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Sons of Anarchy MC
File:SAMCRO.jpg
Sons of Anarchy logo
Founded1967
Founded byJohn Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston
Founding locationUnited StatesCharming, California, United States
Years active1967–present
TerritoryChapters throughout North America and Europe
EthnicityWhite and Hispanic
Membership (est.)Estimated 500 members world-wide
Criminal activitiesGun running, murder, extortion, protection racketeering, people smuggling, hijacking and trafficking in stolen goods
AlliesCacuzza crime family, Devil's Tribe and True IRA
RivalsMayans, Nordics and One-Niners

The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club (SOAMC), also known as the Reaper Crew, is a fictional one-percenter motorcycle gang from the FX television series Sons of Anarchy. The club was formed by John Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston, two Vietnam War veterans, in 1967 in Charming, California. Six of the original nine members were war veterans.[1] Their logo is a grim reaper wielding an M-16 with scythe blade and holding a crystal ball. The Sons' motto is "Fear the Reaper", and their colors are blue and black. The club has 28 chapters worldwide. In North America, these are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New England, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming in the United States, and Alberta and Manitoba in Canada. There are also a number of chapters in England, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.[2]

The series follows the club's Mother Chapter, the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, or SAMCRO. The chapter's current President is Clay Morrow and his Vice-President is Jax Teller. Their primary business is importing illegal weapons and selling them to drug gangs in the East Bay, along with protection runs for local businesses by protecting valuable truck shipments from hijacking. They also protect Charming from outside gangs who try to manufacture and sell drugs, mainly methamphetamine, there. Naturally, their main enemy is the White supremacist Nordics gang who specialize in the meth trade. The fact that the Sons of Anarchy are racially diverse also puts them at odds. They also have to deal with a rival Oakland-based motorcycle club, the Mayans, who control the neighboring territory of Nevada. The Sons of Anarchy also have a number of allies, in the form of the True IRA, which supplies them with illegal Russian-made guns, and the One-Niners, an African American street gang to which SAMCRO sometimes sells weapons, and various affiliates in the state prison system.

History

Early years and formation

The club was formed in 1967 by John Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston, following their return from service as paratroopers during the Vietnam War. The first chapter was founded in Charming, California and originally had only nine members, six of whom were war veterans. Teller was the President up until his death in 1993, when Clay Morrow took over. Under Morrow, the club began trafficking in weapons and began to evolve along the lines of the stereotypical one percenter biker gang. However, the club was originally formed as a form of social rebellion for men who simply wanted freedom and no longer wished to live by society's rules. They also tried to protect the people of Charming from outside gangs and drug dealers, rather than exploit them. Between 1991 and 1993, SAMCRO were at war with the Mayans because they tried to expand their drug-dealing operations into Northern California.

Season One

Season 1, set circa 2008, begins with the Sons of Anarchy finding their warehouse, where they store weapons, being burned down in Charming, California. They suspect that the Mayans have destroyed it and stolen the weapons, and retaliate by stealing the guns back from an industrial storage warehouse in San Leandro. The attack does not go as smoothly as anticipated, however, as three Mayans and a member of the Nordics turn up while they are inside the building. They then have no choice but to kill them and escape. They also retrieve their weapons which were being stored there, and burn down the building. Meanwhile, the One-Niners are impatient that their shipment of guns has been delayed but grant the Sons of Anarchy a number of days to deliver them. Almost simultaneously, the Nordics begin selling methamphetamine in Charming, prompting a swift and violent response from the Sons of Anarchy.[3]

Wayne Unser, the Chief of the Charming Police Department, has always got on well with the Sons of Anarchy during his time in charge, and even employed them as muscle at times. However, he is dying from cancer and will retire at the end of the month, handing power over to his Deputy, David Hale, who is overtly suspicious of the SOA and will almost definitely begin an investigation into the club. To warn Unser to keep Hail off their case, the SOA hijacked a shipment that they were supposed to protect, and threaten to hijack more. As a good will gesture, they gave the contents of the truck to the local Italian American Mafia as their guns were late to be delivered. To distract the police from their activities, the burnt down warehouse (where the police found two dead Mexican prostitutes and a number of discarded guns) in particular, the SOA acquire two dead bodies from the local morgue and set them up in a fake shoot-out. The set-up shooting is made to look like a racist murder involving the Nordics.[4]

Local businessman Elliot Oswald goes to the Sons of Anarchy after his 13-year-old daughter was raped at a carnival and asks them to hunt the rapist down and kill him, in exchange for money. The SOA refuse the money but insist that if they catch him, he must carry out the punishment himself. They find out the rapist is one of the carnies, capture him and bring him to Oswald who tries to castrate him but can't bring himself to do it. Clay Morrow then carries the punishment out, but wears gloves whilst doing it. He then frames Oswald for the crime, as he was about to sell off much of the land around Charming to big business and housing, much to the disgust of the SOA whose reign over the town would be challenged.[5]

