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Hells Angels

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For other uses, see the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

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Hells Angels New York City

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a world-wide motorcycle club for Harley-Davidson riders only. In the United States, and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation.

History

Formed in 1948 in Fontana, California, the name "Hells Angels" was a copycat of the name of the U.S. Air Force 303rd Bombardment Groups in the early years of World War II. The name originally referred to a B-17F Bomber, but in 1944 the plane was dismantled and the Bombardment group voted to keep the name "Hell's Angels". This name was taken by the 303rd from a 1930 film called Hell's Angels directed by Howard Hughes about two World War I pilots. After the war, the motorcycle club in Fontana, California, was approached by Arvid Olsen of the Flying Tigers squadron from the 303rd Group.[1]

Ralph 'Sonny' Barger wrote a comprehensive account of the early history of the club, in his autobiography, Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. He had spent over a decade in Arizona writing biker-related fiction. According to Barger's memoir, early chapters of the club were founded in San Francisco, Gardena, Fontana, and other places, independently of one another, with the members usually being unaware that there were other Hells Angels clubs.

There appear to be accounts contradicting Sonny's memoir, stating that the Hells Angels in San Francisco were originally organized in 1953 by Rocky Graves who was a Hells Angel member from San Bernardino ("Berdoo"). So the "Frisco" Hells Angels were very much aware of their forebears. The "Frisco" Hells Angels were reorganized in 1955 with thirteen charter members; Frank Sadilek served as President. The first Oakland group, ca. 1956, before Sonny was involved, had the name "Green Tanks" as the lower rocker jacket patch. Green Tanks is a section of Oakland.[citation needed]

Insignia

File:Hells-angels-logo.jpg
Hells Angels jacket with logo (Smithsonian Institution)

While there are many references on the web stating that the Death's Head insignia was designed by long time "Frisco" Hells Angels President Frank Sadliek, Sadliek himself claims this is untrue. The image, which appears on the membership card as well as other Hells Angels ephemera, was drawn in 1953 by a man whose real name is lost or unknown but was known to those at the time as "Sundown". Frank had the original printer's negative from which the "Frisco" Hells Angels membership cards were offset printed. This may be the reason for the attribution.

The colors and shape for the jacket emblem, which existed before 1953, may be copied from the insignias of the 85th Fighter Squadron and the 552nd Medium Bomber Squadron.[1]

The Hells Angels utilise a patch system, similar to a military medal. The literal symbolic meaning of each patch is not publicly known, but it identifies specific or significant actions or beliefs of each biker[2]. The official colors of the Hells Angels are red lettering displayed on a white background. Red and white is also used to display the number 81, one many of their patches, such as "Support 81, Route 81". The 8 and 1 stand for their equivalent position in the alphabet, thus the 8th letter of the alphabet is H, and the first is A, together reading HA, Hells Angels.

Also in use is the 'One-percenter' patch, a rhombus shaped patch labeled, simply, with '1%'. The patch, and subsequent term, was in response to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) comment on the Hollister incident and their response was that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, and the last one percent were outlaws.

Activities

The Hells Angels motorcycle club is often viewed as the epitome of the biker counterculture of the 1960s.

Although the club make strenuous attempts to deny any organised criminal activity on a club level, public perception of a lawless, violent organisation is often supported by widespread media coverage of club members' alleged criminal activity. Canadian authors William Marsden and Julian Sher further accentuated this view in their book: Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Global Crime Empire

Far less publicized than alleged organised crime links, is the substantial amount of organized charity undertaken by The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club internationally. level.[3][4]

Rumours, notoriety and controversy

The Hells Angels have shrouded themselves in a cloud of mystery and controversy, thanks to a very strict code of secrecy between members, which can be construed as a deliberate mythologizing by some members of the club.

Coupled with its colourful history and undeniable, confirmed links of some of its members to crime, speculation and rumour about the club's activities is rife. The Hells Angels are depicted either as modern day legends, free spirited and iconic of an era of brotherhood and loyalty, or a violent criminal gang which is a scourge on society. Accordingly, public opinion varies from respect and hero worship, to deep loathing.

Reported Involvement with Crime

Altamont

Perhaps the most notorious event in Hells Angels history involved the December 6, 1969, Altamont Free Concert at the Altamont Speedway — partially documented in the 1970 film Gimme Shelter[5] — featuring Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and The Rolling Stones. The Angels had been hired as crowd security for a fee which was said to include $500 worth of beer. A shoving match erupted near the stage during a rendition of the song "Under My Thumb" (not, as is commonly thought, "Sympathy for the Devil"). A concert patron by the name of Meredith Hunter, after brandishing a handgun and charging the stage, was stabbed to death. Hunter fired his weapon, striking a Hells Angels member with what Sonny Barger later described as "just a flesh wound." A Hells Angel member, Alan Passaro, was later acquitted of murder on grounds of self-defense. Don McLean later alluded to the event in his classic "American Pie".[6]

