WEBVTT - How the Hells Angels Work 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:07.480 It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:16.319 from house Stuff Works dot Com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:21.079 the podcast, room Room, etcetera. I'm Josh Clark. With me 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:24.040 is always as Charles W Chuck Bryant. That may have 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:31.160 been the most realistic Harley Davidson impression made by human mouth. Thanks, Room, Room, etcetera. Yeah, 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.680 I was practicing that. It's good. So Chuck, how are 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.360 you doing? Oh? I'm good dude. About to start the 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.600 old Thanksgiving break vacation. I know this is the last 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.960 thing we have to do and then a week off. 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.400 But this will probably come out after thank Giving people 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.960 to be like, yeah, weird, weird. Indeed, Hey, can I 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:51.760 take you back in time? We don't have to go 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:53.440 the way back machine. I'm just going to paint a 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:58.360 picture for you, all right. So, a balmy Saturday night, 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.760 April seventh, two two. Do you know where you were? 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.679 I was living in Los Angeles, Okay, so it probably 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.520 wasn't balmy for me. Okay, It's probably clear and cool, 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.080 all right. Well, not too far away from where you were, 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:18.039 in a town called Laughlin, Nevada. There is a hair 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.119 Is casino and on that night a couple of guys 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.200 who were there for the Lafflin River Run. It's a 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:29.640 motorcycle uh run ride right, guy named Jeff King and 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:34.160 Walter Boosts to two buddies, just normal guys. We're walking 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:38.960 into the casino. The hair is at um Laughlin and 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.280 this burly guy pushed past him and said that they'd 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.600 better get the blank out of the way, because trouble's 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:48.920 about to happen. Sure enough, within two minutes, King and 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.640 Boost here, Uh two shots fired, and then another shot 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.080 and then all holy hell breaks loose in the middle 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.160 of this hair Is casino. Yet they remained after giving 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.280 the warning. I take it, Yeah they did. I would 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.160 have been so gone. They actually did remain because um 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.120 one of them testified later on that a guy pushed 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.359 past him going the other way out of the casino 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.560 holding a long knife with blood all over it. So 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.680 this thing, this this casino erupts into a melee. And 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:21.160 what it happened was, uh, the Mongols, a motorcycle club. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.480 You might call him a biker gang. That's what some 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:29.680 people might say, ran into a Hell's Angels. The Hell's 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:33.399 Angels Motorcycle Club. Yes, and again all hell broke loose 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:37.880 of melee started. Two Hell's Angels died and one Mongol died, 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.080 just like the old days. Have you seen this? Have 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.080 you seen the security video of it? It's nut still 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.280 you know what I did back when it happened, and 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:49.040 they go absolutely crazy. Um, but that's kind of what 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:53.560 happens when the Hell's Angels encounter another rival group they're 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:56.200 not too fond of, especially the Mongols. From what I've read, 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.480 apparently there aren't enemies. So we're not going to talk 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.920 about the Angles today, and maybe another podcast in the works. 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.320 Respect to the Mongols, we don't know within them, seriously, 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:10.320 we're total squares. We have no affiliation whatsoever now. But 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.160 we do have an article on the site here at 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.920 how stuff works dot com called how the Hell's Angels 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.400 Motorcycle Club Works. Chuck and I kind of cooled it 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.760 up by calling this podcast how the Hell's Angels Work, right, Yeah, 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:23.720 And that's what generally most people think of them as 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.760 the Hell's Angels, But that is in fact their full name. Yes, 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.679 and that's what's adorned on their their jackets and such. 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.640 Nicely done and by the way. Um. I think forty 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.200 two Hell's Angels stood trial for that melee, and all 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.600 but six head charges dropped into plea. Bargain. The government 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:41.440 was trying to go after these guys and go after 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.160 him and go after him, which we'll find out later 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:47.920 is a real pattern, um, and couldn't get anything to stick. 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.080 And I think the most any of the six guys 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:56.120 who actually did plea, who got like thirty months something 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:59.400 like that bad casino behavior pretty much. Yeah right, yeah, 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.920 they didn't kissed the dice before you roll them. Right, So, Chuck, 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.920 let's talk about the Hell's Angels, man, alright, let's do it, room, room, etcetera. 