When a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent arrived in Charming and began investigating the club, they moved their weapons to Indian Hills, Nevada, where their brother club the Devil's Tribe are based. Clay Morrow sent Jax Teller and Bobby Munson to inform the Devil's Tribe that the Sons of Anarchy were patching over them. On the way to Nevada, the pair came across a group of Mayans on the road and were involved in a chase and then a shoot-out. Meanwhile, Tig Trager and Juice Ortiz were stuck with the task of stealing a truck to transport the guns in. They drugged the guard dogs of the truck yard with crystal meth and then broke in. The drugs only made the dogs more fierce, however, and Tig was pursued aggressively as he made his way to the truck. When Jax and Bobby arrived at the Devil's Tribe clubhouse and informed them of the news, their President, Jury, was not pleased but eventually accepted that it was the best decision for both clubs. Clay travelled to Indian Hills to perform the patch-over ceremony, and brought a number of Sons of Anarchy Washington members as protection in case the Mayans retaliated for the earlier incident. The Mayans did retaliate by attacking the clubhouse and a shoot-out ensued, during which Jury was shot and injured.[6]

Otto Delaney and a number of other imprisoned SAMCRO members have been protecting Chuck in Stockton prison. He is wanted by the Triads because he stole money from them, then informed on a number of their members when he was arrested. SAMCRO also agreed to protect him on the outside when he was released, in return for information on where the Triads keep their money. The Sons of Anarchy intended on waiting until the restaurant, where the money is stored, was closed until they raided it, but Chuck's frequent unconscious masturbating was unbearable for them and they decided to raid the restaurant straight away. However, just after they stole the money and some counterfeiting plates, the Triads turned up. Instead of starting a war, both gangs decided to make a deal; SAMCRO handed over Chuck and the plates and the Triads let them keep the stolen money. Meanwhile, Kyle Hobart, a disgraced former SAMCRO member, went to Jax and asked him if the Sons wanted in on his deal selling stolen car parts. Jax accepted and invited him to the clubhouse that night. This was a set-up, however, to punish him for not having his SOA tattoo removed after being disowned by the club. At the clubhouse, they tied him up and Tig used a blowtorch to burn off the tattoo.[7]

Jax and Piney sold five AK-47s to Nate Meineke and his right-wing state militia. They then used these guns to ambush a prison convoy and free one of their members, Frank Cison. A police officer and two bystanders were killed during the assault. Meineke dropped his cell phone at the scene, and his last calls had been to Clay Morrow. When the ATF found the phone, they arrested Clay and raided the clubhouse. Clay was later released because no evidence was found, meaning he could no longer be kept in custody. Meanwhile Jax, Piney and Opie Winston decided to kill Meineke and his gang to stop them "snitching" if they were apprehended by the authorities. They pretended to sell them more weapons. The boxes of guns were actually filled with explosives, however, and the militia loaded their trucks with them. All of the militia were killed when the bombs were detonated.[8]

Workmen working for the Water and Power Board near the highway dug up three skeletons, two of which were Mayans killed in the war of 1992. They had tried to expand their Oakland drug operations into Lodi. The other was Lowell Harland, Sr., a mechanic at Teller-Morrow. He was killed for being a "junkie rat". To stop the bodies from being identified, Jax, Clay and Tig broke into the local morgue and were prepared to steal the bones. However, the corpses had already been identified. The club also entered Half-Sack Epps into bare-knuckle boxing competition to raise money for buying weapons. He was supposed to take a dive in the final, but won by knocking his opponent out. This lost the club $35,000.[9]

After Josh Kohn, a rogue ATF agent, sent information on the IRA and SOA weapon deals to Ernest Darby, the head of the Nords, he called a meeting with the Mayans' leader, Marcus Álvarez. Darby told Álvarez to kill Clay and afterwords, the Nords could take Charming and the Mayans could take over the gun business. Marcus then told his son, Esai, to kill both Morrow and Darby. Later, when Clay and Tig were making a deal with the IRA at a bar, the Mayans attacked but were killed before they could get to Clay. They did wound Cameron Hayes of the True IRA, however. They simultaneously assaulted Darby's home, but also failed to kill him. SAMCRO then called in the Sons of Anarchy State Presidents and Vice-Presidents from Washington, Utah and Nevada, in a bid to wipe out the Mayans.

