Friends Stand United

[tachosomoza]

Awesome group. They were started in the late 1980s with the intention of driving the fascists out of the hardcore music scene in Boston, along with driving the drug dealers out due to the destruction of communities. They're not as strong as they once were, though.

[Renno]

Yes, they did. Just like trading guns for fighting dogs, extortion of bands/venues whom where not straight edge, kicking the shit out of everybody who didn't believe in what they believe and fucking up the hardcorepunk scene with their violence.

One of their founders, James Elgin, was convicted, because of extortion. And they are labeled an official gang by the cops, and treated as such.

Anyway, look at the documentaries they made themselves; Boston Beatdown 1 & 2, and watch the glorification of violence without a purpose.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Aren't they the assholes who'll kick your ass if they spot you drinking a beer?

[Искра]

Streight edge gangs? Seriously :rolleyes:

[La Comédie Noire]

Some engage in petty crime, some beat up skin heads, and sometimes they can be really nice:


The founding core of FSU eventually splintered, with a large section moving on to motorcycle gangs including the Outlaws (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaws_MC).[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_Stand_United#cite_note-2) The split was amicable, but James and other founding members decided to leave a more positive legacy and steer FSU away from the criminal world. They established the Foundation Fund, which set up scholarships at local universities (Berklee College of Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berklee_College_of_Music) and Suffolk University Law School (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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-handgun violence, suicide prevention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_prevention) and local orphanages). James currently denies involvement with FSU, however he was arrested on July 14, 2009 on extortion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion) charges relating to his affiliation with the group five years prior.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_Stand_United#cite_note-chicago.fbi.gov-0)

- Wiki

[Искра]

Sounds like a religious sect.

[The Douche]

If I was a moderator on here I would ban threads on FSU.

Stop lying about people I know. (for reference, these are lies:


Anyway, look at the documentaries they made themselves; Boston Beatdown 1 & 2, and watch the glorification of violence without a purpose.


extortion of bands/venues whom where not straight edge, kicking the shit out of everybody who didn't believe in what they believe and fucking up the hardcorepunk scene with their violence.



Aren't they the assholes who'll kick your ass if they spot you drinking a beer?



I am not in FSU nor am I straight edge. Not everybody in FSU is edge. There have been a bunch of threads about them on here where people wil argue with me about them. I am 99% sure I am the only person on here who has ever met any FSU dudes.

[IndependentCitizen]

The idea of FSU sounds great, but from reading what you guys have posted, and what I've just looked up on google, shame it turned out how it did.

[The Douche]

The idea of FSU sounds great, but from reading what you guys have posted, and what I've just looked up on google, shame it turned out how it did.

Never mind what the guy who has been around FSU says though...

[tachosomoza]

I am 99% sure I am the only person on here who has ever met any FSU dudes.

I wouldn't be so sure...:cool:

I seriously don't know why I started this thread, though. I guess I was overwhelmed by nostalgia by hearing them brought up on another forum.

[IndependentCitizen]

Never mind what the guy who has been around FSU says though...
Sorry, I scrolled down to the post just above yours then posted my comment.
I have read more into them, and I honesty like the sound of them. But there's some questionable things atleast.

[xub3rn00dlex]

Never mind what the guy who has been around FSU says though...

So what can you tell us about them? Also, it seems to me that something similar could be started by kids in michigan to combat the new bullying law.

[The Douche]

So what can you tell us about them? Also, it seems to me that something similar could be started by kids in michigan to combat the new bullying law.

What is there to really say?

Its a bunch of tough dudes into hardcore. Back in the 80s they started a crew cause lots of them were straight edge kids who had lived on the streets and seen drugs ruin friends/family, so they kicked dealers out of the scene. Lots of them were non-white so they kicked nazis out of the scene.

Overtime more people got involved, its a bunch of friends, they hang out together, go to shows, do things that regular groups of friends do. (you don't have to beat the shit out of people to many times before they stop coming around)

FSU is not an organization its a loose network of people who know each other and have mutual friends, some are edge, some aren't, some are really violent, some aren't.

Re: Boston beatdown, its is a visceral working class reaction to gentrification. They even openly state this, its a reaction to the destruction of their neighborhoods via the invasion of yuppies and middle class college kids. Come to my town for a weekend and go to the bar, you'll see the same situation, working class local young people getting into it with middle class, snobby college students.



