Outlaw Chronicles: Hells Angels: The Angels Code (Season 1, Episode 1) | Full Episodes | HISTORY

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[motorcycle engines rumbling] (male narrator) You hear them before you can see them in the rearview mirror, engines rumbling, part myth, part legend, 100% badass. The Hells Angels are one of the most well-known organizations in the world, but what do we really know about this highly secretive group? What are their origins? Are they criminals or just motorcycle enthusiasts? Do you really have to kill a man to join? Only a few people know the truth, and no one has broken the club's code of silence until now. This is George Christie, the man some have called "The Last American Outlaw"-- an ex-Marine who turned down a career in the Department of Defense to devote his life to the Hells Angels. He led the Ventura chapter as president for 33 years, a position that made him one of the most powerful members of the motorcycle club. All the Angels respected him. Some admired and feared him. Now, after being excommunicated by his former brothers, persecuted by the law, and spending time in prison, George has decided to tell the true story of the Hells Angels as never heard before by anyone outside the club... Even if it means risking everything. (Christie) This is my story, and I want to tell it my way. I'm just a guy that, after 40 years, decided to make a change in his life. ♪ ♪ I want to set the record straight once and for all. ♪ ♪ People have a lot of opinions, and there's a lot of urban legends about the Hells Angels. It's a very powerful, secretive organization. (Christie) Law enforcement, dependent on what agency you talk to, sees us criminals. (Gil-Blanco) The Hells Angels is a criminal organization, not just nationally but internationally. (Christie) Talk to the feds, we're a criminal enterprise. Talk to the local cops, we're a street gang. They have their PhDs in violence and intimidation. (Christie) Everyone wants to use us to suit their own needs, to move their agenda forward. (Tresmontan) There's always been the million-dollar question whether the Hells Angels is a motorcycle club, or the club exists as some sort of criminal enterprise. (Christie) Look. The Hells Angels do live outside the law, you know? We don't adhere to all the laws that society throws down to us, but as an organization, we are not a criminal entity. Law enforcement makes all these wild accusations, so I want to tell my story my way in how I perceived it, because, you know, it's a mighty thin slice of ham that doesn't have two sides. Well, this is my side. (narrator) The key to unlocking the secrets of the Hells Angels is knowing their code-- the rules that fueled the club's incredible rise to power. (Christie) In the '60s and '70s, being a Hells Angel was the top rung on the ladder. Riding around, respected by everyone, and it all had to do with a code that we had to live by, and we had to follow. The number one rule of the Hells Angel code is always back your brothers. I learned that before I even became a member. I'll give you an example. (narrator) In 1976, George Christie is 30 years old and working toward membership in the L.A. charter. His loyalty to the club and the club's president, John Noble, known as "Old Man John," is about to be tested. (Christie) One day in the middle of winter, this guy shows up over at the clubhouse and has got this black vest on. In the old days, if you weren't part of a motorcycle organization, you couldn't wear a cutoff jacket. So John asked him, "Who you hanging around with?" And this guy was really not hanging out with anybody-- not giving the right names, not giving the right answers. Kind of had a half-ass attitude, like it was none of John's business, and out of nowhere, John just lays into him-- grabs him by the hair, pulls out his Bowie knife and puts it to the guy's throat and says, "I want to know why you're wearing that cutoff." And then he stopped and looked at me. John was testing me as much, if not more, than he was testing the individual. (narrator) John was seeing if George could obey the main rule of the Angels' code: "Stand with your brother "whether you agree with him or not, no matter the consequences." (Christie) John was saying to me, "Are you gonna stand there and back me "while I cut this guy's throat? Or are you gonna turn and run?" I looked at him, and I realized I was willing to back John whether I thought he was right or wrong. I was waiting for John to make his move, and when John saw that, he took