Hells Angels logo (Smithsonian Institution)

The Hells Angels (without an apostrophe), were formed in 1948 in Fontana, California (where the local chapter remains active), taking the name of the movie Hell's Angels based on the Royal Flying Corps directed by Howard Hughes.

The Hells Angels epitomized the outlaw biker counterculture of the 1960s, and have been associated with gang rape, white supremacy, and murder. The FBI estimates the Hells Angels take in $1 billion a year worldwide from drug trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering. In rural areas of the United States (especially the U.S. South and Southwest), the Hells Angels have been heavily involved with the distribution of crystalline, smokeable methamphetamine (frequently referred to as 'ice' or 'crystal meth'), a recreational drug.

The HAMC (Hells Angels Motorcycle Club) still profess to be "just" a motorcycle club, despite the fact that since 1994 biker wars in Quebec alone have resulted in more than 100 deaths (including a young bystander killed by an exploding car bomb), 84 bombings, 130 reported cases of arson, and 9 missing persons. In many countries, the Hells Angels are officially considered a criminal organization, and being a member is thus a criminal offense. The Angels claim their membership consists mostly of relatively law-abiding citizens who have often been victims of media sensationalism, but can't resist presenting themselves as a '1% Club', a phrase that got its start because the American Motorcyclist Association used to claim that 99% of motorcycle riders were law-abiding.

The biker gang has 2,000 members and prospects in 189 chapters in 22 countries around the world. (See Hells Angels - UK). Hells Angels Oakland Chapter has been particularly infamous, partly by its connection with Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, whose autobiography, Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was a national bestseller. Sonny Barger has spent over a decade in prison, wrote biker-related fiction after his release, and settled down finally as the eponym of his own brand of beer.

Perhaps the most notorious event in Hells Angels history involved a 1969 Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont, California Speedway. The Angels had been hired as crowd security for a fee which was said to include $500 worth of beer. A shoving match erupted near the stage during a rendition of the song "Under My Thumb" (not, as is commonly thought, "Sympathy for the Devil"), resulting in the stabbing death of an Afro-American fan, allegedly by an Angel.

The Hells Angels have a hierarchical structure and committing crimes is left to new recruits. Those higher up reap the rewards, allowing leaders to operate with impunity while flaunting their image of power to attract recruits and draw them into crime. It is difficult for law enforcement to infiltrate the Angels because becoming a member requires committing crimes.

References

• Author Hunter S. Thompson traveled with the club in the 1960s and his adventures are chronicled in the book that made Hunter Thompson's reputation as a counterculture journalist, Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
• The Hells Angels enjoyed a special relationship with the Grateful Dead, the history of which was told by Tom Wolfe in his book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
• During the late 1960s and the early 1970s many biker exploitation films featured Hells Angels lookalikes. Usually considered better than run of the mill was Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) with Jack Nicholson and members of the Oakland Hells Angels.
• A documentary, Hell's Angels Forever, produced by the club has a sound track featuring Jerry Garcia and Willie Nelson. A soundly-based recent documentary about the club was produced in 1999 for The History Channel (A&E ): In Search of History: Hell's Angels includes an interview with Sonny Barger.

External links

• "Official" Hells Angels website, listing many chartered local chapters, with links.

There was also a group of World War II flying aces called Hell's Angels (with the apostrophe).