The Sons of Silence, one of the country’s biggest outlaw biker gangs.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
The Sons of Silence, one of the country’s biggest outlaw biker gangs. With its headquarters in Colorado, the Sons of Silence (SOS) are known as “one-percenters” — the term given to those that operate on the fringes of an otherwise law-abiding motorcycle community. One-percenters are dedicated to principles of personal freedom and the right to self-expression. Membership is by invitation only and their motto is Donecmors non separat — Latin that is intended to translate as “Until death separates us”. At first sight, an alliance of white supremacists and biker gang members seems an odd one. Edward Winterhalder, former leader of a rival biker gang known as the Bandidos and now an author on gang culture, said: “Most of them are just regular guys who work during the week and have a little too much fun at the weekends. The majority of them are law-abiding, have families. They’re just regular neighbourhood guys. “They love their Harley-Davidson motorcycles and love their brotherhood and the camaraderie of riding their bikes. They are very pro-government, they stand behind the flag. This is something they would never be involved in. Working with white supremacists would be an extremely unusual partnership.”
But Steve Cook, president of the Mid-West Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigations Association, said that the gangs were known to have a sub-culture — and a bad element — that could sit comfortably with racist extremism.
“I have personally seen SOS members wearing hats that say ‘Dirty White Boy’, T-shirts with swastikas and other Nazi regalia. “I don’t believe that even a group like the SOS would knowingly, as an organisation, get themselves involved in something like this because nothing good can come of it for them. “But would it be out of the realms for some of their associates or a member to do something like this on his own? No. Anything is in play.”
