An indifferent student, Barger quit school at 16 and joined the army. [7] To celebrate the end of his parole, he held another private party in Livermore on November 6, 1994, which was attended by approximately 700 guests, including the politicians Gary Condit and Ben Nighthorse Campbell. This is not surprising. [95], In 2000, Barger became a bestselling author with his autobiography, Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Sonny Barger, founder of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hell's Angels, the infamous motorcycle club. 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. Hell's Angel Sonny Barger is just a regular guy. [1] Between 1966 and 1973, the majority of his legitimate personal income was derived from advising various film projects. The sale of the various books he has authored adds up his total earnings. By now he was being arrested regularly, for marijuana possession or assault with a deadly weapon. "Ralph Barger" redirects here. "If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone," said Barger in a. Ralph "Sonny" Barger was a founding member of the Oakland, California, chapter of the Hells Angels in 1957. . His wife and family were with him when he died. 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. Barger, the founder of the Oakland chapter, died in late June at the age of 83. But also know that in the end, I was surrounded by what really matters: My wife, Zorana, as well as my loved ones. A team of Outlaws members were sent to California in early 1995 to carry out surveillance ahead of the assassination of either Barger or Christie. [68] On August 12, 1986, John Cleave "J.C." Webb, a member of the Anchorage Hells Angels, was shot and killed by Outlaws outside a biker bar in Jefferson County, Kentucky, prompting Barger to say that it was "time to start killing Outlaws again". [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. 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. [67] Two EPIC manuals and a homemade explosive device were discovered in Barger's home by federal agents. [62] Wearing their "colors", the bikers rode their motorcycles past the residence of assistant county prosecutor James Bates, visited the neighbors of jurors after obtaining a list of prospective jurors in the case, and circled the courthouse in black vans with "Hells Angels" painted on the side. Sonny Barger, the leather-clad figurehead of the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle club, has died. Barger died at the age of 83 of cancer in Livermore and was the founding member of the Oakland branch of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, known for its outlaw reputation and the scrapes with law enforcement that resulted. [70] The U.S. Insert image . In December 1969 the Angels were hired by the Rolling Stones to provide security at the Altamont free festival. 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. His criminal record began in 1963 after he was arrested for possession of marijuana. [16] The founding members of the Oakland Hells Angels were "basically honest blue-collar or unskilled workers looking for excitement", according to George "Baby Huey" Wethern, who became the chapter vice-president in 1960. He joined the Hells Angels' Cave Creek chapter, and operated a motorcycle repair shop. Sonny Barger Death Fact Check Sonny is alive and kicking and is currently 84 years old. He was an actor and producer, known for Sons of Anarchy (2008), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Angels from Hell (1968). With warfare between gangs intensifying, in 2002 he tried to organise a peace conference at the Laughlin River Run rally in Nevada, but a battle between Hells Angels and Mongols left three dead, and the conference was cancelled. These set the scene for Nicholson and Fondas acting breakthrough with Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, a romantic portrayal of bikers as countercultural outlaws. [87] Barger was later a member of the Yavapai County chapter. [85] The meetings ended with the American leaders imposing a truce on their Scandinavian chapters as neither the Bandidos nor the Hells Angels wanted to see a biker ban. In reaction to his own traumatic childhood, Barger had created a brotherhood on two wheels in Oakland, California, in 1957. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. [103] Increasing tensions between the Hells Angels and other motorcycle clubs led to Barger organizing a peace conference scheduled to be held in the Arizona desert following the April 2002 Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally in Laughlin, Nevada. He dropped out of school in the tenth grade. He stated following his conviction: "I think we won very handily in there. Barger features prominently in Hunter S. Thompson's book, Hell's Angels. 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." He was unimpressed with Thompson, and said of the writer: "When he tried to act tough with us, no matter what happened, Hunter Thompson got scared. The Pontiac struck a tree after its tires were shot out by pursuing park rangers, and England and Stefanson fled into the brush only to be apprehended later. White people were scared of us. He has acquired his income from his various appearances in films and television series. [20] Barger justified the male only ruling under the grounds that female Hells Angels were less able to defend themselves against rival bikers looking to steal their patches. According to Christie, he and Bowman were working towards a peace treaty when the Outlaws leader withdrew from the negotiations. As he was a former felon, both were illegal. Bay City News Foundation. I'm sure some of our members own guns, whether legal or not. [84][83], In 1997, the government of Denmark contemplated banning all outlaw biker clubs in response to the Great Nordic Biker War. [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. After