When some people think of bikers they most often think of the
stereotypical of dirty, leather clad men with shaggy beards covered in
road dust riding around the country wreaking havoc and getting into
barroom brawls. The truth is that most bikers are not rowdy
trouble-makers and are in fact honest, law-abiding, hard working people.
However, there are small numbers of bikers who refer to themselves as
“1%ers”. “One percenter” motorcycle gangs have been given this label
because it is purported within motorcycle club circles that 99% of all
bikers live within the boundaries of the law. Then there is the other 1%
who rejects main-stream norms and live outside of the law, often
engaging in highly criminal activity. This list takes a look at 10
American “1%er” biker gangs and highlights some of each gang’s alleged
criminal activity.
It is important to note that although some of the members of these
motorcycle clubs/gangs have been arrested, tried and convicted of
various crimes not every member of the following clubs engage in
criminal acts.
10 Vagos
The Vagos Motorcycle Club was started in San Bernardino, CA in the
1960’s. Members of the club often wear green and bear a patch of the
Norse god Loki riding a motorcycle. The club has approximately 24
chapters spread across the western United States in states such as
Arizona and Nevada and also 3 in Mexico.
The Vagos have been the subject of several investigations by the FBI
and the ATF for illegal activity such as the production and distribution
of methamphetamine, murder, money laundering and weapons violations. A
highly coordinated investigation in March of 2006 led to the arrests of
25 Vagos members and their associates in what has been labeled as the
largest investigation in Southern California’s history.
9 Free Souls
This particular motorcycle gang was started in the state of Oregon in
the late 1960’s. Their patch consists of an ankh, an ancient Egyptian
symbol in the shape of a cross, in the center of a motorcycle rim and
tire. All of their chapters, with the exception of one in Vancouver,
Canada, are located within the state of Oregon.
On May 2, 2007, three members of The Free Souls Motorcycle Club were
arrested and charged with various crimes. Amongst the evidence were
illegal drugs, weapons and stolen motorcycles all of which were seized
as part of the investigation and arrests.
8 Bandidos
Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1966 The Bandidos are among the more
notorious of American Motorcycle Clubs. The gang’s patch bears a
cartoon-ishly obese Mexican wearing a large sombrero and carrying a
machete in one hand and a pistol in the other. The colors of gold and
red were adopted as the club’s colors due to the fact that their founder
was a former Vietnam Marine veteran. The Bandidos have around 90
chapters spread across the U.S. alone, but they have also branched out
as far as Asia, Germany and Australia.
The Bandidos gang has a long and brutal history of illegal activity.
A member of The Bandidos was arrested, tried and convicted of the 2006
murder of a well known flyweight boxer and a member of the rival Hell’s
Angels Motorcycle Club was sniped while leaving a restaurant in March of
that same year during The Bandidos 40th Anniversary of the clubs annual
birthday celebration. Police suspect that members of The Bandidos are
responsible for the murder. Other members have been arrested from
anything from murder to drugs and illegal weapons possession as well as
assault and racketeering charges.
7 Highwaymen
The Highwaymen were formed in Detroit, MI in 1954. Their chapters
have spread across the state of Michigan as well as other U.S. states
and have reached as far as Norway and England. Their club colors are
black and silver and their insignia is a winged skeleton wearing a
motorcycle cap and a leather jacket. The Highwaymen also have their own
mottos which are: “Highwaymen Forever, Forever Highwaymen” and “Yea,
though we ride the highways in the shadows of death, we fear no evil,
for we are the most evil mother fuckers on the highway.”
Despite being the largest motorcycle club in the city of Detroit,
they are not acknowledged in the Detroit Federation of Motorcycle Clubs
due to their violent and criminal reputation. In May 2007, after a two
year investigation into the gang’s activities, the FBI raided homes and
chapter clubhouses resulting in the arrests of 40 Highwaymen and
associates. The charges included insurance and mortgage frauds, murder
for hire, cocaine trafficking, police corruption and racketeering.
6 Warlocks
The Warlocks were founded in 1967 in Philadelphia, PA and gained a
large number of members after the end of the Vietnam War. Consisting
only of white males, The Warlocks have spread through the state of
Pennsylvania and a good portion of the northeastern United States and
also have chapters in the southeast United States as well as overseas in
Germany and England. Their club colors are red and white and they use
the Greek mythological figure of a winged Harpy as their insignia.
Members often adorn themselves and their vests with white supremacy
insignia as well.
In 2008, Tommy Zaroff, a former President of the Bucks County, PA
chapter was arrested on suspicion of possessing 10 pounds of
methamphetamine. In October of the same year four members of The
Warlocks were arrested and charged with producing, transporting and
distributing methamphetamine throughout Berks and Montgomery Counties in
Pennsylvania. It is alleged that they sold over 500 lbs. of
methamphetamine worth approximately $9 million.
5 Sons of Silence
The Sons of Silence are another “1%er” motorcycle gang that was
founded in Niwot, Colorado in 1966 and featured in a 2009 episode of
Gangland on The History Channel. Since 1966 The Sons of Silence have
spread across the United States, with concentrations in the eastern U.S.
