Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III (born August 23, 1934) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. 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. Fourteen months later he was discharged honourably, as he had lied about his age to join without parental permission. Of the remaining twelve, nine were convicted and three including Sonny and Sharon Barger were acquitted. Browse the catalog of Sonny Barger Books, Prints and Dvd's. Choose and add products to your shopping cart, then follow the simple steps to complete your purchase immediately by credit or debit card, or PayPal. She died on February 1, 1967, from an embolism. In 1967, he appeared in the Hell's Angels on Wheels as well as the Hell's Angels '69. Alleged kidnapping mastermind apparently fabricated family ties to Hells Angels founder, American Legend Sonny Barger celebrate his 80. 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 Speedway, has died. He was arrested again on the same charge the following year, and for assault with a deadly weapon in 1965 and 1966. The 63-year-old is also a motorcycle lover, like her late husband. [15], In 1956, Barger joined his first motorcycle club, the Oakland Panthers, which he founded with a group of fellow military veterans. [94] The agreement also applied to Canada with the Outlaws agreeing to provide no assistance to the Rock Machine in return for peace with the Hells Angels in the United States. Various objects were thrown from the Cadillac during the pursuit, including four handguns, a shotgun, surgical gloves, and a belt with an ammunition pouch and a silver buckle engraved with the caption: "Sonny Barger Jr., 195767 president, Hells Angels Oakland. He was an author and appeared on TV and in film, on top of being a founder of the Oakland charter motorcycle group . It was something he had earned, but also an image he cultivated with charisma and shrewdness, turning Hells Angels into a worldwide brand. Know his actual cause of death in the following paragraphs. [9] Barger refuted accusations from law enforcement characterizing the Hells Angels as an organized crime syndicate, and maintained that the club should not be held accountable for the actions of individual members. Barger had liked the discipline, masculine camaraderie, and learning how to disassemble weapons. Barger also stripped the Hells Angels' "colors" of offensive patches, such as Nazi regalia and various colored wings awarded to members as a reward for sexual adventures performed in the presence of other members. [32] The drug charges against Barger were later dismissed, although Howarth was convicted and sentenced to serve five years-to-life in prison. Barger's third guest appearance on Sons of Anarchy was during season 5, episode 10, which aired on November 13, 2012. "[72], On March 10, 1989, Barger was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix in Arizona. [86], On October 18, 1997, the five-chapter strong Dirty Dozen biker club of Arizona "patched over" to became Hells Angels chapters. [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. Box 2921 Toggle navigation. It was. [22] Barger and the Hells Angels, many of whom were military veterans, considered themselves anti-communist and anti-subversion. [55], By 1978, the Hells Angels had chapters in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and South Carolina. He also displayed another copy of the EPIC manual and explained how to use it to fellow Hells Angels at an Oakland chapter meeting. As of now, he is dead and passed on to the other side. [6] As a result of critical media attention given to the HAMC after the concert, he went on KSAN, a local Bay Area radio station, to justify the actions of the Hells Angels and to present their side of the story. 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 'History happening as we. These set the scene for Nicholson and Fondas acting breakthrough with Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, a romantic portrayal of bikers as countercultural outlaws. Carlson said that he had been a fan of Barger since his college years, quoted Barger as saying "stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor", and adding "I want to pay tribute to the man who spoke those words". 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. "[23] He also began studying sociology at Folsom. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Barger&oldid=1132912165, American people convicted of drug offenses, Prisoners and detainees of the United States, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox criminal with known for parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute (1973), This page was last edited on 11 January 2023, at 06:52. And I've had the privilege to be part of an amazing club. 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 Speedway, has died.. [88] Barger transferred over from the Oakland chapter to the newly formed Cave Creek charter in October 1998. [4][12] After that club disbanded, he started riding with another group of bikers, one of whom, Don "Boots" Reeves, wore a patch that belonged to a defunct Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels in North Sacramento. [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 delegation of Angels and their chief rival motorcycle gang, the Gypsy Jokers, met the activist Jerry Rubin and poet Allen Ginsberg in front of 1,000 people at San Jose State College to negotiate clearance for the November march scheduled for Oakland. Passaro was acquitted on grounds of self-defence. 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. A Hyatt hotel room key and a handwritten note deemed to have been written by Barger after evaluation by a handwriting expert listing Anthony Tait's hotel room number and rental car license plate number were also found at Michael O'Farrell's residence. Having gave his word to the Outlaws that they would be safe at the meeting, Caronite who characterised himself as a "man of honor" reportedly warned the Outlaws, who avoided the meeting, when he learned of the assassination plot. He married his last wife, Zorana, on June 25, 2005, and she was with him at the time of his passing. The clubs voted to ally under a "1%er" patch to be worn on their respective "colors". [48] He was paroled on November 3, 1977, after serving four-and-a-half years of his sentence. There are seven [Hells Angels] chapters in England and he comes over here a lot. And I went to jail for it. On October 8, 1938, Sonny Barger was born in the city . [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. [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. Welcome