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. Sonny Barger - Wikipedia Barger was represented by defense attorney Stephen Miller, and Barger's wife worked on the defense team as a paralegal. [61] The trial took place in Lucas County circuit court in Toledo, a city considered Outlaws territory. [67] He also covertly recorded club meetings by wearing a wire. On October 18, 1987, Tait informed Barger of a fictitious plot to bomb the Outlaws' Chicago headquarters, which he purported would likely kill five or six people, and Barger replied: "That'll be really nice after that Joliet thing." Sonny Barger was born on 8 October 1938 in Modesto, California, USA. [69] Barger was among thirteen people taken into custody in the Bay Area, where over 400 FBI, ATF, and California State Police personnel carried out 26 raids on homes and other properties, seizing more than 100 weapons, approximately $1 million in cash and drugs, and three methamphetamine laboratories. Oakland police sergeant Edward "Ted" Hilliard testified in 1972 that he accepted guns, dynamite, and grenades from Barger personally in return for deals on arrests during at least fifteen separate meetings, the most recent of which took place in the spring of 1971. Credit: Pete Rosos. Sonny Barger, famous Hells Angel and bestselling author, dead at 83 of cancer Barger disputed what authorities have long maintained that the Hells Angels are a criminal enterprise held. Barger, 83, died of liver cancer at his Livermore home in late June. Concert goers and musicians alike were subjected to violence from the Hells Angels, including Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane, who was knocked unconscious, and audience member Meredith "Murdock" Hunter, who was stabbed to death. Submit an Obituary. Hells Angels funeral for Sonny Barger expected to draw thousands as During a brawl between the bikers and the crowd, a black spectator, Meredith Hunter, was knifed to death by an Angel, Alan Passaro. Barger then made plans to provide an alibi for Tait. That claim was revised to using the gun to keep the band playing after the violence, which can be seen in the 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter, had begun. [83][84] Although the Outlaws failed to kill either man, a number of Hells Angels-owned businesses in southern California were firebombed. Members who were of little value to the Hells Angels were drummed out, and intravenous drug use was banned by the club. He was an actor and producer, known for Sons of Anarchy (2008), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Angels from Hell (1968). [16] Barger was not the founder of the Hells Angels as is often claimed the group was founded in 1948 but he became its best known member to such an extent that he is often misidentified as the club's founder. [66], Barger sent a stolen copy of a government document prepared by the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), which contained the identities and personal data of Outlaws members and associates, via express mail to Webb's sister in Louisville, Kentucky, who then turned it over to Hells Angels members. The ten defendants went on trial at Louisville federal court beginning in July 1988, accused of plotting to bomb the clubhouse of the Outlaws' Louisville chapter, located in the city's Portland neighborhood, in retaliation for the killing of John Cleave Webb. He also sent a telegram to the then president, Lyndon Johnson, offering Hells Angels services to provide a trained group of crack gorillas [sic] to demoralize the Viet Cong and advance the cause of freedom. [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. They hated each other. [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". The blacks and Latinos didn't like us. [90] He founded a motorcycle repair company in Arizona named the Big Red Machine, a reference to a popular nickname for the Hells Angels. According to a post on Facebook, which includes a. Barger's testimony challenged earlier assertions by government witnesses who testified that Anthony Benesh, a motorcyclist who was shot dead in Austin on March 18, 2006, after attempting to establish a Hells Angels chapter in the city, was killed by Bandidos members because he had ignored the club's warnings to not set up a HAMC chapter in Texas. Sonny Barger, Face of the Hells Angels, Dies at 83 Barger was attracting attention, and in 1966 Hunter S Thompsons first book, Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, appeared; though it was less gonzo than his later work, Bargers portrayal lent much to Thompsons own future image. He dropped out of school in the tenth grade. I've lived a long and good life filled with adventure. He was 83 years old. Sonny Barger, leader of Oakland Hells Angels, dies at 83 KPIX CBS SF Bay Area 357K subscribers Subscribe 1.2K Share 116K views 7 months ago Sonny Barger, a founding member of the Oakland. Although many of his school friends became drug addicts, Barger worked at a grocery store and enlisted in the U.S. Army, aged sixteen in 1955, but was given an honorable discharge fourteen months later when it was discovered that he had forged his birth certificate in order to be able to join. The defendants shook hands with Mullen and thanked him for his testimony. 