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Inside Sam Christian'sBlack Mafia: The Most Notorious Gang inAmerica
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Jul 11, 2025
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View Video Transcript
0:00
those fascinated by crime history recognize the mafia as a secretive
0:05
criminal organization originating in Sicily however to the general public
0:11
particularly to journalists seeking Sensational headlines the term Mafia can
0:17
be applied to various groups one such example is the African-American gang led
0:22
by Sam Christian in Philadelphia known for their Brazen visibility audacity and
0:28
brutality they earned the moniker Black Mafia this gang which included
0:34
influential figures in politics and advocates for black rights made headlines with their high-profile crimes
0:41
and unprecedented violence cementing their place as one of the most ruthless
0:46
criminal organizations in American history interested in learning more about the notorious Deeds of Sam
0:53
Christian and his associates the roots of the Philadelphia Black Mafia are deeply intertwined with
1:00
significant social and political shifts beginning in the 1940s a mass migration
1:06
of African-Americans from the Southern United States to Northern United States to Northern cities like Philadelphia
1:13
ensued this migration was driven by opportunities in Wartime Industries which continued to attract labor even
1:20
after World War II ended however as factories and Mills began to close
1:25
unemployment surged particularly in major East Coast cities such such as New York Chicago Detroit and Philadelphia
1:33
this economic downturn exacerbated poverty in the ghos prompting a rise in
1:40
crime rates amidst these challenges the African-American Community faced harsh
1:46
living conditions and economic hardship prompting a turn towards more radical forms of protest while the early 1960s
1:54
saw largely peaceful protests for civil rights by the 1970s influenc Ed by
2:00
nationalist movements cities witnessed increased activism and unrest amidst these irreconcilable
2:08
struggles the federal government sought Solutions in Philadelphia numerous
2:13
public and private programs aimed to alleviate poverty and uplift disadvantaged neighborhoods yet tangible
2:20
results remained elusive these efforts though well-intentioned did little to
2:26
ease racial tensions meanwhile the pH Philadelphia Police Department took a more
2:32
traditional and costeffective approach in 1964 they established a civil defense
2:39
Squad tasked with quelling civil disturbances this squad also gathered
2:44
intelligence including on local political activists among the groups under scrutiny was the Nation of Islam a
2:51
political and religious movement founded in Detroit in 1930 the Nation of Islam
2:58
espoused beliefs rooted in traditional Islamic values but diverged significantly from mainstream Islam for
3:06
African-Americans adopting Islam over Christianity represented a rejection of ideologies associated with white
3:13
supremacy Islam in their view emphasized the equality of Believers however the
3:19
Nation of Islam faced significant scrutiny and criticism in the 1960s accused of extremism and
3:26
anti-Semitism its leader Elijah Muhammad had controversially advised blacks to avoid military conscription during World
3:33
War e resulting in a 4-year prison sentence for his stance following his release Elijah
3:40
Muhammad expanded the organization advocating for the establishment of a separate black nation and portraying
3:47
blacks as a chosen people of a new God by the mid 1960s the Nation of Islam
3:54
boasted approximately half a million registered members notably Malcolm X a
4:00
prominent figure within the organization for many years remains integral to our
4:05
narrative in Philadelphia like in other cities a local branch of the Nation of
4:10
Islam operated under the leadership of Jeremiah shabaz this mosque played a pivotal role
4:17
during turbulent times for the Nation of Islam Jeremiah shabaz invested
4:22
considerable effort in preaching and recruiting new members reportedly influencing figures such as boxer
4:29
casassus clay later known as Muhammad Ali with his ideas shabaz also cultivated connections
4:36
within Philadelphia's underworld where one of his followers was Samuel Christian a central figure in our story
4:44
Samuel Christian's criminal record began early at just 14 years old in
4:49
1959 he was arrested for armed robbery alongside three other Teenagers by the age of 20 Christian had
4:57
accumulated multiple arrests primar for involvement in illegal gambling described by his peers as a physically
5:04
imposing man standing under 6 feet tall and weighing 220 leaves Christian was
5:10
known for his robust build and intimidating presence his criminal activities included robbery aggravated
5:17
assault and illegal possession of firearms 25 Samuel Christian narrowly
5:23
avoided a lengthy prison sentence following a botched robbery attempt during a card game among acquaintances
5:30
known for targeting people he knew personally Christian and his accomplices wore stockings over their heads to
5:36
conceal their identities however the robbery quickly turned violent when a
5:41
scuffle broke out leading to gunfire that tragically claimed the life of one
5:47
participant despite three victims identifying Christian as one of the perpetrators the case against him
5:53
collapsed when they refused to testify out of fear Christians reputation for
5:58
brutality became legendary in Philadelphia one detective described him starkly if you spot him on the street
6:05
pull out your gun immediately if he sees you and suspects you're there to arrest him he'll shoot first Philadelphia Black
6:13
Mafia founded by Samuel chrisan no earlier than September 1968 initially consisted of an unknown
6:20
