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Aryan Brotherhood

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Not to be confused with Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

Aryan Brotherhood
Founded1964; 60 years ago (1964)[1]
Founding locationSan Quentin State Prison, California, United States[1]
Years active1964–present
TerritoryWest Coast, Southwestern U.S., and throughout the federal prison system[2]
EthnicityWhite American[2]
Membership (est.)20,000[3]
ActivitiesMurder, assault, drug trafficking, robbery, gambling, extortion, racketeering, arms trafficking, inmate prostitution, human trafficking, dog fighting[4][5]
Allies
Rivals
Notable members

The Aryan Brotherhood (AB or The Brand) is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate that is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has characterized it as "the nation's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate"[3] while the Anti-Defamation League calls it the "oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States".[15] According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Aryan Brotherhood makes up an extremely low percentage of the entire US prison population, but it is responsible for a disproportionately large number of prison murders.[16][need quotation to verify][page needed]

The gang has focused on the economic activities which organized crime entities typically engage in, particularly drug trafficking, extortion, inmate prostitution, and murder-for-hire. The organization of its whites-only membership varies from prison to prison but it is generally hierarchical, headed by a twelve-man council which is topped by a three-man commission. The Aryan Brotherhood uses various terms, symbols, and images in order to identify itself, including shamrocks, swastikas, and other symbols. In order to join the Aryan Brotherhood, new members may swear a blood oath or take a pledge; acceptance into the Aryan Brotherhood is aided by a prospect's willingness to kill another inmate.

History

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Most prisons in the United States were racially segregated until the 1960s. As prisons began to desegregate, many inmates organized themselves into gangs along racial lines.[17] The Aryan Brotherhood is believed to have been formed at San Quentin State Prison,[1] but it may have been inspired by the Bluebird Gang.[1] They decided to strike against the African-Americans who were forming their own militant group called the Black Guerrilla Family.[18] In the early 1970s, the Aryan Brotherhood had a connection with Charles Manson and the Manson Family. Several members of the Manson Family were in prison at the time, and they attempted to join forces. However, the relationship did not last long as the Aryan Brotherhood took offense at the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.[19]

The Aryan Brotherhood grew quickly in the California prison system and eventually started a race war in 1975 with the other prison gangs such as La Nuestra Familia, and Black Guerilla Family. As a result of the race war, California prison officials segregated the gangs to different prisons in California. When the Aryan Brotherhood was isolated in the Chino prison, they were able to continue to grow and develop their leadership hierarchy.[20]

In 1981, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain were charged with the murder of a black inmate named Robert Chappelle in the United States Penitentiary, Marion, control unit. It was believed that Silverstein and Fountain strangled Chappelle in his cell. Silverstein and Fountain later killed Raymond Smith, a friend of Robert Chappelle. The two men stabbed Smith 67 times. Silverstein then started to plan killing a correctional officer. On October 22, 1983, gang members from the Aryan Brotherhood killed two correction officers at Marion. Silverstein killed an officer named Merle Clutts, stabbing him approximately 40 times. Several hours later, Fountain also killed an officer named Robert Hoffman. The tactics used were developed for a prior inmate murder; Silverstein used an improvised knife and handcuff key while being taken to the showers. He picked the lock, then attacked and killed Merle Clutts. Fountain used similar tactics to kill Robert Hoffman.[21][22]

By the 1990s, the Aryan Brotherhood had shifted its focus away from killing for strictly racial reasons and focused on organized crime such as drug trafficking, prostitution, and sanctioned murders.[18] They took on organized crime-level power inside much of the United States' prison system, where they eventually accumulated greater power and influence than the American Mafia.[18] This situation was personified when, after being assaulted by an African-American inmate while incarcerated in Marion Federal Penitentiary in 1996, Gambino crime family boss John Gotti allegedly asked the Aryan Brotherhood to murder his attacker. Gotti's attacker was immediately transferred to protective custody and the planned retaliation was abandoned.[23][24]

