[41] During his incarceration, a bikers' magazine ran a "Free Sonny Barger" campaign, selling T-shirts and bumper stickers, which helped pay his legal expenses. A delegation of Angels and their chief rival motorcycle gang, the Gypsy Jokers, met the activist Jerry Rubin and poet Allen Ginsberg in front of 1,000 people at San Jose State College to negotiate clearance for the November march scheduled for Oakland. [16] When Otto Friedli, the founder of the original San Bernardino Hells Angels chapter, was imprisoned in 1958, Barger was proclaimed de facto national president. [45] Barger and his three co-defendants were acquitted on December 29, 1972, following a seven-week trial after Ivaldi's credibility came under scrutiny. The Hells Angels: Mick Jagger Dodged Murder Contract From Mad Bikers In 1970s, Sonny Barger, fearsome leader of the Oakland Hells Angels, dies at 83, Hell's Angel racketeering defendants reduced by two, They Are Not Club Activities: The Hells Angels and the Early Struggles of the RICO Statute, Mistrial Declared in 8-Month Hells Angels Trial on Coast, Legendary Hells Angels-Outlaws Biker War Can Be Traced Back To 1974 Triple Murder In South Florida, Five-state sweep produces arrests of 32 Hells Angels, Police search spectators in area Hell's Angels trial, Biker War Hit The Heartland In 1980s: Outlaws Murder In Toledo Brought Hells Angels To Town En Masse For Trial, Daughter says life in hiding led to fathers death, Gang's terror aimed at police, FBI report says, Hells Angels Stage Funeral for Leader Killed in Bar Fight, FBI report says informant uncovered Hells Angels crimes, 38 Hells Angels Arrested In Operation Roughrider, Louisville trial gives bikers an easy ride, "Jury Finds Hells Angels Leader Guilty in Plots", Jury Finds National Hells Angels Leader Guilty of Conspiracy, Harley-riding senator says bikers get bum rap, 'Taco' Bowman, ex-head of Outlaws biker gang, dies at 69, Ex-Biker Boss: Outlaws MC Power Spike ONeill Put Wrench In Potential Peace Treaty With Hells Angels In 93, The Lancaster National Speedway Slayings: Hells Angels-Outlaws Biker War Peaked In 1990s With Racetrack Fight, Bombings in Chicago, Rockford linked to motorcycle gang merger, Hell's Angels motorcycle gang expands territory in Illinois, The Legend of Taco Bowman: Beloved Outlaws MC Leaders Biker Empire Began Crumbling In Summer Of 97, Chico Mora Led the Dirty Dozen Into the Hells Angels' Camp, Claiming Arizona for the Red and White, Ex-Outlaws biker boss speaks out, sees trouble with Hells Angels, Biker killed in gang fight at Hellraiser Ball, "Biker killed in gang fight at Hellraiser Ball | the Independent | the Independent", 'Hellraisers' brawl: L.I. [85] The meetings ended with the American leaders imposing a truce on their Scandinavian chapters as neither the Bandidos nor the Hells Angels wanted to see a biker ban. [19], According to George Wethern who later testified against the club and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program in his 1978 book A Wayward Angel, Barger convened a meeting of the leaders of the Hells Angels and other California motorcycle clubs in 1960 in which the various clubs parleyed over the mutual problem of police harassment. [15], In 1956, Barger joined his first motorcycle club, the Oakland Panthers, which he founded with a group of fellow military veterans. Barger then made plans to provide an alibi for Tait. Barger also circulated a photograph of the two Outlaws who killed Webb, firstly at an Oakland chapter meeting on November 30, 1986, and again at a summit of West Coast chapter officers on January 3, 1987. Sonny Barger was a founding member of the Oakland, California Hells Angels and a bestselling author and actor. [42] Barger was, however, sentenced to ninety days in jail after walking out of a court session. A statement on his official Facebook page Thursday read . [42] Cross was also imprisoned, for possession of amphetamines in 1975, however, and Barger allegedly continued to lead the Hells Angels from his cell at Folsom State Prison. They affiliated with the Angels mother chapter in San Bernadino; the clubs unified primarily by their battles with the Jokers. We really missed the boat not switching over to the Japanese models when they began building bigger bikes. The supposed peace meeting, scheduled to be held in an eastern state, was in fact an opportunity for the Hells Angels to assassinate their rivals' leadership, according to investigators. For over 60 years, Barger was