Have individuals in FSU done shady things? Yes. That's irrelevant.

[Ernesto Che Makuc]

you are talking of straight edge right?
they arent so great if you drink alcohol in front of them they beat you so hard that you need-et to stay in hospital for 4 -6 mounts there were some cases when their victims even got killed
well here are some documentary films about them

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[tachosomoza]

There's a lot of posers who claim FSU, but really just want to use the name to engage in acts of wanton violence and destruction.

[The Douche]

you are talking of straight edge right?
they arent so great if you drink alcohol in front of them they beat you so hard that you need-et to stay in hospital for 4 -6 mounts there were some cases when their victims even got killed
well here are some documentary films about them

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DgGN6CyFtLw
aoAd8Hl_6PQ
RFMYDZOD0NM
m36mpbnrsog

This is a really goofy documentary about straight edge.

Do you even know what straight edge is? Its just a lifestyle choice in which one abstains from drugs and alcohol, and often, promiscuous sex. This thread is about FSU, not straight edge in general.

And its disgustingly dishonest of you to imply that violence is just part of the straight edge scene.

[Sam_b]

Never mind what the guy who has been around FSU says though...

Not everyone cares about trusting anecdotes from a guy over the internet though.

[The Douche]

Not everyone cares about trusting anecdotes from a guy over the internet though.

And yet this thread contains tons of comments based on anecdotes from people over the internet and cheesy cable TV documentaries. Strange, huh?

[Os Cangaceiros]

If I was a moderator on here I would ban threads on FSU.

Stop lying about people I know. (for reference, these are lies:

I posed my comment as a question, not a statement of fact.

There was a time when I liked punk a lot, but the culture of punk & hardcore never appealed to me, I always thought it was kind of moronic. I've also never lived in Boston, so there's that, too. But it's a fact that some edgers in that scene have been, how shall we say, "overzealous".

Also:


The founding core of FSU eventually splintered, with a large section moving on to motorcycle gangs including the Outlaws (http://www.anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaws_MC).

wow is this actually true? From an edge group to a 1% motorcycle club? :lol: It's like going from a convent to a free love commune!

[The Douche]

I posed my comment as a question, not a statement of fact.

There was a time when I liked punk a lot, but the culture of punk & hardcore never appealed to me, I always thought it was kind of moronic. I've also never lived in Boston, so there's that, too. But it's a fact that some edgers in that scene have been, how shall we say, "overzealous".

Also:



wow is this actually true? From an edge group to a 1% motorcycle club? :lol: It's like going from a convent to a free love commune!

What some individuals do has no bearing on what other people do just because they happen to share similar music tastes and abstain from drugs/alcohol. Leon Czolgosz assassinated a president, are all anarchists assassins?


I don't know/know of anybody from FSU who became a 1%er, I know some dudes who are/were in FSU have friends who are now 1%ers (coincidentally, those who are 1%ers are not straight edge, so much for the myths of FSU beating down anybody who drinks).

But it would not surprise me to find out that there are some ex FSU dudes in 1%er gangs. A few years ago the pagans were recruiting pretty heavily from the traditional skinhead scene. 1%er gangs roll with tough dudes, so it makes sense to me.

[tachosomoza]

Subcultures overlap quite a bit, and it's not all too uncommon for folks to end up in bed with some people they would have been ready to beat the shit out of a few years before. If you browse Shitfront and other facist websites sometime, you will hear of many people who were aligned with the left in their early adulthood going over to fash later in life, and vice versa.

[Niall]

Interesting thread. Are there are reliable internet sites about this group? Id like to learn a bit more about them

[The Douche]

Interesting thread. Are there are reliable internet sites about this group? Id like to learn a bit more about them

Not really. Cause its not really a "group" one can just "join".

[Skammunist]

Yea, I would agree that not all FSU are neccessarily violent. This reminds of an incident that happened yesterday. I've worn my black Doc Martens with red laces for two years now and haven't had anyone talk about them in those two years. Well this asshole who was in the military during Kuwait or something came up to me and started *****ing about my laces. He was telling me how it meant I had "shed blood" for the white race, haha. Funny thing is, I'm not even white! :laugh:

[Niall]

Not really. Cause its not really a "group" one can just "join".
maybe group was the wrong word but Im not looking to join them, Im from ireland and live in england mate, hardly close to boston

[The Douche]

maybe group was the wrong word but Im not looking to join them, Im from ireland and live in england mate, hardly close to boston

I mean, its a crew all over the US, I wouldn't be surprised if there are chapters in Europe, but there are probably just crews over there that are friends with FSU in the states.