In April 1993, members of the Aryan Brotherhood along with members of the Black Muslims and other gangs in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility initiated the Lucasville Prison Riot in Lucasville. The rioters took several officers hostage and killed nine inmates, then killed an officer. Their complaints included alleged abusive treatment and overcrowding, with Black Muslims also demanding an end to mandatory tuberculosis testing, which they said violated their faith.[25]

Investigations and prosecutions

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In late 2002, 29 leaders of the gang were simultaneously rounded up from prisons all over the country and brought to trial under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.[18] The intention was to bring death sentences for at least 21 of them, in a manner similar to tactics used against organized crime.[18] The case produced 30 convictions but none of the most powerful leaders received a death sentence.[18] Sentencing occurred in March 2006 for three of the most powerful leaders of the gang, including Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham, who were indicted for numerous crimes, including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and racketeering and for ordering killings and beatings from their cells.[1][26][27][28] Bingham and Mills were convicted of murder and sent back to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility Prison (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, escaping the death penalty. Bingham is serving a life sentence without parole. Mills, also sentenced to life without parole, died in ADX in 2018.

Prosecuting the gang has been difficult, because many members are already serving life sentences with no possibility of parole, so prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for 21 of those indicted but have dropped the death penalty on all but five defendants. By September 2006, the 19 indictees not eligible for the death penalty had pleaded guilty.[17] The first of a series of trials involving four high level members ended in convictions in July 2006.

On June 23, 2005, after a 20-month investigation, a federal strike force raided six houses in northeastern Ohio which belonged to members of the "Order of the Blood", a criminal organization which is controlled by the Aryan Brotherhood. 34 Aryan Brotherhood members or associates were arrested and warrants were issued for the arrests of ten more.[17]

In November 2020, more than sixty individuals that were associated with the Aryan Brotherhood were arrested in a multi-agency operation that took place in California, Montana, and Nevada.[29] Investigators saw evidence that Aryan Brotherhood members were operating outside of prisons and noticed connections between the gang and violent crimes, firearms trafficking, and drug trafficking. The government saw these offenses occurring on the West Coast, however, connections to the gang were made across the country, reaching as far as Alabama, all tied to the Aryan Brotherhood, eventually leading to the seizure of 80 pounds of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of heroin, and more than 25 firearms.[29]

In June 2019, 16 members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood were charged with numerous federal offenses following a multiyear investigation inside and outside of California’s prisons. Members and associates of the gang were charged with racketeering, murder, attempted murder and drug trafficking crimes.[30] In April 2024, a federal jury found California State Prison Sacramento inmate Ronald "Renegade" Yandell, 61, guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; five counts of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin; five counts of distribution of heroin; and one count of distribution of methamphetamine.[30] The same jury found inmate Danny Troxell, 71, guilty of conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering. The jury found inmate Billy Sylvester, 55, guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin; and distribution of methamphetamine.[30] The three are already serving life sentences and await punishment for the most recent verdicts.[31]

Ideology and motivation

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The initial motivation for the formation of the group in San Quentin in 1964 was self-protection against an existing black prison gang. The SPLC has said that, although they clearly have a white supremacist ideology, the major motivation is money, and they have occasionally set aside racist views, such as by allying themselves with Latin American gangs, in order to make a profit.[3]

The SPLC, which monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States, has designated the Aryan Brotherhood as "...the nation's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate", and the "...largest and deadliest prison gang in the United States".[3]

Daryl Johnson, leader of the Domestic Terrorist Analysis Team whose job it is to monitor the activity of right-wing militias and other domestic terrorist groups, said that white supremacist organizations in prisons are a "...radicalization threat", committing acts of violence inside prison, and then in the larger communities after release. Johnson named the Aryan Brotherhood, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, and the Aryan Circle as examples of white supremacist prison-based gangs which are radicalization threats.[32]: 325 

In an investigation in California prisons which ended in 1989, the FBI characterized the Brotherhood as a "...violent, white supremacist group",[33] and a 2008 DHS intelligence conference in Newport, Rhode Island divided violent domestic extremism into three types, and concluded that white supremacist groups like Aryan Brotherhood remained a threat and a cause for concern.[32]: 189 