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.600 The Hell's Angels, Josh, the little history they were started 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:16.080 in the Fontana San Bernardino area of California, which, by 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:17.560 the way, I don't know if you know this, but 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.480 the Hell's Angels refer to that chapter as Burdu and 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.599 Burdue was still around. Yeah, oh yeah, they still remain, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.599 although they said I think I read that most of 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:31.279 those original Burdue members did migrate north to Oakland, which 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:32.960 is why a lot of people think that it started 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.000 in Oakland, which is faults. So burd was the first 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.880 chapter who started the best we can tell, a guy 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:47.000 named Otto Freedley. Yeah, that's that's in the late nineteen Yeah, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.159 and actually he was with another biker gang called the 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.680 piste Off Bastards, and they've gotten into a war with 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:56.320 another honest. Um, they got in a war with another 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.719 biker gang. And I guess once the war was over, Freedly, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.400 I'm out. I'm gonna go start my own thing. Right, 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:11.000 maybe that could be disappointing bastards. Um, that's uh, right 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.520 after World War Two, right, these guys must have been 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:19.520 disenchanted um servicemen who couldn't fit back into society. Miscreant pilots, right, Yeah, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.799 wasn't there like a bomber squadron called the Hell's Angels? Yeah, Josh. 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.880 That is one of the most common misconceptions is that 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:33.400 the Hell's Angels were in fact ex servicemen, outlaw pilots 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:37.400 from World War Two, miscreants, miscreant drinkers, who were you know, 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:41.919 didn't say answer to anybody, even in the army. Not true, 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.880 because we read it on the Hell's Angel's website. Yeah, 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.520 if you go into the Hell's Angels website, one guy 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:50.760 from the Charleston, South Carolina chapter and another guy from 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:55.360 one of the English chapters got together and did some serious, 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:58.440 extensive research trying to find out if there was a 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.240 connection between this armor group. And at no point did 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.440 they say, we're not, you know, miscreating drunks. But these 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.039 guys weren't. You know, it's kind of a disservice to 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:12.920 these uh, actually really highly decorated and very successful bomber 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.919 squadron servicemen. And they couldn't have operated they were miscreants 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.440 and been successful if they were drunks and miscreants know, 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.680 and they were highly successful. The closest they found, from 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.040 what I can understand, is that a guy named are 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:33.240 avaid arvid arvid Olsen was actually in a third pursuit 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:37.120 group called the Hell's Angels, and he was friends with 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.800 some of the founding members of the Burdoue chapter. UM, 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.120 but he was never a Hell's Angel himself. And that's 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.760 the closest they could find for a link between the two. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.760 They share a name, and that's it. That's it from 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.560 what we can tell. Ye, So false false false false. 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.760 So Chuck, we've got the founding in but the Hell's Angels, 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.880 I guess kind of rode a little under the radar 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:03.240 until nine team fifty seven, right, yes, when that Oakland 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.120 Chapter was founded. Yeah, that's when they really started rolling, 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.920 right thanks to a guy named sunny Barger, Yes, Ralph 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:13.120 sunny Barger. He uh, I believe founded the Oakland UM 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.840 Chapter and he wrote a bunch of books that were 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.800 really successful that kind of kind of peeled back the 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.000 curtain behind the Hell's Angels up front. I was reading 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.960 one of them on Google Books today. It's called Hell's Angel, 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.440 The Life and Times of sunny Barger, I think. And 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.040 it's an autobiography because he kept using the word I 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:38.480 and it was by him, um giveaway for an autobiography 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:42.680 usually um. And he in his heyday was a very 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.400 cool dude, it sounds like it. And also let me 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.840 let me let me also, um add a caveat to that. 