Clay was taken to the local police station for questioning about the recent shootings, by Wayne Unser. Ernest Darby was also being held there, and Clay told Unser to bring Álvarez in, in order for the three gang leader to hold a meeting and, hopefully, halt any more bloodshed. Clay met with Darby first, and told him not to retaliate because it would start a war on the streets of Charming. He then met with Álvarez and the pair made a deal; the Sons of Anarchy will begin selling guns to the Mayans, and all Mayan-SOA disputes (over turf, businesses, etc.) end in the SOA's favour. Álvarez also gave the Sons permission to kill Esai, as revenge for the attempted hit on Clay. Meanwhile, Hayes offered SAMCRO a free shipment of guns if they carry out a hit on Brenan Hefner, the man who killed McKeavy. Bobby, Jax and Opie then went to his hotel room and shot him dead.[10]

The ATF arrested Otto's wife Luann Delaney and Half-Sack's girlfriend Cherry and threatened them with prison if they did not give information on SAMCRO. Bobby, Piney and Tig started a brawl at a local bar and most of the town's small police force had to go to the scene to break it up. This gave Jax and Opie an opportunity to break into the police station, with the help of Unser, and free Cherry. Luann stayed behind because the ATF had given her and Otto a deal. Happy then smuggled Cherry and Cameron Hayes into Canada in one of Unser's trucks.[11]

The ATF raided the clubhouse and arrested Bobby for the murder of Brenan Hefner. Hefner's mistress had seen Bobby and Opie leave the scene and reported them to the police, successfully identifying Bobby. Opie was also arrested, and taken to a "secure location" for his own safety. June Stahl made it look like Opie was the witness by paying off all his debts and arresting him in the middle of the night. She told him that he and his family would get into the Witness Protection Program if he informed on SAMCRO's illegal activities. If not, he would be imprisoned or killed by the Sons. Opie was released after two days and returned to Charming. At the clubhouse, he was greeted with a warm welcome, but Clay and Tig suspected him of turning informant. Tig found microphones in his pick-up truck and mobile phone, which were planted by the ATF. Clay and Tig then decided to kill him.

Clay and Tig met with One-Niners leader Laroy, and discussed taking out the Mayans. They agreed that the Sons would meet the Mayans for an arms deal and when they left, the Niners would eliminate the Mayans and take the guns as payment. However, when Clay, Tig, Opie and Jax met Marcus Álvarez and his crew at a warehouse in Oakland, the Niners tried to take out the Mayans and SOA. The group escaped, but a number of Mayans and Niners were killed in the shoot-out. Tig attempted to kill Opie during the havoc, but found himself unable to do so. Later on at Jax's son Abel's homecoming party, Tig followed Opie's car home and shot the driver dead. However, it was Opie's wife, Donna, that was driving the car. Just after Tig had left to kill Opie, Clay was approached by Wayne Unser and told that Opie was in fact not an informant, and that the ATF had set him up. Clay tried to phone Tig to tell him, but Tig was not carrying his phone.[12]

Thinking that it was the Niners who killed his daughter-in-law, Piney Winston travelled into Oakland, went into a Niner bar and took a man hostage, demanding to know who killed Donna. Half-Sack followed him, however, and called Jax and Chibs for help. They managed to get Piney out alive, and had a talk with Laroy. He told them that it was not him or his gang who killed Donna. Clay also blackmailed Elliot Oswald again, into getting his friends in the US Attorney to tell him the location of the witness. The witness, a 17-year-old girl, was being held at a safe house in San Joaquin and Chibs, Happy and Tig travelled there to kill her. After they knocked the Sheriffs and ATF agent protecting her, they tied her up and were preparing to shoot her when Jax arrived and stopped Tig from killing her at gunpoint. Jax told Chibs and Happy to leave, then beat Tig up for killing Donna. Season One ended at Donna's funeral, which was attended by Sons of Anarchy from all over the country. There, Jax and the rest of SAMCRO stared at each other and it was plain to see that the club was coming apart from inside.[13]

Activities

The Sons of Anarchy participate in a number of illegal activities and businesses in order to make money, such as gun-running and hijacking. They import illegal, Russian-made guns such as AK47s from Dunglow, Ireland through their connection to the True IRA. These weapons arrive on ships in Oakland in oil containers. They then sell these guns to other gangs in Northern California such as the One-Niners and, eventually, the Mayans. They have also sold to terrorist groups and militias. It is mentioned that the Russian Mafia also sell weapons in the area, meaning that they are a potential business opponent. A local trucking company, Unser Shipping, also hires the Sons to protect their shipments on the way to Mexico and other places. Also, it has been mentioned that the Sons have participated in heists and hijackings with the help of a number of chapters.

Members

Known members of the gang include:

References

  1. ^ Clubhouse 360 - Framed Vets Popup
  2. ^ Clubhouse 360: Plaques Overlay
  3. ^ Pilot - Recap
  4. ^ Seeds - Recap
  5. ^ Fun Town - Recap
  6. ^ Patch Over - Recap
  7. ^ Giving Back - Recap
  8. ^ AK-51 - Recap
  9. ^ Old Bones - Recap
  10. ^ Hell Followed - Recap
  11. ^ Better Half - Recap
  12. ^ The Sleep of Babies - Recap
  13. ^ The Revelator - Recap
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