Bandidos

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Bandidos

The Bandidos, also called the Bandido Nation or Bandidos MC, is a motorcycle club with a worldwide membership, founded in the U.S. state of Texas in 1966. Its slogan is We are the people your parents warned you about. Their colors are red and gold.

History

The club was first formed in Houston by Donald Eugene Chambers in 1966. There is a myth that the club's colors came from the cartoon of 'Frito Bandito'; untrue, since that cartoon was not developed till 1968. After Chambers' tenure Ronny Hodge became president and expanded the club internationally.

All past presidents of the Bandidos have gone to prison for activities related to the group: Chambers (now deceased) was convicted in 1972 of a double murder; Hodge (now deceased) was convicted on federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder with a bomb; James Lang is still in prison as of 2006 on drug charges; Craig Johnston, also in prison on drug charges, is scheduled to be released in 2007; George Wegers, generally seen as a reformer, nonetheless pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy involving stolen bike parts and witness tampering, for which he is to be sentenced September 22, 2006Rick Anderson, Bad Boys, Seattle Weekly, July 12, 2006. Accessed online 17 July 2006.

Chapters

The Bandidos is the fastest growing outlaw biker motorcycle club in the United States, with more than 90 chapters nationwide. The club is mostly concentrated in the Southwest with the largest grouping in Texas, though chapters exist as far north as Washington.

Internationally, chapters are found in Asia (Bangkok), Australia, and Western Europe. The Bandidos have had chapters in Canada since 2000 but as of 2006 have only a minimal presence.

Organization

The Bandidos enjoy a reputation for being highly organized with state and regional officers to coordinate its chapters, grouped under a national chapter with four regional vice presidents and a national president.

Controversy

One of the Bandidos' members is being investigated by Texas police to see if he and the motorcycle club are connected with the 2004 murder of former boxing world champion Robert Quiroga.

The Bandidos are also known in Australia for their involvement in the Milperra massacre in 1984.

Most recently, the gang has been connected to the April 8, 2006 Shedden massacre in southwestern Ontario, Canada, 25 miles/40 km southwest of London. Eight members or associate members of the Bandidos were found dead in several vehicles located on a remote farm. Two days later, five people, including one Bandidos member, were arrested and charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.

A month later, police dropped first-degree murder charges against two of the five and charged them instead with being accessories after the fact. In June 2006, three additional people, two believed to be full members and the other a prospective member, were arrested in Winnipeg. The three were also charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.

Numerous theories for the murders have been put forward, but to date nothing has proven conclusive. Police are now saying, however, that more arrests will be forthcoming. The mass murder is one of the worst in Ontario's history -- the 1833 mass murder of eight people in Upper Canada being the other.

The massacre has effectively ended the Bandidos' presence in Canada, at least in the short term, as the crime has not only annihilated much of their leadership (by death and arrest), but damaged their credibility among would-be bikers, which will make recruitment difficult.^*

External links

Motorcycle gangs