Denzel Washington recounts murder story from his childhood: “I ran with them real gangsters down there, but I was not them”

nme.com:

Denzel Washington has recounted a murder story from his childhood.In a new interview with Esquire, the Gladiator 2 star spoke about how his friend’s brother killed someone during his younger years.The actor said he was around 11 or 12 and living in New York when the incident happened.

Changing the names to avoid their identity, he was told his friend’s brother was “crazy and he’s a killer” at the time.Washington said: “I think he was Green Beret, those guys that would cut throats behind enemy lines.

But he didn’t bother me none. We’d smoke weed together and he’d say, ‘You know, D, everybody’s scared of me, man. But you’re not scared of me.'”And I said: “Well, man, you’re just Frank’s big brother.”He then recalled the incident, adding: “Me and Frank [are] coming down the street and we see Robert with this guy Joe, and he tells Joe to go down to the grocery store to get him some Colt 45 malt liquor.

Gives him some money. And as Joe takes off down the street, Robert says real quiet to me and Frank, ‘I’m gonna kill him tonight.’“Just then, Joe turned around from down the street and hollered, Could he get two bottles Robert shouted back at him, all nice, ‘What?