The Hells Angels have a lengthy and arduous membership process that can take years to go from being a "hang-around" to a prospect to a full-patch member, and they reportedly reject anyone who has applied for a job in law enforcement or corrections. So it's not too surprising that their membership has never been huge. The Department of Justice estimates that there are at most 2, full members of the club worldwide, although that doesn't include the people working through the membership process or those who are trusted associates but not formally members.
What should be worrying the club is their declining membership. For example, MyNorthwest reported that by , the Washington Chapter of the Hells Angels only had eight full members and perhaps a dozen prospects statewide, and CBC News reported in that the Nova Scotia Angels only had nine active members — one of whom was in jail.
Theories on the decline center on the lack of appeal to young military veterans, traditionally the main source of new members for the Hells Angels, and their persistently violent and criminal reputation, which can dissuade folks who might find the idea of an "outlaw" life appealing but have no interest in joining up with an organized crime outfit.
While it's pretty obvious that the Hells Angels are still plenty violent and dangerous, over the years, they've become more and more of an outlaw corporation than an outlaw gang. With membership declining and law enforcement constantly working to curtail their illegal activities, the club has turned to a pretty mainstream revenue channel to stay afloat in the modern era: trademark enforcement.
As intellectual property company Novagraaf notes, the Hells Angels shrewdly established the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation HAMC and assigned ownership of all its trademarks to the company, which has been pretty active in defending those lucrative trademarks.
This helps protect the mystique of the Hells Angels patches and insignia, of course — but it also keeps control over the sale of other trademarked material in the club's hands. According to Novagraaf, "As a result of its approach to trademark infringement, the club is building up a reputation for its ability to use and stay within the law. Ralph "Sonny" Barger has been the face of the Hells Angels since the early s, as his Oakland chapter became the de facto center of club business.
He's mentioned a lot in Hunter S. Barger has worked hard to maintain a tough image of the outlaw leader, but a few years ago, that image began to crumble when George Christie, a former member and at one time one of the most powerful men in the club, published a memoir.
He also says that Barger suffered what he describes as a nervous breakdown and had to be institutionalized. Christie says he took these issues to the club leadership, but that Barger's influence not only kept him safe from any repercussions but also meant that when Christie tried to peacefully retire from the club, he was categorized as "out bad, no contact" — essentially a dishonorable discharge. Ralph "Sonny" Barger has been an almost ideal spokesperson and public face of the Hells Angels since the s.
One of the original members of the Oakland chapter that came to dominate the organization, Barger got boosted into the role of overall club leader in part because of the way Hunter S.
Thompson depicted him in his famous book : "In any gathering of Hell's Angels Barger wasn't just a skilled organizer and crime boss, though — he was a savvy media personality who played up his outlaw status, which is why it was a terrible blow to both Barger and the Hells Angels when he was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx when he was just 44 years old.
As the NY Press reported, treatment required surgery which left him with an air hole in his neck and a weakened, raspy voice, which takes away from his tough-guy image. Part of the mystique of the Hells Angels is the concept of outlaw brotherhood — members live by a pretty complex code of behavior and shun outsiders, keeping the workings of the Angels mysterious.
But just like any other criminal organization, when people become disillusioned — or start to fear for their lives — all that brotherhood can go out the window. In recent years, the Hells Angels have seen some pretty high-ranking members turn traitor. George Christie, who was once one of the most powerful members of the club, retired from the Angels in and wrote a tell-all book exposing the Club's secrets. Even worse, as Vice reported, Dave "Shaky" Atwell, once sergeant-at-arms of the Angels' downtown Toronto chapter, became the highest-ranking member to ever cooperate with the police, flipping on the club and helping the cops bring a whopping charges against 31 people.
Atwell's reward to turning on his former brothers? The witness protection program and, as he told Maclean's in , the constant worry that he might be killed when he walks out of his apartment. It was the Hells Angels who put the hit out on Jagger. According to a former FBI agent, they planned to assassinate the singer at his holiday home in the Hamptons.
Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful. The plan they hatched was to sneak up on Jagger from the sea without being seen. Even though the Hells Angels are a pretty tough crew, they are far from trained assassins. The story then took an even crazier twist. All of the men were launched out of the boat and into the water. The founder of the FBI did not believe the claims that the Hells Angels were just a motorcycle club and was convinced there was a criminal element to their activities.
It was one of those undercover agents who learned of the assassination attempt. Although the FBI did not know about the attack in real time, it was still a good thing that they found out about it. This made them even more eager to catch the Hells Angels doing something illegal.
This story has remained a secret for so long for a reason. There was no clear evidence of any wrongdoing and the boundaries are unclear. Many of the things that go on behind closed doors will probably never be revealed. It is not unusual for a rivalry to evolve between two groups with similar interests. The Rock Machine was also a motorcycle club, although much smaller in size than the Hells Angels. Their leader Salvatore Cazzetta was friends with Maurice Boucher, but when Cazzetta went to jail tensions began to form between the two clubs and for a time they were even at war.
We previously mentioned that Hunter S. Thompson had spent time with and written a book about the Hells Angels. The book was published in , and the club members were less than happy with the way they were portrayed in it.
