Real-life Outlaws Motorcycle Club who influenced The Bikeriders – murder to prostitution

Unless you’ve lived under a rock you’ve more than likely heard of the Hells Angels, but did you know they weren’t the first criminal motorcycle organisation?

While the Hells Angels was set up by World War Two veteran, Otto Friedli, in 1948, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club started 13 years earlier. Now, thanks to a new film starring Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer, called The Bikeriders, a spotlight has been shone on the organisation that has 441 chapters in 43 countries.

Although the Hollywood version is ‘inspired’ by the gang’s story, the truth of their alleged activity is still pretty wild. The organisation has been linked with drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution rings, weapons trafficking, even and murder.

READ MORE: Inside ‘Terrordome’ prison notorious for murder, experiments and inmates ‘boiled alive’

There’s lots of quality news coming out of the US.

However, members have consistently denied any connection to criminal activity, insisting they’re merely a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who lead unconventional lives.

But, despite what they say, the Outlaws has been designated an organised crime syndicate by numerous law enforcement and international intelligence agencies, including the United States Department of Justice.

The department classifies the Outlaws as one of 300 “outlaw motorcycle gangs,” or OMGs. These are described as “highly structured criminal organizations whose members engage in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking.”

The Daily Star has delved into the club’s history to reveal more about what we do know.

Founded in McCook, Illinois in 1935, the Outlaws MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in the world. It is also the third largest biker gang in the world, behind the Hells Angels and the Bandidos.

But despite their common ground with the other clubs, namely bikes and illegal activity, they are sworn enemies. One of the Outlaws patches reads: “God forgives, Outlaws don’t.”

And it certainly seems to be the case when it comes to settling disputes, which can sometimes be deadly.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the two factions waged a violent turf war in the city during the 1990s —including a series of bombings, shootings, and stabbings before reaching an uneasy truce.

And it’s not just in the US where fallouts with their rivals have taken place, with the organisation having a global presence in countries including Canada, Japan, Russia and Ireland.

One incident on British soil saw seven Outlaws sentenced to life imprisonment for gunning down Hells Angel, Gerry Tobin, on the M40 in 2007.

The 35-year-old mechanic was shot on his way home from a bikers’ festival. A green Rover in the outside lane of the motorway pulled alongside him and two shots were fired from different weapons. Tobin was hit just below his helmet and his customised Harley-Davidson spun on for 200 yards before it came to a halt.

The following year four Outlaws members were jailed for their part in a mass brawl using knifes, hammers and even a machete at Birmingham International Airport.

While the film is a romanticised story of rebels on the road, the inspiration comes from a former history student who travelled with the bikers and took a photographic journal of his time with them.

Danny Lyon embarked on a project which saw the release of his photographs in a book called The Bikeriders, in 1968.

And it was reportedly said to have been the inspiration to the 1969 movie, Easy Rider.

“I loved my work and loved what I was doing, but it was a subject to me,” Lyon told A Rabbit’s Foot, “so when I thought I had what I needed, I knew it was time to move on, and I did.”

In a November 2016 interview with the Sun-Times, a former Outlaws member named Peter James said the Hells Angels’ presence in the Chicago area has grown more influential and could ignite more conflict.

However, he suggested modern Outlaws have shifted away from crime and violence, which appears to reflect members maintaining that the club merely embraces an alternative lifestyle and isn’t an organised crime syndicate.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk