white boy rick true story

Rick began to see the corruption when a 13-year-old boy was shot by the Curry Gang and the Detroit police did nothing about it. Wershe, the police claimed, was a dangerous cocaine godfather known to his underlings as “White Boy Rick”.

He did what the FBI taught him to do. Richard Wershe Jr. was good at what he did. Wershe was no innocent informant, however. The man who shot him had claimed it was an accident but Rick had his suspicions that there were people out to get him. He was, however, a child when he became an FBI informant. Inspector Gil Hill was a minor celebrity. Afterward, Rick Sr. became a confidential informant and accepted money from the bureau. BUT as White people do, they used Black people and the business they were running to get ahead themselves. One could also call Rick's life sentence cruel and unusually stupid, but as the Associated Press reports, ex-FBI agent Herman Groman described it in a much smarter way: "I believe a great injustice to Richard Wershe has been done by the government." Wershe Jr.’s father saw this as an opportunity to keep food on their table. As an aspiring writer, I reached out to him, seeking to chronicle his exploits in my Street Legends book series. A dumbfounding new documentary explores the institutional horror story of Detroit's Richard Wershe Jr. a.k.a. They are just trying to check boxes off to get re-elected. Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily. It was nice to see Black people living it up with the juxtaposition of the poor white family struggling with drug addiction and surviving. Wikimedia CommonsColeman Young, the Detroit mayor who was allegedly involved in the police corruption scandal exposed by Rick Wershe Jr. White Boy Rick, though, was a little bit too good. Rick is rolling with the fat cats and they are drug lords who, of course, are black.

You can't always believe what politicians, police and reporters say. To put a 14-year-old boy’s life at risk wasn’t exactly FBI protocol but “White Boy Rick” – as Wershe then began to call himself – was too useful to let go. The FBI covered their tracks. Craft, years later, told reporters: “I was told to kill White Boy Rick.

We sat down with Ferranti to talk about his correspondence and the finished film product, White Boy, a new documentary released this week. What I learned was even more insidious: Wershe was recruited—through his father—to be an informant for Detroit's local drug task force when he was only 14 years old. Since slavery happened, the foundation of anything really in this country is black life. Public DomainRichard Wershe Jr.’s 1988 mugshot. And we’re surprised by that?”.

Now its finally coming out, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about Wershe’s case?Shawn Rech: I learned that, were it not for law enforcement, Wershe may never have sold drugs at all. They trained him, funded him, and guided him into a hornets nest of street hustling.

*Spoilers* if you can have spoilers in a movie based on a true story, he gets caught and serves 30 years of a life sentence. They caught him with 17 pounds of cocaine. By signing up to the VICE newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from VICE that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. The police took White Boy Rick right to the media. I was glad the movie did not ignore this, at a few turns in the film the black characters go in on how differently Rick is treated in the system than them, and warned him not to get them F*%ked…awkward. But "White Boy Rick" (real name Richard Wershe Jr.) is not the fly white guy's child. As we’ll discover later, Wershe’s intelligence helped lead to their downfall. All rights reserved. His father, Richard Wershe Sr., specialized in selling stolen goods and illegal guns. Matthew McConaughey, in the role of Ricky’s father, Richard Wershe Sr.: got to play that guy he likes to play where he’s f#$*ing up but trying his best and then works real hard to correct something he can never actually correct. They came with an envelope full of pictures and hoped that Richard Wershe Sr. would recognize the faces. Not only did he feel that this would mean an instant death sentence, but he was also convinced that there wasn’t enough evidence against him for sentencing. When caught, they treated Rick worse than the ringleader, making his sentence consecutive, rather than concurrent like they did for the other defendants. Rick Wershe Jr. in court, shortly after his arrest. It took 30 years for Richard Wershe Jr. to win his freedom. He did it just as big as me, the Curry brothers, Maserati Rick — whoever you want to name.”. Next, find out about the unjust convictions of Richard Glossip and of Lawrence McKinney, who was given $75 to make up for 31 years of wrongful imprisonment. The FBI, though, wasn’t there to send him to prison. A New True-Crime Doc About 'White Boy' Rick Will Make You Madder Than Hell A dumbfounding new documentary explores the institutional horror story of Detroit's Richard Wershe Jr. a.k.a.

In the late 90s, I was locked up with a bunch of guys from Detroit, Michigan at FCI Beckley in West Virginia. They were seen stepping out together but Wershe says that the relationship was tumultuous. His age and appearance may have worked in his favor. Kieran is a Daily Curator for the website you're currently reading. His sister’s boyfriend introduced him to the world of petty crime, and they robbed houses together to make some bucks. They didn't care what he was doing. I’m done. The case had grown exponentially. According to law enforcement, though, his youthful innocence was only skin-deep.

What forces conspired to keep Wershe locked up in prison for so long?In my opinion, it lasted so long—even after Mayor Young's death—because those he mentored and influenced kept the screws tightened on Rick for the sake of loyalty. Surrounding a teenager with money and drugs and expecting them not to be tempted by those things. I’ll never commit another crime.”. This only further cemented his credibility in the streets and earned him levels of most seasoned criminals found hard to come by.

He sold guns and minded his own business. It was a bit of stretch. These guys allegedly stole and sold dope, but it went way further than that.

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