Sons of Silence

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The Sons of Silence Motorcycle Club (SOSMC or SOS) is a motorcycle club that is one of the outlaw motorcycle gangs . Together with the Hells Angels , the Bandidos , the Outlaws and the Pagans, it is one of the five largest clubs in the United States. Members are believed to be involved in crimes such as murder, assault, drug trafficking, racketeering, and pimping.

history

The Sons of Silence were founded in Niwot ( Colorado ) around 1966 . The first chapter outside the United States opened in the greater Munich area in 1998 . In 2001, chapters in Freising , Gangkofen and Nuremberg followed . A second chapter was opened in Munich in 2002 and a chapter in Viernheim in 2007 . The last German chapter to date was founded in 2010 in Erding . According to estimates by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the club maintained at least 14 chapters in 2001 in seven different states of the United States, as well as in Germany with about 175-200 members. In 2009, according to research by the National Gang Intelligence Center in the United States , their number was 250–275 full members in 30 chapters in 12 states.

The logo is a bald eagle , the heraldic animal of the United States, in front of a huge "A". The drawing was inspired by a Budweiser advertisement. The motto of the Sons of Silence is "Donec Mors Non Separat", Latin for "As long as death does not separate us" and part of the club logo.

Sons of Silence in the biker scene

The Sons of Silence have changeable relationships with the four other big clubs. In Denver they were friends with a Bandidos chapter in the 1990s. Since the Hells Angels also maintained a chapter in Denver, a biker war has been prophesied there for years, but it has not yet escalated. In 1980 the Vice President of the Sons of Silence had killed the Vice President of the Outlaws in Indianapolis . The former president Leonard "JR" Reed was considered a peacemaker and was able to secure the peace between the clubs until his death in 2003 to some extent. His funeral on June 19, 2003 was attended by the Outlaws as well as the Hells Angels and the Bandidos.

Criminal activity

Members of the Sons of Silence are believed to be involved in various criminal activities. The National Gang Intelligence Center lists "murder, assault, drug smuggling, threats, extortion, pimping, money laundering, arms smuggling, and motorcycle and motorcycle parts theft."

In October 1997, 37 members of the Sons of Silence in Denver were arrested for drug smuggling and violations of the gun law. The ATF seized about 9 kg of methamphetamines , 35 firearms, four hand grenades and two silencers . In 2001, six Iowa Sons of Silence were arrested for drug and gun abuse. The six men are said to have traded marijuana , methamphetamine and cocaine .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FBI: National Gang Threat Assessment 2009 , Appendix D. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, pp. 30–31.
  2. ↑ About Us. Official website of the Sons of Silence MC Germany, accessed December 19, 2011 .
  3. ↑ a b c Thomas Barker: Biker Gangs and Organized Crime . Anderson Pub Co, Cincinnati, Ohio 2007, ISBN 978-1-59345-406-7 , pp. 82 f .
  4. ↑ a b Appendix D. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. In: National Gang Threat Assessment 2009. National Gang Intelligence Center, January 2009, accessed December 19, 2011 .
  5. ↑ a b Top 10 Notorious American Biker Gangs. Listverse.com, August 18, 2009, accessed December 19, 2011 .
  6. ^ ATF silences motorcycle gang's drug activity. Radio Iowa, April 4, 2001, accessed December 20, 2011 .