Hells Angels timeline reveals how biker gang exploded worldwide and massacred their own members in bloody purge
THE Hells Angels burst onto the scene in 1948 and it is the world's largest motorcycle club.
But, the notorious biker club has a history of violence and criminality as five members were massacred in a bloody purge.
The first Hells Angels biker movement was launched in San Bernardino, California and Sonny Barger, who died yesterday at the age of 83 after battling cancer, founded the Oakland movement in 1957.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, charters emerged across the Golden State before they merged using variations of the iconic death head insignia.
They standardized under the patch nicknamed the Barger Larger.
Criminal activities started to escalate within the Hells Angels in the 1960s and many authorities consider the group a “crime syndicate”.
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The biker organization has since exploded across the US, The Americas and the world as it has a presence in dozens of countries.
'AN OUTLAW'
Ex California Attorney General Thomas Lynch revealed that 450 members had a record 874 felony arrests and more than 1,000 misdemeanors.
The bombshell report branded the Hells Angels' activities “hoodlum” which occurred at lower-class bars.
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Lynch claimed members sexually abused and intimidated their victims.
The group was described as an “outlaw”.
Lynch said: “The publication of this report serves notice on Hell’s Angels that law enforcement will not tolerate their hoodlum activities in California.”
He recommended widespread surveillance tactics to be used by law enforcement against the biker group.
Lynch said: “The most universal common denominator in the identification of Hells Angels is their generally filthy condition”.
HISTORY OF CRIMINALITY
In November 1972, three members were arrested after the bodies of two men and a woman was discovered at a ranch in Ukiah, California.
In 1979, Barger was among 33 people indicted on charges that violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The legislation, signed by President Richard Nixon, explicitly aimed to combat organized crime across the United States.
Barger was acquitted in 1980 after a split verdict.
Five Hells Angels were slaughtered in Lennoxville, Quebec in 1985.
The victims' bodies were wrapped in sleeping bags and dumped in a river.
It was known as the Lennoxville Purge and the gang strengthened following the horror, the National Post reports.
André Cédilot, who was a reporter with La Presse at the time, said: "At that moment, the Hells Angels were doing a cleanup to become a real criminal organization.
"Before that, they were disorganized and unruly. They were like a street gang."
The Hells Angels has ballooned into an international movement.
HELLS ANGELS EXPLODES ACROSS THE WORLD
The Hells Angels England charter was founded in 1969 and more than a dozen charters exist, including in Manchester, London, and Tyne and Wear.
In 1972, three members were jailed in connection with the rape of a 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted in front of teens in Winchester, the AP reported.
In 1990, alleged gang members were involved in a brawl against a hooligan firm in a pub in Luton.
The Hells Angels were also involved in disputes involving drug traffickers and turf wars with rival biker gangs.
Its Australian and Brazilian factions were founded in 1975 and 1984.
Branches exist in cities including Rio de Janeiro, Manaus, Brasilia, Salvador and Curitiba.
And, there are dozens of charters across Europe, including in Spain, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
In May 2019, the Hells Angels were banned from the Dutch city of Utrecht because of its links to violence, DW reports.
Prosecutors said: “The violence is often so serious and causes so much unrest that it can be considered in contravention of social order”.
In July that year, 89 alleged members were accused of being involved in organized crime, attempted murder, robbery, and drug trafficking.
Cops alleged that they tried to kill four people in a restaurant attack near Lisbon in 2018.
Police said that members were involved in a gang war for control over illegal weapons.
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Four charters have emerged this year in Cornwall, Costa Brava, Toulouse, and South Valley, Belgium, according to the Hells Angels website.
The organization has a presence in more than five continents, 40 countries, and more than 400 individual charters exist.