Operations and membership

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Estimates of Aryan Brotherhood membership vary from 15,000 to 20,000 members in and out of prison.[1][3][34]

The Aryan Brotherhood has members inside federal and state prisons, and outside on the streets. All members are white, and are either in prison or have been in prison. Joining is difficult. New members are on probation for a year, must swear a blood oath for life, and must commit a violent act to join the Brotherhood, such as killing a rival inmate, assaulting an officer or murdering an African American or Hispanic prisoner.[35] Members are inculcated with various reading materials smuggled into prisons published by Aryan Nations, Militia of Montana, and other groups,[36] as well as Mein Kampf, The Art of War, and Machiavelli's The Prince.[3] Early members liked the Western novels of Louis L'Amour, source of the organization's self-proclaimed "the Brand" moniker. Therefore, they perpetuated an admiration for the outlaw gunslingers of the American West. Members also have a fondness for medieval Vikings and the pirates of the Golden Age.

Criminal activities inside prison walls include male prostitution, gambling, extortion, and drug trafficking,[3] primarily involving methamphetamine.[36] Outside prison, the AB engages in every kind of criminal enterprise, "...including murder-for-hire, armed robbery, gun running, methamphetamine manufacturing, heroin sales, counterfeiting, and identity theft", according to the SPLC.[18][3]

Organization and affiliation

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Organization

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After its formation in California prisons in the mid-1960s, the Aryan Brotherhood had spread to most California prisons by 1975. After some of its leaders were sent to federal prisons, they took the opportunity to start organizing inside the federal prison system. This ended with the creation of two separate, but related organizations, the California Aryan Brotherhood, and the federal prison Aryan Brotherhood. As a former top leader said, "They're like two related but different crime families. They each have their [ruling] commission… but they're allies." By the late 1970s, these gangs had fewer than 100 members, but their membership grew rapidly as they absorbed other racist and skinhead groups, and today these gangs are estimated to have over 20,000 members in both the federal and state prison systems.[3]

In its early days, the group had a one-man, one-vote system, but this broke down as a result of the group's rapid expansion, and it was replaced by the establishment of a hierarchical structure, headed by a 12-man council, and overseen by a three-member commission. The federal and state systems each had their own council and commission.[3] Organization varies somewhat, from prison to prison. For example, in the Arizona prison system, members are known as "kindred" and organize into "families". A "council" controls the families. Kindred may recruit other members, known as "progeny", and serve as a mentor for the new recruits.[37]

A sort of internal banking or accounting system was instituted, which allowed them to "tax" criminal activity on the streets, and collect 20% on the proceeds, money which is then laundered and controlled by the commission.[3]

Affiliations, alliances and rivalries

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The Aryan Brotherhood is affiliated with a network of smaller peckerwood gangs, such as the Nazi Lowriders and Public Enemy No. 1,[12][38] and the national hate-based organization Aryan Nations.[36] The group also has an alliance with the Mexican Mafia (La Eme), as the two are mutual enemies of Black Guerrilla Family.[39] Other rival gangs include the Black P. Stones, Bloods, Crips, D.C. Blacks, and Nuestra Familia.[5][13][14]

The Brotherhood has associated in criminal ventures with the Hells Angels.[8][7] The gangs were also involved in a power struggle in the East Bay, which led to the killing of Hells Angels vice-president Michael O'Farrell on June 6, 1989.[40][41]

In 1992, the gang established ties with American Mafia crime, via boss John Gotti, who was sentenced to prison and contacted the Aryan Brotherhood for protection while he was in prison. Gotti also organized a business partnership which operated on the outside between his group and the Brotherhood and as a result of this business partnership, the group's power greatly expanded on the streets.[3]

The Aryan Brotherhood's communication and control has become so tight and efficient that they have been able to organize and direct major criminal enterprises on the outside, even from solitary confinement, much to the frustration of federal and state authorities.[3]

Symbology and identification

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The Aryan Brotherhood uses various symbols and images to identify members, and the organization, and spoken or written mottos and oaths to secure them.

Tattoos and other marks

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A member's tattoo

New members were branded with a tattoo, following the procedure in a prison novel popular among inmates. The image was either a green shamrock (also called, "the rock"), the letters AB, or the number 666. "The brand" meant the inmate belonged to Aryan Brotherhood.[42]

Like most prison gangs, Aryan Brotherhood members mark themselves with distinctive tattoos. Designs commonly include the words "Aryan Brotherhood", "AB", "666", Nazi symbolism such as SS, sig runes, and swastikas, as well as shamrocks and Celtic iconography.[23][15]

Mottos and pledges

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Other means of identification of group membership were the "blood in, blood out" motto symbolizing life-long membership with no exit other than death, and "the pledge", an eight-line oath that each new member had to swear.[42]

Categorization and analysis

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According to the FBI, as of 1992, the gang made up less than 1.0% of the prison population but was responsible for between 18–25% of murders in the federal prison system.[17][23]

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Domestic Extremism Lexicon report in 2009 that defines different classifications of extremists. On the last entry of the 11-page report, it broke down the "white supremacist movement" into six categories: Neo-nazi, Ku Klux Klan, Christian Identity, racist skinhead, Nordic mysticism, and Aryan prison gangs.[43]

An analysis by Slate describes the Aryan prison gang classification as "...further outside the white supremacy mainstream", and describes them as largely independent of other white supremacist groups, although the lines blurred as time went on. The report also refers to them as "more flexible" than other white supremacist groups since "...their criminal goals usually take precedence over ideology."[44]