They also have several chapters spread throughout Germany.
The Sons of Silence have adopted the motto “Donec Mors Non Seperat”,
which is Latin for “Until Death Separates Us”. The club patch has been
adopted from the American Eagle logo used by the Budweiser beer company
and bears an eagle superimposed over the letter A with their motto
underneath.
In October of 1999, 37 members of the Sons of Silence were arrested
on drug trafficking and illegal weapons charges during one of Denver’s
largest federal undercover operations. During the raids, The ATF seized
20 lbs. of methamphetamine, 35 firearms, four hand grenades, 2 silencers
as well as cash and motorcycles.
4 Outlaws
The Outlaw Motorcycle Club is one of the more notorious and oldest
clubs on this list. The gang started in Matilda’s Bar on old Route 66 in
McCook, IL in 1935. Using the insignia on Marlon Brando’s leather
jacket in The Wild One as inspiration, the club adopted the skull with
cross pistons as their official club patch. Since the club began over 70
years ago their chapters have spread widely across the United States
and have been well established in Australia, Asia, Europe and North and
South America.
Harry Joseph Bowman, The World Leader of The American Outlaw
Association (A.O.A.), was the international president of The Outlaws
Motorcycle Club and presided over 30 chapters in the U.S. and 20
chapters in 4 other countries until he was sent to prison for 3 murders
in 1999 after being on the F.B.I’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list in
1998. Across the globe members of The Outlaws have been suspected,
arrested, tried and convicted of countless crimes from prostitution,
trafficking in narcotics and stolen goods, arms dealing, extortion and
murder.
3 Pagans
The Pagans formed in Maryland in 1959 and by 1965 had expanded
rapidly. Their patch depicts the Norse fire giant Surtr sitting on the
sun wielding a sword with the word Pagans in red, white and blue.
Members are known to wear their patches on cut-off denim jackets with
accompanying white supremacist and Nazi insignia patches. The club’s
members have also been seen with tattoos of ARGO (Ar Go Fuck Yourself)
and NUNYA (Nun’Ya Fuckin’ Business). Their territory seems to be
confined strictly to the eastern coast in the United States.
Aside from their history of violent rivalry with the notorious Hell’s
Angels Motorcycle Club, The Pagans have been associated with numerous
crimes including murder, arson, drug smuggling and have been linked to
organized crime in the upper northeastern United States. In February of
2002, seventy-three members of The Pagans Motorcycle Club were arrested
in Long Island, NY after violence erupted at a motorcycle and tattoo
ball. The Pagans allegedly went to the ball specifically to confront
members of The Hell’s Angels MC resulting in 10 wounded bikers and one
murdered Pagan member. Then in 2005, members of The Pagans allegedly
shot and killed the Vice-President of the Philadelphia Chapter of The
Hell’s Angels.
2 Mongols
The Mongols, also known as Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, were
formed in 1969 in Montebello, California from Hispanic bikers who were
refused entry into The Hell’s Angels MC due to their race. Their colors
are black and white and their insignia bears the name Mongols in large
black letters above a pony-tail sporting man riding a motorcycle wearing
a leather vest and sunglasses while carrying a scimitar or cutlass.
Mongol chapters are concentrated in the western United States, but have
also opened in Canada, Mexico and Italy.
In 2008, the ATF coordinated a sting against The Mongols MC where 4
agents went undercover to become fully patched members while gaining
intelligence about the gang’s activities. This operation resulted in 38
arrests including the arrest of the club’s president, Ruben “Doc”
Cavazos. As part of the operation 160 search warrants were served and
110 arrest warrants were carried out. As part of the operation, members
of The Mongols MC are now prohibited by law from the use of the Mongol
MC logo and insignia including wearing the patches on vests or any other
garb.
1 Hell’s Angels
Probably the most well known American biker gang, The Hell’s Angels
have a long and thorough history on American highways. Much information
concerning their origins is hazy due to their long-standing code of
secrecy. Sometime within the 1940’s or 1950’s in California Hell’s
Angels MC was formed. Their insignia is the “death’s head” logo which is
copied from the insignia of the 85th Fighter Squadron and the 552nd
Medium Bomber Squadron. Red lettering over white backgrounds stands for
the club’s colors. With so much popularity, Hell’s Angels chapters have
sprung up across the Untied States as well as Russia and New Zealand and
the continents of North America, South America, Europe and Australia.
The Hell’s Angels MC have gained mass notoriety in the U.S. due to
their involvement in many highly publicized run-ins with the law and
rival biker gangs. The most note-worthy of publicized events happened
during the Altamont Free Concert at Altamont Speedway in December of
1969 where it is alleged that The Rolling Stones hired members of The
Hell’s Angels to stand-in as bodyguards for the band. Violence erupted
in the crowd and also onto the performance stage and as a result one
male was stabbed to death after brandishing a pistol.
Another publicized incident occurred in Laughlin, Nevada in Harrah’s
Casino and Hotel. A violent confrontation in the casino between rival
Mongols MC resulted in one fatally stabbed Mongol gang member and two
fatally shot Hell’s Angels members.
