Hell's Angels.
 

I am interested in your image of the Hell's Angels? I was talking about the Hell's Angels with my many Facebook friends especially those in California and Nevada. My older brother used to live with basketball coach in a small town in Austin, Nevada and there would often be Hell's Angels there. He found them no different than other people. Some good, some bad, some ugly.

I had a client when I was with Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners who was with one of the nastier motorcycle clubs in the Midwest. The man had done some very nasty things to get into Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater. This was not the Hell's Angels though. The guy seemed like one very mean dude.

The Hell's Angels now seem to do a lot of charity work according to their various Facebook pages. I know that image and reality are often very far removed from one another. I did not become friends with any of the Hell's Angels Facebook pages though so I can only see what they post for the public and not what is on there for friends if there is even any difference. Could all be a PR campaign.

Anyone have any true stories about the Hell's Angels? Not tall tales but things that actually happened?

My imagination readily thinks of the motorcyclists in the movie "Wild Hogs" with John Travolta.

Yet, deep down they cannot be all the same. People, especially in need are looking to belong. They are befriended and for better or worse join a group to meet their present but ever changing needs. When I think of some of the cults and gangs and my kids, I think...."but for the Grace of God...."

I don't know if it was HellsAngels but I was at a lakeside resort, a family place and with about 50 children near the beach getting ready for a frog race (banned now that we know better). Then we heard the noise of dozens of rough-looking motorcyclists who saw the resort sign and apparently we're looking for fun. Everyone in the resort stopped and you could hear a pin drop and some were trembling...except for the kids with their little bucket and frogs. The motorcyclists stopped at the bottom of the driveway and were surrounded by happy laughing five year olds. They smiled at the kids and jokingly laughed with each other before slowly driving back out of the resort.

My second encounter was at Tampa General where I worked with grieving relatives. Someone came in with a bullet wound and behind him a large group of these guys. Quickly the doctors told me to take them to the quiet room. I was a 105 lb lady but they went there to wait but would not let me "quiet them" as they discussed loudly and argued about their shot friend. I began to get worried about the noise. About five minutes later, a very elderly four-foot something, frail looking woman came in. She went up to the biggest guy and started telling him off and told the rest to quiet and sit down. They knew her! They obeyed....but in about ten minutes, the big guy whispered in a low voice to me..."Get her outa here".

I found this very interesting-- http://www.cnbc.com/id/101235239

An old army buddy of mine appeared in this 1972 classic. OK... so it's not "The Wild One."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LZnOTz5OQU

Now that is funny. I got interested in this because someone I know claimed that the Hell's Angels members peed on their pants and then never washed them. Because of this urine, they really stank to high heaven. That made no sense to me so I asked my Reno-California Facebook friends about it. The Hell's Angels were known to put motor oil on their pants and did not wash them probably because that would ruin their washer and dryer. The motor oil treatment gave them extra protection if they fell off their bikes from road rash.

They're people. Some of them are really bad guys, some lost souls. They are frequently violent. They do do some good (e.g., annual Christmas run for Toys for Tots). They're known as drug traffickers for good reason. Their treatment of women is abysmal at best but, for some odd reason, they do seem to respect their elders and are gentle around children. At least this was the case with the Angels I knew in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I have my doubts that they've changed all that much. They are not people I want as neighbors but they do make great protectors.

You may want to read the book, No Angel. I think that's the name. It is about a DEA agent who infiltrated the HA. According to the book, they are pretty bad. Basically organized crime bad, many with murders on their sheet.

But they do not smell of urine? :jester:

Thanks for your input redwitch. I did not like any of the Hell's Angels Facebook pages I looked at as I do want to be associated with the Hell's Angels in any way.

They did a bang up job as protectors at Altamont.......

8 Big Reasons the 1969 Altamont Festival was a Tragic Disaster « 100.7 WZLX

I knew a young man who joined the Hells Angels. He had some good points but after a divorce and depression he joined up with the local chapter. He rode a loud Harley with aftermarket exhaust. He said that in his chapter there were some really bad people and they did some bad things. He wouldn't elaborate.

Thanks for that information. I had forgotten this.

And for those who haven't seen the film "Gimme Shelter" this is on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goMh...st=WL&index=21

Interesting and disturbing.

Yup. Great protectors. the comment was a direct reference to Altamont in my mind. Hey, the Stones were unmolested, right?

