That shine went after gotti to make a name for himself and where did that get him...blacks are known as bullies and are usually kept in check by the mexicans who hate blacks more than the kkk.
Typical shine move. Gotti was an elderly guy and in declining health. Gee, lets all go beat up Carmine Persico who is in his 80's and claim we beat up a mob boss.
In that particular case, and judging by the law enforcement accounts of the altercation, Gotti started the whole problem by being an a-hole. Granted, nobody here was there (including me), so we can only go by second and third-hand accounts of the situation. But every report I've read about that incident states that Gotti hurled a racial epithet at the guy, and then they had words. Then the next day the guy assaulted Gotti. My take on the situation is that Gotti, with that big-city Mafia boss mentality, acted as if the prison was his own personal domain, and that he was the King of that domain; so he felt comfortable throwing his weight around.
And Gotti was not that old -- he was 55 at the time, and he wouldn't be diagnosed with cancer for several more years. I saw video of Gotti as late as January of 1998 I believe, and he looked fit and robust. Those five video clips of Gotti talking with Victoria and her son and Peter Gotti were leaked to the press and posted online. Gotti looked healthy.
I think John was so used to being an isolated, protected boss who was used to having others do his dirty work for him that he forgot what it was like to actually be down in the trenches.