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[7][23] In a jailhouse interview with Cynthia Gorney of The Washington Post in October 1979, he stated: "I can tell you why they want to get rid of the Hells Angels, what I think. Show creator Kurt Sutter spent time with Barger and other members of Hells Angels researching for the show, and acted opposite Barger in his scene. [7] The Oakland chapter, with Barger serving as its president, assumed an informal position of authority within the Hells Angels that began following a standoff with local police and the California Highway Patrol in the aftermath of an outlaw motorcycle meeting in Porterville in September 1963. Sonny Barger was born on October 8, 1938 and is 84 years old now. LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) Sonny Barger, the leather-clad figurehead of the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle club, has died. Keep your head up high, stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor. Sonny Barger, a founder of the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle club, has died at 83 years old. [63] A female juror was excused from duty after her son was threatened by a group of Hells Angels at a downtown Toledo bar that he would have "lots of problems" if his mother did not "vote the right way". [62] Barger and his Oakland contingent rented a house on Toledo's Sylvania Street, and the Angels showed a significant presence in the city throughout the court case. [86], On October 18, 1997, the five-chapter strong Dirty Dozen biker club of Arizona "patched over" to became Hells Angels chapters. Around a hundred Hells Angels wearing full "colors" attended the trial, as did the country singer Johnny Paycheck, a friend of Barger. "If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone. He rode his motorcycle into the pages of world history. [7] According to Barger's chief attorney James Crew, Ivaldi himself was involved in the conspiracy to kill Agero and, knowing he was a prime suspect and fearing retaliation from the "Texas Mafia", he tried to shift the blame to the Hells Angels. Jordan Potter. Barger returned on November 29, 2011, in the season 4 finale, part one. [16] According to U.S. Attorney William Hunter, the "cornerstone" of the Hells Angels' drug enterprise was the "largescale manufacture and mass distribution of methamphetamine". [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. Ralph "Sonny" Barger was a founding member of the Oakland, California, chapter of the Hells Angels in 1957. . 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. The Hells Angels want to hold the memorial service in the Coliseum parking lot in August. "[7] On January 23, 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld Barger's convictions, stating that granting him amnesty "would greatly intrude into the law enforcement functions of the executive branches of federal and state governments". We're all across the country, and now we're in foreign countries also. First of all we're a virtual army. Sonny Barger, Hells Angels founder, dies at 83 June 30, 2022, 10:07 AM The FBI classified the Hells Angels as a criminal enterprise, but Sonny Barger denied that status frequently.. Later that year, Barger suffered a fractured skull during a fight with Oakland police. In December 1969 the Angels were hired by the Rolling Stones to provide security at the Altamont free festival. [40] During this period, Barger's main lieutenants were Sergey Walton, James "Jim-Jim" Brandes and Kenneth "K.O." Obituaries News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, . Thousands turned out for the six-hour funeral service for Ralph "Sonny" Barger, 83. [67] Two EPIC manuals and a homemade explosive device were discovered in Barger's home by federal agents. [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. [66], Barger and nine other Hells Angels from California and Alaska were extradited to Kentucky to stand trial for conspiring to transport firearms and explosives across state lines. Unless you cross him. [12], In 1983, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer after years of heavy smoking. Sonny Barger obituary | US news | The Guardian We invite you to share condolences for Sonny Barger in our Guest Book. [22] Barger and the Hells Angels, many of whom were military veterans, considered themselves anti-communist and anti-subversion. Sonny Barger memorial service: Hells Angels ask to use Coliseum As he was a former felon, both were illegal. LIVERMORE, Calif. Sonny Barger, the leather-clad fixture of 1960s counterculture and figurehead of the Hells Angels motorcycle club who was at the notorious Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. [105], Barger's first wife Elsie Mae (ne George) died on February 1, 1967, from an embolism in her bloodstream after undergoing an illegal abortion. [70] Under a special arrangement approved by U.S. District Judge Edward H. Johnstone, defense attorneys subpoenaed each of the codefendants as witnesses, entitling them to per diem witness fees. They divorced after a domestic dispute in which she was hospitalised for a broken rib and lacerated spleen. Barger died on Thursday, June 30 aged 83 following a battle with cancer. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. By now, Barger had given up his job as a machinist, and taken advantage of the publicity to work as a technical adviser in exploitation biker movies, beginning with Roger Cormans Wild Angels (1966), starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra. [7] He appears in the documentary film about the Altamont Free Concert: Gimme Shelter (1970). The Associated Press. "If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone," said Barger in a. Sonny Barger Obituary (2022) - Houston, TX - Examiner - Legacy.com Sonny Barger dead at 83 - Hells Angels founder dies - The Sun "[72], On March 10, 1989, Barger was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix in Arizona. Sonny Barger Funeral Service | Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger Passed Away Flowers were laid in front of the Sonoma County Hells Angels chapter last Thursday aft 370K views 111K views. [66], Operation CACUS concluded on November 10, 1987, when 38 Hells Angels members and associates in Alaska, California, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina were arrested on various narcotics, weapons, explosives, and conspiracy charges. The funeral for Sonny Barger, founder of the Hells Angels, was a private, quiet affair Saturday in . Three men drug dealers Kelly Patrick Smith, Willard Thomas and Gary Kemp, an acquaintance of Ivaldi were found shot to death in a house near San Leandro the day after Agero's murder, and the body of a woman, Karen S. Long, was discovered in the trunk of a car in Oakland on May 26. We feel that a crack group of trained guerillas could demoralize the Viet Cong and advance the cause of freedom. Many have since argued that the concept of the peace and love, Woodstock 60s ended that day. Having given his word to the Outlaws that they would be safe at the meeting, Caronite who characterised himself as a "man of honor" reportedly warned away the Outlaws when he learned of the assassination plot. Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the larger-than-life godfather of the Hells Angels who helped to transform a California-born motorcycle club into an icon of countercultural rebellion, forging a mythology. July 1, 2022. Sonny Barger, figurehead of Hells Angels, dies at 83 He was a total fake. "Ralph Barger" redirects here. Everybody hated us. He was arrested again on the same charge the following year, and for assault with a deadly weapon in 1965 and 1966. [5] The author Hunter S. Thompson called Barger "the Maximum Leader" of the Hells Angels,[6] and Philip Martin of the Phoenix New Times described him as "the archetypical Hells Angel", saying he "didn't found the motorcycle clubbut he constructed the myth". Leonard "Cool Ray" Mullen, the Outlaws member convicted of killing Webb, testified that he shot Webb over a personal feud and that there was no war between the Outlaws and the Angels. [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. Barger. His criminal record began in 1963 after he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Barger, Beyea and Popkin were arrested after the Cadillac was chased for four miles by converging police. Hells Angels founder Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger, Jr., laid to rest at According to Carlson, he was . "[7] In the late 1970s, Barger and other senior Hells Angels ordered James "Buddy" Caronite, the president of the club's East Coast faction, to organize a peace conference with Outlaws leaders. He has acquired his income from his various appearances in films and television series. 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. 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. R alph "Sonny" Barger, best known as a founding member and longtime leader of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, died last week at 83 of cancer. And in 2010, with Darwin Holmstrom, he produced a guide to safe motorcycling, Lets Ride, as if he were now fully transformed into one of the 99%. Barger temporarily resigned as president of the Oakland chapter in June 1970 to fight the charges, but returned to the position within months after his successor, John "Johnny Angel" Palomar, was sentenced to a ten-year prison term for shooting a bartender. [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. [87] Barger's role within the Arizona Hells Angels was reportedly an advisory position, as he did not hold officer status and he rarely attended rallies or public events. [73] On the day of his release, Barger took a flight to Oakland International Airport and attended a homecoming party at the Mountain House, a bar at Altamont Pass in Livermore, at which Johnny Paycheck performed. [23], Barger and his wife were among 33 members and associates of the Hells Angels' Oakland, San Francisco, Marin County, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Vallejo chapters indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statutes on June 13, 1979. His wife and family were with him when he died. Sentenced to 10 years to life, he served four and a half years at Folsom prison, and reputedly continued to run the Angels from his cell, and to marry his second wife, Sharon, there. After the spate of publicity the Hells Angels received in 1965, Barger had the club's name copyrighted. He stated following his conviction: "I think we won very handily in there. [41], On April 11, 1970, Barger was arrested on narcotics charges after Donald Howarth, a film studio property manager and 1967 Mr. America from Studio City, was apprehended while walking towards Barger's home with 17 ounces of cocaine and 30 ounces of heroin (with an estimated retail worth of $350,000) in a suitcase.