the quintessential leader and one of the early founding members of the Harley Davidson straddling countercultural organisation. Alleged kidnapping mastermind apparently fabricated family ties to Hells Angels founder, American Legend Sonny Barger celebrate his 80. He marketed various Sonny Barger items, including his own salsa, and began writing books, including a biography, Hells Angel (2001), written with the twin brothers Keith and Kent Zimmerman. [32] Barger married Gruhlke while he was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison in 1973. I'll usually say "Fuck Harley-Davidson." (KTXL) A funeral will be held in Stockton this weekend for Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the founder of the Oakland Hells Angels chapter who passed away in June from cancer. Sonny had a huge influence on the club and brought it to a world level. Though the outcome of most cases was mistrial, he and Sharon were the only two acquitted outright. [84][83], In 1997, the government of Denmark contemplated banning all outlaw biker clubs in response to the Great Nordic Biker War. Birthday, "Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger dies at 83", "Sonny Barger, famous Hells Angel and bestselling author, dead at 83 of cancer", Hells Angels motorcycle club leader Sonny Barger dies at age 83, Hells Angels want to hold Sonny Barger memorial service at Oakland Coliseum, "An estimated 7,000 attend funeral for Hells Angels leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger at Stockton 99 Speedway", "Tucker Carlson gives speech at Sonny Barger's funeral in Northern California", "Look Homeward Angelcycle Icon Sonny Barger Kick-Starts Life as a Free Man by Violating Parole", "Hell's author; Legendary bad-ass biker Sonny Barger and his roaring Harley are burnin' up the highways on a uh book tour? When the overall president was sent to prison in 1958, Sonny, aged 20, replaced him, and moved the mother chapter to Oakland. He also attested that the FBI had asked him to fake his own death in order to further their investigation against the Hells Angels, to which he refused. In 1969, he began a relationship with Sharon Gruhlke, a former beauty queen from Livermore. Bullshit, it was the end of nothingAltamont may have been some big catastrophe to the hippies, but it was just another Hells Angels event to me". I've asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing. Who was Sonny Barger, the Hells Angels member whose funeral service is A farewell message, which the biker and writer had prepared before his death, was published on his Facebook profile. [58] U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese stated that Barger's arrest had averted five murders. [12] His diagnosis and treatment took place at Fort Miley VA Hospital in San Francisco. [32] As a result of his imprisonment, Barger was forced to relinquish his presidency of the Oakland chapter for the first time since its inception. "If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone," said Barger in a. Credit: Pete Rosos. Barger, Beyea and Popkin were arrested after the Cadillac was chased for four miles by converging police. [52] Barger was held on a $1 million bail and spent 14 months in San Francisco County Jail before and during the trial. Later that year, Barger suffered a fractured skull during a fight with Oakland police. The Oakland police reportedly stood aside and let the attack commence, whereas the Berkeley police intervened to stop the bikers from assaulting the protesters. Insert image . Barger's death was announced in a self-written Facebook post. [12][16][107], On March 7, 2003, Barger was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies after a reported domestic dispute with his wife and stepdaughter at their home in New River, Arizona. Sonny Barger Funeral | Sonny Barger, Face of the Hells Angels, Dies at [22] Amidst claims by the Hells Angels' attorneys, Jack Berman and Herman Mintz, of insufficient evidence and an illegal search by arresting officers, all five defendants pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful imprisonment. [55], By 1978, the Hells Angels had chapters in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and South Carolina. [4] He emerged as the Hells Angels' most prominent member during the counterculture era and was reputed by law enforcement and media to be the club's international president, an allegation he repeatedly denied. [96] He subsequently wrote several biker-related