Bandidos chapters remain legal

The Hague, Netherlands (December 19, 2018) BTN — The national chapter of a motorcycle club was correctly banned by a lower court two years ago, but the local branches of the club can remain, appeal court judges said on Tuesday.

Bandidos Motorcycle Club (BMC) Europa and the Dutch organisation Bandidos Motorcycle Club Holland had gone to court to appeal against a Utrecht court decision to ban their organisations two years ago. In that ruling, judges banned the motorcycle club with immediate effect in order to ‘halt behaviour which could disrupt society’. 

The appeal court judges upheld the ban on the national organisation but said the ruling ‘does not apply to other, independent Bandidos chapters in the Netherlands because the public prosecution request was not directed at this.’ 

The group’s lawyer Marnix van der Werf said on Tuesday that the appeal court ruling was a victory for the group. ‘Nothing has changed and the individual Bandidos clubs remain legal,’ he said. ‘People from the various clubs have ‘Holland’ on the back of their jackets but Bandidos Holland is not a real association.’

Sittard 

The organisation has been operating in the Netherlands since 2014 and has chapters in Sittard, Nijmegen and Utrecht. The public prosecution department began trying to have motorcycle clubs banned in 2007 using criminal law, but that backfired after the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the department had failed to properly establish that the Hells Angels formed a criminal association. 

In September, the public prosecution department has asked judges in Assen to ban the motorcycle club No Surrender, arguing that the group is an outlaw gang and involved in drugs and other crime.

SOURCE: Dutch News

Mayor wants Hells Angels MC clubhouse gone

Surrey, B.C. (December 18, 2018) BTN — Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says he had no idea that the Hells Angels had opened a clubhouse in his city, even after a pledge from police several years ago that the motorcycle club would not be allowed to set up there.

McCallum, who was elected in October, said on Monday that the Hells Angels are “not welcome” in Surrey.

After a service this past Saturday service for murdered Hells Angel Chad Wilson, his fellow bikers gathered at the HA’s Hardside chapter clubhouse, which is on a small acreage near 180th St. and 96th Ave.

Mayor wants the Hells Angels MC Clubhouse closed up

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Surrey RCMP, Vancouver Police Department and other RCMP detachments monitored both the Maple Ridge funeral and the afterparty, both of which Postmedia reported on.

Wilson had moved over to the Hardside chapter when it opened on March 17, 2017. He had previously been a member of the Haney Hells Angels and the “Dago” chapter based in San Diego.

The clubhouse is believed to have opened some time in 2018 — five years after former top Surrey Mountie Bill Fordy pledged to block another Hells Angels chapter from using Surrey as its base.

Related | Hells Angels MC purchases vacant church

Related | Hells Angels lose bid to keep clubhouse

McCallum echoed that sentiment in a statement to Postmedia on Monday. “Hells Angels are not welcome in Surrey. I was unaware that a clubhouse had been set up here recently,” McCallum said. “I will be addressing this matter immediately with the officer in charge of Surrey RCMP.”

That officer, Asst. Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, said Monday that his officers are well aware of the clubhouse. “The police and the City of Surrey were made aware of the Hells Angels intention to set up a clubhouse in 2017 and, at that time, the city and the police collectively reviewed all legal means to keep this clubhouse out of Surrey,” McDonald said in a statement Monday.

“However, the police have no legal authority to deny someone from purchasing or renting a residence.”

He said he agreed with McCallum that the Hells Angels are not welcome in Surrey “and that we will use every lawful means to ensure that their members are not participating in any criminal activity in this city.”

McDonald said both Surrey RCMP and officers with the anti-gang CFSEU “have regular contact with members of the Hardside chapter to ensure they understand our expectations regarding public safety.” There have not been any problems at events hosted by Hardside or other outlaw motorcycle gangs in Surrey, he said.

