How the Latin Kings Tried to Become More Than a Gang

Freelance reporter and former WNYC producer Sam Anderson talks about his recent reporting for Latino USA, “The Rise and Fall of a Latin King.” The half hour piece looks at the history of the Latin Kings and its transformation from a street gang to a social organization. Antonio Fernandez, who came to be known as King Tone, rose up through the ranks of the gang and wanted to radically change the Latin Kings from within. Sam Anderson looks at the challenges Fernandez faced in enacting this vision and how the police, FBI, and Fernandez’s own actions ultimately got in the way of its realization.