number of member of member by the time of its Inception the leadership comprised 14 individuals all relatively
6:27
young with an average age of 9 years most of these leaders already had extensive arrest records predominantly
6:35
for violent offenses the first documented crime attributed to the Black Mafia occurred
6:40
on April 19 1969 that day Nathaniel Williams known
6:46
as rock and roll and a founding member invited acquaintances from the group to play dice Williams did not participate
6:54
in the game himself and left shortly after it began approximately 30 minutes later several armed men stormed into the
7:01
room where the game was taking place they brandished weapons robbed the players of their money and valuables and
7:08
quickly departed rumors swiftly circulated implicating Williams as The Mastermind
7:15
behind the Brazen robbery upon learning that Williams was allegedly involved in
7:20
driving the getaway car during the robbery Sam Christian considered this sufficient evidence within 2 hours of
7:27
the robbery Witnesses saw Williams forcibly taken from a bar on 15th Avenue
7:33
following day Williams body bearing four bullet wounds was discovered in a
7:39
Philadelphia suburb local authorities classified his death as an execution
7:44
carried out by the Black Mafia police managed to arrest Sam's associate Jerome
7:50
Barnes in connection with the murder however due to a lack of evidence and
7:56
Witnesses willing to testify all charges against Bonds were eventually dropped in
8:02
another incident in May of that year a member of the Black Mafia named Richard James assaulted David truy an official
8:11
from City Hall truly was set to testify in a high-profile fraud trial and the
8:18
Black Mafia had been hired to intimidate him an unidentified man contacted truly
8:24
and lured him to a remote location outside of town suggesting
8:30
he had documents of interest when truly arrived he encountered several
8:36
individuals including Richard James who proceeded to confront him they informed
8:41
truly that the documents he was expecting would be delivered shortly by a mutual acquaintance however when truly
8:49
declined their invitation to walk to the meeting place they immediately attacked him despite being beaten to the point of
8:56
losing Consciousness truly managed to scream alerting a passerby who intervened and scared off the attackers
9:03
thanks to this bystander David truly survived the assault 6 months after the
9:09
incident Richard James was apprehended in New York where he had reportedly traveled to carry out a contract killing
9:16
however before James could testify or provide further information he was found
9:21
dead in his prison cell on February 21 1971 1971 the official cause of death
9:30
was attributed to a heroin overdose which authorities suspected was orchestrated by members of the Black
9:35
Mafia it was believed they staged James death out of fear that he might divulge
9:41
incriminating information during interrogations during interrogations during this period the
9:48
Black Mafia confined its operations to African-American neighborhoods in Philadelphia initially focused on
9:55
robbery and extortion their targets often included black businessmen who were not always Cooperative or compliant
10:01
with their demands occasionally they maintained good relations with the law as in the case of David however the
10:08
group was also involved in contract killings and intimidation Sam Christian realized that
10:13
such activities would never lead to Big Money the gang could not afford to deal in drugs because they lacked the
10:21
necessary funds to buy the goods they decided to engage in extortion on a
10:26
broader scale terrorizing legitimate businesses as well as those operating in
10:31
the black or gray economic zones to make money from extortion the gang needed a
10:37
reputation for being ruthless and willing to stop at nothing to intimidate their victims earning that reputation
10:44
became their focus on several occasions in 1969 and 1970 Sam Christian and his associates
10:53
shot up the windows of bars whose owners refus to share their profits on
10:58
September 21 1970 several members of the Black Mafia broke into a bar shot and killed the
11:05
bartender and took $250 from the cash register although it was evening and
11:10
there were customers in the bar no charges were filed because none of the witnesses agreed to cooperate with the
11:16
police the group's reputation grew rapidly gradually Sam Christian in
11:21
addition to extorting businesses in Mass cracked down on all the local small
11:27
gangs however in in early 1970 the Black Mafia faced a competitor
11:34
they were not yet able to contend with a group of black Muslims affiliated with temple number 12 one of the divisions of
11:41
the Nation of Islam by the late 1960s the number of black Muslims in
11:46
Philadelphia was about 10,000 while it is not possible to determine how many
11:52
were members of the Nation of Islam it can be accurately said that in
11:57
1969 the criminal wing of the Philadelphia branch of the Nation of Islam far outnumbered the Black Mafia in
12:05
both members and weapons a confrontation between the two groups seemed inevitable
12:11
as did the defeat of the Black Mafia faced with the prospect of a war for spheres of influence Sam Christian
12:19
decided to reform the Black Mafia the Black Mafia merged with temple number 12
12:26
a division of the Nation of Islam many members of the Black Mafia already
12:31
professed Islam and were members of the mosque Sam had converted to Islam in the mid
12:37
1960s impressed by the sermons of Elijah Muhammad after the merger he reported
12:43
directly to its leader Jeremiah shabaz some members of the Black Mafia decided
12:48
not to embrace Islam but they continued their work under Sam's protection albeit
12:54
now paying a higher percentage of their profits as a tax the alliance with the
12:59
