El Rukn was formed in 1965 by Jeff Fort, a gang leader in Chicago, Illinois. Originally named the Rangers, this exclusively black gang later changed its name to the Blackstone Rangers and later to the Black P. Stones. During its height, the Black P. Stones are believed to have had roughly 5,000 members, the majority coming from other  gangs in Chicago that were integrated into the Stones. After serving four years in prison, Fort returned to Chicago and renamed the gang, El Rukn (a reference to the Arabic word for "the cornerstone of the Kaaba, an Islamic shrine in Mecca), as a result of his conversion to Islam while incarcerated. Consequently, the gang became Muslim and decreased its membership to a group of 250-300 hardcore members. El Rukn's headquarters, an abandoned theatre, were converted into a mosque where weekly prayer services were held. Despite its conversion to Islam, the gang still participated in petty crimes and drug dealing, leaving some to speculate the group's members were Muslims in name only.   <P><br />For the majority of its history, El Rukn has been classified as a street gang, engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and fighting rival gangs. However, in 1985, the El Rukn gang reached out to the Libyan government and negotiated a deal: in exchange for $2.5 million and the possibility of asylum in Tripoli, the El Rukns would unleash a massive terrorist and urban warfare campaign in the United States, targeting police stations, army bases, government offices, and an airliner. The group's motivations for contacting Libya and using terrorist tactics are still unclear although one can assume monetary incentives were paramount, as was the opportunity to destroy a system in which they had grown up impoverished and disenfranchised.   <P><br />Beginning in September of 1986, key El Rukn members, including Jeff Fort, were convicted of conspiring to transport explosives and commit violent acts in the United States on behalf or at the direction of representative of the Government of Libya and also were charged with receiving and possessing firearms and weapons, including hand grenades, fully automatic weapons, and anti-tank weapons.  El Rukn members became infamous as their convictions were the first instance in U.S. history where American citizens had been found guilty of planning terrorist acts on behalf of a foreign government in return for money. Libyan officials denied any involvement with the gang, although Reico Cranshaw and Leon McAnderson traveled to Libya with tickets paid for by Libya. In total, 65 members of El Rukn were indicted and key members Jeff Fort, Reico Cranshaw, Alan Knox, and Leon McAnderson are still serving prison sentences. <br />