As to smell, their riding jeans do stink but not of urine. I don't know how true the motor oil story is but it makes sense and it fits the stench.

Tough watch and unforgettable. BTW, thanks for attaching the Criterion Collection version.

Jefferson Airplane wasn't so lucky.

Uncle was a HUN in CT, he is a badass locking dude, on a Harley, 6'5 weighing over 300 pounds and if you were to see him on the street you would turn and run.

But, he actually owns a Heating and Airconditioning Company, worth lots of money. Most of his comrades are educated and financially competent as well.

You just never know......but when you get a gaggle of them together....they look very scary.

My husband used to ride in California and had many encounters with HA. He said they were always polite and always doing charity rides for a cause. The bad guys are the Vagos....I think they are the way the HA used to be!

Vagos Motorcycle Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Vagos do look like what I imagined a motorcycle club very much into criminal enterprises would be.

The hells Angels are nothing more then a dangerous motorcycle club.They do things to make them look like angels but buyer beware.I use to live 3 doors away in Philadelphia from the president of the Pagens motorcycle club.The nicest guy you would ever meet until you did something wrong.he was great to his neighbors because he had to be.They had all of Philadelphia locked up with the selling of "speed".The Hells Angels tried to set up shop in Philly and the Pagens ran them off in no time.fast forward to today and my neighbor is now doing 20 years in jail for murder.Any 1% motorcycle club is very dangerous.
A little side note their was a certain former governor that use to me a member of the Mongels motorcycle club.Another dangerous club that mostly is in the southwest area.

The outlaw bikers are called outlaws for good reason. As was said, they are now considered to be organized crime. That doesn't mean they can't be nice at times. They're people and come in all types, but there is still something in their makeup that makes them willing to be violent and criminal. To me, the outlaw gangs are bad guys and always be, no matter how many acts of kindness they do. And, yes, I do have intimate knowledge of the Angels. Someone very close to me was a high-ranking member.

I agree completely. One doesn't rate a 1 % patch by doing volunteer work in their local community.

What the meaning of 1%? They only accept the toughest 1%? Reject 99% of their prospective members?

The outlaw gangs are only 1% of all motorcycle riders.

Pushing "like" on Facebook for various groups.
 

I have to be careful whom I like on Facebook now because of all the documents I have attached in my 224 613 Project which unless I am sinking into paranoid schizophrenia is really getting somewhere. The Hell's Angels are not exactly the kind of organization that I would like being involved. I have been liking a lot of police departments and other law enforcement related groups on Facebook and hoping that they check out the many documents I have attached. These documents are from US Senators, US Congressmen, MN politicians, various State Governors, lawyers, victim/survivor rights' groups, a Vice President or two (both prior VPs and current), (prior staff of a current US President candidate), law librarians, librarians, FL Government officials and various others. Facebook does make the world a lot smaller in many ways with many more connections available to people. Not that I know that anyone actually reads my many documents on my Photobucket array. I just like to have a little control over who might read these. Since my full name and some previous addresses are all over many of these I do have safety and security issues with putting any of this on Talk of the Villages. I mean the documents. They are quite easy to find though if you know how to Google.

Do any of you know how the Hells Angels came to be. Check into it you may be surprised.How Did the Hells Angels Get Their Name, What Does it Mean, and Where Did They Come From? @ Super Beefy Hope you are able to pull this up

Not that their history matters to any of us, but if you were of the mind to dig a little deeper into the origin of the club, one would find that the story of former military personnel forming the original club has pretty much been repudiated. But I agree it seems they did take their name from real American flying heroes.

I came up with this. It seems that some founder of the motorcycle club the Hell's Angels just though that was a cool sounding name after it was suggested by a former airman.
HISTORY - hells-angels.com

If one dresses like a "gangsta"., talks like a "gangsta, and acts like a ", people will see you as a "gangsta" Why would anyone want to be associated and or support such a group? Hitler, Pinochet, Peron and others kissed babies too!

There are lots of MCs with members who don't adopt the persona of "gangstas"

The protestations of the nice guys in bad MCs ring very hollow.

I couldn't agree more.

Don't romanticize motorcycle gangs
 

Redwitch is correct that the outlaw bikers are considered to be Organized Crime. They engage in a wide variety of illegal activities, including murder, drug smuggling, firearms smuggling and other criminal acts.

Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (MC) is one of the earliest of the outlaw gangs. They generally do not operate in Florida. The Florida club that dominates the "turf" is the Outlaw MC. You may have heard about the recent shootout in Waco, Texas, between the Bandido MC and the Cossacks MC. This event, which left nine dead, was a turf war. The Bandidos have traditionally considered the state of Texas as their territory.

Ironically, since someone mentioned motorcycle clubs at Toys for Tots events, a precursor to the shootout was the beating of a Cossack member at a Toys for Tots event by Bandidos last December.

The term 1 percenter refers to the outlaw cyclists' philosophy that there is 1 percent of the general population that has no respect for the law or normally accepted behavior, and that members of outlaw clubs are comprised of that 1 percent.

"Patches" are a big deal to motorcycle gangs. Many gangs wear patches on their backs, but not all have the "rocker" across the bottom. The rocker denotes a claim on a certain territory. Part of the dispute in the Texas shootout was that the Bandidos did not want Cossacks to wear a Texas rocker on their back.

Several years ago in New Orleans a group of Bandidos came from Texas to New Orleans during Mardi Gras to pass counterfeit $20. Our Secret Service office arrested some of them.

More recently, in Tampa when I was back at the Sheriff's Office we conducted a major investigation of the Outlaw MC and put several of them in prison. I worked directly with an insider informant and covered many meetings between our undercover people and the suspects.

There used to be a restaurant just south of The Villages which I believe was called the Butter Bean. Barbara and I were in there eating lunch one day when about 30 members of a motorcycle club came in to eat. I was wearing a shirt with the Secret Service Star on it. However, it was obvious with my age and having to use a walker that I was not active. Several of those who passed my table nodded and smiled. When I went to leave, using my walker, one of the club members held the door for me.

However, don't romanticize about the outlaw motorcycle clubs. They can be vicious.


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The Warlocks
 

Incidentally, the investigation that we conducted on the Outlaws MC headed off an incipient gang war between them and the Warlocks MC which also made some claims on Florida at the time.

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Faith Riders
 

Not all motorcycle clubs are outlaw clubs.

Persona means mask. Masks are worn so that others cannot see the true person. As mentioned, not everyone joined HA because they were gangsters looking for an outlet .... I'm sure the reasons were varied. This is not meant to whitewash any crimes against society the gang got involved in. Usually a few leaders can lead the more reticent into areas they otherwise would never have dared enter. We all know this...and we have all worn masks...like the Beatles Eleanor Rigby. I long ago gave up painting everyone in a group with the same brush.

Above...got the wrong quote...was the one with persona in it.

Similar feelings about KKK, Neo Nazis, Skin Heads. If you wear the patches, jackets ,helmets of the HA , you obviously want recognition as member of the group and don't mind be associated with their acts. Leaders are not responsible for those that stray, The strayers choose thei own path.

You CAN judge a book by its cover.
 

That's a nice, Liberal, sentiment. However, here in Florida we have one of the Big Four outlaw motorcycle gangs ..... the Outlaw MC. If you encounter a Fully Patched member you can be assured that he moved from Probationer to Member by performing a rite of passage that included criminal activity, most likely a crime of violence.

Here in Tampa several years ago two deputy sheriffs went to the motorcycle club clubhouse to serve a warrant and one of the deputies was shot. The next time we (I was back with the Sheriff's Office by then) went to serve a warrant we used an armored vehicle to knock down the fence and breach the front door, threw in flash-bang grenades, and swarmed the place with SWAT team members.

The national leader of the Outlaws was put on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List and after conviction was sentenced to Life in prison. You might find the newspaper article interesting. Tampabay: Motorcycle gang leader gets life

I have no opinion, they do not bother me and I do not matter enough for them to be bothered by me. Live and let live.

I lived in Las Vegas when a couple of large brawls between different clubs broke out on the strip, and in downtown LV. Bystanders were injured and there was lots of property damage. And then there was a large gunfight in a Laughlin NV casino. Many killed and injured. If you happen to be around when something like this occurs, it isn't a question of live and let live, and it won't matter if you bother them or not.

Carl: Thank you for this information. I don't know why people want to romanticize gangsters but they do. Gangsters come in a wide variety from pirates to stagecoach robbers from bootleggers to members of organized crime and yes even greedy politicians but they all have one thing in common their needs are more important than others even if it cost someone's life. Hollywood does it for profit and it clearly demonstrates their hypocrisy

Personal Best Regards: