The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in McCook, Illinois, in 1935, the Outlaws MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in the world. With 441 chapters located in 43 countries, and a membership of over 5,000, the club is also the second-largest in the world, behind the Hells Angels.Outlaws president resigns in disgust Peter Edwards, Toronto Star (30 March 2009) Outlaws members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
The club is designated an organized crime syndicate by numerous law enforcement and international intelligence agencies, including the United States Department of Justice, the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, and Europol.2003 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (2003) Outlaw motorcycle gangs Europol
History Originating as the McCook Outlaws MC, the club was founded by Electro-Motive Company employees at Matilda's bar on Route 66 in the southwestern Chicago suburb of McCook, Illinois, in 1935. John Davis was reportedly the founder of the club.The Outlaws Motorcycle Club segag.org Although inactive during World War II, the Outlaws re-formed afterwards and attended the first major postwar motorcycle rally, held at Soldier Field in Chicago in May 1946. By 1950, the club had begun recruiting members from around the Chicago area and was renamed the Chicago Outlaws MC after relocating its headquarters to the South Side of the city. In 1964, the Outlaws merged with the Cult biker club from Voorheesville, New York, the Gypsy Outlaws of Milwaukee, and the Gypsy Raiders in Louisville, Kentucky, becoming the largest "one percenter" club east of the Mississippi River and the second-largest in the United States after the California-based Hells Angels. On January 1, 1965, the various aligned clubs incorporated as the American Outlaws Association. The Outlaws further expanded into Florida in July 1967 by "patching over" the Iron Cross club in West Palm Beach.
The club featured in a work of photojournalism called The Bikeriders published in 1967 by Danny Lyon, a collection of photographs and interviews documenting the lifestyle of members of the club in the 1960s.The Bikeriders. Lyon, Danny Chronicle Books, 2004 Lyon spent four years riding with the Outlaws' Chicago chapter beginning in 1963 and became a full-fledged member of the club in "an attempt to record and glorify the life of the American bike rider".The Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club rides again Patrick Sisson, Chicago Reader (April 22, 2014) Chasing outlaws: How Danny Lyon changed photography BBC (25 October 2016) The Bikeriders preceded Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs by Hunter S. Thompson, who warned Lyon that he should "get the hell out of that club unless it's absolutely necessary for photo action."Danny Lyon's inside shots Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian (20 April 2014)
During the early 1970s, a power struggle for control of the Outlaws developed between a faction of "beer drinkers" and a rival group of club members who preferred to smoke marijuana. Several Outlaws gang members, including John Davis, the reputed founder of the Outlaws, were killed by a "pot smoker" and Vietnam veteran during a shootout near Lake Shore Drive on the North Side of Chicago as a result of the feud, leaving 11 dead.Outlaws Motorcycle Gang Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (September 1, 2004)
The Outlaws' long-standing rivalry with the Hells Angels began when three Hells Angels bikers were executed and beheaded by Outlaw members in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 27, 1974.Bloody and long lasting: the feud between Hells Angels and Outlaws Sean O'Neill, The Times (20 July 2009) The triple murder was carried out in retaliation for the earlier beating of an Outlaw by a Hells Angel, which took place in New York City on December 31, 1973.FBI agent describes history of Outlaw gang Bruce Vielmetti, Tampa Bay Times (May 5, 1995) Legendary Hells Angels-Outlaws Biker War Can Be Traced Back To 1974 Triple Murder In South Florida Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (April 23, 2017) The Hells Angels declared war on the Outlaws during a club summit held in Cleveland later in 1974. The deadly conflict has cost both clubs hundreds of fatalities.
In 1977, the Outlaws became an international club when several chapters of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club in Canada "patched over".Biker gangs in Canada Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (July 13, 2011) Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs and Organized Crime (June 3, 2020) The club further expanded internationally, into France in 1993, Australia in 1994, and Norway in 1995.Australian Bikie Gangs: Complete List of Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs Amy Farrugia, New Idea (March 30, 2019) Additional chapters were subsequently established throughout Europe. In November 2006, the Outlaws became the first major outlaw motorcycle club to open a chapter in the Far East when a full charter was awarded to a club in Okinawa City.