Nation of Islam open New Horizons for the Black Mafia its members no longer
13:05
had to worry about their safety if victims had previously tried not to testify against members of the Black
13:12
Mafia now they certainly would not initially the top leadership of the Black Mafia was unhappy about sharing
13:19
part of their profits about $4,000 a month with the temple however they
13:25
quickly realized that for this small amount they acquired much more the Black
13:31
Mafia became a serious political problem for local authorities transforming from
13:36
a mere gang into a formidable Force now it could exploit the themes of race and
13:43
religion and Sam's lawyers did not fail to take advantage of this there was a
13:48
case when two defendants were able to appeal their verdict on the grounds that it was based on racial and religious
13:54
Prejudice now any case of robbery and extortion involving a member of the
13:59
Black Mafia took on serious overtones another unexpected advantage
14:05
of the merger was the ability of black Muslims to hide unwanted criminals in their mosques local authorities tried to
14:12
avoid any conflict situations with the Nation of Islam and refrained from disturbing them unnecessarily the Black
14:20
Mafia also had the opportunity to recruit new members from among prisoners
14:25
in many Northeastern US prisons a large number of black Muslims were serving
14:30
their sentences and they were a cohesive force the Black Mafia expanded its ranks
14:37
by recruiting some of these prisoners who then made money even while incarcerated many young prisoners joined
14:44
their prison gangs for protection from other inmates this protection was not free and had to be paid for with money
14:51
the Black Mafia also exploited businesses owned by the Nation of Islam in Philadelphia since none of the
14:56
members of the Black Mafia had official J jobs they took fictitious jobs at firms owned by Temple number 12 with
15:04
such influential support secured the gang felt emboldened and believed they no longer had to worry about the law
15:12
shortly after merging with the Nation of Islam the Black Mafia committed one of the most notorious crimes in the history
15:18
of Philadelphia on January 4th 1970 1 eight members of the group led by nudy
15:25
mimes robbed a furniture store the robbery itself was not surprising but
15:31
the brutality with which it was committed was shocking although none of the 20 people in the store at the time
15:38
offered any resistance all were brutally beaten and two were shot mimes
15:43
personally doused the bodies of those shot with gasoline and then set them on
15:49
fire the gang's loot amounted to only $3,000 but the extreme violence of the
15:55
crime forced law enforcement to take Serious notice another reason for the brutal robbery was that the stores
16:01
management had repeatedly received demands for protection payments from the Black Mafia but had refused to pay mimes
16:08
would later be sentenced to life in prison for his part in the crime a month after the furniture store robbery the
16:15
gang members robbed two Banks a few weeks apart in both cases the robbery scheme was roughly the same threatening
16:23
with guns they ordered all Bank employees to remove their clothes and then beat them these two rob robes
16:29
enriched the Black Mafia by $122,000 on September 6th
16:36
1971 seven members of the Black Mafia LED This Time by the gang's founder Sam
16:42
Christian robbed the Adelphia bar in Atlantic City there were 25 customers in
16:48
the bar at the time of the robbery but that didn't stop the attackers all of
16:53
the patrons were tied up and the manager was beaten the proceeds amounted to 14
17:00
$5,000 gradually information about these and other Black Mafia crimes became
17:06
public in the spring of 1971 a reporter was interviewing an inmate in prison about drug use and the
17:14
inmate began to reveal details about the Black mafia's Operations the inmate
17:20
clearly nervous about accidentally mentioning such important people told the reporter that the Black Mafia was
17:27
rumored to be a gang of ruthless Killers who had controlled the entire drug trade
17:33
in the local ghetto for the past 5 years another former drug addict in an
17:38
interview said that he had to deal with those dealers who had been taxed by the Black Mafia according to him those
17:45
dealers who were not able to pay Sam the right amount of money right away usually got a second chance the dealer would get
17:52
even more product to sell in a shorter period of time if the dealer did not manage to collect the required amount of
17:58
money money he was killed from the very beginning the members of the group thought about getting involved in
18:04
selling drugs initially the only thing that stopped them was the lack of money
18:10
however over time as the Black Mafia grew in power it managed to take control of many street drug dealers in those
18:17
years the most popular drug in Philadelphia's black neighborhoods was heroin most of the heroin in
18:24
Philadelphia was shipped through New York via channels that Frank Matthews had established while in New York
18:31
Matthews sold heroin through a network of his own dealers however in other cities he sold
18:37
the product in bulk to local dealers who then sold it themselves in Philadelphia
18:44
Matthews cooperated with Tyrone Palmer on April 2nd
18:49
1972 Palmer was murdered by members of the Black Mafia he was shot and killed
18:54
in front of a huge crowd at the Harlem nightclub in Atlantic City this Club where Frank Sinatra himself once liked
19:01
to have breakfast became the scene of a real Massacre during the shootout in
19:07
addition to Palmer one of his bodyguards and three women who accompanied the drug dealer were killed about 20 people were
19:14
injured during the indiscriminate shooting and the ensuing Panic almost
19:19
