Ethnicity Multi-ethnic | Years active Late 1980s - present | |
Founding location Boston, Massachusetts, United States Territory United States, Australia, Canada, North East England Allies straight edge, Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, anti-racist Action Similar Chicago Gaylords, Winter Hill Gang, Dead Man Incorporated | ||
Friends Stand United (FSU) is a national organization rooted in the hardcore scene. The group is classified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a street gang, a classification which FSU members deny. Its founder claims it is an anti-racist group.
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Founding
Elgin James founded FSU, which originally stood for "Fuck Shit Up", in the late 1980s in Boston, Massachusetts. He claims that he formed FSU to attack, beat and purge drug dealers and violent White supremacist, Neo-Nazi and other various racist gangs from punk rock concerts.
Activities
The group has splintered several times since its initial incarnation, with different chapters holding different values. Universally, the group espouses violence as a valid means to accomplish their goals.
Alleged criminal activity
Founder Elgin James was sentenced to one year and one day of prison by U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon in Chicago on March 8, 2011 for attempting to extort $5,000 from Tony Lovato, a Chicago-area musician who was the target of beatings by FSU. James was released on March 16, 2012. The founding core of FSU eventually splintered, with a large section moving on to motorcycle gangs like the Outlaws and later the Mongols.
Charitable work
James and other founding members established the Foundation Fund, which set up scholarships at Berklee College of Music and Suffolk University Law School in the names of FSU members who had died. The fund also holds yearly benefit concerts to raise money for charities that reflect "hardcore punk culture" (teen homelessness, anti gun-violence, suicide prevention and local orphanages).