his knife and cut the leather vest off with just one tear. The guy ran out of there crying. Never saw the guy again. Back in those days, guys would get dotted lines on their throat like "cut here," and as John sheathed his knife, he goes, "You know, "if he would have had that dotted line on his throat, I would have cut it," and I just looked at John, and I said, "I'm sure you would have." (narrator) Loyalty, honor, courage: these words of war are at the heart of the Hells Angels' code. [dramatic music] Throughout human history, soldiers have struggled to return to the peace and quiet of civilian life after serving on the front lines. The end of World War II was no exception for the Americans who fought overseas, but for the first time, some returning soldiers refused to go back to the lives they left behind. Instead, they broke away from society and embraced an outlaw lifestyle. (Sher) These guys coming back from World War II, who had led probably the most exciting years of their lives, I think were still looking for that excitement-- the thrill of the ride. (man) The contestants start at the bottom, but where they'll wind up, nobody knows-- maybe the hospital. (narrator) These men founded the first motorcycle clubs in California. (Christie) There was the Galloping Goose in Los Angeles, the Straight Satans in Venice, the Question Marks in Oxnard, the Satan's Slaves in San Fernando Valley, and then there was the P.O.B.O.B.s out in San Bernardino-- Pissed Off Bastards from Bloomington. ♪ ♪ And in 1948, a guy named Otto Friedli broke off from them and started what today is the Hells Angels. (narrator) One of Otto's buddies had led a fighter squadron known for its daring top-secret missions against the Japanese during World War II. This squadron was called "The Hells Angels." (man) Hells Angels raise the very devil on 48 different bombing missions. (narrator) Otto liked the sound of the name and took it for his own club. It quickly attracted more would-be outlaws. (Sher) And to this day, the Hells Angels has always attracted those that want to feel good about doing something bad. (Christie) Ultimately, the Hells Angels were drawing more and more people to them. From San Bernardino, they went to San Francisco, from San Francisco to Oakland and beyond. (narrator) By 1966, the Hells Angels nearly doubled in size, adding five new chapters to the existing six chapters and expanding into Nebraska, Ohio, and Massachusetts. They become the biggest motorcycle club in the world... and for a young man from Ventura, California, role models he had always wanted. (Christie) In 1966, I had come out of the Marine Corps, and I became a communications troubleshooter for the Department of Defense. [march music] It was a great job-- had terrific benefits, retirement, medical, but it was just a job. So when I thought about staying with the DoD and slinging cable for them for the next 20 years, I think I would have rather shot myself in the head. ♪ ♪ I started riding motorcycles, and I started gravitating towards the outlaw bike culture. ♪ ♪ I knew if I wanted to become a bike club member, I'd have to own an American-made motorcycle-- either an Indian or a Harley Davidson. That's the premise that brings all the Hells Angels together-- it's their love for motorcycles and riding motorcycles. It's a very exhilarating feeling. There's nothing around you. It's just you and the atmosphere and hard ground underneath your wheels. (narrator) But George's superiors were very concerned about his lifestyle choice. (Christie) They said, "You know, George, you need to make a decision. "Do you want to work for the Department of Defense, or do you want to be an outlaw?" For me, there was no question about it. ♪ ♪ These other individuals that I was running with were living a lifestyle. They were together all the time. They were backing each other's play. When they walked into the bar, everyone stepped aside. They were treated with respect. (narrator) For George, the choice was simple, but joining the club is a long process with many rites of passage that introduce potential members to the code and test their ability to obey it. ♪ ♪ The Hells Angels are harder to join than the LAPD. You have to show your sympathies, and if they decide you might be of some potential use to them, you become what's known as a "hang-around"-- basically a gofer. ♪ ♪ (Dobyns) A "hang-around" is deciding if club life is for him, and the club is deciding if this guy has the right stuff to earn the right to wear the Hells Angel death head. (Christie) I