all members of the Black Mafia including Sam Christian were able to leave the club but almost all of them were soon
19:26
apprehended by police officers only Sam Christian managed to escape he
19:32
made his way to Chicago where he found refuge in the mosques of the Nation of Islam Palmer's murder was a signal to
19:39
Matthews a warning that he must share with the Black Mafia the income he had earned in its territory Matthews did not
19:46
immediately take the hint so Sam's men had to take out three more drug dealers
19:51
connected to him only after this string of murders did Matthews agree to pay 10
19:56
of the money he earned in Philadelphia as for the investigation of the murders
20:02
it ended the same way as many other Black Mafia cases all charges were dropped as the victims and Witnesses
20:08
categorically refused to appear in court and testify part of the murdered Tyrone
20:14
Palmer's place was taken by Benjamin major coxen coxen can rightfully be
20:19
considered one of the most colorful figures not only of Philadelphia but of the entire American
20:25
underworld a businessman Civil Rights Act activist and owner of one of the biggest nightclubs in Philadelphia coxen
20:32
could boast of friendships with such notable figures as the great boxer Muhammad Ali to say that after one of
20:41
his victories Muhammad Ali said on live television that he was dedicating it to
20:47
his friend the next mayor of Camden New Jersey mayor coxon would not be an
20:54
exaggeration in 1972 coxen did did run for mayor of Camden a small town in Suburban
21:02
Philadelphia but failed coxen quickly realized that it was better to maintain
21:07
good relations with the Black Mafia in return He provided the gang with numerous Connections in the drug trade
21:14
and helped launder money together with the Black Mafia major registered several
21:20
companies and also gave a lot of advice on profitable financial fraud schemes it
21:25
was on coxon's advice that the Gang developed a fraudulent scheme involving a shell company called pyramid
21:32
Enterprises in it was perhaps one of the few Black Mafia cases that did not
21:38
involve Bloodshed the essence of the scam involved credit card applications
21:44
made in the fictitious names of employees of a firm that never existed
21:49
when Bank employees called The Firm to verify that the credit card applicants were employees they were given all the
21:57
necessary information meanwhile several organizations including the day were tracking Frank
22:03
Matthews activities on January 5th 1973 he was arrested in Las Vegas
22:11
Matthews was indicted on numerous charges related to The Possession and distribution of over $15 million worth
22:18
of Narcotics around the same time the Internal Revenue Service also pursued
22:24
Matthews filing a lawsuit to recover $7 million Matthews faced the possibility
22:30
of up to 50 years behind bars and initially his bail was set at about $5
22:36
million however his lawyer successfully reduced it to $100,000 after posting bail Matthews was
22:43
released from jail since then he has never been seen again there were rumors
22:49
that he had hidden $20 million in a safe place and then fled the country with
22:55
Matthew's disappearance the Black Mafia lost a sign significant source of profits additionally without Matthews
23:02
their fully operational network of Distributors supplied by him was left without product seizing this opportunity
23:10
the Black Mafia decided to take action this is where coxen stepped in using his
23:16
connections he found a supplier from New York rumored to be connected to the Gambino family coxen began delivering
23:23
goods from New York to Philadelphia which the Black Mafia sold through a network of dealers who had previously
23:30
been extorted and were now compelled to work for themselves by January
23:36
1973 the activities of the Black Mafia Drew increased attention not only from law enforcement but also from the
23:43
federal media previously known mainly to residents of Philadelphia and its suburbs the black mafia's notoriety
23:51
soared after the commission of a particularly brutal murder in the mid1 1950s a young man named Ernest Timothy
23:59
McGee joined the Nation of Islam through his powerful oratory skills McGee
24:05
quickly gained prominence attracting the attention of Nation of Islam leaders
24:10
including Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad they were impressed with his abilities
24:16
and began to promote his career within the organization however McGee soon fell
24:21
into disgrace as his beliefs clashed with the policies the organization
24:26
sought to implement after a particularly heated argument with Elijah Muhammad McGee moved to New
24:33
York City where he converted to the sunny branch of Islam and opened a hanafi center in Harlem he also changed
24:41
his name to Hamas Abdul khis and began to develop his movement by the end of
24:47
1972 Kal's movement had about a thousand members khiz decided that the moment had
24:53
come to confront his former comrades in the Nation of Islam in an ideological
24:59
dispute he wrote a letter of denunciation and sent it to 57 Nation of
25:05
Islam mosques across the country in this letter Callis denounced black Muslims
25:10
and Elijah Muhammad calling him a false prophet and a lying deceiver a few days later khis sent
25:17
another letter accusing Elijah of duping and deceiving people on January 12th
25:24
1973 several members of the Black Mafia traveled to Washington DC where Ernest
25:29
Timothy McGee now known as Hamas Abdul kalis had a three-story house they
25:35
conducted reconnaissance and found the house on a street corner with no guards outside situated next to a busy highway
25:43
on the morning of January 17th John Clark a Black Mafia Hitman called Sam
25:49
Christian and used the code phrase bring your shoes signaling the armed team to
25:55
proceed to Washington on Jan anuary 17th
26:00
