For many drivers, seeing a group of burly, tattooed individuals on loud, modified Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the rearview mirror can be perceived as an instinctive threat.
Many assume, rightly or wrongly, that these individuals are part of a motorcycle gang. However, they may also be a club, preferring to be referred to as such. The impression can be created that they might be violent if you dare to look at them sideways. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is the most famous of these clubs, or rather infamous depending on your point of view, as it has shaped the image of the “outlaw” bikers we know today.
The public knows the members of this club as fearsome, nervous and often involved in criminal activities, despite the efforts of some local branches to get involved in charitable work in the community. Law enforcement agencies keep a close eye on the Hells Angels and other biker-related organizations. According to police, these bikers often resort to murder to eliminate rivals who threaten their lucrative criminal activities.
With a well-established reputation in popular culture, the Hells Angels have developed a kind of urban mythology around themselves, raising as many questions as answers about the group. Are the Hells Angels organized criminals or compassionate do-gooders for charity and the community? What really goes on at the club’s secret meetings? 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
This article examines these questions by looking at the history, rules, reputation and popularity of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
1) Who Are the Hells Angels?
As we all know, the Hells Angels club as we know it today was founded in Fontana, California, in 1948 by Otto Freidli. The exact origins of today’s club remain somewhat of a mystery, as several motorcycle clubs bearing the Hells Angels name apparently emerged in the post-war period, in close proximity to one another.
Motorcycles were affordable because they were surplus war vehicles. Veterans returning from the Second World War were perfect candidates to join a group of alcoholic and cursed bikers.
The name “Hells Angels” comes from the fighter squadrons of the First and Second World Wars, which played on the irony of the expression. If you pay attention to the rules of punctuation in the English language, you’ll notice that the club’s name lacks an apostrophe. On the official website of the motorcycle club, the absence of the apostrophe is explained as intentional. The site states that since there are many types of hells, no apostrophe is necessary. However, even if “Hells” is used in the plural, common punctuation rules would require at least an apostrophe at the end. But it probably wouldn’t be wise to debate this with any of the members if we ever met one.
Much of what we know about the group can be attributed to the work of Sonny Barger. He is a founding member of the Oakland, California branch of the Hells Angels in 1957, and the author of several books chronicling his experiences in this motorcycle gang.
Hollywood has always been fascinated by tales of seductive and dangerous individuals. As a result, the movie industry began producing films that romanticized the biker hooligan lifestyle. Films such as “The Wild One”, starring Marlon Brando in 1953, portrayed law-breaking bikers as anarchist icons. These images, along with other media portrayals of independence-seeking bikers, prompted some people to join the Hells Angels and other law-abiding and lawless motorcycle clubs.
Today, the Hells Angels boast thousands of full-fledged members in North and South America, Europe, Russia and Australia. Although the Hells Angels are now present all over the world, it’s not enough to simply walk into a local and fill in a membership form.
2) Recruitment: how to become a Hells Angel
Like many exclusive organizations, the Hells Angels maintain secrecy about the inner workings of their group. However, members and observers have written enough to give an idea of the steps required to join this gang. Officially, you need :
- Have a driver’s license
- Own a motorcycle in working order
- Never have applied to become a policeman or prison guard
- Not be a pedophile
.
Due to the group’s alliance with movements such as the Aryan Brotherhood and its penchant for Nazi symbolism, members must also be Caucasian. The path to full membership involves several stages and can take years:
- Visitor: A status that allows a potential candidate to attend certain club events.
- Associate : If members are interested in a visitor, they can offer them associate status.
- Prospect: This status indicates that the individual is under consideration. The individual may participate in club activities, but does not have voting rights.
- Full member: Prospects who pass the exam are awarded this status. They may then wear all insignia on their jackets, including the Hells Angels “skull and crossbones” logo, the words “Hells Angels” on the top band of the badge and the location of the club’s branch on the bottom band.
Among themselves, members simply refer to the organization as “HAMC” and often refer to the number “81” in various contexts. The letter “h” is the eighth letter of the alphabet and the “a” is the first, forming the abbreviation “Hells Angels”.
The Hells Angels are widely known to law enforcement agencies around the world as an “outlaw” motorcycle gang. However, members prefer to refer to themselves as a “motorcycle club”. The question that arises is whether the Hells Angels are really as dangerous as their reputation claims.
3) Criminal or misunderstood bikers?