was hanging around with the Hells Angels from Los Angeles, and in that group of Hells Angels, there was a guy named "Tall Paul." Tall Paul asked me to come back to the Glendale clubhouse with him. He had a bad habit of drinking and riding his bike. So this particular night, we're riding back, and Paul started drifting into the road divider. ♪ ♪ I reached over. I grabbed him in the middle, and I pulled him back into the lane. He looked over at me and smiled, and he gave me a little salute. When we got back to the Hells Angel clubhouse in Glendale. He was ranting and raving how great I was. And then everybody jumped up-- you know, people socking me in the stomach, socking me in the arm. I was still a long ways from becoming a Hells Angel, but I think that that afternoon certainly set me in the right direction. (narrator) Coming up... (Christie) I don't know where it came from, but a Molotov cocktail showed up... And suddenly, a guy's got a .45 on me. (narrator) The Hells Angels were founded on contempt for the law. But in order to guarantee their security, they've developed a strict secret code of conduct. Part of that code defines the difficult process of becoming a member. ♪ ♪ Full membership in the Hells Angels is earned in stages. The first phase is called "hang-arounds," where guys spend months gaining members' trust. But once they prove themselves, they are invited to become "prospects." ♪ ♪ (Christie) Being a prospect is like being a probationary Angel without the benefits. You wear the jacket. It says "prospect," but you still have a long ways to go. (Sher) It can take years before you become an official full-patch member and be one of the honored few who are members of the Hells Angels. It's a very elite club. (narrator) Prospects are put through a series of tests designed to make sure they have what it takes to be an Angel. The most sought-after quality a candidate can show is class. ♪ ♪ (Christie) "Showing class" is a term that was used in the '60s and '70s, and that means that you can handle yourself and make a statement, if you will. ♪ ♪ I remember one incident. The Hells Angels from back east were out here, and one Hells Angel in particular started focusing on a hang-around from Oxnard. They got to the point where a guy said, "What would you do if I cut your pinky off?" And this hang-around said, "Well, you don't have to do that. I'll do it myself. I never use it." In the morning, his finger was gone. I don't think there's any better way to show class than that. (narrator) Prospects have to be willing to risk everything, including life and liberty, to prove their loyalty to the club. (Christie) Prospect life was no picnic. You have no idea what you're in for. The next two years of your life belongs to the Hells Angels. ♪ ♪ (Dobyns) When you're prospecting and a member tells you to do something, you don't ask how or why. You just go do it, and you do it with blind loyalty. ♪ ♪ (Christie) I was asked one time by one of the members sitting around the clubhouse-- he looks over at me, and he goes, "You know what I feel like? I feel like one of those burgers at Wimpy's." Well, Wimpy's was a place up in the Bay Area. I know I'm not riding up to Frisco, so I come up with an idea. ♪ ♪ Back in the '70s, they had these flights every half hour out of Frisco to L.A. I call up one of the Bay Area prospects, tell him, "Hey, you know what? Go get a burger at Wimpy's, put it on a plane." So he throws it on a plane. I make my way over to the airport, and in three or four hours, I got a burger down here for him. ♪ ♪ It wasn't warm, but it seemed to satisfy the member, so I got that mission accomplished. ♪ ♪ (narrator) As part of the initiation process, prospects are invited to join the Hells Angels' infamous runs-- wild traveling parties where anything goes. ♪ ♪ (man) No attitudes up here. Everybody comes up here to party out. (Dobyns) The Hells Angels go on runs to experience camaraderie. On the core level, that's what they stand for, but there's other reasons, you know-- to--you know, to mark their territory. To make sure they're seen and that people know, you know, the kings of the jungle are in the house. (Christie) As time passed, things got more elaborate-- you know, provided food, bands, sometimes dancing girls and whatnot. (narrator) Prospects are allowed to participate in the fun, but when the time comes to get back on the road, they are reminded of their status and forced to ride in the back of the formation. That's when you know you're not a Hells Angel yet. What people