[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."