Cleveland chapter president Kenny Yates was shot and wounded by Outlaws in Joliet, Illinois, on September 18, 1987, Tait told Barger that he had been to Chicago and Milwaukee to carry out reconnaissance on Outlaws clubhouses there and that he would require an alibi if he was to carry out an attack, to which Barger responded: "That would be no problem." By Katy St. Clair. "[72], On March 10, 1989, Barger was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix in Arizona. Son of a mother, Kathryn Carmella Barger, and father, Ralph Hubert Barger, Sonny Barger had a rough childhood. Sonny Barger Funeral | Sonny Barger, Face of the Hells Angels, Dies at 83 | Sonny Barger Obituary.Sonny Barger, biker outlaw and founder of Hells Angels, pas. [86], On October 18, 1997, the five-chapter strong Dirty Dozen biker club of Arizona "patched over" to became Hells Angels chapters. "[25] President Johnson did not reply to the letter.[26]. He was convicted and served three and a half years of a four-year sentence; he insisted he had been entrapped by the FBI. [49], Barger was arrested on a parole violation charge of possession of firearms when police officers discovered a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, a .38 caliber revolver, and a rifle after arriving at his Oakland home on March 27, 1978, to serve a subpoena and to conduct a parole search. If there was a contract out on him, then he'd be dead. Barger claimed the spectators had provoked the violence by damaging the Angels bikes; but he also claimed that the crowd had grown restless as the Stones were late and he had held a gun to Keith Richards face to get them to start. Barger denied the claims of a murder contract on Jagger in an interview with the Phoenix New Times in 1992, saying: "I personally don't like the guy, but that doesn't mean I want him dead. When another chapter member suggested calling the Outlaws to inquire whether Webb's killing was an isolated incident, Barger replied: "Call them collect." By 1960, the Oakland Hells Angels had established an extensive narcotics network within the club. Sonny Barger Obituary, Funeral, Burial, Memorial Service Sonny Barger 7 ;s funeral plans will be announced by the family. The apostrophe you would expect in Hells would not fit on their new patch. Barger's Guardian obituary also noted that "in 1979 Barger was one of 33 people charged with racketeering under federal Rico (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) laws. "[6] Barger continually denied that he was the Hells Angels' leader or that Oakland was the club's headquarters, however, saying: "Theres no charter that's the boss. And I'm sure the government makes a living off of us. [118] Barger was laid to rest at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon.[2]. [19] On October 16, 1965, Barger led a group of Hells Angels in an attack on anti-war demonstrators marching from Berkeley to the Army Terminal in Oakland to protest against munitions shipments. [32] He was among 33 members of the Oakland chapter arrested on drug charges after police raided a bar and a duplex apartment in the city on August 30, 1968. [60] Cleveland Hells Angel-turned-government witness Clarence Crouch testified for the prosecution that Gentry had murdered Tanner as part of an initiation process into the Hells Angels. Rednecks couldn't stand us either. [7] At Christmas 1989, he sent one of the prosecutors in the case, assistant U.S. attorney Cleve Gambill, a card from prison, showing him posing on a towel as if he were on the beach, with the message: "Nice weather. Barger then made plans to provide an alibi for Tait. [67] He also covertly recorded club meetings by wearing a wire. [44], Along with fellow Hells Angels members Sergey Walton, Donald Duane "Whitey" Smith, and "Oakland" Gary Popkin, Barger was charged with the May 21, 1972, murder of Servio Winston Agero a drug dealer from McAllen, Texas, who had traveled to Oakland with a consignment of narcotics for sale which allegedly occurred following a dispute over an $80,000 cocaine deal. [42] Cross was also imprisoned, for possession of amphetamines in 1975, however, and Barger allegedly continued to lead the Hells Angels from his cell at Folsom State Prison. I ride them because I'm in the club, and that's the image, but if I could I would seriously consider riding a Honda ST1100 or a BMW. It's that simple, he wouldn't still be singing. A prosecution witness, Richard Ivaldi, testified that he witnessed Barger shoot Agero dead as he slept at the home of an absent acquaintance, and that Barger subsequently ordered the others to set fire to the residence. It was something he had earned, but also an image he. [12][16][107], On March 7, 2003, Barger was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies after a reported domestic dispute with his wife and stepdaughter at their home in New River, Arizona. Born Ralph Barger Jr in Modesto, California, Sonny grew up in the tough port area of Oakland, where his father, Ralph Sr, was a dock worker. [24] Ginsberg invited Barger and the Oakland Hells Angels to a party where he provided the bikers with free alcohol, drugs and sex in exchange for their guarantee that the rally would not be attacked. Updated on Sept. 16: A funeral for Sonny Barger has been planned for Sept. 24 at the Stockton 99 Speedway, the Oakland Hells Angels announced on its . Sonny Barger Net Worth. Net Worth, Salary & Earnings of Sonny Barger in 2023. [19] The Angels declared war on the Outlaws during a summit of various chapter presidents in Rochester, New York, in November 1978. [59], In 1983, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer and temporarily handed control of the club over to his second-in-command, Michael O'Farrell, while he received and recovered from treatment. Vested with a quasi-military code of honour, the Angels golden rule was to ratpack on the side of any brother in a fight. Please ignore rumors and hoaxes. Wish you were here. [48] In April 1977, Barger won an appeal to face a retrial on a prior marijuana possession conviction. Though law enforcement saw the Angels as more of a gang than a club, in the 1960s the media latched on to Barger (pronounced Bar-gurr), selling the outlaw image to the world as a form of countercultural protest that took celluloid form in films such as Easy Rider (1969). Credit: Pete Rosos. 