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.560 I'm also aware that he was also a major drug 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:58.880 trafficker who engaged in violence, um and toward women, towards 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.440 squares like you and me, chuck. Um did all manner 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:08.320 of bad things. But who's still kind of cool dude. Right. Yeah, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:10.559 we'll talk about that too a little bit later about 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.360 the Hell's Angels in whether or not they are uh 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.559 want to run a foul of the law or ride 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.720 you know for charity and stuff like that. Well, what 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:20.760 are we going to talk about now? Right now, we're 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.800 gonna talk about um, let's talk about their their colors 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.480 in their insignia and all that stuff. They call it 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.320 their colors much like a military people call their uniform 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.920 their color sometimes. And red and white are the actual 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.320 colors of the letters. It's a red letters in a 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.720 white field. Absolutely. And then the thing at the top 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.600 top patch that actually says Hell's Angels call it the 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.640 top rocker top rocker, right, and then the bottom rocker 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.080 is there, um the name of the city that their 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:53.560 chapters in right, their chapter location right. And then in 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.600 the middle is what the middle is. The death head 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.200 is what it's called. And that is a copy written 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.920 as death Head it is, and as is their name. 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:06.600 And that was designed by the San Francisco chapter president, 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:11.880 Frank Satellac Sedillac. And here's an interesting fact for you. 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.000 Did you know that the Hell's Angels motorcycle Club is 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:20.000 at California Corporation. They're incorporated, and they do jealously guard 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:24.439 their copyrighted materials, their images, all that stuff. They sued 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.520 Disney for They sued Disney a couple of years ago 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:32.800 for that movie Wild Hogs about all the middle aged 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:38.120 bikers Martin Lawrence and Tim Tim Allen and Trivolda and 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:42.000 William Macy. Just terrible. I'm sure I would have sued too. 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.440 I can't believe you saw it. No, I didn't see it, 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.600 kidding me. I saw that they sued. Yeah, so when 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.319 did they sue over? These guys weren't supposed to be 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.480 Hell's Angels, were they? I think so? They sued because 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.600 they said they used the Hell's Angels logo and everything 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.400 without their permission. I don't know if they were specifically. 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.959 I don't wonder if the antagonists were Hell's Angels or something. Maybe, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.960 But all I know is they sued and I couldn't find. 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.440 As usual, you can never find out what happens with 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.560 the lawsuit. No, it's probably some deal. But yeah, they 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.960 sued because they are, like you said, they zealously guard 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:15.480 their name. And uh they ride Harley Davidson's but apparently 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.400 are not required to do so. No, but it's all 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.000 They almost exclusively ride Harley's. I can't imagine if you 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.040 wheel upon a Honda that they're gonna come on in. Yeah, 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.280 come on in, brother, we'll jump you in prospect um. 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.880 They also apparently a typical member drives about twenty thousand 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:37.439 miles a yearly rides, rides. We will get down, say 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.000 that you drive a motorcycle. Yeah, so, Chuck, you've seen 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.280 you know, we talked about the patches and and you've 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.720 seen guys wearing them here. They're right. Well, yeah, there's 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:46.840 different patches, Like if you're the president of your chapter, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.840 you'll have a little patch that like the boy Scouts 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.880 sort of. Yeah, and there's all sorts. Oh man, there's 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.720 all sorts of other patches and insignia. Sure that um, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.839 no one outside of the club gang whatever, uh knows 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.560 the meaning of Yeah, I know the A F F 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.680 A is a common one, but we do know the 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:07.520 meaning of that because that's one of their slogans, which 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.920 is uh angels Forever, Forever angels. And then you'll also 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.880 see eighty one a lot of times. Eight H is 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.120 the eighth letter of the alphabet, and A is the 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.280 first letter, So eight one J Hell's angels. Yeah, and 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.480 they'll say call it like local eighty one. Sometimes it 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.880 sounds for like a union. And apparently they also refer 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.440 to themselves as one percenters. I heard about that too, Yeah, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:36.400 one percent of the outlaw bikers giving of respectable biker 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:38.880 is a bad name. Yes, yeah, pretty cool, Yeah, it 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:42.000 is kind of I told you so, Chuck. How do 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.600 you become a member? Well, Josh, like I said, you 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.840 need to own a working motorcycle. That's probably first, and 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:52.200 have a driver's license. And have a driver's license. That's 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.080 that's funny that those are rules, but it makes sense. Also, 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.120 you can't ever have applied to be a police officer, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.080 prison guard. I got an a one. You cannot be 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.760 a child molester. Hell's Angels don't like child molesters. They 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:06.560 really don't. Good for them. Yeah, because you know what 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:11.080 I don't either. The Hell's Angels have a longstanding hatred 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:16.120 of the cops. Um and with good cause Pigs as 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.040 they call him. Sure, Um Hunter Thompson are our shared hero. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:23.200 Wrote about the Hell's Angels and we can talk about 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.439 that a little more in depth. But um he said 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:30.480 that he was talking about how the average Hell's Angel 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.000 views the establishment or the law, and he said he 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.640 knows that somewhere behind the moat, the main cop has 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.160 scrawled his name on a blackboard in the big briefing 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.320 room with a notation beside it. Get this boy, give 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.720 him no peace. He's incorrigible like an egg sucking dog. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.439 So apparently that's how Hell's Angels tend to view um 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:52.839 the cops. Yeah, why couldn't we get Johnny Depp to 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.559 have read that wouldn't have been great? Maybe we know, No, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.640 that would have been great. Uh So back to membership, 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:04.360 if you want to be a member, takes a little while. 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.880 Sometimes it can take a year or more. Yeah, to 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:09.760 become a full patch member. As they say, so you 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.120 start out as a hang around. Yeah, that's what it's 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:17.240 just hang around them, but you're you're invited to hang around. Like, 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.840 you can't just hang around and be a hang around. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.839 They'll say, what are you doing here? Uh? Square, get 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:24.800 out of here, drive your motorcycle on out of here, 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.560 or they'll hit you over the head of the tire 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.600 iron right can when you drop up in your vol 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.560 foe to hang around? Uh So, yeah, you're you're invited 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.720 to hang around and you can attend uh some events. 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:40.600 Evidently as a hang around, then you are made an 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:44.040 associate if you do a good job as a hang around. 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.960 How do you do a good job as a hang around? 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.160 I would guess this is just a guess, But if 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.240 I was a Hell's Angel, I would say that you 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.439 don't cause a lot of trouble, You're fun to be around, 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:58.520 You bring chicks to the party. Sure, that probably didn't hurt. Okay, 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.720 So after the hang around you become an associate and 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.560 then what you become a prospect? And this is apparently 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.920 full acknowledgement that you are in the pipeline for official 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.600 membership consideration. Yeah. Do you remember when we did our 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.160 fight Clubs podcast and we talked about how fight clubs, 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.079 especially in California, often used to like jump in prospects 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.080 into gangs. These would be the people who are on 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.960 their last night. Right. Did they get thrown into like 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.880 a cage match with a bunch of other people and 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.520 I imagine it gets pretty ugly. Yeah, no, thank you, 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.000 that's what I say. Uh. And actually, if you're in 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.800 a prospect at this point, you can participate in the 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.520 club activities, but you cannot vote. You don't have voting privileges. Yet. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.160 That seems funny, doesn't it that they vote? It's democracy? Yeah? 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.400 And Josh, what's after that? After that, my friend, you 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:51.000 are a full patch member. Yep, you are allowed to 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.200 wear the Death's Head logo. You can wear your top 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:57.800 and lower rocker. Yeah, you get your jacket. Yeah, and um, 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.160 apparently and this is this is one of those things 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.040 that it may or may not be lower it could 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:09.760 be who knows. Apparently, during initiation there is a um 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:14.680 bucket filled with feces and urine passed around and dumped 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.080 on the person. And they're never allowed to wash their colors, 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:22.760 so that's on their on their jacket forever. Well, that's 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:27.080 not fun. No, it's not um. And I don't think 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.080 that this is correct. Apparently, our buddy Hunter T wrote that, 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.160 and um, you get in trouble. He didn't get in trouble. 