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The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is an outlaw motorcycle club with a worldwide membership. Formed in San Leon, Texas, in 1966, the Bandidos MC is estimated to have between 2,000 and 2,500 members and 303 chapters located in 22 countries, making it the second-largest motorcycle club in the world behind the Hells Angels.
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in McCook, Illinois in 1935, the Outlaws MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in the world. With 441 chapters located in 43 countries, and a membership of over 3,000, the club is also the third-largest in the world, behind the Hells Angels and the Bandidos.
An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a bikie gang, biker gang or motorcycle gang, is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.
Edward Winterhalder is an American author who has written more than forty books about motorcycle clubs and outlaw biker culture published in the English, French, German and Spanish languages; a television producer who has created programs about motorcycle clubs and the outlaw biker lifestyle for networks and broadcasters worldwide; a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer; and screenwriter.
The Sons of Silence Motorcycle Club (SOSMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in Niwot, Colorado in the United States in 1966, the club has a membership of over 250, with 35 chapters based in 12 U.S. states and in Germany. The Sons of Silence are the sixth-largest motorcycle club in the world, behind the Hells Angels, the Bandidos, the Outlaws, the Pagans and the Mongols.
The Nordic Biker War was a gang war that began in January 1994 and continued until September 1997 in parts of Scandinavia and Finland, involving the Hells Angels and Bandidos outlaw motorcycle clubs. The conflict is also known as the Great Nordic Biker War or Second Biker War to distinguish it from the earlier Copenhagen Biker War, which took place between 1983 and 1985.
The Comanchero Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle gang in Australia and South East Asia. The Comancheros are participants in the United Motorcycle Council of NSW, which convened a conference in 2009 to address legislation aimed against the "bikie" clubs, their poor public image in the wake of several violent clashes and ongoing biker wars, and defusing deadly feuds such as the Comancheros' battles with the Hells Angels. The sincerity of these efforts to defend the battered image of the clubs has been met with skepticism.
Donald Eugene Chambers was an American Marine, outlaw biker and founder of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, in 1966 in San Leon, Texas. Chambers was convicted of murdering two drug dealers in 1972 and served a life sentence until his parole in 1983.
On May 17, 2015, in Waco, Texas, United States, a shootout erupted at a Twin Peaks restaurant where more than 200 persons, including members from motorcycle clubs that included the Bandidos, Cossacks, and allies, had gathered for a meeting about political rights for motorcyclists. Law enforcement, which included 18 Waco Police Department officers and four Texas Highway Patrol troopers, had gathered to monitor the restaurant and meeting from outside, and, according to police, "returned fire after being shot at". Nine bikers were killed, 18 others wounded or injured, and 177 individuals were ultimately arrested and initially detained in connection with the shootout, most for alleged participation in organized crime. According to The New York Times, "the response by prosecutors was widely criticized as brazen overreach". According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, the shootout led to a "four-year prosecutorial fiasco that resulted in zero convictions."
On 10 March 1996, six members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club ambushed four rival Bandidos Motorcycle Club members outside Copenhagen Airport, killing one man and wounding three others with gunfire. A twin attack was also carried out at Oslo Airport, Fornebu in Norway within an hour of the Denmark shooting, leaving one man injured. The incident occurred during the Nordic Biker War (1994–97).
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is classified as a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries. While the club has denied being a criminal organization, Bandidos members have been convicted of partaking in criminal enterprises including theft, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder in various host nations.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is classified as a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries. While the club has denied being a criminal organization, Bandidos members have been convicted of partaking in criminal enterprises including theft, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder in various host nations.
The Ontario Biker War in Canada saw the Hells Angels engage their long-term rivals the Outlaws Motorcycle Club for control of the province of Ontario. The war occurred between 1999 and 2002 and is also known as the London Biker conflict as a large majority of the events occurred in the city of London, Ontario. The Quebec Biker War, the largest motorcycle conflict in history was occurring during the same period in the province of Quebec.
The Cossacks Motorcycle Club or Cossacks MC are an American outlaw motorcycle club. Said to be one of the largest outlaw biker groups in the state of Texas, they are best known for their conflicts with the rival Bandidos Motorcycle Club - most notably, the 2015 Waco shootout which left seven members of the group dead. The Cossacks MC are allegedly the second-largest biker club in the state of Texas.
The Kinfolk Motorcycle Club was an American one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club best known for their longstanding rivalry with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club. The club was formed in Texas and has several chapters within the United States as well as chapters in Europe and South America.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club has been designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the U.S. Department of Justice. The club is involved in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, explosives violations, motorcycle and motorcycle-parts theft, intimidation, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, stolen property, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, murder, bombings, extortion, arson and assault. The Bandidos partake in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana, and the production, transportation and distribution of methamphetamine. Active primarily in the Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern and the West Central regions, there are an estimated 800 to 1,000 Bandidos members and 93 chapters in 16 U.S. states.
The Mongols Motorcycle Club is considered a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in various countries internationally. Mongols members have a long history in the illegal drugs trade, money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes. However, senior Mongols members as well as attorneys for the club deny that the group as a whole is a criminal enterprise and claim that the Mongols' bylaws prohibit criminals and drug users from being members.
References
- ↑ "Oklahoma City outlaw biker boss jumped, killed nearly year to day after Texas gunfight". New York Post. Fox News. 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ↑ "3 arrested in connection with deadly OKC biker gang shootout". Fox News. Associated Press. 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ↑ Ruiz, Michael (2023-04-06). "Oklahoma City shootout: Biker gang surrounded bar, gunned down rivals in attack from behind, court docs". Fox News. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ↑ Murney, Michael (2023-04-18). "Police: I-45 biker murders tied to gang shootout in OKC". Chron. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ↑ "Separate deadly shootings on I-45 are apparently gang-related, authorities say". ABC13 Houston. 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-07-12.