1973 the seven Black Mafia operatives followed their pre-arranged plan John
26:06
Clark called cis's home introducing himself as Tommy Jones and inquiring
26:12
about purchasing religious pamphlets khis 22-year-old daughter Amina who
26:18
sensed no deception replied that the pamphlets were in stock and could be picked up around 2 0 in the afternoon at
26:26
the appointed time the gang arrived at khis mansion in two cars two of the gang members knocked on
26:34
the door Amina fortunate to survive the massacre later recalled looking out the
26:40
window and seeing two well-dressed men in the courtyard each with a cigarette
26:45
behind their ear an unusual sight for Muslims Amina adhered to hanafi
26:50
religious principles that forbid a woman from opening the door to strangers
26:56
instead her brother died a cracked the door open on a chain the visitors
27:02
requested a single pamphlet and handed da an amount exceeding its value by
27:07
$1 da returned with the change only to find a gun held to his head by John
27:13
Clark Clark directed da to open the door fully and step away once inside one of
27:20
the Black Mafia operatives declared it a robbery they gathered all the adult occupants of the house into the living
27:26
room ordering them to lie face down on the floor while they tied their hands and feet Clark loudly inquired if anyone
27:34
else was in the house they mentioned three children on the upper floors Clark instructed his men to locate everyone in
27:40
the house while they searched the robbers ransacked belongings searching for valuables the Clark interrogated da
27:48
and Amina about the location of money believing such a wealthy house must have a large stash when they insisted there
27:56
was no significant amount only only enough for small expenses Clark ordered
28:01
all hostages to the basement one of the attackers informed Clark of a safe in
28:06
the bedroom da handed over the key but the safe was empty enraged Clark took da
28:13
to a prayer room forced him to kneel and fatally shot him three times in the head
28:19
after disposing of DA's body Clark turned to Amina and demanded to know why
28:24
her father had written those letters Amina replied that she had never interfered in her father's Affairs Clark
28:31
then took Amina to the third floor and ordered her to kneel down shockingly
28:37
despite being shot twice in the head Amina managed to survive she witnessed one of Clark's accomplices killing her
28:43
younger brother seeing Amina was still alive one of the accomplices shot her two more times in the head despite the
28:50
terrible pain the bullets used were old and flattened upon impact allowing Amina
28:56
to survive without losing consciousness at that moment Abdul en a friend of
29:02
khisa family arrived at the house he had come to return kalis wife's wallet which
29:08
she had forgotten near the local supermarket as Abdul approached the house and opened the door Mafia
29:14
operatives jumped on him tied him up and gagged him he was then taken to the
29:19
third floor where he was killed by two gunshots one of the gang members James
29:25
price reasonably remarked that he thought it was unnecessary to kill the younger ones because they were too young
29:32
to recognize the attackers according to Survivor amina's recollection he also
29:38
uttered a phrase indicating that he had only signed up to Rob hamas's house and
29:44
possibly kill him but not to Massacre everyone the other as salant later
29:49
identified as Ronald Harvey replied that the children should die too because they were The Offspring of a hypocrite
29:56
everyone in the house at the the time of the attack was killed except for Amina who was seriously wounded however the
30:04
main target of the attackers khis himself was not among them the Assassins
30:10
decided to wait for him kiss's wife haah was outside the supermarket waiting for
30:16
Abdul to bring her purse the journey from the supermarket to her house took
30:22
no more than 10 minutes she called home from a pay phone but no one answered
30:27
worried she went to the coffee shop where Callis was staying and told him that no one was answering the phone at
30:33
home the couple drove kiss's car to their house where they saw Abdul's car
30:38
parked outside the front door to their house was locked so haah knocked loudly she
30:44
saw the face of an unfamiliar man in a neighboring window kalis loudly asked who it was and Ron Harvey shouted it's
30:52
Tommy at that moment Callis realized something terrible had happened he yelled to his wife to immediately go to
30:59
the neighbors and call the police he then went to the front door which suddenly opened Ron Harvey attempted to
31:06
pull Callis inside but Callis being a rather strong man managed to break free
31:12
and run away from the house Harvey ran after him but quickly realized that pursuing him would attract the attention
31:19
of passers by he turned around and ran to the back door hoping to catch up with
31:25
at least one of the criminals callus drove off but soon lost sight of them
31:30
and returned to his house all of the attackers were able to leave Washington unharmed the Black Mafia had completely
31:38
failed in their mission khiz survived and the asants left behind a mass of
31:44
crucial evidence at the crime scene financial gain from the crime was negligible the criminals only managed to
31:52
find $11,000 at kiss's home they donated $200 to the temple and
31:59
divided the remaining $800 among themselves the result of this unprecedented and brutal attack was the
32:06
death of seven people an event that shook the entire United States the action of Nation of Islam
32:13
officials was interesting Jeremiah shabaz when asked by reporters whether the attackers were really members of
32:20
Temple 12 said he did not want to answer because journalists would write that the
32:25
