Sean "Sweet" Johnson (born 14 June 1962) was an African-American gangster and the leader of the Grove Street Families gang of southern California from the 1980s to the 1990s. He was the brother of Carl Johnson, who would lead the GSF to victory over the rival gangs of Los Angeles.
Biography[]
Sweet Johnson in 1992
Sean Johnson was born in 1962 in Compton, California to an unknown father and Beverly Johnson. He was their eldest son and the older brother of Brian Johnson, Kendl Johnson, and Carl Johnson, and he was the "man of the house" due to his father's absence. Johnson stole from others in order to provide for his family, and the Johnson brothers became major members of the Grove Street Families gang, with Sweet eventually becoming the GSF's leader. In 1987, his brother Brian was killed by the rival Ballas gang, and CJ decided to go to New York City, as he felt responsible for Brian's death. Sweet and his brother CJ had a strained relationship due to CJ's departure, and they also differed in their philosophies; while CJ had ambitions of making it out of the hood and becoming a successful businessman, Sweet was a Black nationalist who believed in prioritizing his community over advancement, and who was staunchly anti-elitist.
Gang leader[]
Sweet presided over the GSF during troubling times, as the crack cocaine epidemic spread to Los Angeles. Johnson despised the drug trade, and he ordered his gang to refrain from getting involved with the trade. He was secretly betrayed by his OG Big Smoke, who secretly sold his mother out, leading to her death in a drive-by shooting from a green Sabre. Johnson believed that the Ballas alone were responsible for his mother's death, and he would reluctantly re-initiate his brother Carl back into the gang after he returned home in 1992. The GSF seemed to be making a comeback when Johnson was wounded in an ambush by Ballas under the Four Level Intersection, and Johnson was then arrested by C.R.A.S.H., which used Johnson's jailed status to force CJ to work for them as an errand boy. Johnson was held in jail until CIA agent Mike Toreno arranged for his release after CJ worked for him, and Sweet returned to a Los Angeles that was nearly completely controlled by the Ballas and Vagos. Johnson and his brother retook Compton and Inglewood from the Ballas, and they proceeded to take over much of the city before killing Big Smoke and causing C.R.A.S.H. officer Frank Tenpenny's death during the Los Angeles Riots of November 1992. Afterwards, CJ hit the street and retook the city for the GSF, which became the most powerful gang in the city.