After the concert and critical media attention given to the HAMC, Sonny Barger went on a local California radio station to justify the actions of the Hells Angels and to present their side of the story. He claimed that violence only started once the crowd began vandalizing the Hells Angels' motorcycles.[citation needed]

River Run Riot

The River Run Riot occurred on April 27, 2002, at the Harrah's Casino & Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada. Members of the Hells Angels and the Mongols (motorcycle club) stabbed and shot at each other on the casino floor; as a result, Mongol Anthony Barrera, 43, was stabbed to death, and two Hells Angels, Jeramie Bell, 27, and Robert Tumelty, 50, were shot to death. On February 23, 2007, Hells Angel members James Hannigan and Rodney Cox were sentenced to two years in prison. Cox and Hannigan were captured on videotape confronting members of the rival Mongols motorcycle club inside the casino. A Hells Angel member can be clearly seen on the casino security videotape performing a front kick on a Mongol biker member which in turn started the ensuing melee.

Attorneys for the group claim they were defending themselves from an attack initiated by the Mongols.

Charges were dismissed against 36 other Hells Angels originally named in the indictment. [7]

Roberta Shalaby assault

On Sunday, January 28, 2007, a woman named Roberta Shalaby was found badly beaten on the sidewalk outside the Hells Angels' clubhouse in New York City. The resulting investigation by the NYPD has been criticized by the group for its intensity. The police were refused access to the Hells Angels club-house and responded by closing off the area, setting up sniper positions, and sending in armored personnel carriers.[8] After obtaining a warrant, the police searched the club-house and arrested one Hells Angel who was later released. The group claims to have no connection with the beating of Roberta Shalaby. Five security cameras cover the entrance to the New York chapter's East 3rd Street club house, but the NY HAMC maintains nobody knows how Shalaby was beaten nearly to death at their front door.[9]

Canada

In Canada, the Hells Angels MC was formally established a criminal organization for the period during January 2002: On June 30, 2005, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its verdict in the Lindsay Bonner matter, which concerned the trial of two Hells Angels members charged with extortion in association with a criminal organization. The court ruled that the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a criminal organization: "I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that during the time period specified in count two of the indictment, the HAMC as it existed in Canada was a criminal organization. I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that both Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Bonner committed the offence of extortion in association with that criminal organization," wrote Fuerst J. in conclusion.[10]

In January 2006, Operation Husky resulted in the arrest of twenty-seven suspects,[11] including five full-patch Angels from across Eastern and Central Canada.

The Lindsay Bonner verdict established that the Hells Angels, at least in the eyes of the Canadian judicial system, were a criminal organization, for the period specified in the indicment, within the meaning of the Canadian Criminal Code. "A declaration of this nature against the Hells Angels had not been made in Canada, or elsewhere," stated Det. Sgt. Alec Ovenden, when commenting on the global significance of such a verdict to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette.[12] In para. 1079 of R. v. Lindsay, 2005, the court discusses the Hells Angels as a criminal organization: "It is a reasonable inference from the evidence and one that I draw that one of the main activities of the HAMC as it existed in Canada during the relevant time period, January 2002, was the commission of one or more serious offenses for the economic benefit of its members, in particular drug trafficking. I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of this element[13]."

Ontario

Downtown Toronto Hells Angels Clubhouse

The downtown Toronto Hells Angels clubhouse, located at 498 Eastern Ave., was served with a restraining order from Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Attorney General of Canada, on March 14, 2007. The order restrains and manages the property under s. 14(3) and s. 14.1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and s. 490.8 and s. 490.81 of the Criminal Code of Canada.[14] This order, posted on the torontofokus.com website eleven days before the raid, is an unprecedented revelation, according to a Toronto lawyer who once defended two Hells Angels members.[15]

On April 4, 2007, raids were executed by the Biker Enforcement Unit, the Provincial Asset Forfeiture Unit, and the Toronto Police Services, where the downtown Hells Angels clubhouse at the 498 Eastern Ave. location was appropriated by police and many arrests were made. Police seized nearly 500 litres of GHB, more than nine kilograms of cocaine, and more than 80 weapons including rifles, shotguns, a police baton and three sets of brass knuckles. They also seized close to $1 million in vehicles and property and $500,000 in cash.[16] Police are currently planning a large crackdown on the Hells Angels in the Greater Toronto Area. More than twenty locations across the GTA are currently under strict surveillance.[17]

