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Aryan Brotherhood
06.06.2020 |
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a white prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with an estimated 15,000–20,000 members in and out of prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Aryan Brotherhood makes up an extremely low percentage of the entire US prison population but is responsible for a disproportionately large number of prison murders.
The gang has focused on the economic activities typical of organized crime entities, particularly drug trafficking, extortion, inmate prostitution, and murder-for-hire. Organization of its whites-only membership varies from prison to prison but is generally hierarchical, headed by a twelve-man council topped by a three-man commission. The Aryan Brotherhood uses various terms, symbols, and images to identify themselves, including shamrocks, swastikas, and other symbols. To join, members may swear a blood oath or take a pledge; acceptance into the Aryan Brotherhood is aided by a prospect's willingness to kill another inmate.
History
Most prisons in the United States were racially segregated until the 1960s. As prisons began to desegregate, many inmates organized along racial lines.[15] The Aryan Brotherhood is believed to have been formed at San Quentin State Prison,[1] but it may have been inspired by the Bluebird Gang.[1] They decided to strike against the blacks who were forming their own militant group called the Black Guerrilla Family.[16] In the early 1970s, the Aryan Brotherhood had a connection with Charles Manson and the Manson Family. Several members of the Manson Family were in prison at the time, and they attempted to join forces. However, the relationship did not last long as the Aryan Brotherhood considered Manson "too leftist," while members also took offense at the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.[17]
In 1981, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain were charged with the murder of a black inmate named Robert Chappelle in the United States Penitentiary, Marion, control unit. It was believed that Silverstein and Fountain strangled Chappelle in his cell. They later contacted Geri Riley to let her know it was done. Silverstein and Fountain later killed Raymond Smith, a friend of Robert Chappelle. The two men stabbed Smith 67 times. Silverstein then started to plan killing a correctional officer. On October 22, 1983, gang members from the Aryan Brotherhood killed two correction officers at Marion. Silverstein killed an officer named Merle Clutts, stabbing him approximately 40 times. Several hours later, Fountain also killed an officer 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. He picked the lock, then attacked and killed Merle Clutts. Fountain used similar tactics to kill Robert Hoffman.[18]
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.[16] They took on organized crime-level power inside of the prison system, and they hold more power than the Italian crime families within the prison system.[16] For example, Gambino crime family boss John Gotti was assaulted while incarcerated in Marion Federal Penitentiary in 1996, and he allegedly asked the Aryan Brotherhood to murder his attacker. Gotti's attacker was immediately transferred to protective custody and the planned retaliation was abandoned.[19][20]
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Ideology and motivation[edit]
The initial motivation for the formation of the group in San Quentin in 1964 was self-protection against an existing black prison gang. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has said that, although they clearly have a white supremacist ideology, the major motivation is money, and they have occasionally set aside racist views, such as by allying themselves with Latino gangs, in order to make a profit.[2]
The SPLC, which monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States, has designated the Aryan Brotherhood as "...the nation’s oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate," and the "...largest and deadliest prison gang in the United States."[2]
Daryl Johnson, leader of the Domestic Terrorist Analysis Team whose job it is to monitor the activity of right-wing militias and domestic terrorist groups, said that white supremacist organizations in prisons are a "...radicalization threat," committing acts of violence inside prison, and then in the larger communities after release. Johnson named the Aryan Brotherhood, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, and the Aryan Circle as examples of white supremacist prison-based gangs which are radicalization threats.[25]:325
In an investigation in California prisons which ended in 1989, the FBI characterized the Brotherhood as a "...violent, white supremacist group,"[26] and a 2008 DHS intelligence conference in Newport, Rhode Island divided violent domestic extremism into three types, and concluded that white supremacist groups like Aryan Brotherhood remained a threat and a cause for concern.[25]:189
Operations and membership[edit]
Estimates of Aryan Brotherhood membership vary from 15,000-20,000 members in and out of prison.[1][2][27]
The Aryan Brotherhood has members inside federal and state prisons, and outside on the streets. All members are Caucasian, and are either in prison or have been in prison. Joining is difficult; new members are on probation for a year, must swear a blood oath for life, and commit a violent act to join such as killing a rival inmate or assaulting an officer. The Aryan Brotherhood will also at times follow the rule, requiring the murder of a black or Hispanic prisoner for entry into the Brotherhood.[28] Members are inculcated with various reading materials smuggled into prisons published by Aryan Nations, Militia of Montana, and other groups,[29] as well as Mein Kampf, The Art of War, and Machiavelli's The Prince.[2] Early members were known to read Western novels by Louis L'Amour, where the self-proclaimed "the Brand" moniker derives from. Therefore, perpetuating an admiration for the outlaw gunslingers of the American West. Members also have a fondness for medieval Vikings and the pirates of the Golden Age.
Criminal activities inside prison walls include male prostitution, gambling, extortion, and drug trafficking,[2] primarily involving methamphetamines.[29] Outside prison, the AB engages in every kind of criminal enterprise, "...including murder-for-hire, armed robbery, gun running, methamphetamine manufacturing, heroin sales, counterfeiting, and identity theft," according to the SPLC.[16][2]
Organization and affiliation[edit]
Organization[edit]
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In April 1993, members of the Aryan Brotherhood along with members of the Black Muslims and other gangs in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility initiated the Lucasville Prison Riot in Lucasville. The rioters took several officers hostage and killed nine inmates, then killed an officer. Their complaints included alleged abusive treatment and overcrowding, with Black Muslims also demanding an end to mandatory tuberculosis testing, which they said violated their faith.[21]
Investigations and prosecutions
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.[16] The intention was to bring death sentences for at least 21 of them, in a manner similar to tactics used against organized crime.[16] The case produced 30 convictions but none of the most powerful leaders received a death sentence.[16] Sentencing occurred in March 2006 for three of the most powerful leaders of the gang, including Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham, who were indicted for numerous crimes, including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and racketeering and for ordering killings and beatings from their cells.[1][22][23][24] 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.[15] 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. 34 Aryan Brotherhood members or associates were arrested and warrants were issued for ten more.[15]