This past weekend, about 100 members of the Hells Angels were denied access to the Santa Cruz County Fair for wearing their club colors.

We reported last Friday that organizers of the Fair warned them this would happen, and that the motorcycle club threatened to sue if it happened.

So it happened.

This might be a significant turn of events considering the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider a similar case involving the Top Hatters MC. In that case, the Top Hatters argued that wearing club colors is an expression of free speech. The court originally disagreed, but recently agreed to reconsider.

With the Hells Angels making news on this subject, it might bring this issue into the national spotlight.

We'll see if they sue.

Labels: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, No Colors Policy

Santa Cruz, CA

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is considering a lawsuit against organizers of the Santa Cruz County Fair, after being told they would be kicked out of the fair if they showed up wearing colors...

http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/14119681/detail.html

Interestingly, the organizers allowed the club to set up a booth at the fair to sell clothes and other items bearing the club colors.

Gilroy, CA

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to rehear a case involving the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club and the Gilroy Garlic Festival.

The case involved the organizers of the festival ordering club members out of the event because they showed up wearing their club colors. Read our previous article about this case, "Court Rules that Wearing Club Colors is Not Free Speech".

The court's originaly ruling is that the colors and club insignia didn't meet the definition of "speech"...

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6896229

Labels: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Motorcycle Lawsuits, No Colors Policy, Top Hatters Motorcycle Club

A report published on Independent Online says that a group of Hells Angels bikers were hit with over 500 traffic tickets in Czechoslovakia, after leaving a Hells Angels gathering.

They were apparently being watched by police, and targeted. The report went on to suggest that police actually pre-meditated this move in an attempt to discourage bikers from convening in their town.

Europe is quickly gaining a reputation for being highly anti-biker.

Labels: Czech Republic Motorcycle Clubs, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Traffic Tickets

Reported last week on CTV, a Canadian television network, the Ontario wing of the Hells Angels have put up a billboard on a Toronto highway as part of a public relations campaign to improve its image.

The motorcycle gang says they want to "right the wrongs" done to them by the "government-controlled" media.

The Angels' PR campaign comes amid an ongoing trial in Barrie, Ont., north of Toronto, in which the Crown is trying to prove that the Hells Angels are a criminal organization.

If prosecutors succeed, the gang's powers could be severely limited.

The billboard reads: "Still fighting for democracy and freedom" and directs people to their website. There, the gang claims that stories written about them in local and national papers "tell you everything-- but the truth."

Labels: Canadian Motorcycle Clubs, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club