A newly sealed FBI search warrant explores how a turf war between rival biker gangs in southern Massachusetts led to a bloody 50-person street brawl that resulted in several gang members being stabbed and beaten. clarified how it happened.
A heavily redacted warrant filed and unsealed by an FBI special agent Thursday details how the motorcycle gang Hells Angels and their supporters clashed with a rival club called the Pagans in May 2022 over the Pagans’ territorial encroachment.
Both the Hells Angels and the Pagans are well-established lawless motorcycle gangs with a history of committing crimes across the country, from drug trafficking to extortion. They also can’t stand each other and have long-simmering feuds that sometimes erupt into open violence.
Gang tensions boiled over in April 2022 as the Pagans, newcomers to the area, opened a branch in Fall River, according to the warrant. This small city is located on the southern Massachusetts coast near the Rhode Island border, in an area long ruled by the Hells and his Angels.
However, the Hells Angels have recently neglected the region, and according to the warrant, they have left the region’s chapter dormant for over a decade.
That left room for the pagans to expand. They soon moved to the nearby Fall River. The Hells Angels noticed the intrusion and re-established his presence on Cape Cod, erecting a sign outside the newly named clubhouse announcing his return.
“It was clear from this change that HAMC was seeking to reaffirm its hold on the south coast of Massachusetts,” the warrant states.
Around the same time, the Hell’s Angels issued a nationwide “green light” order against infidels, the warrant said, citing recently seized Hell’s Angels meeting minutes. This “green light” gave members of the Hell’s Angels permission to “attack” members of the Pagans, according to court documents.
Conflict soon ensued.
On the morning of May 14, more than 100 Hell’s Angels riders gathered at a rest stop in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to refuel their bikes en route to Pagan’s Clubhouse in Fall River. Their ranks also included the Hell’s Angels Salem branch, according to the warrant, and the informant told the task force that this branch was the most powerful of the Massachusetts branches. Local allies of the group, including the motorcycle gang Sidewinders, offered their help.
The gang members talked, bought snacks and took pictures for social media before boarding, ending with several being stabbed and beaten in the street.
Cameras operated by the Fall River Police Department tracked a group of 100 bikers riding motorcycles toward Fall River to carry out the raid. According to the document, a faction of about 40 Hell’s Angels left the main group and went on a rampage on their motorcycles. home of the pagans. Members of the Pagans, along with their girlfriends and his wives, gathered inside and outside the clubhouse as they passed.
According to the warrant, the Hell’s Angels returned from the opposite direction minutes later. This time about 25 riders parked their bikes, dismounted, and stepped out with knives, hammers and clubs toward the pagans gathered outside.
“A dozen additional HAMC members and associates were present at the scene and provided assistance during the attack by blocking traffic and acting as lookouts,” the warrant said.
According to the warrant, twenty Hell’s Angels swarmed six or seven heathen targets, and the sidewalk outside the clubhouse became the battlefield.
When police arrived on the scene, one of the infidel members was “stabbed with a dagger that was still sticking out of his upper body.” Several others suffered injuries including stab wounds and blunt force trauma. According to the warrant, several of the Hell’s Angels brandished ball-peen hammers, the gang’s signature weapon.
“A considerable amount of the victims’ blood” was splattered on both sidewalks and the sides of nearby cars and buildings once the attack ended, according to the warrant, and a motorcycle visor was recovered from the scene. The bloody brawl lasted only a few minutes.
A total of seven victims were taken to local hospitals.
Images extracted from court documents show members of the Pagan’s Bike Club with knives sticking out of their arms after a bloody battle with the Hell’s Angels.
FBI
Once that’s done, officials suspect the Hells Angels have retreated to a reclaimed Cape Cod clubhouse, according to the warrant. Investigators monitoring the grounds saw cars and motorcycles zipping away from the gated fortress. Their drivers were scattered in different directions and wore different clothes.
“The presence of many HAMC members in Westport suggests that weapons and other incriminating items from the crime scene may have been stowed in the clubhouse shortly after the raid,” the warrant said. There is.
Days after the incident, a confidential informant told investigators that the Hells Angels were planning a raid “because PMC members disrespected HAMC” and that the latter needed to reaffirm their dominance. Told.
This wasn’t Fall River’s first biker gang clash. In 2019, members of the Hells Angels alliance Sidewinders Club engaged in a shootout with the motorcycle gang Outlaws. Fall River Herald News report.
City of Fall River after the 2022 attacks closed The Pagans’ old clubhouse was repurposed and plans were made to revitalize the neighborhood.
In July of that year, the FBI raided multiple Hell’s Angels facilities. This included a rebuilt clubhouse with signs advertising the Hells Angels’ return to the area.
The two groups do not appear to have clashed in public since the massive Fall River brawl, but a confidential informant still warned the Task Force that “further violence against PMCs is likely to follow.” .
