7/31/2019 RICO - The Nations Indictment

1/3

RICO The Nations Indictment

The four Madera county deputies waited in the hot, mid-morning

sun... they surveyed the two-lane highway that dipped below them

The sun glinted off their holstered, heavy, .357 magnums but the

lawmens ears were cocked for a rumbling sound, and apprehension was

in their eyes

The Hells Angels squatted low and hard on their big chopped

Harleys. Godless, bearded, tattooed ghouls who worship evil and wear

whip belts demented throwaways from any society.

This is what the Los Angeles Times described as the scene descending on

Bass Lake Memorial Day weekend of 1970. This was the selected location of a

Hells Angels double wedding. Drunken brawls, loud engines, booze and drugs

were expected to flood in in the saddle bag of bikers and their ol ladies. As

they arrived from all corners of California mayhem was expected. Yet, the

sleepy town and its inhabitants were far from accurate in their estimation of

trouble involved in the revelry.

According to Hells Angels Homes, Wives and Paychecks, as over 300

men and women on bikes arrived they were stamped with ink that read BASS

LAKE SHERRIFFS OFFICE. As if to disprove the fears of doubters, however, the

weekend long revelry proceeded without a hitch and, as families arrived with

food, supplies and kids, the weekend was in full swing. The Hells angels

7/31/2019 RICO - The Nations Indictment

2/3

7/31/2019 RICO - The Nations Indictment

3/3

to intimately learn of the biker culture and if their fears are founded, they

finally have a chance to separate reality form the glamorous Hollywood image,

and for the first time in their lives they Americans attempt to decide what they

feel about outlaw bikers.

Since post-WWII, American Harley riders have been in the forefront of

media. Movies, television, music and books, provided a skewed and

romanticized view of the American biker. Danger, crime, speed, drugs, alcohol,

and general rowdiness were the projected image. Over time this image was

expanded to include organized crime efforts including the sex trade, extensive

drug rings, extortion, rape, and murder. In the eyes of the average Joe, the

American biker became public enemy number one. So, in cases like the Bass

Lake double wedding, Americans were overwhelmed and genuinely surprised by

actions that did not match the publics imagination.