The Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club (GJMC), are a "one-percenter" motorcycle club that was originally formed in San Francisco, California on April Fool's Day, 1956. They are one of the most notorious motorcycle clubs in the USA, Australia, Germany and Norway.
Prominently featured in Hunter Thompson's book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, they were the second most powerful outlaw motorcycle club in California until they were forced out of the San Francisco Bay Area by the Hells Angels. They have also been in Washington state since 1966, and relocated to Oregon in 1967, taking up temporary residence in Lincoln City, Oregon. The club has since spread to Australia, Germany, Norway and South Africa. There are approximately 35 chapters worldwide. In response to proposed anti-"bikie" laws in Australia, a protest rally was held in 2009, including a show of support by many other outlaw bikers, even among rival gangs.
Australia
In November 1969, Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club Australia was founded by former members of the St Mary’s Motorcycle Club who enjoyed riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. A book was produced with the names of American Outlaw Clubs, after a discussion of club names they decided to call their club the Gypsy Jokers.
Following a friendly amalgamation with the notorious South Australian formed Mandamas MC and Gypsy Joker MC the group has had a high profile in Australia, especially in the southern and western regions. They are well known in Australia for the 2001 car bomb murder of Western Australia's former chief detective Don Hancock. The gang had an altercation with Hancock at the hotel he owned in Kalgoorlie. After setting up a campsite Gypsy Joker Billy Grierson was shot dead by a sniper and it was alleged that Hancock was the shooter.
Gypsy Joker club members claimed that on January 12, 2001, a member was severely beaten by police in Adelaide, South Australia for refusing to remove his motorcycle helmet and sunglasses.
In February 2008, police forced the Gypsy Jokers to dismantle its clubhouse fortifications, which include a concrete front wall, surveillance cameras and modified doors, in Perth, Western Australia. The club said the security was needed in the area where the burglary rate is high.
Two Gypsy Joker members were jailed on March 5, 2009 on charges of assault. On May 12, 2007, Dean Alan Adams and Peter Floyd Robinson attacked Petera Heta Haimona outside the Cactus Club in Gosnells, Western Australia and beat him with metal pipes.
A Gypsy Joker was charged with unlawful possession of a large sum of cash, weapons and ammunition on August 17, 2007. Police pulled his car over and discovered a gun, an expandable baton, capsicum spray and ammunition when they searched his vehicle.
A Gypsy Joker member was charged with attempted murder on March 17, 2009. He shot and wounded a member of the Newboys gang and former Hells Angel outside their clubhouse in Adelaide, South Australia.
On May 19, 2009, five Gypsy Jokers were involved in a drug-related shoot-out with another gang in Perth, Western Australia. Two were wounded and taken to hospital, one of which was Club President Leonard Mark Kirby.
On April 14, 2012, Gypsy Joker Anthony "Rooster" Perish, his brother Andrew (a Rebels Motorcycle Club gang member) and Matthew Lawton were sentenced to eighteen, nine and fifteen years respectively for the murder of convicted drug trafficker Terry Falconer, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms and drug offences.
United States
In 2004, the police raided the Gypsy Joker clubhouse in Portland, Oregon looking for two men wanted for armed robbery one of which went by the street name Brick. (Brick later was found dead due to a altercation with a rival gang and could not be tried for said crimes.) The men were not there, however, and the club sued the Portland Police Bureau for $50,000 because of the damage caused in the raid.
On April 10, 2008, police raided the Gypsy Joker clubhouse in Kennewick, Washington and arrested four men for possession of methamphetamine. Stolen property and weapons were also seized from the premises.
On August 13, 2009, police in Nampa, Idaho, with assistance of the FBI, pulled over and detained approximately 60 to 70 members of the Gypsy Joker MC just off exit 38 on interstate 84. They were searched, interrogated, and photographed for future reference by law enforcement concerning gang affiliated activity.
As of July 2016, three people in Oregon are facing two counts of murder, one count each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and two counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping regarding the killing of Robert Huggins, once a high-ranking member of the group. Others are accused of hindering prosecution in this case. The investigation lead to a raid of the Gypsy Joker club house in north Portland that same year. Huggins' body was found beaten, mutilated and broken in July 2015. His killers shot nails through his boots, carved out an ‘X’ on his body and knocked out his teeth.
See also
- List of outlaw motorcycle clubs
- Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
