In a front-page article, the Wall Street...

In a front-page article, the Wall Street Journal on April 21 told the story of Tony Bogard, the former gang member slain Jan. 13, who was a driving force behind the ongoing truce between the Crips and Bloods gangs in Watts.

Headlined “The Rise and Fall of Hope in L.A.: Tony Bogard’s Story,” it recounted Bogard’s optimism after he formed Hands Across Watts Inc., a nonprofit entity to promote the truce and improve life in Watts, and his disappointment at the obstacles he faced in drawing corporate support for his efforts.

“Mr. Bogard often seemed disappointed by what the outside world had to offer compared to the status he enjoyed in the gang world of South-Central Los Angeles,” the Journal reported.

“ ‘Tony had been the equivalent of a CEO,’ says Ms. (Barbara Cottman) Becnel, the author, but to many in the mainstream he was just another gang member.”