There's not really a website because its just a group of people, the dynamics change from place to place, and they don't engage in any sort of organized activity.

For lack of a better term, they are a "gang", but they don't do gang shit like sell drugs, prostitution or shit like that. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a football firm, but in the hardcore punk subculture, not the terrace culture.

[Niall]

That makes sense mate, cheers

[Fawkes]

I don't know anyone in FSU, but I know kids in other crews here in NY and in CT. Hardcore crews tend to just be groups of friends active within the same local scene who often share a penchant for violence as has been unfortunately common throughout the history of punk in general. They aren't necessarily predicated on violence or intimidation, but it's still a pretty common characteristic of them.


And most edge people I know aren't particularly violent.

[newdayrising]

Most straightedge people are exactly like most other people into (real) punk/hardcore except they don't drink or do drugs.
And as in any other groups, there are different tendencies, trends, local particularities, idiots, smart people, etc... Of course the media wouldn't want to do a documentary on ordinary straightedgers when they can do one on the violent/lunatic end of it. Not passing judgement on the FSU though, I'm just commenting on how the media works.
Same goes for skinheads. For years all you saw on TV was the nazis, even though the majority of skinheads in America at least was non racist.

Same goes for documentaries on "communism". Expect stuff on gulags and Pol Pot, not on the "real movement to abolish the present state of things" or the "self emancipation of the working class". Leftists should be the first to be skeptical of the news and to avoid generalizations.

[balls deep in revolution]

Aren't they the assholes who'll kick your ass if they spot you drinking a beer?No, when I went to see Agnostic Front there were people drinking beer and the kids in FSU shirts didn't do anything.

they do a lot of shitty posturing ("Brass City FSU" on shirts) and are generally a tough guy oriented gang which honestly is basically reflective of the hardcore scene but they're not actually out to get you.

[Marquess]

I've been Edge since I was 15, and I have major respect for FSU's beginings trying to kick Nazi Boneheads out from the Boston Hardcore scene. But I don't really agree with the things the hardline members do. It gives the rest of us a bad name.


Yes, they did. Just like trading guns for fighting dogs, extortion of bands/venues whom where not straight edge, kicking the shit out of everybody who didn't believe in what they believe and fucking up the hardcorepunk scene with their violence.

One of their founders, James Elgin, was convicted, because of extortion. And they are labeled an official gang by the cops, and treated as such.

Anyway, look at the documentaries they made themselves; Boston Beatdown 1 & 2, and watch the glorification of violence without a purpose.
They traded guns for dogs that were used in dog fights (Similar to the Arms for Hostages deal the government often does) and give the dogs to animal shelters. What other "Gang" does that?

Also you seems to be (Perhaps purposely) forgetting the good they've done. They beat up drug dealers and take their money to give to charities, like La Comédie Noire said they established a scholarship fund and raise money for charities and hold anti-drug and violence seminars.

The bad should not overshadow the good they've done, but in fairness the good shouldn't overshadow the bad either.

Also, as cmoney has and just about everyone else who've researched FSU for more then 5 minutes can tell you, not all of them are Edge and there are a good amount of posers beating people up in the name of FSU. I've never met anyone from FSU, but I can say that half the shit I see spoken about them is largely due to ignorance or just going along with stereotypes.

[Prometeo liberado]

Why is it that every time there is a new episode of Gangland all of the sudden shit like this is a hot topic and everyone is an expert?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Why is it that every time there is a new episode of Gangland all of the sudden shit like this is a hot topic and everyone is an expert?

1) Because people like to have a high opinion of themselves

2) Because occasionally the History Channel does something right.

[Prometeo liberado]

1) Because people like to have a high opinion of themselves

2) Because occasionally the History Channel does something right.

My big gripe is that Gangland does a superficial job to say the least, therefore not the basis for a thread. Yes no one mentioned Gangland but we were all thinking it. Is this journalism or a dwarfed version of a sensationalist documentary? And the fact that so many people run with it as gospel truth and try to to pawn this off as their intimate knowledge of the gang de jour is what kills me. Kills me!