Additional notable members

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TV documentaries

Films

TV series

Other

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Coverson, Laura (March 15, 2006). "Aryan Brotherhood Tried for 40 Years of Prison Mayhem". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c Prison Gangs justice.gov (May 11, 2015)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Aryan Brotherhood". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  4. ^ ""Blood In, Blood Out: The Violent Empire of the Aryan Brotherhood", Crime Magazine". Crimemagazine.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Montaldo, Charles (2014). "The Aryan Brotherhood: Profile of One of the Most Notorious Prison Gangs". About.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  6. ^ "Aryan Prison Gang Links with Mafia Drugs, Money & the Gambinos". Daily News. November 3, 2002. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Reputed Aryan Brotherhood Gang Member Convicted of Murders of Three Men in Massachusetts Bill Marlin, Southern Poverty Law Center (May 16, 2014)
  8. ^ a b Hell's Angels: Masters of Menace Howard Kohn, Rolling Stone (April 5, 1979) Archived December 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Stroud, Sara (December 21, 2008). "Alleged shooter had gang ties". Vallejo Times-Herald. Archived from the original on August 20, 2017.
  10. ^ Clay, Nolan (September 16, 2015). "Deadly disturbance at private prison involved white gangs, officials say". Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "The Nazi Low Riders - NLR". About.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Racist gang caught in sting kept a list of Orange County police targets". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. December 17, 2006. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012.
  13. ^ a b Marked for Death Alan Prendergast, Westword (May 25, 2000) Archived June 8, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ a b Florida Department of Corrections. "Prison Gangs (continued) - Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness". Florida Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on March 12, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Aryan New York Aryan Brotherhood member Brian Barrow 3rd in Command on the East coast reigns terror as an Enforcer status active 2022 NC prison system". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  16. ^ "FBI Records: The Vault – Aryan Brotherhood". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  17. ^ a b c d Holthouse, David (October 14, 2005). "Smashing the Shamrock". Intelligence Report. No. 119. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on January 20, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g David Grann. "The Brand", The New Yorker, February 16, 2004,(subscription required) collected in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (2010).
  19. ^ Sanders, Ed (2002) [1971]. The Family. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 255. ISBN 1560253967. LCCN 2002020317.
  20. ^ Plunkert, Robert T. (2009). "The Aryan Brotherhood, Crawford, and the Death Penalty". Saint Louis University Law Journal. 53: 663.
  21. ^ Peters, Justin (October 23, 2013). "How a 1983 Murder Created America's Terrible Supermax-Prison Culture". Slate. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  22. ^ "Merle E. Clutts". Federal Bureau of Prison. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  23. ^ a b c Duersten, Matthew (February 3, 2005). "Who'll Stop the Reign?". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  24. ^ Hughes, Jim. "Aryan Brotherhood Makes Home in State". Denver Post, November 24, 2002.
  25. ^ "From the Vault: Nine inmates, one guard killed in 1993 Lucasville prison riot". WCPO-TV. April 11, 2018. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019.
  26. ^ "Divided by bars and colour". BBC News. December 5, 2002. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
  27. ^ "The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Curtis Floyd Price, Defendant and Appellant". ceb.com. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  28. ^ "United States v. Barry Byron Mills, et al" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  29. ^ a b "More than 60 Aryan Brotherhood Gang Members and Associates Arrested for Violent Crime, Firearms, Fraud, and Drug Trafficking". www.justice.gov. November 20, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  30. ^ a b c Rettig, Casey (April 30, 2024). "Three Aryan Brotherhood Prison Gang Members Convicted of Murder in Aid of Racketeering, RICO Conspiracy, and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering". U.S. Department of Justice.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  31. ^ "Three Aryan Brotherhood members guilty of everything as lengthy RICO trial comes to a close". The Mercury News. April 30, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  32. ^ a b Johnson, Daryl (2012). Right-Wing Resurgence: How a Domestic Terrorist Threat is Being Ignored. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442218970. OCLC 820388137. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  33. ^ United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Freedom of Information Office, Paperless Archives; Freedom of Information Office (2006). Aryan Brotherhood FBI Files. Beverly Hills: Paperless Archives. OCLC 880183968. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  34. ^ Organized Crime, p.284, 2000
  35. ^ Anonymous (April 1, 2013). "Why I Fear the Aryan Brotherhood—and You Should, Too". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  36. ^ a b c Heege, Carrie A.; Byers, Bryan D. (2004). Bosworth, Mary (ed.). Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0761927310. OCLC 755061966. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  37. ^ Arizona Department of Corrections. "Arizona Aryan Brotherhood" Archived September 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  38. ^ "Nazi Low Riders". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020.
  39. ^ Tucker, Kenneth S. "Major Prison Gangs". Florida Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  40. ^ Hells Angels Stage Funeral for Leader Killed in Bar Fight Los Angeles Times (June 11, 1989)
  41. ^ The State : Killing Laid to Power Battle The Los Angeles Times (July 16, 1989)
  42. ^ a b Brook, John Lee (2011). Blood In, Blood Out: The Violent Empire of the Aryan Brotherhood. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1900486804. OCLC 793002272. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  43. ^ "Domestic Extremism Lexicon" (PDF). Federation of American Scientists. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 26, 2009. p. 10. IA-0233-09. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2009.
  44. ^ Rastogi, Nina Shen (May 5, 2009). "The Six Flavors of White Supremacy". Slate. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  45. ^ "Commonwealth v. Chalue, 486 Mass. 847 | Casetext Search + Citator".
  46. ^ "Lawyer for Berkshire triple murder defendant David Chalue wants no mention of the Aryan Brotherhood at upcoming trial". April 9, 2014.
  47. ^ Rothman, Tibby (August 5, 2009). "Why was Jewish Radical Earl Krugel Slain in Prison?". LA Weekly.
  48. ^ "Jewish extremist killed in jail". BBC News. November 6, 2005.
  49. ^ "Was this Murder Victim also a Serial Killer?". November 19, 2021.
  50. ^ "The Wonderland Gang Murders".
  51. ^ "'Cornfed' draws 3rd life term / Inmate in dog-maul case sentenced in sheriff's 1995 killing". October 28, 2003.
  52. ^ "The Unbelievable True Story of Bane the Nazi Hellhound, 'Cornfed' Schneider and the Dog-Mauling Case That Made Kimberly Guilfoyle Famous". January 16, 2020.
  53. ^ "Woman's Death Exposes Seamy Prison Scam".
  54. ^ "Aryan Brotherhood". Tvsquad.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  55. ^ "Discovery Channel TV Series: American Gangs". Dsc.discovery.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  56. ^ "National Geographic TV Series: Explorer". Channel.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
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