attackers were black Muslims another Nation of Islam leader leis farakhan went even further claiming the crime was
32:32
the work of FBI agents trying to discredit his movement a grief stricken
32:38
Nation watched as the tragic story unfolded Callis blamed the Nation of
32:44
Islam for the crime in each of his many interviews even boxer Muhammad Ali whom
32:50
kalis accused of funding black Muslims got caught in the controversy Ali had to
32:56
issue a special address to the Press categorically denying the involvement of the Nation of Islam in the crime however
33:05
law enforcement authorities had a different perspective near the scene of the crime
33:11
police found a suitcase containing a the 38 caliber handgun a copy of the
33:17
Philadelphia Daily News and several credit cards that belong to a man named Willie Horton they also found a payub in
33:25
the name of John Clark it turned out that the gun belonged to a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Nation of
33:32
Islam and the credit cards belonged to a man who had been robbed by members of the Black Mafia a few months earlier the
33:40
same credit card was used by the criminals to pay for a hotel room where the gang stayed the night before the
33:46
murder as a result everyone involved in the attack was arrested despite the
33:52
abundance of circumstantial evidence the most valuable testimony came from one of the accomplices who decided to cooperate
33:59
with the authorities James price a participant in the attack was identified
34:05
by Amina Keefe on June 7 1973 as one of the asants in the January
34:13
1973 attack in addition to being charged with this crime price faced several
34:19
other charges in Philadelphia eager to save himself from the death penalty price agreed to cooperate with law
34:26
enforcement on July 3 1973 FBI agents obtained a 45-page
34:33
confession from price in which he detailed all the circumstances of the crime in Washington the other
34:40
participants in the crime were indicted on August 15 of that year the court
34:45
announced the verdict in this case in 1974 sentencing four of the seven asants
34:51
to life imprisonment although James price actively cooperated with the investigation and could have received a
34:58
lesser term he was killed in prison in the fall of 1974 only one participant in the attack
35:05
Jerome Sinclair managed to escape punishment the court acquitted him due to a lack of
35:11
evidence kalis was outraged by the judge's verdict having expected all the killers to be sentenced to death he was
35:19
deeply disappointed with the outcome of the trial so hungry for justice a few
35:24
years later in March 1977 he led an armed hanfy group that took
35:30
over a government building in downtown Washington DC for 2 days the group held
35:36
about 150 people hostage carus demanded that his family's murderers be extradited to him as well as those
35:43
involved in the assassination of Malcolm X none of these demands were met 39
35:48
hours after the building was seized the hostages were released and hamus kalis was sentenced to 40 years in prison he
35:56
never received what he considered a fair sentence for the killers and died in prison in
36:02
2003 but let's go back for a bit in the spring of 1973 the Black Mafia was at the height
36:09
of its power the fact that the group was under scrutiny by the authorities after the massacre in Washington did not
36:15
bother Sam Christian he was confident in his own impunity the gang's Fame in the
36:21
criminal world had reached such Heights that it even had imitators however the gang members were ruthless and
36:28
eliminated any competition the black mafia's Enterprises were well organized
36:34
Jeremiah shabaz provided the gang with Nation of Islam mosques across the country as safe houses meeting places
36:42
and warehouses coxen provided Sam Christian with Connections in the Underworld that he could never have
36:49
dreamed of before coxen played a vital role in making deals and was the
36:54
organizer of many Financial scams however coxen did not consider one
37:00
crucial detail once he introduced Sam Christian to useful contacts he ceased
37:06
to be necessary soon the Black Mafia found a reason to eliminate their former
37:11
accomplice Who Knew Too Much the Black Mafia continued to dominate the heroin
37:17
trade in Philadelphia with suppliers rumored to be connected to the Gambino family in the spring of
37:24
1973 another shipment was sent to Phil Philadelphia this cargo did not reach
37:30
the Black Mafia as it was accidentally intercepted by two darkskinned men
37:35
Hilton stud and Walter Tilman in reality they were ordinary small-time criminals
37:43
who couldn't believe their luck and had no idea what to do with such a valuable Hall the Italians wanting to recover
37:51
their goods turned to coxen for help in capturing stod and Tilman promising him
37:57
a reward of $300,000 coxen then made a deal with his
38:02
Partners from the Black Mafia they were to find the Thieves for
38:07
$200,000 members of the Black Mafia took on the task with brutal
38:12
efficiency on the morning of May 1st they tracked down Stout and Tillman and
38:17
shot them in Cold Blood without asking where the heroin was coxon's New York
38:23
Partners were furious with the murder of stout and Tilman the last thread that
38:28
could lead them to the Lost heroin had been destroyed to make matters worse the
38:33
murders made the front pages of every Philadelphia newspaper the New York people refused to
38:39
pay coxen the major was in a quander the Black Mafia the Black Mafia believed
38:45
they had fulfilled their part of the deal and expected the promise $200,000 from coxen but he had no such
38:53
money for several weeks tensions ran high as coxen scrambled to find a
39:00
solution he traveled around Philadelphia vainly trying to borrow such a sum of
39:05
money from any of his acquaintances coxen had no Illusions and knew what
39:10