have to realize is an old Harley Davidson, you'd lose a quart of oil every couple hundred miles, and if you're riding behind 15, 20 Harleys, and you're in the back of the pack, you're gonna have grease, dirt, bugs, and your face is all black except when you take your glasses off. You've got, you know, white around your eyes. I mean, you look a mess. [motorcycle engines rumbling] (narrator) For prospects, the misery of the ride is just the beginning of the ordeal. Sometimes, when we were on a run, one of the members would yell, "Boots and patches." ♪ ♪ They expected all the prospects to take all their clothes off except for their boots and their patches. ♪ ♪ They'd take the outhouses, tip them over, and dump everything that was filling the outhouses into the pit, and they'd have a tug-of-war-- the north against the south prospects. But we were always told, "We'll never ask you to do anything we won't do." That's what the members would profess to the prospects. So... This one particular year, I said, "I'm not gonna do it unless the members do it." We all kind of grouped together, and then the next thing you knew, "boots and patches" was scrubbed. I was very happy that was the end of that tradition. Who wants to stand around naked and get drug through [bleep]? ♪ ♪ (narrator) The humiliation prospects endure on their way to becoming full-patch members is all part of the code. These tests prove their absolute loyalty to the club, its members, and the man who they must follow to hell and back, their chapter president. ♪ ♪ (Christie) When you're gonna be a leader in an organization that gets itself involved in violence from time to time, you have to have a vision. You make a bad decision, somebody could get killed. You make a bad decision, someone goes to prison. Old Man John was the president of the Los Angeles Hells Angels when I came around. He was in his early 60s, a truck driver, and a longtime outlaw bike rider. John was a smart and old-school leader. He led by example. He didn't expect you to do anything that he wouldn't do, and he proved that several times. And one particular night, I remember, he was walking around the clubhouse, and he looked like something was on his mind. He was chomping down on his cigar, waiting for a phone call, I think. The call came, and he said, "Okay, let's go." He didn't explain himself. He didn't have to. ♪ ♪ So, you know, we followed John like we always did, made our way into San Fernando Valley. We pull up on this place. There was 35, 40 bikes parked out front, and I wasn't sure what I was walking into, but I didn't feel like this was gonna be a party. (narrator) Coming up... (Christie) Heroin, LSD, cocaine, marijuana-- you name it, he's got it. Tommy said, "Do you remember me?" I looked at the gun, and I realized this could be the end. (narrator) Former Hells Angel George Christie is revealing how their secret code built the club from a small group of bikers into a powerful worldwide organization. That code demands unquestioning loyalty to your chapter president. So when George's president, the infamous Old Man John, suddenly announced they were going to a rival clubhouse, no one asked twice. There was about maybe 35, 40 bikes out front. I just kind of keeping my guard up. We walk into the clubhouse, and John asks for somebody. (narrator) This is enemy territory-- the headquarters of an L.A. motorcycle club called "The Humpers." The guy walks up, and he's got a little swagger in his walk, and you can see that he's got some sway with these guys. People are kind of getting out of his way, and, you know, John qualifies that it is indeed him. He says, "So you're so-and-so?" "Yeah, that's me." John was questioning this guy, and he's looking at me on occasion. We're kind of uncomfortable, because we know John's not feeling right. And out of nowhere,<i> bam!</i> John downs him, jumps on top of him, and just starts working him over. (narrator) The Humpers' leader ran prostitutes and had just turned out a member of Old Man John's family. (Christie) Now, I don't know if everyone knows what a "turnout" is, but that's when a group of individuals are engaging in sex with one particular female. The girl didn't seem to mind. She was a gem in herself, but John had been disrespected, so, in turn, the club was disrespected. He was gonna right that wrong no matter what cost, so John went out there to settle the score, and settle the score he did. To this day, I'm sure that guy's face has never been the same. ♪ ♪ I learned a lot about the club that night. Nobody dared lay a hand on us. Now, we were all ready to fight if that was gonna be necessary, but they knew that we were the Hells Angels, and we were the ones that were controlling the situation. ♪ ♪ (narrator) A prospect's initiation ends when his charter's members vote on whether he is to be granted full membership. The vote must be unanimous. If even one member votes against him, the Angels take his vest and bike, and he's told to never come back. In 1976, George's future is finally decided. ♪ ♪ (Christie) I remember one night in the middle of winter, I heard the door open and John yell for me, so I ran in to the clubhouse and noticed everybody in the room had their eyes fixed on me, and I thought, "Something's going on here." John said to me, "So you have made up your mind. This is what you want to do?" I started getting the first feeling that this was gonna be the moment. I said, "Yeah, John, I'm 100% with you guys." He goes, "We're going to San Bernardino." We rode our bikes there, and I was warned, "Don't rev your motor up. "Take it slow. Take it easy. No cussing and no smoking in the house." You know, we went in, and I saw a grandmotherly lady standing there. She stuck out her hand and introduced herself as "Betty." When I heard the name, I knew this was the moment I was waiting for. Betty was the gal that made the patches for the Hells Angels. (narrator) The sacred Hells Angel death-head patch is only given to a prospect when he is accepted as a full member. (Dobyns) Nothing else is more important than the patch-- not your family, your wife, your girlfriend, your kids, your dog--nothing. It's their religion. They believe it and worship it, and if you can't or if you won't, there's no place for you. (Christie) The patch is a sacred cloth. It's a flag. You don't want that flag to hit the ground. You don't want that flag to be desecrated. You don't want it to be insulted. Your patch is everything to you. That's your soul, and it becomes an extension of you. I have no idea how Betty became the official seamstress for the Hells Angels, but at that particular point in time, she was the only one making the patches. She took my Levi vest and laid out my new Hells Angel patch on it, and when she finished, she thanked me, said, "Not too loud with the pipes. Take it easy, boys, coming out of the neighborhood." We jumped on our bikes, and we kept it down for about a half a block, and then I just couldn't hold back anymore. I cranked on my accelerator. We made our way to the freeway, and it was 90 miles an hour all the way back from San Bernardino to Los Angeles. I was on top of the world. (narrator) From now on, George is able to reap the rewards and share in the dangers of the part of the code that makes sure every Angel is willing to fight and die for his brothers. ♪ ♪ George and his biker brothers are at the North Carolina Fiddlers Convention, a music festival and magnet for bikers across the country. For the first time, he is at a large gathering not as a hang-around, not as a Prospect, but as a full-patch Hells Angel. (Christie) It was just one big party. ♪ ♪ Folk music, bluegrass music, a lot of drinking, and a lot of fights. My head's swirling. I'm meeting all these Hells Angels. I can't keep track of everybody's name, but one guy in particular stood out to me. He came up, introduced himself. His name was Tommy. He asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with him, and I thought, "Man, this is great," and he goes, "Just a minute." He goes, "Let me get ready." He takes a .38, checks it to make sure it's loaded, closes the cylinder up, puts it in his waistband, makes sure his knife is sheathed. Then he slides on a pair of gloves that have all the fingers cut off, and I'm inspecting the gloves, and I can see they're knockout gloves, and "knockout gloves" are gloves that are filled with lead so they add a little weight behind a punch if you throw a punch. ♪ ♪ We started walking. We walked out of our camp down this little path up to this group of individuals standing by a U-Haul. ♪ ♪ And there was a guy that had a table... And they had heroin, LSD, cocaine, marijuana-- you name it; he's got it. Tommy walks up to the guy. He made eye contact, and I could see something other than just taking a walk was going on here. And Tommy said, "Do you remember me?" ♪ ♪ Apparently Tommy thought that he should've been comped something, and the guy kind of looks at Tommy. Tommy blasts this guy. The guy goes down, a fight breaks out. (narrator) In that moment, George discovered what the code