Project Tandem

A major bust of the Ontario Hells Angels, code-named Project Tandem, occurred in the early morning of September 28, 2006. One source is quoted as stating in a Toronto Star article titled "Police target Hells Angels Inc." that the operation was the most effective one ever initiated against the bikers.[18] In a related story, the CBC News service stated that Toronto hosts the highest concentration of Hells Angels in the world.[19] According to the police, during this bust, fifteen Hells Angels were arrested, and the following assets were seized: weapons, motor vehicles, and currency. As well as these alleged proceeds of crime,[20] police also seized controlled substances including: 13 kilograms of cocaine, 50,000 ecstasy pills, 23 kilograms of marijuana and about two kilograms each of hashish and crystal meth.[21]


British Columbia

In late 2004 to 2005, the culmination of investigations into the actions of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang lead to charges against 45 Hell's Angels and other associates of the gang, including 17 full-patch Hell's Angels members, and a chapter president.[22] One of the investigations which brought the majority of arrests, and created a significant media impact, was Project E-Pandora[23], a 23 month covert investigation. The investigative task force for Project E-Pandora was launched in August 2003, and involved the RCMP, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-BC) and the Vancouver Police Department.[24] The project concluded with 12 search warrants and the arrests of 17 and charges of 18 individuals.[23]

In total, investigators seized[23]:

1 - in excess of 20 kilograms of methamphetamine

2 - in excess of 20 kilograms of cocaine

3 - in excess of 70 kilograms of marijuana

4 - Restricted and Prohibited Weapons which include 5 Handguns, fully automatic weapons including silencers, 11 sticks of dynamite with detonation cord and blasting caps, 4 grenades and an assortment of ammunition

5 - in excess of $200,000 Canadian currency

6 - 250 kilograms of Methylamine (a precursor for the production of ecstacy)

7 - 2 methamphetamine laboratories

Due to the success of Project E-Pandora, based in large part on the tone and focus of news media stories, the province’s general public now make a direct connection between the motorbike gang and organized crime.[24]

Other investigations include Project Develop[25], a joint 18-month investigation with Ontario, New Brunswick, and British Columbia; Project Husky[26], a two-year investigation involving police forces in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta; and Project Koker[27], 23-month investigation in Edmonton and Calgary.

Hell's Angels chapters (and their puppet affiliate clubs 'Nomads' and 'Renegades') in British Columbia include Vancouver's East End, White Rock, Coquitlam, Nanaimo, Kelowna, and Prince George.

Trivia

Wild Hogs

In March 2006, the Hells Angels sued Walt Disney Co. for allegedly engaging in trademark infringement. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of California, alleged that the Disney film entitled Wild Hogs used both the name and distinctive logo of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Corporation without permission. The movie, released in 2007 and starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy, is described on the Internet Movie Database as "A group of suburban biker wannabes hit the open road in search of adventure, but get more than they bargained for when they encounter a New Mexico gang called the Del Fuegos."

Celebrity members

While membership in the Hells Angels are kept confidential, some celebrities have publicly acknowledged their affiliation with the club. Actor Chuck Zito, best known for his role on the HBO series Oz, was a member.[28]

Pop culture references

References

  1. ^ a b 'Stew' & 'Craig', HAMC History
  2. ^ Gangs; A Journey into the heart of the British Underworld, Tony Thompson (journalist) (2004) ISBN 0-340-83053-0
  3. ^ http://www.motorcyclemonster.com/Events/description_pages/12-17-06-hells-angels-toy.htm
  4. ^ http://www.gazette.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/article-en.html?&lang_id=1&article_id=228
  5. ^ IMDB, Gimmer Shelter (1970), accessed February 28, 2007
  6. ^ Adams, Cecil. "What is Don McLean's song 'American Pie' all about?" Straight Dope. May 14, 1993. Retrieved on September 25, 2006.
  7. ^ Hells Angels get prison terms, accessed March 29, 2007
  8. ^ http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-hell013107,0,7706581.story
  9. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/nyregion/01angels.html?ref=nyregion
  10. ^ http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/2005/2005onsc14135.html R. v. Lindsay, 2005
  11. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/01/19/biker-busts20060119.html
  12. ^ RCMP Gazette, Behind the anti-gang law
  13. ^ s. 467.1
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ Lawyer shocked by possible biker raid leak
  16. ^ [2]
  17. ^ [3]
  18. ^ The Star
  19. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2006/09/28/raids-gangs.html
  20. ^ http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-46/sec462.3.html
  21. ^ Yahoo
  22. ^ '45 Charged', Vancouver Sun: 45 Hells Angles Charged
  23. ^ a b c 'E-Pandora', Project E-Pandora News Release
  24. ^ a b RCMP Gazette, Winning the PR war.
  25. ^ 'Project Develop', 'Project Develop' 40 HA locations raided
  26. ^ 'Project Husky', 'Project Husky' arrests 27 Hells Angels members
  27. ^ 'Project Koker', Eighteen Charged in 'Project Koker'
  28. ^ http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/4122/gatti-angels-chuck-zito

Notes

See Also

Official sites

Other sites

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