Biker Gangs - youlikewelike

BIKER GANGS: GOOD PR & BAD ANGELS

“The Hells Angels is the only organised crime organisation to have a deliberate and conscious PR team,” according to author and investigative journalist Julian Sher. “The Mafia don’t hold news conferences or charity events, But Hells Angels have always been conscious of their image.”

Sher is an expert on Hells Angels, having studied them extensively and interviewed many of the major players around the world. He has co-authored two books – Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers Crime Empire and The Road to Hell: How the Biker Gangs are Conquering Canada.

Questions are now being raised about the activities of UK biker gangs following the damning after Gerry Tobin verdict (who was shot dead by two bikers in August 2007 whilst riding his motorcycle home from Warwickshire biker gathering, the Bulldog Bash).

“This case is a classic example of how the Hells Angels say ‘we’re just a motorcycle enthusiasts club’ but motorcycle enthusiasts don’t get targeted assassinations on the highway,” says Sher. “Wherever the Hells Angels go, blood and violence inevitably follows. We don’t know why Tobin was murdered. It could be an internal matter, or a rival gang or strictly personal.

But we’ve seen it happen all too often in other countries.”

Sher explains that the Hells Angels is a trademarked international franchise, incorporated in California with the ‘Deaths Head’ logo. He points out that it is as hard to open up an unsanctioned Hells Angels group as it is an unauthorised branch of McDonald’s.

”This is a very exclusive club. There are only 2,500 members around the world. It’s more difficult getting into the Hells Angels in Britain, than the army. So when the Hells Angels say violence is committed by just ‘a few rotten apples’ it doesn’t hold water. This is a very carefully screened and selected group.”

Sher believes that the Hells Angels boast a flexibility and cellular structure that would “make Al Qaeda jealous”. ‘Chapters’ around the world are autonomous but joined by a common framework.

"They are an outlaw motorcycle group, who call themselves the 1%ers, which distinguishes
themselves from the other 99% of law abiding, motorcycle enthusiasts.

When I spoke to leaders, they said 'We are out on our own and do not respect society'."

Behind the Angel's rebel image however, exists a sinister back-story. Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, one of the founding fathers of the Hells Angels during the 1950s, made clear in his autobiography the vast amount of drugs in use and in trafficking) that the Angels were involved with during the 60s.

"He also described the 70s as being a 'gangster era' for them," according to Sher. "Those are his words. Around the world, and I don't mean every member, but in each country Hells Angels have been convicted of drugs, extortion and murder. They have also used violence to either quell internal dissent or take on rival gangs."

In England, the violence has been periodic, but vicious. In Battersea in 1999 Hells Angels were convicted of the savage killing of two members of rival gang - the Outlaws. Also in Windsor, an unsanctioned Hells Angels Chapter ended with a shootout. The Angels, Sher asserts, are deeply involved in the drugs trade. In Canada, he explains, they are considered the number one organised crime organisation, heavily involved in the cocaine and marijuana trade.

"In America, also, they are deeply rooted in the meth-amphetamine trade. There was a case in 1994 where Hells Angels from Canada used their London base to import 500kg of cocaine from Latin America. So we know the drug connections are real."

According to Sher, police and authorities around the world have been slow to realise the danger of the Hells Angels, often considered just a "bunch of old geezers on bikes".

Another reason for this delusion has been the effective PR web spun by the Angels.

"They create two almost contradictory, but self-fulfilling images. The main image is terror and power - the gruff, tough-talking biker. The Hells Angels wear their patch to say 'Don't fuck with us'. That PR image is very important for them. But at the same time they have been trying to moderate the brand, so they began inventing charity runs to make people think of them as rebel enthusiasts."

In Britain, this has been particularly successful. Along with the Bulldog Bash and numerous charity events, the Angels have also participated in the Queen's Jubilee Parade, though Sher believes that the British Hells Angels leaders must now be willing to condemn a history of violence and drugs. He has debated with senior members of the Angels (both in interviews and on the radio) and argues that if they wish to be left alone as "just a bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts" then they must get their house in order...more

words: Andrew Laughlin