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:39.360 He got away with murder. Apparently, not literally. But Sonny 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.480 Barger said that that's just not true. That doesn't sound 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:44.360 like to be right. It seems like they would not 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.960 want to desecrate their colors, would be gross. Yeah, it's 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.200 just a thought. Alright, I'll give us some advice if 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.680 that's what you're doing, guys, not at all. You should 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.000 respect your own colors. Advice for the Hell's Angels from 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.400 Chuck Bryant the end. So now you are a full 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.160 patch member, you're in the Alls Angels, and um, you're 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.560 you're a member for life. That's why they say Angels Forever, 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.400 Forever Angels. There's no retirement. No, there's not. And uh, 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.960 even if you're not allowed to associate with the Hell's 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.120 Angels anymore because of your terms of parole, you're still 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:20.240 considered a Hell's Angel. Yeah. Pretty cool. Yeah, So Chuck, Um, 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.600 let's talk a little more about Hunter t He literally 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:28.440 he literally wrote the book on Hell's Angels and the 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:31.880 mid sixties early mid sixties. He wrote an article in 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:36.000 sixty in the Nation, and then that article got book published. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.360 A sniffing around say you should write a book on this. 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.240 Sunny Barger also wrote wrote or read that article. He 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.440 liked it and um he said it was a little exaggerated, 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.320 but he liked Thompson's writing style. So when Thompson started 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.960 hanging around some of the bars that the Burdue chapter 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.800 Oakland chapter hung out at I think it was Oakland. Um. 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:03.720 They they finally introduced him to Sunny Barger and Barger said, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:05.720 you know what, fine, you can hang out with us 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.119 um in return for two cakes of beer, which By 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:13.159 the way, Hunter Thompson never paid up on UM, and 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.280 Hunter spent the next year hanging out with the Hell's Angels. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.159 Apparently he um helped them unload shipments of meth like 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:25.080 planeloads of meth. Um. He helped them. He wont on 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.320 a gun run with them at least once. Uh. When 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.720 they got into it with the cops, he apparently jumped 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.800 into his car and pulled the trunk catch down on him, 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.080 and Sonny Barger said that that was it. He was 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.040 like after that, I never looked at Hunter Thompson in 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.560 the same way again. He figured out he was a coward, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.840 but he was also a kind of a skinny guy 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:44.919 in a literary type. So yeah, I don't think he 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.160 ever claimed to be a wise with the fisticuffs, which 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.720 is why he carried guns. And then finally, this whole 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:56.200 thing ends, his whole association ends um when Hunter gets 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:58.560 the crap kicked out of him by the Hell's Angels, 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.760 some of which he considered friends. Right, Yeah, Well, actually 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:03.680 what I read was that he later said the ones 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.160 who actually did the beating were the ones he wasn't 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.800 hanging around with the most, and they were sort of 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.760 on the on the fringe there. You know what happened, well, 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:13.760 I I couldn't find I heard they he made a 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.080 remark at a party he did, and I couldn't figure out. 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.679 I couldn't find what that remark was. Hell's Angel by 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.440 the name of Junkie George had his dog. No, this 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.040 is not Hippie robb Um, although I could see Hippie 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.879 rob knowing Chunkie George. Um. Anyway, Junkie George had his 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.080 dog with him, and his dog bit him, and Junkie 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.679 George kicked his dog, and Hunter Thompson walked up to 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.159 him and said, only punk slapped their old ladies and 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.080 kicked their dogs. And Junkie George did not like that 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.920 one bit that started ye, so he um he put 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.600 the smack down on Hunter Thompson. A bunch of other 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.600 guys jumped in, and Hunter Thompson drove himself to the 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:54.760 police station. The police turned him away and he drove 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.159 himself to the hospital. He was treated and he never 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:58.960 hung out with the Hell's Angels again. That was in 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.359 but he did publish the book Hell's Angels, The Strange 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:06.040 and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs and apparently 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.280 a lot of it was exaggerated. But this is where 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:12.080 Sonny Barger said he wrote the book for law enforcement, 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.080 Like law enforcement all read it and they're like, oh, well, sure, 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:16.760 this is what we're dealing with. And a lot of 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.359 it was. Well, gang rape was in there, and I 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:23.120 don't know if that was exaggerated or not. He said 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.679 he witnessed gang rape on more than one occasion and 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.040 that they used it as a form of punishment. And uh. 