awaited him if he did not pay up on time early in the morning of June 8th
39:16
1973 coxen was awakened by a knock on the door Samuel Christian himself along
39:23
with the second most important man in the organization Ron Harvey had arrived at his house they were accompanied by
39:30
two other men the early guests told coxen they wanted to discuss something with him coxen not feeling threatened
39:37
let them into his house both Sam and Ron had been to his house both Sam and Ron
39:43
had been to his house before and were familiar with his family however once everyone had gone
39:50
into the living room the unexpected happened Ron Harvey pounced on coxen and
39:56
knocked him to the floor while the other gang members tied up coxon's family members coxon's 13-year-old stepson Lex
40:04
was also bound and gagged left lying in his own bed after waiting for his
40:10
attacker to leave the bedroom Lex managed to get out of bed and walked to the sliding window with his hands tied
40:17
behind his back he successfully opened the window and climbed out coxon's neighbors lived 130 ft away and Lex made
40:25
his way to their door banging on on it with his head fortunately the neighbors
40:30
were awake and quickly led him into their home while Lex sought Refuge with
40:35
the neighbors the Black Mafia killed his entire family police arriving soon
40:41
afterward found four bodies in the house each bound hand and foot all shot dead
40:47
coxon's common law wife Lois survived but was severely wounded and later
40:53
blinded from her injuries police began questioning Witnesses but residents of the
40:59
neighborhood couldn't provide significant information Beyond seeing four dark-skinned men in a black
41:05
Cadillac Lois informed investigators that she had heard her husband's last words when he opened the door for the
41:11
criminals saying hey Sam come on in she was also able to identify one of the
41:18
attackers as Ron Harvey a few weeks after coxon's murder Ron Harvey was
41:24
subena to testify in the Washington DC murder case in his candid confession
41:29
James price had implicated Harvey as one of the key figures in that tragic event
41:35
however Ron Harvey failed to appear at the hearing leading to his arrest for
41:40
contempt of court on July 3rd additionally Harvey was indicted on 11
41:45
counts related to the murder of the coxen family his wife Lucinda managed to
41:51
post bail of $165,000 after which Harvey fled the city he secretly left Philadelphia and
41:59
relocated to Chicago finding refuge in a mosque affili with the Nation of Islam
42:06
meanwhile Sam Christian also left Philadelphia hiding in a mosque in
42:11
Detroit their hiding didn't last long on March 27th 1974 FBI agents arrested Harvey this
42:20
time the bail amount was set at $5 5 million on November 21st of that year
42:27
Harvey was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the callous family in Washington 3 years later he faced trial
42:34
again for the coxen family murder resulting in another life sentence
42:39
shortly after this conviction in August 1977 Harvey died of heart failure in a
42:47
prison hospital in Springfield Missouri Sam Christian's Freedom did not last as
42:52
long as Harvey's he was arrested on December 11th 19
42:57
1973 authorities set bail at $1 million but Sam was never convicted of the
43:03
murder charges against him Witnesses refused to testify and the only crime for which investigators could charge him
43:10
was a 1971 robbery of a harlem liquor store during which a police officer was
43:15
killed Sam was sentenced to a 20-year prison term but was paroled in November
43:22
1988 after Sam Christian's arrest leadership of the Black Mafia passed to
43:27
Eugene Bo Baines on New Year's Eve 1974 the Black Mafia decided to organize
43:35
a ball for its leadership and Close Associates attended by about 50 people
43:41
this event was held in one of Philadelphia's finest ballrooms however it turned out to be
43:48
one of the last celebrations for Sam's comrades on August 22nd
43:54
1974 Philadelphia police conducted a search at the home of member George
43:59
Samson they discovered two shotguns a pistol 25 bags of heroin and ledgers
44:06
containing the names of local businessmen and bankers from whom the Black Mafia had extorted money that same
44:14
year The Drug Enforcement Administration completed its six-month investigation revealing that the Black
44:21
Mafia had begun importing heroin and cocaine from Jamaica this breakthrough
44:27
in the investigation marked a significant shift as it was previously believed that the heroin primarily came
44:33
from New York the change in suppliers was likely connected to events in New York and the exit of Frank Matthews from
44:41
the business deia leadership did not conceal their satisfaction upon
44:46
receiving evidence that the Black Mafia remained active in the drug trade however this move by Sam Christian's
44:53
successors to secure new drug suppliers UL ultimately sealed the organization's
44:58
fate it became more convenient and profitable for the Black Mafia to extort
45:04
street level drug dealers rather than engage directly in the drug trade such
45:09
extortion cases were notoriously difficult to prosecute yet the leadership of the
45:15
Black Mafia made a fatal mistake they became greedy and were not satisfied
45:20
with merely extorting tributes from local drug dealers They seized a large portion of the heroin Market in
45:27
Philadelphia September 1974 Federal narcotics agents and members of an organized crime task force
45:34
conducted a nighttime raid apprehending 21 people John Bartles Jr the head of
45:41
the Drug Enforcement Administration declared that the infamous Philadelphia Black Mafia had been
45:47
dismantled on September 11th of that year a grand jury indicted Eugene Baines
45:53
James Fox Eugene Hearn and other gang members on charges related to running a
46:00