Insignia
The Outlaws' original insignia consisted of a head-on view of a motorcycle in a winged circle, which was hand-painted onto the back of members' jackets. In 1950, the club's logo was changed; a small skull replaced the winged motorcycle, and Old English-style letters were adopted. This design was embroidered on a black shirt or hand-painted onto leather jackets. Influenced by the fictional Black Rebel Motorcycle Club depicted in the film The Wild One, the Outlaws added crossed pistons affixed to the original small skull in 1954, a design embroidered on a black western-style shirt with white piping. The skull and crossed pistons logo, known as "Charlie", was redesigned in 1959, making it larger and with more detail. The club's "Charlie" insignia is a registered trademark.Outlaws MC - Trademark Details Justia (December 1, 2021) In 1963, the Outlaws began wearing a diamond-shaped "1%er" patch, becoming the first club east of the Mississippi River to do so.17 Things You Didn't Know About The Outlaws Motorcycle Club Arun Singh Pundir, hotcars.com (August 27, 2021) The "one percenter" emblem was originally adopted by several California biker clubs beginning in 1960.Look Homeward Angel: Cycle Icon Sonny Barger Kick-Starts Life As A Free Man By Violating Parole Philip Martin, Phoenix New Times (December 2, 1992) After incorporating as the American Outlaws Association in 1965, the club added an additional A.O.A. patch to its "colors", featuring an upstretched middle finger in a rounded triangle. The A.O.A. emblem was adopted as a parody of the A.M.A. logo. A patch listing a member's rank within the organization is also worn by club officers.Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs: Aspects of the One-Percenter Culture for Emergency Department Personnel to Consider Anand N. Bosmia, James F. Quinn, Todd B. Peterson, Christoph J. Griessenauer, and R. Shane Tubbs, United States National Library of Medicine (July 15, 2014) An "S.S." patch featuring twin lightning bolts is allegedly awarded to members who have committed murder, attempted murder or a bombing on behalf of the club.Outlaw informant tells tale of ambush and terror Bruce Vielmetti, Tampa Bay Times (May 9, 1995) Witness offers inside look at biker battle Carolyn Starks, Chicago Tribune (April 5, 1999) A black-and-white color scheme is associated with the Outlaws, as is Totenkopf imagery, symbols such as a hand clenching a pistol, and paraphernalia featuring the phrases "Support Black & White" and "Support Your Local Outlaws", or "SYLO".
In 1969, the club adopted the motto "God forgives, Outlaws don't" ("GFOD"). The Outlaws' rivalry with the Hells Angels has given rise to other phrases used by Outlaws members; namely "ADIOS" (the Spanish word for "goodbye", but in this case doubling as an acronym for "Angels Die In Outlaw States"),Hells Angels and 6 more notorious biker gangs History Channel and "All Hells Angels must die", or "AHAMD".United States of America v. Harry Bowman FindLaw (August 20, 2002) "Snitches are a dying breed" as well as the more generic "Outlaws forever, forever Outlaws" ("OFFO") are other mottos used by the club.Informer testifies on bikers' battles Graham Brink, Tampa Bay Times (September 1, 2005) Patches featuring these various abbreviations are commonly worn by Outlaws members.
Membership
To be eligible for Outlaws membership, applicants must be men over the age of 21 and also be in possession of an American-made motorcycle of at least 750cc.Seven face life sentences for Hells Angel's murder Duncan Campbell, The Guardian (November 28, 2008) Outlaws in the United States and Canada are essentially limited to riding Indian, Victory and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which are most common in the club. Outside of North America, however, this rule has been relaxed, allowing members to ride motorcycles manufactured in any country, provided they are in the chopper style.
The following five criteria are considered when evaluating an aspiring Outlaws member:
Owns and rides a Harley-Davidson Is competent in the mechanics of motorcycles Lives a lifestyle congruent with biker subculture and "treats other righteous bikers as bros" Is viewed by society as masculine in "outlook, behavior, and sexual orientation" Does not conform to "worldly values" but instead conforms to the lifestyle of the club
To be formally inducted into club, applicants have to be sponsored by a member, and they begin as an associate, or "hangaround", in order to assist the chapter, before being made a prospective member, or "prospect"; if he is approved by the club, then a prospect is moved up to probationary, or "probate", status, a position in which he is required to demonstrate his commitment to the club.United States v. James Walter Starrett, Timothy Kevin Duke, Michael Lee Cave, Donald Joe Sears, James Thomas Nolan, Frederick Joseph Hegney FindLaw (June 27, 1995) A probate is identified by wearing a mandatory patch on a cut-off leather or denim vest reading: "Probationary Outlaws". The probationary period typically lasts several months.Prosecutors try to depose the "top Outlaw' Graham Brink, Tampa Bay Times (March 21, 2001) The highest level of membership in the Outlaws is "patched" or "patchwearing" member, which is attained by a unanimous vote of each chapter.Outlaws have sordid, violent history in metro Chicago Chuck Goudie, ABC 7 Chicago (November 16, 2017) Upon becoming a full-fledged member, an Outlaw is permitted to wear a vest bearing the club's insignia, known as "colors", and to attend weekly "church" meetings. The patch on a member's colors displaying the Outlaws emblem is surrounded by other patches denoting chapter and club membership information, which are called "rockers". These rocker patches are purchased directly from the international president. Club rules dictate that the Outlaws' patches must be worn on leather or black denim (blue denim is banned) and that club regalia is not allowed to be worn by members' wives or girlfriends. Women affiliated with the club, known as "old ladies", are, however, allowed to wear vests with patches reading: "Property of the Outlaws". Outlaws are instructed to guard their colors with their lives, and it is forbidden for any item bearing the club's logo to touch the floor.