of the Hells Angels was really all about. Suddenly, a guy's got a .45 on me. I looked at the gun, and I realized this could be the end, but I was there with my brothers, and if they were ready to die for me, I was ready to die for them. (narrator) Coming up... (Christie) I get a phone call. "You know what's going on?" "No, what's up?" "They're raiding everybody, man." They asked me, "Have you been hit?" And I go, "Why would I be hit?" [motorcycle engines rumbling] (narrator) April 17, 1976. George Christie is a full-patch member of the Hells Angels. He is discovering exactly what the phrase, "All on one, one on all," really means. (Christie) A guy's got a .45 on me. I hear the gun click, and it's a misfire. All hell breaks loose, and the next thing you know, we're in a gunfight with these guys. [gunfire] (narrator) When more Angels arrive to back George and his comrade, their rivals run to their van for cover. (Christie) Tommy's standing up, and he's shooting up into the van. In all of this, I don't know where it came from, but a Molotov cocktail went into the back of the van, and it burst into flames. [women screaming] I never found out if anyone died that day or what happened to the other guys, but I did learn what it meant to have your brothers' back at all costs. ♪ ♪ (narrator) A Hells Angel lives on his bike, but his home is his clubhouse. No place is more sacred. ♪ ♪ (Christie) Each Hells Angel clubhouse is really a reflection of that particular charter that it represents. I've been in huge clubhouses with expensive televisions, furniture, sound systems for parties, stages for bands and whatnot, and fortresses that had sandbags and gun ports. But I will tell you, they're all home. (narrator) Each clubhouse is defined by a bar, a locked door, and brothers who expect and encourage anyone allowed entry to party and brawl like Vikings. The clubhouse is also where weekly club business is handled at meetings referred to as "church." Once you become a Hells Angel, you must attend the meetings each week. You know, maybe someone needs to be disciplined he's got a drug problem or alcohol problem, or you need to reel him in a bit. You talk about the latest tactics law enforcement's using against us. We'd discuss ways of dealing with the media, ways of dealing with the cops, ways of dealing with each other, but there's one rule we never break. We never jeopardize the club's security by talking about illegal activities. ♪ ♪ (man) How many members of the Hells Angels use marijuana? I'd say... 100%. (Sher) In the late '50s, 1960s, Hells Angels are proud to admit they were huge drug users, largely recreational with a bit of selling on the side. That all changes in the late '60s and the 1970s. That's when the Hells Angels not only are consuming drugs, but they are importing drugs. They are bringing in cocaine, and they are manufacturing drugs. Meth. (Christie) What you have to understand-- Hells Angels motorcycle club is ruled by a strict code, but the members are free to do whatever they want with their own lives. There are some people in the club that have committed crimes, and that record speaks for itself. You know, I can't defend that, and I won't try to defend it, but as an organization, we are not a criminal entity. The police like to investigate us in that manner because it makes it easier for them to go after us as an organization rather than as individuals. (Tresmontan) The law enforcement got involved in the Hells Angels investigation and intelligence gathering. We knew what night they would have church. We would know when to set up and follow individuals away. We knew what bars they would hang out at, and so sometimes work undercover to see if we could meet a member or an associate or anyone involved in the meth trade. (narrator) The increasing attention from law enforcement on the Hells Angels means they must be more vigilant than ever. (Christie) We don't sit around the room and talk about how we're gonna make money doing illegal acts the next two weeks. If someone brings up something that even remotely resembles a conspiracy or an illegal activity, they're immediately shut down, and if they continue, they're removed from the room. You have to be extra cautious on a 24-hour basis. That's the only way an outlaw organization's gonna survive. ♪ ♪ (narrator) Law enforcement continued their attempts to infiltrate the club. (Christie) We started encountering a lot of investigations, some indictments. People were getting busted. People were going to prison, and as time passed, the