Hells Angels feel strengthened by legal battle with government'
photo: AP
Tue 27 June 07:00
5 minutes
The legal battle with the government in which the banned motorcycle club Hells Angels is involved makes members feel more strongly connected to their club. That is the conclusion of researchers Teun van Ruitenburg and Sjoukje van Deuren after discussions with the Hells Angels. Ranks and positions within the club also play a much smaller role than they thought, they say in Het Misdaadbureau .

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"If you are a Hells Angel, you will remain so forever. The members have made that very clear," says Van Ruitenburg, affiliated with the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. "They say, 'Whether I wear my colors or not, I am who I am and my way of life is to be a Hells Angel.'"

"We said: we can imagine that because of the legal battle, you are done with it. But we do not see that at all with the members we spoke to," adds Van Deuren of VU University Amsterdam. "One of the members said: This witch hunt makes me feel empowered in being a Hells Angel."

The harsh approach of the government therefore creates more solidarity, conclude Van Ruitenburg and Van Deuren, who spoke to 24 active members of the club. "Certainly with the current members, we do not see that the government's approach leads to them quitting. The situation is different with new members, by the way," says Van Deuren.

'Not as hierarchical as thought'
The researchers also noticed that all kinds of people are members of the motorcycle club. Van Deuren: "We spoke to 24 completely different members. All men, because women are officially not allowed to become members. I thought beforehand: the Hells Angel has tattoos and is a bit more muscular. We also encountered those people, but it was super different. "

The members are also almost equal to each other, says Van Ruitenburg. "We also spoke to people with a certain role within the club, such as a road captain and a president. As an outsider you may think: the president is the boss. But internally it is flat, the roles are all equal, but fulfill they only have a certain function."

In this way, the president functions as a kind of billboard, says Van Ruitenburg. "He maintains contact with other clubs and with the outside world. It's not like the president is in charge, he's equal to all the other members. So it's not as hierarchical as you might think. We've really learned that. "

https://www.nporadio1.nl/nieuws/bin...erkt-door-juridische-strijd-met-overheid