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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)
Founding locationSan Quentin State Prison, California, United States
Years active1964–present
TerritoryFederal prison system
EthnicityWhite
Membership (est.)300 full members, with 15,000+ associates in and out of prison and 300 in prisons
Criminal activitiesMurder, assault, drug trafficking, robbery, gambling, extortion, contract killing, racketeering, arms trafficking, inmate prostitution, human trafficking, dog fighting[1][2]
AlliesMexican Mafia,[2] Sinaloa Cartel,[3] Mexikanemi,[4] Sureños,[5] Hells Angels,[6] Vagos MC,[2] Pagans MC,[7] Sons of Silence,[8] Nazi Lowriders,[9] Public Enemy No. 1,[10] European Kindred,[11] Ku Klux Klan,[12] Aryan Nations,[12] Dirty White Boys,[2] American Mafia,[13] Irish Mob,[14][15] Juggalos[16]
RivalsBlack Guerrilla Family,[2] D.C. Blacks,[17] Bloods,[2] Crips,[2] Black Stones,[2] Nuestra Familia,[18] Norteños,[19] Texas Syndicate,[20] MS-13, Outlaws MC, Aryan Circle[21]

The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand, or the AB, is a peckerwood[22] prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States.[22] The group's ideology has been described as rooted in white supremacy, although many white supremacists hold the group in low regard due to its alliance with the Mexican Mafia.[23] The Aryan Brotherhood has about 15,000 members in and out of prison.[24][25] According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the gang makes up less than 0.1% of the prison population, but it is responsible for between 18-25% of murders in the federal prison system.[26][27] The AB has focused on the economic activities typical of organized crime entities, particularly drug trafficking, extortion, inmate prostitution, and murder-for-hire.[28]

Organization of whites only at lower levels varies 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.[29] The group has an alliance[30] with La Eme (the Mexican Mafia) as the two are mutual enemies of Black Guerrilla Family.

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.[26][31]

History

Aryan Brotherhood member's tattoo.

Until the 1960s, most prisons in the United States were racially segregated. As prisons began to desegregate, many inmates organized along racial lines.[27] The Aryan Brotherhood is believed to have been formed at San Quentin State Prison,[25] but it may have been derived from or inspired by the Bluebird Gang.[25] They decided to strike against the blacks who were forming their own militant group called the Black Guerrilla Family.[28] In the early 1970s the Aryan Brotherhood had a connection with Charles Manson and the Manson Family. Several members of the Family, who were not in prison at the time, attempted to join forces. The Manson Family became split, the Comoites following former Family member Kenneth Como, and the Mansonites following Manson. However, the relationship did not last long as the Aryan Brotherhood considered Manson "too leftist", while members also took offense of the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.[32]

In 1981, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain were charged with the murder of an African American inmate named Robert Chappelle in the Marion control unit. It was believed that Silverstein and Fountain strangled Chappelle in his cell. Later on Silverstein and Fountain killed Raymond Smith, a friend of Robert Chappelle. The two men stabbed Smith 67 times. Later Silverstein started to plot on killing a prison guard officer. On October 22, 1983, gang members from the Aryan Brotherhood killed two correction officers at the United States Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois. Silverstein killed a prison guard named Merle Clutts in which Clutts was stabbed approximately 40 times. Several hours later Fountain also killed a prison guard 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. After picking the lock, Silverstein attacked and killed Merle Clutts. Fountain used similar tactics to kill Robert Hoffman.[33]

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.[28] They took on organized crime-level power inside of the prison system, and, in certain prisons, they may hold more power than even the Italian crime families within the prison system.[28] For example, after being assaulted 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.[26][34]

In April 1993 members of the Aryan Brotherhood formed an unlikely alliance with the Gangster Disciples in the southern Ohio correctional facility in Lucasville. The two groups then initiated the Lucasville Prison Riot, which lasted eleven days. The two gangs took several guards hostage and killed nine inmates. The gangs then killed a guard in retaliation against the state government. In all ten people died during the riot.[citation needed]

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.[28] The intention was to bring death sentences for at least 21 of them, in a manner similar to tactics used against organized crime.[28] The case produced 30 convictions but none of the most powerful leaders received a death sentence.[28] Sentencing occurred in March 2006 for three of the most powerful leaders of the gang, including Barry Byron Mills (born 1948) and AB "lieutenant" Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, who were indicted for numerous crimes, including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and racketeering and for ordering killings and beatings from their cell.[25][35][36][37] Bingham and Mills were convicted of murder and sent back to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility Prison (ADX) in Florence, Colorado where they are serving life sentences without parole, escaping the death penalty.

