Hells Angels members live by the code
Hells Angels members and prospects follow strict rules that
lend to their mystique and give them some security.
By: Jana Hollingsworth and Brandon Stahl, Duluth News Tribune
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/126703
If one Hells Angels member is pulled over by law enforcement
officers, the entire group traveling with him often will pull
over.
You'll never see a woman in the gang.
And Hells Angels will never go out together without their "colors"
- the winged death's-head patch on the back of their leather vests
or jackets.
With the arrival of 500 Hells Angels for their annual summer
rally in Carlton this week, some of the codes that bind them as
brothers have been on display for residents of the Northland.
"[The code] is a part of their mystique," said Julian
Sher, an investigative journalist who has studied the Hells Angels
since 2000 and wrote "Angels of Death: Inside the Biker Gangs'
Crime Empire."
"It's part of their secrecy and, to some degree, a part
of their security," Sher said.
Part of that security means that rank-and-file members can't
talk to the media and can never talk to the public about their
codes or about other members.
Indeed, Hells Angels members visiting the Northland routinely
turned their backs or stopped talking this week when they learned
that the person facing them was a reporter.
If they go on a ride, said Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Mark Baker,
the Angels have a particular order.
"With the president and the road captain and the sergeant
of arms, and the rest of the members and prospects," Baker
said.
They pull over together to avoid disrupting the order, Baker
said.
Becoming a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in the country
can take years, said Sher, and often you can only get in by already
being known to other members. Even then, you start as a "hang-around,"
where you're invited to some meetings or to meet members. If you
get noticed, you move up to an associate and then to a prospect,
which largely consists of gofer work, Sher said.
You can always tell a prospect because the word is stitched on
the front of their vest while the backs of their jacket are missing
the words "Hells Angels" and the flying skull - the
full colors for the gang.
Men with the label "prospect" on the front of their
vests were seen in Carlton preparing the Hells Angels' headquarters
site ahead of the full-fledged members' arrival, and some served
drinks to Hells Angels gambling at Black Bear Casino and Resort.
Once an Angel gets the full colors on his vest, don't mess with
it.
"You can't touch their vests," Sher said. "Getting
your colors is like winning a bronze star, or getting your stripes."
The vest is so sacred, Baker said, that often if one of the Angels
gets arrested, "they want to give that jacket to another
member to take it."
Protecting the colors applies to accidents and injuries that
may require medical personnel to remove a vest or jacket.
John Jordan, manager of SMDC Health System's emergency management
services, said his staff prepared for the arrival of the Hells
Angels and learned about special considerations required when
it comes to the club.
When a traumatized patient arrives at the hospital, it's common
for staff to cut garments off an injured person to avoid needless
shifting. But Jordon said staff members were told not to cut through
a Hell's Angels patch.
"They're sensitive to any desecration," Jordan said.
Because members are so tightly knit, Jordan said SMDC would treat
Hells Angels accompanying an injured member as family members.
If there's a conflict between Hells Angels and a rival biker
gang such as the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, which has set up camp
across the bridge in Douglas County, Jordon said emergency staff
would work to take members of opposing clubs to different medical
facilities in the area.
The Hells Angels' code is enforced by strict disciplines of beatings
and sometimes expulsion, Sher said.
"They've been known to burn the tattoos off people kicked
out of the club," he said.