traditions and the code of silence and the code of brotherhood seemed to pass with it. (narrator) With members finding themselves facing long prison terms, the code of silence that ensures the Hells Angels' survival begins to crumble. (Christie) If you're facing 10, 20 years in prison, you're looking for any way out you can get, even if it means breaking the most solemn oath you ever took. Even if it means betraying your brothers and becoming a rat. Even if it means facing the ultimate punishment. (narrator) Coming up... To go after the Hells Angels, you need intelligence, and you need informants. And we don't take kindly to rats. ♪ ♪ and if you don't live by that code, you're less than a man. (narrator) The code of the Hells Angels keeps the club united. The code demands you follow your leader, stand by your brothers in a fight, don't talk about illegal activities in the clubhouse, and never, ever rat out the club to the law. (Christie) Our code of silence made us one of the most powerful organizations in the outlaw world, and it didn't take the cops long to figure out that if they could break that code of silence, they could take down the whole club. We started to have a rat problem. ♪ ♪ A rat is an informant. It's someone that gets themselves in a criminal bind and extracts themselves by implying or dragging you and your associates into it. I mean, it's the lowest of the low. (Sher) There are only two ways to go after the Hells Angels. You need intelligence, and you need informants. You can get intelligence through wiretaps and surveillance, but given the fact that the Hells Angels are so secretive, you need a snitch. Somebody who has street creds, who's not gonna be a choirboy, may even have a criminal record, and you're gonna get the dirt. (Tresmontan) People either find religion or cooperate with law enforcement when they're looking at 30 years or more in prison, and of course we exploited that to every degree that we could, and we would target those individuals that we felt we could put a heavy case on or that would be the likely type to cooperate with law enforcement and could be paid for their services. (Christie) We see it as making a deal with the devil. Prosecutors don't see it that way, but, you know, you've got individuals here that, not only do they extract themselves legally from the problem-- they get paid in the process as well. (narrator) The first time the Hells Angels start to have a problem with rats is in the late '70s. We had a new guy come around the club. Cliff Mowery. Cliff was a big, rugged, violent, tough guy. He had just come fresh out of prison. He had walked the yard with everyone. He was friends with everyone, and when he hit the streets again, he came back with high marks. He never actually became a Hells Angel. He was a Hells Angel prospect. He did everything in his power to try to become a full-fledged member as fast as he could, and he had got involved with Ray Glore. Ray Glore was the Sergeant at Arms of the Los Angeles charter. And Cliff was getting his drugs from Ray, and from Ray he was selling them to various people in the south. In addition, he was buying drugs from a couple of other Hells Angels. Everything came to a head one evening. Cliff was on the phone. As he ended the call, he said, "The reservations are all set. I'll be leaving in the morning." He hung up the phone, he looked at me, and he said, "Hey, George, what's going on?" And I said, "Nothing. You tell me what's going on." And he said, "Oh, I'm leaving in the morning. I'm going on a vacation with my girlfriend." Cliff had a really good-looking girlfriend. She was cultured, and she was intelligent, but there was one problem with her. She was an undercover Orange County detective, and Cliff Mowery was an informant. (narrator) Coming up... (Christie) Cliff Mowery went into witness protection program, and I heard rumors he went to Oklahoma, and he should've stayed there. to protect themselves. Back your brothers, keep silent, and never rat. But for the first time, the L.A. chapter has a prospect who's also a police informant: Cliff Mowery. And George Christie has just overheard Cliff talking on the phone about a sudden trip he's about to take. (Christie) "All the reservations are set. I'll be leaving in the morning." It just didn't sit right with me. And maybe if I had been a little bit more vocal, and maybe if I'd been around a little bit longer, I would have took it upon myself to say something. I let it go. In the morning, I get a phone call. "You know what's going on?" "No, what's