novels. An informant had led investigating detectives to the location of the automobile in which Long's corpse was found. Barger had liked the discipline, masculine camaraderie, and learning how to disassemble weapons. On November 30, 2010, Barger made a guest appearance as Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz on the season 3 finale of the FX television series Sons of Anarchy, about a fictional outlaw motorcycle club, allegedly based on the Hells Angels. [117] Fox News host Tucker Carlson spoke at the funeral. [86], On October 18, 1997, the five-chapter strong Dirty Dozen biker club of Arizona "patched over" to became Hells Angels chapters. Registered in England No. I've lived a long and good life filled with adventure. Sonny Barger obituary: Hells Angels founder dies at 83 - Legacy.com Discovered in the trunk of the Pontiac were three club "prospects" William Hood, Russell Huddleston and Danny Jarman. Unless you cross him. "[5], Barger was employed as a machine operator from 1960 to 1965, when he was dismissed due to extended absences. [71] Barger and three other defendants were also convicted on the misdemeanor charge of knowingly converting a copy of a government document, while five others were acquitted of all charges. [1][54] Barger himself admitted during the trial that he had used and sold narcotics in the 1960s, but asserted that his actions did not involve the Hells Angels. He has nothing else to live for". Sonny Barger - Wikipedia He will retire only when he dies. [4] Reflecting on the Altamont concert, which has been referred to variously as "the end of the hippie dream" and "the day the Sixties died",[37] Barger wrote in his 2000 autobiography Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club: "All that shit about Altamont being the end of an era was a bunch of intellectual crap. [77][78] The Angels' November 1994 "patch over" of the Hell's Henchmen biker gang in the Outlaws' home base of Chicago resulted in a number of shootings and bombings. It was paid for by the FBI. Many have since argued that the concept of the peace and love, Woodstock 60s ended that day. [50] He and fifteen others were arrested during a series of raids carried out in the Bay Area by around 200 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents. Sonny Barger obituary | US news | The Guardian [87] Barger was later a member of the Yavapai County chapter. [7] When students at the University of California, Berkeley announced an anti-Vietnam War rally, the Oakland Hells Angels denounced the rally as "a despicable un-American activity". A year later he and Don Boots Reeves founded the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels, using a logo borrowed from a club in Sacramento. They divorced after a domestic dispute in which she was hospitalised for a broken rib and lacerated spleen. He used us for dupes". [85] To forestall this possibility, Barger attended the peace talks in Seattle representing the Hells Angels along with Thomas Mller of the Angels Malm chapter who was in charge of all the Hells Angels in Europe. Sonny Barger, Hells Angels founder, dies at 83 - Yahoo! News Sonny Barger memorial service: Hells Angels ask to use Coliseum The Rough Rider: Entrepreneur. Net Worth, Salary & Earnings of Sonny Barger in 2023. [7] Barger and the Hells Angels became associated with the counterculture phenomenon of the 1960s. Having stage III laryngeal cancer, he underwent a total laryngectomy with bilateral functional neck dissections. Hells Angels leader Sonny Barger dies at 83 | Reuters [16] Although always a predominantly male organization, the Hells Angels had female members until 1964 when Barger imposed a rule making the group male only. [15] Founding their own Hells Angels club on April 1, 1957, each member wore the patch a small skull wearing an aviator cap set within a set of wings, later copyrighted as the Hells Angels' "Death's Head" logo after having replicas made at a trophy store in Hayward. [19] The Angels declared war on the Outlaws during a summit of various chapter presidents in Rochester, New York, in November 1978. [48] Barger gave a series of interviews, including one with Geraldo Rivera for his Good Night America television program, in which he portrayed himself as a model prisoner and said: "They got to let me out sometime. Fox News's Tucker Carlson speaks at Hells Angels president's funeral As the longtime president of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, Sonny Barger, who