The development of Hells Angels MC Hells Angels MC has developed a great deal since the early days in California, and still does. It has been the matter of a long process which has been kept more or less hidden from the public. At first by the clubs own unapproachableness and the sensation seeking and myth creating stories of the media, later by the police interest in preserving old "bogeys". The authorities had a need for "dangerous groups" in order to legitimate infringements, new law initiatives, and to obtain increased grants and powers. Hells Angels suited this purpose perfectly well. Here was a group of young men, who sometimes had a fight, who were secretive about their club and its activities but easy to spot. In the forties, the fifties and the sixties Hells Angels gave the press all what it sighed for. A group of people (rebels without a cause), whose way of life was different and against the established society. For the angels it was a matter of being in opposition and provocative towards the "bourgeois animals", which the early bikers (later on also in Denmark), called everybody but themselves. The development in Denmark lay at that time 10-15 years behind the one in the United States. Back then there were only few real angels, but the media told tales of thousands of angels, who terrorized California and would soon, take the rest of the USA. Only three chapters from that timeperiod exist to day: San Bernardino, Oakland and San Francisco. The massive media coverage created unfounded fear all over USA, but at the same time caused that groups of young men tried to imitate the angels throughout the continent. For the angels of the past and the other outlaw clubs everything had to be dangerous. If they didn´t know it beforehand they could always read about themselves in the press. For the angels it was an unusual situation, and they began in earnest to live up to the reputation. Many "runs" (motorcycle gatherings) organized by more ordinary motorcycle clubs were intruded on or devastated by Hells Angels or other Outlaw clubs. This behaviour led to dissociation on part of the big American MC-organization AMA American Motorcycle Association: 99 percent of all motorcyclists behave well, they declared. The angels loved it! Because they - and later on also the early bikers of Denmark - loved bad press. "Bad publicity" was a sign that they had "snapped" - a clear proof in the art of provoking. Therefore the angels and the other outlaw clubs replied with pride: "We are the one percent, who does not behave well." From this, the most known outlaw badge came into being, the 1%-badge. What had really been the aim of the AMA, namely to expel and eliminate a few disturbing bikers, ended up becoming a symbol of freedom and inspired many motorcyclists to become "one percenters". Outlaw motorcycle clubs sprang up all over the country, and more and more seeked admission to the best, and definitely most known of all motorcycle clubs, Hells Angels MC World. In the end of the fifties and up through the sixties, the film industry, the news media, and not least the FBI in California, reinforced the myths and the more or less distorted truths about Hells Angels. Across the world clubs were formed which tried to imitate Hells Angels. Many didn´t succeed, but for some it went in the right direction and they were later on admitted as new international charters. In 1965 the California Ministry of Justice published its first report on the angel’s dangerousness. The police had adopted the many horror stories and made frequent use of them in the following decades. Characteristic of the first report was that it, just like the many following it, built on false stories, a few truthful accounts and indisputable facts. The purpose was still to create and preserve the "picture of the enemy", in order to obtain increased grants and powers. The authorities war against the biker culture accellerated at full steam. The angels were subject to false rumours, illegal arrests, unfounded losses of liberty, and government conspirations in an attempt to close down the club. As they didn´t succeed in getting rid of the angles, they initiated instead a strategy with agent infiltrations and "entrapments". They even went as far as creating an anti-biker corps BET — Biker Enforcement Team, whose purpose amongst others was to liquidate bikers. This has been documented by the fact that several of the government´s "hired killers" have admitted their participation in such actions. Regardless of the many plots against the club, Hells Angels lived on and grew bigger than ever. While time went by and the pressure increased, Hells Angels in USA changed style and character. The members took the brotherhood more seriously, and the criteria for admission were tightened up. The dirty-style began gradually to disappear. It was a matter of a natural and gradual development - not least as a consequence of the fact that several older and often more well functioning members stayed in the club. Copyright