to Sonny's online store. Rednecks couldn't stand us either. "[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". Tait's estranged wife, Brenda Lee Fowler, gave evidence for the defense, calling her husband a "liar, a scum and a cheater" and alleging that he dealt drugs. In 1967 he was consultant on, and had a cameo part in, Richard Rushs Hells Angels on Wheels, which starred Jack Nicholson, and graduated to a speaking part as himself in the movie Hells Angels 69 (1969). [14] After his return from the Army, Barger drifted between menial jobs and lived with his father in a single residence at a hotel, later moving in with his sister and her children. [1], Ralph Hubert Barger, Jr. was born in Modesto, California, on October 8, 1938, the son of Kathryn Carmella (ne Ritch) and Ralph Hubert Barger. They affiliated with the Angels mother chapter in San Bernadino; the clubs unified primarily by their battles with the Jokers. [7], In 1998, Barger moved to Arizona, where he had previously served a prison sentence, with his third wife Beth Noel (ne Black) and stepdaughter Sarrah. [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] 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. 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. [91], In 1998, peace talks were opened to end the long-standing biker war with the Outlaws, which was largely because the conflict was bringing down too much police pressure on both clubs. Barger also circulated a photograph of the two Outlaws who killed Webb, firstly at an Oakland chapter meeting on November 30, 1986, and again at a summit of West Coast chapter officers on January 3, 1987. OneofaKindStoopSale (634) $350.00 Sonny Barger Oakland Hells Angels Founder with Others - 8X10 or 11X14 Photo (YW-002) HistoricalMedia (4,525) $9.99 $13.32 (25% off) FREE shipping [56] The feud between the two clubs began in 1974 when Outlaws bikers in South Florida murdered three members of the Hells Angels' Lowell, Massachusetts chapter as retribution for an Outlaw being beaten by Hells Angels at a party in New York City. 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. [47], On March 16, 1973, Barger was sentenced to a prison term of ten years-to-life after he was convicted of possession of narcotics for sale (37 grams of heroin), and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. 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. [46] John Joseph Devaney, Long's former husband, was found dead in a car in Hayward on June 14 in an apparent suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. He was convicted and served three and a half years of a four-year sentence; he insisted he had been entrapped by the FBI. 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%. The defendants shook hands with Webb and thanked him for his testimony. [62] He denied that jurors were intimidated by the Hells Angels' presence at the trial, saying: "The only ones that are intimidated are the ones the feds tell to be". Hood and Jarman had been bound, gagged and beaten, while Huddleston had survived having his throat cut. Many have since argued that the concept of the peace and love, Woodstock 60s ended that day. According to Christie, he and Bowman were working towards a peace treaty when the Outlaws leader withdrew from the negotiations. [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 prosecutors asserted that the Hells Angels were a highly organized criminal organization ruled by a "code of silence" involved in drug trafficking, shootings and bombings. [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. His move to Arizona will allow Hells Angels Ventura chapter president George "Gus" Christie to take over the political reins of the gang, but Barger will help legitimize the gang in the business world from the dry desert state. "[25] President Johnson did not reply to the letter.[26]. It was paid for by the FBI. Barger withdrew from public leadership of the Angels and by 1998 was living in Arizona. The club also hired public relations specialists and began participating in charity fund drives. [67] He also covertly recorded club meetings by wearing a wire. The founder of the Hells Angels, Sonny Barger, has died at 83, according to a social media statement and his former attorney. He'll share with us what it was like to be there. He asserted that violence only started once the crowd began vandalizing the Angels' motorcycles. [4][13] Growing up, Barger was suspended from school several times for assaulting teachers, and he often fought with other boys. It was thought up by the FBI. 5 out of 5 stars (225) $ 165.00 FREE shipping Add to Favorites Mens Biker T-Shirt, Respect Is Earned - Organic Cotton - Motorcycle Motorbike Gift Funny, Sustainable . Around a hundred Hells Angels wearing full "colors" attended the trial, as did the country singer Johnny Paycheck, a friend of Barger. [32] Barger married Gruhlke while he was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison in 1973. Barger then made plans to provide an alibi for Tait. [22] Amidst claims by the Hells Angels' attorneys, Jack Berman and Herman Mintz, of insufficient evidence and an illegal search by arresting officers, all five defendants pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful imprisonment. "[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. [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. By now he was being arrested regularly, for marijuana possession or assault with a deadly weapon. [21][66] Traveling the country at government expense, Tait made documented purchases of firearms, explosives, and drugs from various Hells Angels chapters. Vintage 1989 Sonny Barger - An American Legend t-shirt Sz Large ad vertisement by TonakTradingCo. He will retire only when he dies. [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. Though the outcome of most cases was mistrial, he and Sharon were the only two acquitted outright. 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. He was a founding member of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels. 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. [3] [3] After forming the Oakland chapter, Barger was instrumental in unifying various disparate Hells Angels chapters and had the club incorporated in 1966. [19] On November 19, 1965, five Hells Angels led by Barger held a press conference at their bail bondsman's office, announcing that the club would not attend the protest the following day as "Any physical encounter would only produce sympathy for this mob of traitors", according to Barger. Barger claimed to have been sitting on stage drinking beer when the violence was taking place. This is not surprising. 