has died aged 83, was the epitome of the outlaw biker. [93] Under the terms that Chancey and Anastas struck, the status quo was preserved as the Hells Angels recognized Chicago as within the territory of the Outlaws in exchange for being allowed to keep their chapters in the Chicago suburbs. [53] The defense maintained that the club should not be held accountable for crimes committed by individual members. [83][84] Although the Outlaws failed to kill either man, a number of Hells Angels-owned businesses in southern California were firebombed. [60] Cleveland Hells Angel-turned-government witness Clarence Crouch testified for the prosecution that Gentry had murdered Tanner as part of an initiation process into the Hells Angels. Sonny Barger Obituary (2016) | Thomaston, Alabama [17] Unlike the World War II veterans who formed the early Hells Angels chapters, many of the founding members of the Oakland chapter were former servicemen with disreputable military records. [59], In October 1982, Barger was part of a large group of Hells Angels from across the country who attended the murder trial of Jack "Jack-O-Lantern" Gentry, a member of the club's Cleveland chapter accused of shooting Outlaws member Ralph "Real Time" Tanner behind the Outlaws' Toledo clubhouse on November 30, 1980. Sonny (Ralph Hubert) Barger, motorcycle club leader, born 8 October 1938; died 29 June 2022, Longtime Hells Angels president who cultivated his outlaw image and turned the motorcycle club into a global brand, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Sonny Barger, second left, in the film Hells Angels 69. The Pontiac struck a tree after its tires were shot out by pursuing park rangers, and England and Stefanson fled into the brush only to be apprehended later. [14] After his return from the Army, Barger drifted between menial jobs and lived with his father in a single residence at a hotel, later moving in with his sister and her children. Sonny Barger, a Hells Angel known for his role on Sons of Anarchy, died of cancer on June 29 at age 83. "[25] President Johnson did not reply to the letter.[26]. Barger died on Thursday, June 30 aged 83 following a battle with cancer. [7] On July 2, 1980, following an eight-month trial in which 194 witnesses testified, a mistrial was declared when a jury failed to reach a verdict on counts against eighteen defendants. The funeral was heavily attended; thousands of bikers descended on Stockton for the 6-hour affair. [35] He blamed the Rolling Stones' extended delay before making an onstage appearance for worsening the hostility of the crowd, and said the Hells Angels refused to act as bodyguards for "a bunch of sissy, marble-mouthed prima donnas" when the band asked the bikers to escort them to the stage. Barger was represented by defense attorney Stephen Miller, and Barger's wife worked on the defense team as a paralegal. Sonny Barger, biker outlaw and founder of Hells Angels, dies at 83 [14] Barger took umbrage with what he felt was the Stones' refusal to take responsibility for the catastrophe and he said in the days after the concert: "Mick Jagger, like, put it all on us. He has acquired his income from his various appearances in films and television series. [51] The bombings prompted the California Department of Justice to issue a warning to police departments that the Angels were engaged on a campaign to eliminate law enforcement personnel who investigated their drug activities. Rednecks couldn't stand us either. Hells Angels pay tribute to leader of outlaw motorcycle gang Sonny Barger [40] During this period, Barger's main lieutenants were Sergey Walton, James "Jim-Jim" Brandes and Kenneth "K.O." Birthday: October 8, 1938 How Old - Age: 84 Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. [7] He appears in the documentary film about the Altamont Free Concert: Gimme Shelter (1970). Ralph "Sonny" Barger | Obituary | Beyond the Dash [31] In the late 1960s, Barger began selling heroin and also developed an addiction to cocaine. I think it was a devastating blow to the government, and I couldnt be happier with the verdict except if I had been found innocent myself. Who was Sonny Barger? Biker Dies Aged 83 - Newsweek It was something he had earned, but also an image he. "[27] Barger and the Hells Angels are also depicted in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), during Ken Kesey's La Honda encampment. Updated on Sept. 16: A funeral for Sonny Barger has been planned for Sept. 24 at the