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:30.760 He said that they admitted that it was a form 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.560 of punishment that Hell's Angels did, so I will say 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.840 allegedly here, but it was in the book. Thompson apparently 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:41.639 also lent his notes to another journalist at least equally good, 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:45.119 by the name of Tom Wolf. Yes, of the of 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.760 the Right Stuff fame, as well as the electric Koliate 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.960 asseid tests. Yes. Um, the Hell's Angels factor hugely in 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.280 the electric koal Aid asset test, which is actually about 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:58.240 the Mary pranksters. And uh, I think in nineteen sixty five, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.880 the Hell's Angels went to the Lee, Oakland border and 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:06.000 beat the tar out of some lefty anti war protesters. 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.280 College students beat him up and then vowed to break 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:13.960 up any anti war demonstration they ever came across um 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:19.119 So Hunter. Apparently it took um Alan Ginsburg the poet 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.119 and Ken Kizi, the leader of the Mary Pranksters, and 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.080 introduced him to Sonny Barger, then went off his own way. 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:30.159 And uh, that meeting kind of made peace between the 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:35.680 hippies and the Hell's Angels famously. Yeah, and I think 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:39.119 Ginsberg even wrote a poem about the Hell's Angels. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.159 I couldn't find it though, Okay, but I would like 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:46.159 to see you didn't dream that. Yeah, man, it was 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.040 a beautiful poem. Now he really did write a poem though, Okay, 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:51.000 it's funny thing about Alan Ginsberg hanging out with the 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:55.679 Hell's Angels. It's really weird, especially like the head Hell's Angel. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.040 but yeah, Sonny Barger said that he loved acid and 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.560 it was the one thing he his people in the 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:03.639 hippies had in common, are one of the main things. 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:06.479 And they did plenty of the acid tests that La 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:11.679 Honda and Stid all sorts of crazy stuff with the prankster. Yeah. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.160 Those are the days. Huh, those were the days. And actually, 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.400 let me say another thing about law enforcement. Apparently, when 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:20.240 Hunter Thompson was hanging out with the Hell's Angels there, 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.960 um their their influence and their membership was drastically on 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:29.000 the wing. And then a guy named Thomas Lynch, who 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:33.560 was the Attorney General for California at the time, he 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.399 issues a report on the Hell's Angels and it is 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:41.880 ridiculous and bloated and exaggerated, and but apparently it just 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.440 blew up the Hell's Angel street cred and all of 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:46.360 a sudden they were just their members. They have more 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:49.399 members than ever after that report. Yeah, so sometimes it 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.040 works against you when you try and quash something. So 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.440 I guess we should talk about some of the good 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.000 they do and some of the bad they've done, because 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.080 there's the fight an opinion the Hell's Angels. Uh, they 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.160 raised money for charity. They're famous for their uh their 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:07.800 work with the Toys for Tots and they do charity 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.000 rides and stuff like that over the years, and I 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:13.160 think they've cleaned up their act a lot, probably now 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:15.920 compared to what it was like in the sixties. But 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:19.679 they've had some scrapes with the law many many times 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:24.600 along the way, uh, notably at Altamont Speedway that was 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:26.400 a big one. Yeah, we can't talk about the Hell's 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:28.960 Angels without talking about this. This was the ultimont free 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:33.360 concert and it was famously recorded in the concert film 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.359 Gimme Shelter. It was apparently the day the sixties died? 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:39.240 Is that what they say? Is that that what that 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:42.720 stupid song is about from that guy American Pie. Yeah, 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:44.480