nobodies willy-nilly, which I supposed it possible, but seems unlikely.

I could see one dozen guys made in total between Marcello and the present day, maybe.

[SonnyBlackstein]

He's been saying this forever but I'm pretty skeptical of it. Unless Sarno was just making relative nobodies willy-nilly, which I supposed it possible, but seems unlikely.

I could see one dozen guys made in total between Marcello and the present day, maybe.

Could Sarno even make guys? I don't know much about Chi but wasn't he just head of Cicero, ie just a Capo. He wasn't even admin was he?

[PolackTony]

I don’t think it’s even a question that *waaay* more people care about the murders of guys like FBG Duck and King Von than would ever know or care if someone whacked any Chicago LCN guy around today. Now those guys were more than just “random gangbangers”, but they are the more public facing and charismatic facet of the current day Chicago gang culture.

Yeah, rather than celebrity gangster-rappers I was thinking more of the quickly-forgotten guys that pile up every weekend in those "7 shot, 3 fatally at party in Austin" type incidents. There's probably like a memorial quilt with their names sewn into it or something, but otherwise no one except their friends and family care. Whereas quirky 'n fun mafia guys do get attention from hobbyists for very mild shenanigans like this and we actually know their names. Almost no one could name the guys involved in that shooting-crash in Cicero a few months back, but there are some hobbyists/enthusiasts who can name the uninvolved extremely-obscure possible-mobster pawnbroker who gave a bunch of weird interviews about it (just not a lot in relative terms, like you noted).

My favorite murdered rapper is Big L. This song has to be heard to be believed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reUbVJyTBYM

The phenomena aren’t really comparable so there’s no true apples-to-apples here. The scale of these things are totally different. There are many thousands of gang members, not to mention hangers on, relatives, wannabes, etc., in Chicagoland. Several hundred murder victims every year, year after year, decade after decade. No one but a total obsessive freak who literally did nothing else with his time could possibly even aspire to knowing who even a fraction of these people were and are.

In that the leaders of the gang organizations and notorious gang-members-turned-drill-rappers are sort of the cream of the crop of that large and chaotic phenomenon (the most charismatic, most “successful” by some set of criteria, whatever), then they are at least roughly comparable to made guys in LCN, who are also a highly selected group. In that light, I don’t think that someone like, say, Jimmy Marcello or Johnny DiFronzo is really better known to the general public than Larry Hoover and Jeff Fort. I would also, again, really emphasize that Joe and Jane Q Public couldn’t give less of a shit about either subject (even in NYC, most people are barely aware at best that the mob even exists. And that’s at best). To a first order approximation, *nobody* cares about the American mafia today (by which I mean the contemporary LCN, not residual Boomer JFK-Hoffa-Giancana nostalgia).

And Big L was one of the realest, but unfortunately lived what he rapped about and became a poster boy for “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong”. His section of Harlem was still a very rough world then.