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." [66] While most of the Hells Angels arrested in northern California were charged with drug offenses, Barger and O'Farrell were accused of conspiring to violate federal firearms and explosives laws. (Robert H Houston/Associated Press) Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the larger . White people were scared of us. In 2013, Zorana starred in and helped produce the motorcycle-themed action movie, Dead In 5 Heartbeats . [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. [79][80][81][82] In another New Year's Eve speech on December 31, 1994, Bowman declared that the Outlaws would in turn attack the Hells Angels in California. [53] The defense maintained that the club should not be held accountable for crimes committed by individual members. [4] Reflecting on the Altamont concert, which has been referred to variously as "the end of the hippie dream" and "the day the Sixties died",[37] Barger wrote in his 2000 autobiography Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club: "All that shit about Altamont being the end of an era was a bunch of intellectual crap. [85] The Bandidos were represented by their international vice president George Wegers, Charles "Jaws" Johnson of their Houston chapter and Jim Tinndahn of the Helsingborg chapter. When he was just four years old, his mother left him . [41] During his incarceration, a bikers' magazine ran a "Free Sonny Barger" campaign, selling T-shirts and bumper stickers, which helped pay his legal expenses. "[43] Barger and the others were charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon. Barger features prominently in Hunter S. Thompson's book, Hell's Angels. 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. [50] He and fifteen others were arrested during a series of raids carried out in the Bay Area by around 200 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents. [85] To forestall this possibility, Barger attended the peace talks in Seattle representing the Hells Angels along with Thomas Mller of the Angels Malm chapter who was in charge of all the Hells Angels in Europe. [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. I've asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing. Unless you cross him. [66] He said of the government's case against him: "There never was a crime thought up by the Hells Angels. But also know that in the end, I was surrounded by what really matters: My wife, Zorana, as well as my loved ones. [2], "Ralph Barger" redirects here. [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. [29] He denied, however, that authorities permitted crimes committed by the Hells Angels. [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. He began a relationship with Sharon Gruhlke, who was a former beauty queen from Livermore in 1969. [84][83], In 1997, the government of Denmark contemplated banning all outlaw biker clubs in response to the Great Nordic Biker War. 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. 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. Sonny Barger would not pull up roots, after forty years in the Bay Area, on a whim. [23] Prosecutors claimed that the Angels accumulated $160,000 per day in street sales of the drug. [110] Barger remained married to Zorana until his death in 2022. [12][113][114] His death was announced in a Facebook post reading: If you are reading this message, you'll know that I'm gone. [51] The bombings prompted the California Department of Justice to issue a warning to police departments that the Angels were engaged on a campaign to eliminate law enforcement personnel who investigated their drug activities. Anthony Tait, the government's key witness in the case, was housed in a safehouse in the Louisville suburb of Prospect during the trial, where he was guarded by an FBI SWAT team. He was among the motorcycle club's most visible members for decades. [12], He married his fourth wife, Zorana (ne Katzakian), on June 25, 2005. And Bargers dream of patriotic bikers as guerrillas was given life on film in The Losers (1970), where members of the Devils Advocates take armoured choppers to rescue a CIA agent held in Cambodia. An informant had led investigating detectives to the location of the automobile in which Long's corpse was found. On June 29, 2022, Barger died of liver cancer aged 83 at his home in Livermore, California. Last modified on Sun 18 Sep 2022 14.43 EDT As the longtime president of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, Sonny Barger, who has died aged 83, was the epitome of the outlaw biker. A scene from the 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter showing violence at the Altamont free festival. His first wife, Elsie Mae (nee George), had died of an embolism in 1967 after a then illegal abortion. [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". They divorced after a domestic dispute in which she was hospitalised for a broken rib and lacerated spleen. By 1960, the Oakland Hells Angels had established an extensive narcotics network within the club. [109] He and Noel later divorced. [32] As a result of his imprisonment, Barger was forced to relinquish his presidency of the Oakland chapter for the first time since its inception. "[19] The incident led to a collection of students, left-wing political groups, and labor unions led by Allen Ginsberg and Jerry Rubin meeting with motorcycle club representatives, headed by the president of the Sacramento Hells Angels chapter, in a cafeteria at San Jose State College, seeking assurance that a planned Vietnam Day Committee protest march in Oakland on November 20, 1965 would go undisturbed. He had cancer. He was convicted of aggravated assault, but he served only eight days in jail. [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. [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. [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. [24] He went on to read out a telegram sent to President Lyndon B. Johnson, reading: "I volunteer a group of loyal Americans for behind the line duty in Vietnam. [28] Hilliard also testified that Barger had offered "to deliver the bagged body of a leftist for every Angel released from jail". They hated each other. [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. 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. On top of his work representing the Hells Angels organization, Berger .
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