We briefly mentioned the name Hunter S. Thompson earlier and the fact that he made a book about the Angels. Women Angels The Hells Angels lifestyle is not just appealing to men. There are plenty of Hells Angels wives who like nothing more than the thrill of being a part of the exclusive motorcycle club. Most of the women who ride with the Hells Angels are no less dedicated than the men. The women who are connected to the club are also expected to take risks and make some serious commitments.
The vast majority of these adventurous women are dating or married to a member of the club. There can be some serious effects and serious drama if one of these biker couples splits up. The Hells Angels organize enormous international and local events. Over a thousand Hells Angels club members from all around Europe and the rest of the world took part in the World Run in Poland in to rally and ride together.
The club organizes official events all over the world. Although local law enforcement never seems happy about their presence, the rides are quite often for a good cause.
Due to their nasty reputation involving violence and crime, law enforcement keeps tabs on the Hells Angels clubhouses all over the globe. The federal government seized the club after multiple arrests and put it up for sale.
The proceeds were then used to support a bill against crime. Coming up next: What happened when police raided a Hells Angels clubhouse in Germany. When police were planning to raid a Hells Angels clubhouse in Cologne, Germany, they made certain not to take any chances. In May , German officers broke down the doors of the clubhouse with a specially modified armored vehicle, complete with battering ram and an iron cage. The police seized large amounts of money and weapons and arrested 12 members of the Hells Angels.
The raid was ordered due to the escalation in gang violence in the area between the Angels and rival gang, the Bandidos. Here you can see Hells Angels members from the Johannesburg charter ringing in with a great big kiss.
Happy New Year! That must have been some party in Hillbrow, South Africa. According to the information on the Hells Angels website, South Africa is home to eight club charters, including ones in Cape Town and Georgetown.
The Vietnam War was a hot button issue right from the start, not only in America but all around the world. In , one of the first anti-war protests were held at the Berkeley-Oakland line in California. The Hells Angels decided to keep the demonstrators out of Oakland and 35 of their members attacked the marchers as they were nearing the police cordon. A fight broke out in which the Angels beat the protesters and called them traitors.
There were no serious injuries in the brawl, except for a police officer who broke his leg. A documentary about the club was released in under the name Hells Angels Forever. The movie outlines the history of the club and their evolution into a worldwide organization.
The British groom was just 17 years old, and the bride was They tied the knot at the local Registrars office in October Coming up next, the Hells Angels 50th-anniversary celebration. Charters around the world held parties on that date to mark the occasion. Here you can see local and visiting members standing together in front of the Ventura County Courthouse.
The infamous George Christie Jr. He also let him hold his 15th birthday party there. Situated in the San Juan mountains of Colorado, the lodge was the location of an enormous party for Sonny Barger in the summer of Roughly Hells Angels and their families were in attendance. In this photo, you can see Hells Angels riding up to join the party. The best way they came up with to do that was to throw a party.
The celebration took place at the Thrush nightclub on February 28, They club members invited their girlfriends and wives and also the press. He invited not only his bohemian intellectual friends, who were known as the Merry Pranksters, but also the Hells Angels. The party, as documented in several books, apparently included Kesey introducing the Angels to the hallucinogenic drug LSD.
The parties usually included music, drug use, strobe lights, and other psychedelic effects. He was shot dead in by members of a rival gang called the Outlaws. Tobin was on his way back from the Bulldog Bash biker festival when he was gunned down. Over 1, Hells Angels from all over the world took part in the funeral procession. The Outlaws who took part in the killing were sentenced to life in prison. All the statements and image overhauls over the years have not been able to convince the public or law enforcement that the Hells Angels are just a motorcycle club.
Despite many attempts to try and prove once and for all that the Hells Angels are just a motorcycle club and nothing else, something always comes up to cast them in a suspicious light once more. It makes more sense that a gang would be connected with the drugs and sex trade than a club.
The mayor later denied knowing that the men he was posing with were Hells Angels. Before the picture was taken, however, Ford was caught on video smoking crack and making racist comments. Therefore, when photographs of him and the club members came to light, people were extremely skeptical, despite his denials. As you already know, George Christie Jr. He talked openly about the club in a television special titled Outlaw Chronicles: Hells Angels.
Christie explained the position, he holds and that the Hells Angels is not a criminal organization. He will not deny that there are criminals within the organization however, just like in all things and all areas of life. Christie decided that it was time to set the record straight because he was tired of the Hells Angels being mistaken for a criminal organization.
He also felt that it was right for him to tell the story and not someone who was never in the club. Should Christie be afraid of payback not just for leaving the club but for airing their dirty laundry?
The bomber would fly with several commanders and numerous crewmen over 15 months and was the first B to complete 25 combat missions in Eighth Air Force. It even participated in one of the first strikes on Berlin Another four would ear the Distinguished Service Cross.
That name is the only common thread between the bikers and the airmen of the rd. They first saw combat against Japan days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the life of the unit, the Flying Tigers would down almost Japanese aircraft in combat between December 20, and July 4, For you.
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