Yes, I am.
Not all "motorcycle clubs" are criminal gangs. The local Harley Owners Group isn't, for instance. But there are certainly criminal biker gangs, you know it and so do I.
The big criminal gangs have long histories of organizational involvement in various types of crime. They have been accused, arrested, tried and convicted of organized crime. Repeatedly. They are very similar to street gangs like the Crips. Both have illegal drug dealing as a cornerstone of their operations. Both claim territory. Both claim the rights to make rules for others, weird rules like "don't wear red" or "talk to us before you start a motorcycle club in this state".
Here's some background on some criminal clubs, from Wikipedia:
Clubs active in Washington State:
Free Souls:
From The Free Souls Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in Eugene, Oregon in 1969. The club has chapters throughout Oregon and Washington, Europe, and Australia.[1] The club's insignia is an ankh imposed over a spoked motorcycle wheel which is itself imposed over a set of motorcycle handlebars. The club colors are blue and white, which is also a metonym used to refer to the club.
Criminal activities
Three Free Souls members were arrested on a number of charges on May 2, 2007, after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police raided six homes in Eugene. Ten stolen motorcycles, guns, methamphetamine, marijuana and hashish oil were seized.
Gypsy Jokers
The Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club (GJMC), or the Gypsy Jokers as they are called in Australia, are a "one-percenter" motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate that was originally formed in San Francisco, California on April Fool's Day, 1956. They are one of the most notorious and violent motorcycle gangs in both the US and in Australia.[6][7][8]
A few highlights of their criminal side:
A Gypsy Joker member was charged with attempted murder on March 17, 2009. He shot and wounded a member of the Newboys gang and former Hells Angel outside their clubhouse in Adelaide, South Australia.[14]
On May 19, 2009, five Gypsy Jokers were involved in a drug-related shoot-out with another gang in Perth, Western Australia. Two were wounded and taken to hospital, one of which was Club President Leonard Mark Kirby.[15]
On April 14, 2012, Gypsy Joker Anthony "Rooster" Perish, his brother Andrew (a Rebels Motorcycle Club gang member) and Matthew Lawton were sentenced to eighteen, nine and fifteen years respectively for the murder of convicted drug trafficker Terry Falconer, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms and drug offences[16]
The Bandidos, one of the two main clubs involved in the Texas shooting are one of the biggest clubs in Washington State. I'm not sure if they claim to control the whole state, as they do Texas, but they are certainly here.
Bandidos
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is a "one-percenter" motorcycle club[1][2][3] and organized crime syndicate with a worldwide membership. The club was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its motto is "We are the people our parents warned us about." It is estimated to have 2,400 members in 210 chapters, located in 22 countries. The club considers itself to be an outlaw motorcycle club. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have named the Bandidos an "outlaw motorcycle gang".[
In November 2006, Glenn Merritt of the Bellingham, Washington chapter was sentenced to four years in prison for drug possession and trafficking in stolen property. A total of 32 members were indicted in the associated investigation, on charges including conspiracy, witness tampering, and various drug and gun violations. Eighteen of those pled guilty.[18] In October, 2006, George Wegers, then Bandidos' international president, pled guilty and received a two-year sentence for conspiracy to engage in racketeering.
I grew up in Detroit. These guys were notorious criminals in Detroit for decades.
The Highwaymen
The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang that was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1954.[1][2] The club has undergone a number of large-scale police and FBI investigations, most notably in 1973, 1987 and 2007.[2] In the early 1970s several members were convicted of bombings and raids of the homes and the clubhouses of rival motorcycle clubs.[3]
On May 5, 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 40 members and associates of the Detroit chapter of the Highwaymen on a number of charges including racketeering, murder for hire, assault, police corruption, cocaine trafficking, vehicle theft, and mortgage and insurance fraud. Twenty-nine illegal firearms, including assault rifles, shotguns and handguns, were also found when FBI agents raided homes and the chapter's clubhouse. The investigation into the club lasted two years and involved wiretaps and two informants, one of whom was eventually murdered.[2]
High-ranking Highwaymen member Randell Lee McDaniel was arrested for running a chop shop in Lansing, Michigan on June 13, 2007. The investigation by the Monroe County Auto Theft Enforcement began in October 2006 and served several search warrants on properties owned by McDaniel. He was charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, operating a chop shop, motor vehicle theft and possessing a controlled substance.[11]
Four police officers and a member of the Highwaymen were indicted on March 12, 2008 by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges stemming from the 2007 investigation into drug trafficking. Highwaymen member Sean Donovan, who was already incarcerated on stolen property charges, was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and Vicodin. The four police officers were also jailed for corruption.[12][13]
Their rivals were The Outlaws, an equally vicious criminal gang:
The Outlaws
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is a one-percenter motorcycle club[2][3] that was formed in McCook, Illinois in 1935. Membership in the Outlaws is limited to men who own American-made motorcycles of a particular size,[4] although in Europe motorcycles from any country are allowed so long as they are in the chopper style. Their main rivals are the Hells Angels, giving rise to a phrase used by Outlaws members, "ADIOS" (the Spanish word for "goodbye", but in this case doubling as an acronym for "Angels Die In Outlaw States").
Here's the crime section of the article for Virginia, but they have done stuff everywhere they operate:
On June 15, 2010, a grand jury in Virginia indicted 27 Outlaws members on various charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) related to participating in a criminal enterprise that engaged in assaults, kidnapping, drug dealing, illegal gambling, and attempted murder.[26]
There are criminals everywhere. Just some are more honest about it than others.