Law enforcement agencies around the world claim that the Hells Angels are an organization steeped in crime and violence. According to authorities, drugs, prostitution and intimidation are at the heart of the group, and members have criminal records to prove it.
In May 2008, Hells Angels member Christopher Wayne Hudson pleaded guilty to the shooting death of a man. Despite the efforts of bystanders to help Hudson’s girlfriend during a fight on the streets of Melbourne, the drama ended in murder.
The Hells Angels website itself devotes a page to members serving prison sentences. However, it is not specified whether these convictions are related to activities carried out as gang members.
Ralph “Sonny” Barger, co-founder of the Hells Angels in Oakland, California, spent four years in federal prison after being convicted of plotting to blow up a rival group’s clubhouse.
In their book “Angels of Death: Journey to the Heart of the Biker Crime Empire”, authors William Marsden and Julius Sher describe a Hells Angels group whose members would murder other bikers, police officers and people who interfered with their activities. They also highlight the devastation caused by the use of drugs such as methamphetamines and cocaine among bikers. Despite this, Sonny Barger, the Californian patriarch and international leader of the Hells Angels, is receiving international media acclaim for promoting his latest best-selling book.
It’s no surprise, then, that the group is the official target of law enforcement and government agencies due to the non-conformist lifestyle and beliefs of its members.
However, the clubs also organize charitable events, such as toy drives for children. On the official Hells Angels website, the group sums up its predicament with the following phrase: “When we do good, no one remembers; when we do bad, no one forgets”.
So can the Hells Angels be considered a glorified gang of gangsters on two wheels, or simply a fraternity of independent-minded individuals who enjoy riding their powerful Harley-Davidson motorcycles? The truth probably lies somewhere between the two extremes. Since their turbulent beginnings in California after the Second World War, the Hells Angels have spread abroad. But to what extent has the biker club expanded?
4) The Motorcycle Gang Around the World
The Hells Angels’ philosophy is far from mainstream, but it has found worldwide resonance and fascination. To date, over 100 local Hells Angels branches have been identified in 29 countries around the world.
New Zealand was the first country outside the USA to welcome an official Hells Angels branch in 1961. London became the first European branch of the Hells Angels in 1969. George Harrison, a member of the rock band The Beatles, invited some members of the San Francisco club to London. Many celebrities have had links with the Hells Angels, who often acted as security guards at concerts.
However, there are reports from Australia, Germany, Scandinavia and Canada of violence and crime committed by Hells Angels in confrontations with other motorcycle gangs. These conflicts are generally linked to territorial rivalries or clashes with law enforcement concerning criminal activities involving some Hells Angels members.
For example, the biker war in Quebec, Canada, which pitted the Hells Angels against a rival group called the “Rock Machine”, lasted eight years and claimed over 150 victims, including innocent people. In Europe, conflicts between the Hells Angels and rival motorcycle gangs have often degenerated into the use of guns, grenades, rocket launchers and car bombs.
5) How to Leave the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club?
When witnessing these horrific scenes, it becomes difficult for some to stomach the philosophy of certain chapters of the club. As a result, there have been many cases of defections among gang members. So the question is: how can club members leave this criminal gang?
As mentioned earlier, there are different levels of association with HAMC according to Sonny Barger’s books.
- Visitor
- Associate
- Prospect
- Full member
The first three levels can leave at any time. However, to leave the fourth level, there are two possibilities.
As a rule, you don’t actually leave the club, but rather become a retired member, still considered a fellow member but more or less inactive. This also applies to people who are on parole, on bail or whose license prohibits them from frequenting the club, certain of its members or certain criminals, etc.
If someone leaves on bad terms, is expelled or turns his or her back on the club, only members are allowed to wear or possess items bearing the gang emblem. Skull and crossbones tattoos, paint on motorcycles, etc., must therefore be promptly removed if they bear the club logo.
In spite of this, people with family ties or a social environment requiring a certain distance between them and the club sometimes continue to attend church meetings, still wear skull jewelry such as rings, and go out on motorcycles. Members take individual problems or circumstances into account. However, when you join HAMC, you commit to putting the club first, so that everyone can rely on each other.
That’s why membership is a lengthy process. It can take a year or more to go from prospect to full member. Everyone who joins the club knows what to expect, knows the lifestyle and understands the commitment required. If members have any doubts about a prospect, he or she will never become a full member. 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