In January 2013, former head Mountie Fordy said he met with the president of the West Point Hells Angels chapter to tell him not to establish a clubhouse in Surrey. West Point started in 2012 and was expected to base itself in Surrey.

West Point waited years to open its clubhouse, which is located in a rented house on 2.25 acres in Langley, near the Canada-U.S. border. The Hardside chapter also appears to be in a rented house, which is located on two acres of property zoned agricultural. The property, assessed this year at just $47,000 because it is farmland, is owned by a Delta couple that has no apparent association with the Hells Angels.

Hells Angels spokesman Rick Ciarniello did not respond to an emailed request for comment Monday.

Currently, the Hells Angels are embroiled in a long-running court case with the B.C. government over the ownership of three clubhouses in Nanaimo, Kelowna and East Vancouver. The director of civil forfeiture wants the properties turned over to the government as instruments of criminal activity. The Angels have alleged the Civil Forfeiture Act is unconstitutional. The trial resumes in February.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said the Hells Angels use their club as “a place where they can have their meetings, social gatherings, parties, and store assets belonging to the club.”

The bikers also use their clubhouses to create legitimacy and public awareness of their brand.

“Clubhouses are armed by overt surveillance and fortified to ensure security,” she said. “Clubhouses also serve as an intimidation factor in the communities where they exist.”

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun

Clearing the head

Taking a putt to clear the head, sort out priorities and gain some new perspectives on life 

Hells Angels MC purchases vacant church

Brookhaven, NY (December 18, 2018) BTN — Brookhaven Town officials say the Hells Angels have purchased a former Centereach church and plan to use it as the club’s new headquarters.

The motorcycle club's Suffolk County chapter, which held a children's toy drive at the Lynbrook Street site earlier this month, plans to modify the structure's interior and obtain town permits before moving in, officials said. Town officials said club leaders have been cooperative and plan to be "good neighbors."

Brookhaven officials said some neighboring residents have expressed concern about the club's purchase of the property, but they said the town cannot prevent the group from using the site as long as members abide by local codes.

“I share the concerns of the residents who have called me,” town Councilman Kevin LaValle said. “There's nothing we can say, like, 'You can’t come in here.' . . . They just have to come into compliance before they use the building.”

In a phone interview, Manhattan attorney Ron Kuby, who represents the Hells Angels, said the Suffolk club wants “to have a safe and happy community.”

“Even though they have a fearsome reputation, as neighbors they tend to be an asset to the neighborhood,” Kuby said. “Historically, anywhere there has been a Hells Angels presence, street crime has fallen off dramatically. 

They patronize local businesses, and they are a private organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who largely wish to be left alone to pursue the things that are of interest to them. …Once people peel back the layer of prejudice they have toward them, they find that they’re good to have around.”

A Suffolk County police spokesman said the department was aware of the group's purchase of the property, but he declined to comment further.

Deputy Town Attorney David Moran said he met with two Hells Angels leaders on Friday to discuss building requirements and the group's plans for the property. He said the club is required to obtain building permits for any work done on the site, and a certificate of occupancy before the group moves in.

“It went swimmingly," Moran said of the meeting. "They were gentlemen.  . . . All they want to do is comply and be good neighbors.”

Town officials inspected the building  and ordered the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Moran said.

LaValle said Hells Angels members have mentioned plans to use the building, which has been vacant for several years, as a church, but a flyer referred to the property as a clubhouse.

“That’s something we’re going to have to talk to them about,” LaValle said. “We’re going to get a better idea of what specifically is going to go on the property.”

The Dec. 8 toy drive, which included a live music performance inside the church, attracted "a few hundred people," raising concerns about parking, Moran said. He added the town received no noise complaints associated with the gathering.

He said the group planned to distribute gifts collected at the event to local fire departments and religious groups.

The club has not submitted a building permit application with the town, Moran said.

“As far as we’re concerned, they have a clean slate and we’re going to treat them the way we treat everyone," he said.

SOURCE: News Day