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. His Facebook profile was updated with the news. Obituaries News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, . [74][75] Colorado state senator Nighthorse Campbell had allegedly tried to use his influence to have Barger released from prison earlier. Please, Founding member of the Hells Angels who revelled in beating up anti-Vietnam War peaceniks and pulled a gun on Keith Richards, Sonny Barger with his second wife Sharon in San Francisco in 1980 after he was acquitted of racketeering, Barger at home in Arizona in 2010 in retirement he lost his love for Harleys. [77] Bowman allegedly placed a $100,000 bounty on Barger's life when he made a speech to hundreds of his followers on December 31, 1993, announcing an escalation of hostilities against the Hells Angels. [6] Following a three-month-trial, the longest ever in the history of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Barger and O'Farrell were convicted on October 28, 1988, on the felony charge of conspiracy to transport and receive explosives in interstate commerce with intent to kill and damage buildings. Apart from what he did in his early life he was still was a very kind and genuine person and we are sending our day . [58] U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese stated that Barger's arrest had averted five murders. [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. 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. The club also hired public relations specialists and began participating in charity fund drives. [16] When Otto Friedli, the founder of the original San Bernardino Hells Angels chapter, was imprisoned in 1958, Barger was proclaimed de facto national president. He and Tait discussed retaliation against the Outlaws on several occasions, and Tait encouraged Barger to travel to Alaska to provide guidance to the Anchorage Hells Angels chapter on retributive action. It was something he had earned, but also an image he. He escaped drug-dealing, kidnapping and murder charges, but was finally convicted in 1973 of possession of heroin and firearms. [48] Barger gave a series of interviews, including one with Geraldo Rivera for his Good Night America television program, in which he portrayed himself as a model prisoner and said: "They got to let me out sometime. Submit an Obituary. Election Results. When Marlon Brando, as the leader of the Black Rebels, is asked what he is rebelling against, he replies, Whaddaya got?. 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. [111], Barger underwent surgery as a result of prostate cancer in 2012. [35] He blamed the Rolling Stones' extended delay before making an onstage appearance for worsening the hostility of the crowd, and said the Hells Angels refused to act as bodyguards for "a bunch of sissy, marble-mouthed prima donnas" when the band asked the bikers to escort them to the stage. [48] On December 5, 1977, Barger opened the first Hells Angels chapter in Canada and awarded the Canadian Hells Angels national president Yves Buteau the right to wear a Hells Angels jacket with the word "International" written on the bottom a great honor within the world of the Hells Angels where jackets normally list only the state in which the Hells Angel lives in. [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. Jordan Potter. The postwar image of motorcycle gangs was established by the 1953 movie The Wild One. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "[43] Barger and the others were charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon. [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. "[23] He also began studying sociology at Folsom. Hells Angels founder Ralph "Sonny" Barger and his wife Sharon are shown after his release on $100,000 bond in San Francisco, Aug. 1, 1980. Barger. The Hells Angels want to hold the memorial service in the Coliseum parking lot in August. Sonny Barger has acquired notoriety throughout the years for his contentious career and court difficulties. 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. Barger was also provided with an alibi from his girlfriend, Sharon Gruhlke, who claimed she was in bed with him at the time of the murder. [7] Although the basic organization was in place when Barger took over leadership of the club, he introduced additional rules pertaining to new members, club officers, and the establishment of new chapters. [31] In the late 1960s, Barger began selling heroin and also developed an addiction to cocaine. [7] Barger and the Hells Angels became associated with the counterculture phenomenon of the 1960s. Please know that I passed peacefully after a brief battle with cancer. They divorced after a domestic dispute in which she was hospitalised for a broken rib and lacerated spleen. Barger was represented by defense attorney Stephen Miller, and Barger's wife worked on the defense team as a paralegal. His prostate was removed and he was subsequently declared free of cancer.[112]. [1][54] Barger himself admitted during the trial that he had used and sold narcotics in the 1960s, but asserted that his actions did not involve the Hells Angels. The total cost of the case was estimated at $1 million. Fourteen months later he was discharged honourably, as he had lied about his age to join without parental permission. [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". Sonny Barger was a founding member of the Oakland, California Hells Angels, and a bestselling author and actor. [23] Prosecutors claimed that the Angels accumulated $160,000 per day in street sales of the drug. They hated each other. And I've had the privilege to be part of an amazing club. The supposed peace meeting, scheduled to be held in an eastern state, was in fact an opportunity for the Hells Angels to assassinate their rivals' leadership, according to investigators. (KTXL) A funeral will be held in Stockton this weekend for Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the founder of the Oakland Hells Angels chapter who passed away in June from cancer. Barger died on Thursday, June 30 aged 83 following a battle with cancer. [6] The defense team endeavored to expose the government's "outrageous" investigative conduct and discredit Tait, whom the government acknowledged was paid $300,000 in salary and expenses for the information he provided. [21][66] Traveling the country at government expense, Tait made documented purchases of firearms, explosives, and drugs from various Hells Angels chapters. [77][78] The Angels' November 1994 "patch over" of the Hell's Henchmen biker gang in the Outlaws' home base of Chicago resulted in a number of shootings and bombings. 894646. Unless you cross him. Barger was the face of the Hells Angels for decades, but the origin story of the Hells Angels. [92] Mel Chancey, the president of the Hells Angels Chicago chapter who served as their lead negotiator, met with Barger in the spring of 1998 to discuss the negotiating terms. [52], Barger and 17 of his co-defendants went on trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California at the San Francisco federal courthouse beginning on October 4, 1979. According to a post on Facebook, which includes a. Barger's death was announced on his Facebook page late Wednesday. [7], The first internal murder of a Hells Angels member sanctioned by the club was allegedly carried out when Paul "German" Ingalls was forced to ingest a large quantity of barbiturates until he suffered a fatal overdose. 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. "[34] Barger maintained that the Rolling Stones were ultimately responsible for the violent events that took place at the concert, saying: "They agitated the crowd, had the stage built too low, and then used us to keep the whole thing boiling. That went nowhere, but the day before the march, Barger announced the Angels would stay away out of patriotic concerns that anti-American marchers might provoke violent acts by us and only produce sympathy for this mob of traitors. "[27] Barger and the Hells Angels are also depicted in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), during Ken Kesey's La Honda encampment. [4][13] Growing up, Barger was suspended from school several times for assaulting teachers, and he often fought with other boys. [71] Barger and three other defendants were also convicted on the misdemeanor charge of knowingly converting a copy of a government document, while five others were acquitted of all charges. [117] Fox News host Tucker Carlson spoke at the funeral. [53] The defense maintained that the club should not be held accountable for crimes committed by individual members. When a band of rootless outlaws on Harley-Davidsons started cutting a swathe of chaos through America, Sonny Barger emerged as maximum leader of the Hells Angels. Back in Oakland, living between his fathers and his older sisters family, and doing dock work, he met fellow veterans and in 1956 joined the Oakland Panthers motorcycle club. Despite establishing a relationship with the police that led to the Angels trading weapons for arrested members, Bargers rap sheet grew. 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. Election Headquarters. Thousands of people are. [14] Barger took umbrage with what he felt was the Stones' refusal to take responsibility for the catastrophe and he said in the days after the concert: "Mick Jagger, like, put it all on us. 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. The Appeals Court agreed with the government's position that its conduct was necessary due to the Hells Angels' violent history, and rejected Barger's argument that the government had committed entrapment because it deemed the conspiracy to have been originated by the Hells Angels themselves. And they have no idea how many of us there areWe have money, many allies that are outlaw bikers that are not Hells Angels, that would probably do anything we asked them to, if something happened". I've asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing," a . For at least five years beginning in 1967, Barger and the Hells Angels turned over weapons acquired on the black market or locations of weapons, which could otherwise be used by Black Panther Party and Weather Underground radicals, to the Oakland Police Department in exchange for the release of jailed Hells Angels members. [38], After Altamont, Barger sought to expand the Hells Angels and improve the club's image. Sonny Barger was born on October 8, 1938 and is 84 years old now. The motorcycle community on a global level has lost an iconic man. He rode his motorcycle into the pages of world history. Philanthropist. Flowers were laid in front of the Sonoma County Hells Angels chapter on Thursday . Barger's death was announced on his Facebook page late Wednesday. HELLS Angels founder Sonny Barger has died at the age of 83 after battling cancer. Although I've had a public persona for decades, i've mostly enjoyed special time with my club brothers, my family, and close friends. Though . For over 60 years, Barger was the quintessential leader and one of the early founding members of the Harley Davidson straddling countercultural organisation. 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[8] He was also acquitted of murder in 1972, and of racketeering in 1980.