Did Joe Colombo really believe in the cause he was representing or was it all a front.

I doubt he believed in it. I believe he wanted to show himself as Robin Hood type of a criminal, who fought for his people by disturbing the "system".

Yep it was all a play to make money and to fuck with the law to loosen their grip on following gangsters. It was a good move until he kept on and kept on and brought too much heat into what he was doing. He shouldn't have really been the man in charge because everybody knew he was a killer.

Imagine the money he made off the League before he was shot.

the start of it all was the feds started going after his son joe Colombo jr. and he wanted to sue for harassment and I guess it all just spiraled out from there.

also joe Colombo jr. just died like a month ago just fyi.

Is it true that Carlo Gambino made a big fuss about it with Joe Colombo because of The League?

Some even say Gambino was behind the hit.

Theres no doubt in my mind that Gambino was behind the hit.Among others..

im sure also that it was Gambino, knowing gallo would get the blame, this was don carlo killing two birds with one stone.

Guess Carlo was thinking that aswell.

I've always wondered if The Colombo family itself wasn't involved. From the way it seemed it wasn't a secret that Persico was next in line to be Boss. And had a ton of loyalists on the street. Plus I can also imagine some resentment from guys having the head of their family putting himself out there like.

I will say this tho, seeing Scarpa protesting and doing an anti fbi speech in front of the fbi building is one of the funniest Mob related things I've ever seen

why didn't he put a (powerful) associate in that position? And he would affiliated with the league? I think it was a huge money cow scheme, and it would work for a long time if Joe Colombo was not so public.

So did any of you become a member in the Italian American civil rights league I did? I was also a member of the Playboy club

The organization did help poor Italians with things like rent and to keep the electricity on.

Hey the blacks have Al Sharpton. Why not the Italians have Joe Columbo.

A Mob boss really shouldn't openly court publicity.
Don Carlo was pissed at the attention Joe Colombo was bringing on not just the Colombo's but ALL of the 5 NY families in general

I think for the most part it was a front. Of course he hired guys and civilians to make it look legit, probably even gave some money away within the Italian communities. But I think he just did it for the most part, to appear like a legit businessman, to garner sympathy from people so that they'll believe the image he's trying to portray, and to stick it to the Feds. I remember hearing once, that he thought that if he made an organization and decided to go against the Feds, they wouldn't be able to investigate him. It worked for a while, as they were scared to investigate him because he was quick to call it discrimination, with the surveillance and stuff, and he'd get attention for that stuff and it'd be all in the papers, and blemish the Fed's reputation. They feared him and that Civil Rights league for a little bit.

Colombo was a rat. Ratted out Joey Mags and Joey Bananas to the Commission to get his position.

That's when they should of got rid of him.

Thats like asking whether Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson ever "believed". These guys are all extortions.

Maybe Colombo believed in it, maybe he didn't. But the fact that he was a known wiseguy gave the Italian American civil rights cause a bad name.

i think he BELIEVED it'd make the fbi get off the mafia's back.

I agree he disobeyed his boss and ratted on his boss. Don Carlo was a master strategist used it to gain control of another family be keeping Colombo as boss. From what I've heard Don Carlo had been trying for years by supporting Gallos and Colombo just brought it to his door step. Profaci family members of that time woulda took anyone as boss who wasn't Profaci or an extension of his rule. Profaci and his UB when he took over were bleeding their family dry and all money went all the way to top.

One book I read may have Scarpa book had a story about whoever book was about being a kid and going into Profacis home or his mothers but basically said the furnishings were like out of a royal families castle which shows you type of boss he was. Capos and soldiers starve while he shits on a gold toilet seat.