Stockton 99 Speedway, the Oakland Hells Angels announced on its . The reputation of the Oakland Hells Angels preceded them when Hunter S Thompson, then a relatively unknown writer, rode with the gang for 18 months, chronicling their violent exploits in his 1967 book: Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. "[19] The incident led to a collection of students, left-wing political groups, and labor unions led by Allen Ginsberg and Jerry Rubin meeting with motorcycle club representatives, headed by the president of the Sacramento Hells Angels chapter, in a cafeteria at San Jose State College, seeking assurance that a planned Vietnam Day Committee protest march in Oakland on November 20, 1965, would go undisturbed. I ended up not liking him at all, a tall skinny, typical hillbilly from Kentucky. This is not surprising. Sonny Barger Obituary - Death Notice and Service Information - Legacy.com It was something he had earned, but also an image he cultivated with charisma and shrewdness, turning Hells Angels into a worldwide brand. When Marlon Brando, as the leader of the Black Rebels, is asked what he is rebelling against, he replies, Whaddaya got?. Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger, Jr. (October 8, 1938 June 29, 2022) was an American outlaw biker, convicted criminal, author and actor who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. biker-gang rumble leaves 1 dead, 10 hurt, A founder of the Hells Angels testifies for ex-Bandidos leader. A scene from the 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter showing violence at the Altamont free festival. I ride them because I'm in the club, and that's the image, but if I could I would seriously consider riding a Honda ST1100 or a BMW. [30] Ingalls, a member of the Hells Angels' Oakland chapter who had previously transferred from the Omaha, Nebraska, charter, was found guilty of burglarizing Barger's valuable coin collection by a six-man kangaroo court at another member's home on February 1, 1968, and subsequently killed. [20] The Oakland Hells Angels maintained a preeminent position as "first among equals" by having the largest membership of any U.S. chapter and because of Barger's esteem among club members internationally. His father had German and Dutch ancestry, and his mother was of Italian descent. [99], In terms of pure workmanship, personally I don't like Harleys. [12][113][114] His death was announced in a Facebook post reading: If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone. Hells Angels founding member Sonny Barger dies aged 83 from cancer "[7], Barger referred to the 1970s as "a gangster era for" the Hells Angels, writing in his autobiography: "The other clubs tried to take our [reputation] from us. LIVE STREAM Sonny Barger's Funeral Service @ Speed Union TV - Sat Sept A prosecution witness, Richard Ivaldi, testified that he witnessed Barger shoot Agero dead as he slept at the home of an absent acquaintance, and that Barger subsequently ordered the others to set fire to the residence. That's all cops and newspapers. They hated each other. [74][75] Colorado state senator Nighthorse Campbell had allegedly tried to use his influence to have Barger released from prison earlier. Sonny Barger was born on October 8, 1938 and is 84 years old now. He rode his motorcycle into the pages of world history. [18] With Barger as president, the Oakland Hells Angels traveled around California and amalgamated with the other Hells Angels chapters, dividing territory and forming club bylaws. For at least five years beginning in 1967, Barger and the Hells Angels turned over weapons acquired on the black market or locations of weapons, which could otherwise be used by Black Panther Party and Weather Underground radicals, to the Oakland Police Department in exchange for the release of jailed Hells Angels members. [4][13] Growing up, Barger was suspended from school several times for assaulting teachers, and he often fought with other boys. [21] The author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson wrote in his 1967 book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs that "in any gathering of Hell's Angels, there is no doubt who is running the show", describing Barger as "a 6-foot, 170-pound warehouseman from East Oakland, the coolest head in the lot, and a tough, quick-thinking dealer when any action starts", and saying of him: "By turns he is a fanatic, a philosopher, a brawler, a shrewd compromiser and a final arbitrator.