The Biker’s Portrait

The full requirements to become a Hells Angel are the following: candidates must be male, have a valid driver’s licence, have a working motorcycle and cannot be a child molester or have applied to become a police officer or prison guard.
After a lengthy, phased process, a prospective member is first deemed to be a ‘Hang-around’, indicating that the individual is invited to some club events or to meet club members at known gathering places.
If the Hang-around is interested, he may be asked to become an ‘Associate’, a status that usually lasts a year or two. At the end of that stage, he is reclassified as ‘Prospect’, participating in some club activities, but not having voting privileges, while he is evaluated for suitability as a full member. The last phase, and highest membership status, is ‘Full Membership’ or ‘Full-Patch’. The term Full-Patch refers to the complete four-piece crest, including the ‘Death’s Head’ logo, two rockers (top rocker: ‘Hells Angels’; bottom rocker: State or Territory claimed) and the rectangular ‘MC’ patch below the wing of the Death’s Head. Prospects are allowed to wear only a bottom rocker with the State or Territory name along with the rectangular ‘MC’ patch.
To become a full member, the Prospect must be voted on by the rest of the full club members. Prior to votes being cast, a Prospect usually travels to every chapter in the sponsoring chapter’s geographic jurisdiction (state/province/territory) and introduces himself to every Full-Patch. This process allows each voting member to become familiar with the subject and to ask any questions of concern prior to the vote. Successful admission usually requires more than a simple majority, and some clubs may reject a Prospect for a single dissenting vote. Some form of formal induction follows, wherein the Prospect affirms his loyalty to the club and its members. The final logo patch (top Hells Angels rocker) is then awarded at this initiation ceremony. The step of attaining full membership can be referred to as “being patched”.
Even after a member is patched-in, the patches themselves remain the property of HAMC rather than the member. On leaving the Hells Angels, or being ejected, they must be returned to the club.

One major event in Hells Angels’ history involved the December 6, 1969, Altamont Free Concert at the Altamont Speedway — partially documented in the 1970 film Gimme Shelter — featuring Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and The Rolling Stones. The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform but canceled at the last minute owing to the ensuing circumstances at the venue. The Angels had been hired by The Rolling Stones as crowd security for a fee which was said to include $500 worth of beer.[46] The Angels parked their motorcycles in front of the stage in order to create a buffer between the stage and the tens of thousands of concertgoers.
Crowd management proved to be difficult, resulting in both spectator injury and death. Over the course of the day, the Hells Angels became increasingly agitated as the crowd turned more aggressive. At a later murder trial of Hells Angel Alan Passaro, a security guard testified he heard the Hells Angels being summoned over the loudspeakers when the helicopter bearing The Rolling Stones landed. Debate after the event was over whether or not the Hells Angels were to manage security for the entire concert or just for The Rolling Stones. Sam Cutler, the Stones’ agent who had arranged to pay the Hells Angels said their role was as bodyguards to the Rolling Stones. This was denied by the Hells Angels as well as others connected to the event. During the opening act of Santana, the Hells Angels surged into the crowd numerous times to keep persons off stage.
By the time The Rolling Stones took stage, numerous incidents of violence had occurred both between the Hells Angels and internally within the crowd, not the least of which featured a huge circus performer weighing over 350 pounds stripping naked and running amok amid the concertgoers. Audience members attempted to detain him. Eventually, the irate man was subdued after Angels’ intervened with fists & makeshift weapons, while a crowd of 4,000-5,000 looked on from the edge of the stage.
The aggression didn’t subside there. After an Angel’s motorcycle was toppled, club members’ tempers continued to escalate, their ire spread wide between the audience & performers alike. At one point, Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane was knocked unconscious following an altercation with an Angel, an event later depicted in the documentary film Gimme Shelter. The Grateful Dead refused to play following the Balin incident, and left the venue.
A shoving match erupted near the stage during a rendition of the song Under My Thumb. A man in the audience named Meredith Hunter produced a handgun.[neutrality is disputed] Hunter was stabbed to death. A Hells Angel member, Alan Passaro, was later acquitted of murder on grounds of self-defense. After the concert and critical media attention given to the HAMC, Sonny Barger went on a local California radio station to justify the actions of the Hells Angels and to present their side of the story. He claimed that violence only started once the crowd began vandalizing the Hells Angels’ motorcycles. Barger would later claim that Meredith fired a shot which struck a Hells Angels member with what he described as “just a flesh wound.”
In 2005, after a two year exhaustive cold-case renewal of the file, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office permanently closed the case. An enhanced and slowed down version of the original film footage was produced for the police, and after examining it Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Dudek said Passaro, who died in 1985, was the only person to stab Hunter and he did so only after Hunter pointed a handgun at the stage where the Stones were performing.
Alan Passaro is the only person who stabbed Meredith Hunter, Dudek said, adding that Passaro’s lawyer confirmed his client was the sole assailant. “Passaro acted with a knife to stop Meredith Hunter from shooting.”
In addition, enhanced and slowed-down footage from the film shows Hunter brandishing the handgun just before Passaro stabs him.