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.[27] 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 belonging to the "Order of the Blood", a criminal organization controlled by the Aryan Brotherhood. Thirty-four Aryan Brotherhood members or associates were arrested and warrants were issued for ten more.[27]

Notable members

Barry Mills, Tyler Bingham and Thomas Silverstein are among the leaders of the gang. Former members include Michael Thompson and John Greschner. Thompson was a high school football star, and is part Native American.[28][38] Thompson was sentenced to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole and will spend the rest of his life in protective custody sections of California prisons.[36][39]

Media depictions

Documentaries

Films

TV series

Other

See also

References

  1. ^ ""Blood In, Blood Out: The Violent Empire of the Aryan Brotherhood", Crime Magazine". Crimemagazine.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Charles Montaldo (2014). "The Aryan Brotherhood: Profile of One of the Most Notorious Prison Gangs". About.com.
  3. ^ Dan Freedman. "Sinaloa cartel uses street gangs as U.S. franchises". Archive.sltrib.com. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  4. ^ "Mexikanemi".
  5. ^ McCleskey, Claire O'Neill (November 29, 2012). "The allies sureños have are "Skinheads" or "Nazis"". InSight Crime.
  6. ^ "Hells Angels MC".
  7. ^ "Pagans MC".
  8. ^ "Sons Of Silence MC".
  9. ^ "The Nazi Low Riders - NLR". About.com.
  10. ^ "Public Enemy No.1 (PENI)".
  11. ^ "European Kindred".
  12. ^ a b Posted by JJ (December 6, 2009). "Prison Gangs: The Aryan Brotherhood - CollegeTimes". Collegetimes.us. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  13. ^ "ARYAN PRISON GANG LINKS WITH MAFIA Drugs, money & the Gambinos". Nydailynews.com. November 3, 2002. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  14. ^ Stroud, Sara (December 21, 2008). "Alleged shooter had gang ties". Vallejo Times-Herald.
  15. ^ Clay, Nolan (September 17, 2015) "Irish Mob and United Aryan Brotherhood behind Cushing prison disturbance, Oklahoma County sheriff confirms"
  16. ^ http://info.publicintelligence.net/NGIC-Juggalos.pdf
  17. ^ "DC Blacks".
  18. ^ "Nuestra Familia".
  19. ^ "Norteños".
  20. ^ "Texas Syndicate".
  21. ^ "Aryan Circle".
  22. ^ a b "The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas". ADL. 2013.
  23. ^ "White Supremacists Think the Aryan Brotherhood Is a Gang of Race Traitors". The Atlantic. January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  24. ^ Organized Crime, p.284, 2000
  25. ^ a b c d Coverson, Laura. "Aryan Brotherhood Tried for 40 Years of Prison Mayhem". ABC News. March 15, 2006. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  26. ^ a b c Duersten, Matthew. "Who'll Stop the Reign?". LA Weekly. February 3, 2005. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  27. ^ a b c d Holthouse, David. "Smashing the Shamrock". SPLC Intelligence Report. Fall 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h David Grann. "The Brand", The New Yorker, February 16, 2004,(subscription required) collected in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (2010).
  29. ^ Arizona Department of Corrections. "Arizona Aryan Brotherhood" Archived September 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  30. ^ Tucker, Kenneth S. "Major Prison Gangs". Florida Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Hate on Display: Aryan Brotherhood". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  32. ^ Ed Sanders, The Family, 1971, 1560253967. P. 255
  33. ^ "How a 1983 Murder Created America's Terrible Supermax-Prison Culture". Justin Peters. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  34. ^ Hughes, Jim. "Aryan Brotherhood Makes Home in State". Denver Post, November 24, 2002. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  35. ^ "Divided by bars and colour". BBC. December 5, 2002. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
  36. ^ a b "THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CURTIS FLOYD PRICE, Defendant and Appellant". ceb.com. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  37. ^ "United States v. Barry Byron Mills, et al" (PDF). Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  38. ^ Matt Dellinger. "Murder in Maximum Security". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  39. ^ "Man fatally shot by officer identified". Mysanantonio.com. February 6, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  40. ^ "Aryan Brotherhood". Tvsquad.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  41. ^ "National Geographic TV Series: Explorer". Channel.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  42. ^ "Discovery Channel TV Series: American Gangs". Dsc.discovery.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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