up?" "They're raiding everybody, man." They asked me, "Have you been hit?" And I go, "Why would I be hit?" Raids were taking place all over Southern California, and they were initiated by Cliff and his undercover girlfriend. (narrator) George later discovered that Sam, the girl pretending to be Cliff's old lady, was really an undercover cop. (woman) We were looking for the source of the methamphetamine that was on the streets at the time. So we came up with a story that I was a newly divorced rich gal waiting for a property settlement, so I was selling some dope to my girlfriends. But since I didn't have a source for it myself, I met this rowdy-looking young fellow and was on a fling. (narrator) The club later learned that before becoming a prospect, Mowery had been arrested on drug charges. The cops made him a deal: infiltrate the Angels in exchange for getting out of prison early. Everything he witnessed in the club had been turned over to the authorities. ♪ ♪ The cops execute 77 arrests across California, mostly for selling drugs or weapons. George is not on the list. Cliff Mowery testifies against everyone. All but one of these cases ends in conviction. ♪ ♪ (Christie) This was a learning experience not just for us, but law enforcement as well. They learned how to use our own people against us, and the club members who had once been brothers in arms were now suspicious of each other. The code had been broken, and the era of unconditional trust and loyalty was coming to an end. (narrator) The Mowery convictions have a huge effect on the Angels' code. Rules for membership are made even stricter, and bars all over California hang "Wanted" posters offering a $25,000 reward for the death of Cliff Mowery, no questions asked. He was a rat through and through, and we don't take kindly to rats. ♪ ♪ Cliff Mowery went into witness protection program, and he should've stayed there, because he came back right to the area he had left. Within two months, he was in a mysterious motorcycle accident. He hit a pylon going down the freeway about 70, 80 miles an hour, and I was told that it looked like there was evidence that someone had struck him in the left rear of his motorcycle, and that was the end of Cliff Mowery. (narrator) The betrayal of Cliff Mowery is far from the last for the Angels. During the '80s and '90s, law enforcement made the Hells Angels pay for all their misdeeds of the '60s and '70s. More and more Angels break the code and betray their own brothers to save themselves. (Christie) Cliff Mowery was just the tip of the iceberg for me. Over the next few years, my best friend was murdered. I had my clubhouse raided. We had a bomb planted in front of the clubhouse. We were now looking over our shoulders. The good time was coming to an end. (narrator) This season on<i> Outlaw Chronicles...</i> ♪ ♪ (Christie) A Hells Angel party is nothing like anything people have ever experienced. ♪ ♪ You don't want to ask stupid questions. You don't want to get drunk. And above and beyond everything, you don't fall asleep. ♪ ♪ There's a lot of theories as to what started the war between the Hells Angels and the Mongols. I was there, and I'll tell you it had to do with a woman... and a rat. (Dobyns) Lesson one with the Hells Angels: don't rat on us, because you'll be killed. ♪ ♪ Lesson two with the Hells Angels: don't rat on us, 'cause you'll be beaten. Lesson three is go back to lesson one. ♪ ♪ [drill whirring] [screaming] (man) 32 members of the Hells Angels were arrested. Charges ranged from murder to drug dealing. (Christie) I had one foot in the real world and one foot in the underworld. It was a very dangerous place to be. ♪ ♪ As the story goes, the district attorney slams his fist down on the table and said, "Bring me George Christie's patch. I want that son of a bitch."
Info
Channel: HISTORY
Views: 1,486,880
Rating: 4.7827291 out of 5
Keywords: Hells Angels, The Angle Code, Gangs, George Christie Jr, Motorcycles, outlaw, bikers, crime, drug dealing, gun dealing, Outlaw Chronicles season 1 episode 1, Outlaw Chronicles se01 e01, Outlaw Chronicles se1 e1, Outlaw Chronicles 1X1, Outlaw Chronicles full episodes, watch Outlaw Chronicles, The Angels Code, Angels’ President, George Christie, the last American outlaw, watch full episodes, history full episodes, Watch full episodes history, history channel, American outlaw
Id: Vhqnh3XKYXA
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 43min 27sec (2607 seconds)
Published: Mon Dec 09 2019
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