Hells Angels M/C

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation.

Their primary motto is "When we do right, nobody remembers. When we do wrong, nobody forgets".(Crimes of the Big Four motorcycle gangs, 2009)

Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada classify the Angels as one of the "big four" motorcycle gangs, contending that members carry out widespread violence, drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, and extortion. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies

The history of the Hells Angels is shrouded in mystery and controversy, due in part to the fact that various individuals have been solely attributed to its founding, and also due in part to a very strict code of secrecy and what can be construed as a practice of deliberate mythologizing by some members of the club. Members don't use last names, even with one another. They just use a first name, and, more often than not, a nickname. Due to its colorful history and the confirmed links of some of its members to organized crime, speculation and rumor about both the club's history and activities are rife.

The Hells Angels were founded in the late 1940s or early 1950s in California, likely through an amalgamation of former members from different motorcycle clubs, such as the Boozefighters and The Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington. The Hells Angels were originally formed in 1948 in Fontana, California. (Crimes of the Big Four motorcycle gangs, 2009)

The name "Hells Angels" was believed to have been inspired by the common historical use, in both World War I and World War II, to name squadrons or other fighting groups by fierce, death-defying name. The Flying Tigers in China fielded three squadrons of aircraft, and one squadron was named "Hell's Angels". The 1930 Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels displayed extraordinary and dangerous feats of aviation. Several military units used the name Hells Angels prior to the founding of the motorcycle club of the same name, including the U.S. Air Force 303rd USAAF Heavy Bombardment Group (H), a military unit formed in the ...