large drug distribution Network the DIA estimated that the Black Mafia controlled more than 60 of heroin sales
46:07
in Philadelphia during that period around the same time the black mafia's
46:13
patrons began to encounter difficulties on February 25th
46:19
1975 Elijah Muhammad the longtime leader of the Nation of Islam passed away in
46:25
the last years of his reign he had loosened his control over the organization's Affiliates granting the
46:31
Black Mafia greater freedom in Philadelphia there were even rumors that the Muslim mosque in Philadelphia would
46:38
be disbanded due to the bad publicity it brought on the entire movement however
46:44
it did not come to disbandment after Elijah Muhammad's death his son Wallace
46:49
fard Muhammad became the new leader of the Nation of Islam he implemented a
46:55
series of reforms that r rally transformed the organization these reforms were
47:00
significant for the Philadelphia branch of the Nation of Islam under the new leader Philadelphia's black Muslims saw
47:08
Jeremiah shabaz appointed head of all East Coast branches a move that was
47:13
considered an honorable Exile by 1976 shabaz had departed from the
47:19
organization leading to a decline and influence for the Philadelphia branch of the Nation of Islam the power of the
47:26
Black Mafia waned as arrests of its leaders and restructuring efforts by the
47:31
nation of Islam's new leadership pushed the organization toward disbandment
47:36
sensing this opportunity other gangs began to reclaim lost
47:42
territory on June 15th 1975 interim leader Sam Christian Jerome
47:49
Barnes was fatally shot in broad daylight on November 5th
47:54
1975 hersel Williams one of the founders of the organization was murdered
48:00
initially it was cited as over a debt of $2,000 owed for a cocaine
48:06
Supply however some believe this small debt couldn't have been the sole reason for his killing there's an opinion that
48:12
Williams was shot because Roy Hoskins and Lonnie Dawson fellow members of the
48:17
Black Mafia sought to take over his drug territory shortly after Hoskins and
48:24
Dawson were arrested and received life sentences in the 1980s many other
48:30
members of the Black Mafia found themselves losing influence despite attempts to reclaim their former spheres
48:36
of power most of these efforts failed Russell Barnes the organization's former
48:42
Hitman was among those who made unsuccessful attempts to regain his standing released from prison in
48:50
1985 after serving a 10-year sentence for heroin distribution Barnes joined
48:55
one of Philadelphia Adelphia's youth gangs and began extorting street level
49:01
heroin dealers however 6 months after his release Barnes was murdered
49:07
meanwhile Sam Christian returned to the Streets of Philadelphia with little Fanfare paroled on November 4th
49:14
1988 at the age of 50 he attempted to regain favor with the second generation
49:21
of the Black Mafia and mediate between Waring factions however his efforts were
49:26
unsuccessful as the younger members rejected him an investigator later commented Sam wanted to teach the kids
49:33
discipline but these kids likely had no concept of the discipline seen in the Black Mafia of the
49:40
1970s in July 1990 Sam was arrested for possession of crack cocaine violating
49:46
his parole and returning to prison released again in the mid 1990s the
49:52
former head of Philadelphia's most notorious criminal Syndicate attempted to leave lead a lawful life albeit with
49:59
mixed success on January 22nd 2002 he was arrested once more for parole
50:05
violation Sam passed away on March 6th 2016 in a nursing home while most of his
50:13
former Associates had already died in prison including nudy mimes who passed
50:18
away in a Minnesota prison in 2012 at the age of 69 Samuel's successor as head of the
50:25
Black Mafia Eugene Bo Baines died free in 2012 at the age of 73 with the
50:31
decline of the original Black Mafia a new generation emerged in the form of
50:36
the junior Black Mafia some researchers initially speculated That Old Black
50:42
mafia members might have mentored the new Syndicate but evidence suggests this
50:47
was not the case founders of the junior Black Mafia Aaron Jones Mark Casey and
50:54
Leonard Patterson borrow certain elements from the old organization but
51:00
adapted to The Changing Times founders of the junior Black Mafia initially
51:05
focused on recruiting their friends to sell drugs Aaron Jones assumed the
51:10
leadership role and while initially the Management Group included all the gang's Founders over time Jones Consolidated
51:18
power in his hands prospective members had to demonstrate their own networks for drug distribution to gain entry into
51:26
the OR organization Pennsylvania authorities estimated that within 3 years of its
51:31
founding by 1990 the junior Black Mafia had grown to approximately 100 members
51:39
and around 300 street level drug Distributors however it soon found
51:45
itself entangled in conflicts with other Philadelphia gangs lacking the aggression and ruthlessness of its
51:52
predecessors despite sharing some traits with Sam Christian's brainchild the junior Black Mafia was nowhere near
51:59
as fearsome as the original Black Mafia that had terrorized Philadelphia in the
52:05
1970s by 1992 most of the leaders of the junior Black Mafia were either dead or
52:12
in prison the Philadelphia Black Mafia led by Samuel Christian stands out as
52:18
one of the most violent gangs in 20th century history Samuel Christian's name alone could strike fear into the hearts
52:25
of Philadelphia residents and its neighborhoods he embodied the gang he had created however upon his release
52:32
from prison he found himself largely out of the organized crime scene in Philadelphia surviving only as a
52:38
reminder of its past if you enjoyed the story please don't forget to like
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