A Colorado judge reportedly went into hiding and was placed under police protection after informants issued warnings that the 211 crew had put a "hit" on the judge's life for his role in the investigation of the killing of Colorado's prisons chief.
An anonymous source told The Denver Post that authorities learned that the 211, a white supremacist prison gang, had ordered the assassination of El Paso County Judge Jonathan Walker after at least two jail informants warned prison leaders. The hit is reportedly in retaliation for the approximately 20 search warrants Walker signed on 211 gang members to uncover evidence linking them to the March slaying of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements.
Clements was shot and killed at his home just north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County. The man suspected of killing Clements, 28-year-old Evan Ebel, was reportedly a member of the 211 gang. Just days after Clement's death, Ebel died in a shootout with Texas law enforcement.
The gang was started by inmates at the Denver Jail 20 years ago, and it has been rumored that one of the founding members, 38-year-old Benjamin Davis, may still be running the gang from behind bars. He has been sentenced to over 100 years in prison at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex, almost a two-hour drive outside Colorado Springs.
“Their power structure is still in the prison system,” Denver Sheriff Gang Unit spokesman Sgt. Phil Swift told CBS4 News.
After the warning, Walker bought a gun and began wearing a bullet-proof vest.