A Mongol never lies to another Mongol. \ Queen's relationship with the Mongols evolved into a strange kind of camaraderie. His new book is Under and Alone. The club is always there for me.". William Queen, an ATF agent who infiltrated the Mongols in 1998, wrote a very good book about the club called Under and Alone. But the next day, several bikers told Billy that Adrian Gutierrez, nicknamed Panhead, had started a fight with Herrera and then asked for a buck knife from another Mongol to finish him off. The son of an A.T.F. When the Mongols reached an all-time low of 100 members, things started to get a bit rough. WebUnder and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang William Queen 4.15 4,914 ratings432 reviews In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. Rocky, Panhead, Silent, Conan--men with names that implied explosive violence--had no idea they were about to be duped by a supremely elaborate undercover disguise. I thought I was never going to see my kids again.". The Mongols MC has continued to be in the news as recently as January of this year, when they had an encounter with the Iron Order MC and a Mongol member, Victor Mendoza, was shot and killed in Denver, Colorado as the situation escalated. He rode with us. Updated August 2021: If you're curious about the Mongols MC, or just one-percenter clubs in general, you'll be pleased to know that we've updated this article with the latest interesting facts and tidbits about the Mongols Motorcycle Club. Following that incident, the Mongols Motorcycle Club was created, becoming Hells Angels' biggest rival. Undercover ATF agent William Queen infiltrated the Mongols in 1998. In May, when the arrests were announced, the ATF hailed the sting as the longest undercover investigation into a motorcycle gang and one of the bureaus most extensive operations ever. Queen gained the respect and trust of many of the Mongols when he jumped between the Mongol president, Domingo, and a drunk in a biker bar in Tujunga, Calif. Queen said the drunk had been "mad-dogging," or glaring, at Domingo. William Queen describes his harrowing tale in his book called Under and Alone. If you intend to break any of the above commandants [sic], you might as well turn your patch in now or face the consequences. The government argued that the pleas demonstrated a nexus between the violation of which the defendant has been convicted (or to which he has pled) and the property sought.. Rocky, said Mr. Queen, was an everyman, snared in the electricity of bad circumstances, a person drowning as he tried to deal with his children, a mortgage and responsibility. As an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, William Queen must tackle a number of challenging cases, including going undercover to investigate a group of violent skinheads and infiltrating and busting a ring trafficking in high-powered explosives, drugs, and firearms. Finally a payment was made to end the bloodshed. His colleagues at the ATF barely acknowledged his loss. After his discharge from the Army, he worked as a police officer in North Carolina for six years. "Red Dog began screaming at me, 'How long was your (police) academy, Billy? The federal government had gone to great lengths to make sure the bikers would never suspect what awaits them in federal court next month: Billy on the witness stand, Mongols at the defense table, the prospect of long sentences for murder, drug dealing and other charges hanging over them. Officials in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, amazed at his experiences, said he should write a book. Many old school Mongols blamed Doc and these issues lingered until he was kicked out of the MC. [3] However, Gibson's arrest for drunk driving and subsequent legal issues shelved any plans for a movie based on the book. Guilford sheriff foresees 'increase in gun violence' with repeal of pistol permit requirement. A week later, at a muffler shop in Los Angeles, Billy asked Panhead about sticking that dude. Panhead didnt deny it, court papers say, but he didnt actually come out and take responsibility. They even have a catch all emergency signal they send out to members when law enforcement is on the prowl- Code 55- which means hide all gang affiliation and lay low because the cops are out hunting Mongols. Anti-Social and violent, The Mongols motto is Respect Few, Fear None. Originally formed in Montebello, California on December 5, 1969, after being rejected membership into the Hells Angels due their Hispanic heritage, the 15 original mongols were military veterans who loved to ride their Harley Davidsons. He said that even though he was an undercover agent, he preferred to pal around with the Mongols on his days off because he was fond of them. From 1998 to 2000, William Queen went undercover for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and rode with the Mongols, a southern California motorcycle gang. Thirty-six others had the charges dropped. He was right. His fellow MC members would search his car before starting it because they thought he was going to be blown up. I wish now and then I could talk to some of them guys. The skull patch represents criminal violence performed as a service to the club. In the end, it was all a bluff, an initiation stunt. WebQueen, a motorcycle aficionado since his youth, had his own big Harley Davidson he rode. The film, which is expected to be shot later this year and released in 2006, will be directed by Antoine Fuqua and star Gibson as Queen. And then, all of a sudden, whack, whack, whack, he sticks a machete in my back.. The Angles didnt like the the Mongols wore a patch on their colors that said California. Going Undercover with the 'Mongols' | Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross Their patch is a member of the Mongol horde of ancient times riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. His colleagues at the ATF barely acknowledged his loss. Billys protection was his completeness. Queen ended up becoming a fully patched member and chapter vice president. As the bodies dropped law enforcement ramped up its focus on the motorcycle clubs. Billys interest in the slaying got him in trouble.
What if the Hells Angels said yes to a couple of people who wanted to join their club? The Mongols don't mess around. As Queen reentered the bar, however, another drunk, a big one, elbowed Domingo, hard. [4] After the trials of the gang members, Queen retired from the ATF, and wrote Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. The club has gone from party heavy disaffected Vietnam veterans to full-time criminals with ties to violent street gangs. ATF officials would not reveal Queens whereabouts or plans, but said he is being protected 24 hours a day. [1] He served as a Special Forces soldier in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He is the sort who frightens weak men, repels normal men and attracts the brutish ones. With the Mongol MC President Doc admitting that the logo was used to further the criminal enterprise the feds were making an unprecedented move. He describes his two-year life with the Mongols. It got so bad that Mongols stopped wearing their colors. He said his name was Billy, Billy St. John, and he dealt meth, and handled machine guns and teetered in dark, violent bars, pulling at bottled beer and winning the trust of men he would later betray in the name of the law. A few months earlier he had been promoted to vice president, but he had returned to being treasurer by the time he left for Florida. He filled out an official Mongol application, asking him to list all his enemies. He was able to become a fully patched member and rise to the role of Treasurer where he gathered evidence against the club, resulting in 54 arrests in April, 2000. But the current president says the club is not a criminal enterprise and that theyve changed their code of conduct, even kicking out drug abusers and criminals. He found that he actually liked spending his spare time with them rather than with his ATF colleagues. Police raided his 2,760 square foot home in South Hills, West Covina and seized an arsenal of guns and bullet proof vest. For two years, he burrowed in, becoming, as Queen puts it, "as bad as the baddest of the bad." Car's driver faces multiple charges. 4. Shoot him." Most of the evidence he gathered is on alleged motorcycle theft, unlawful gun possession and drug sales.
They Were Banned From Wearing Their Patches At One Point, They've Encountered Countless Problems With The Law, Former Pro Wrestler And Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura Is A Member, The Club Has Been Infiltrated Twice By Law Enforcement, They've Made Millions Of Dollars In Illegal Activities, The German Mongols Motorcycle Club President Died In A Bike Accident, They Have Chapters In Multiple Different Countries, Patriotism Is A Virtue Shared Among A Lot Of The Club Members, They Value Their Brotherhood More Than Anything, They Were Formed As A Hispanic Alternative To The Hells Angels, The decision was later overturned by a California judge, 10 Reasons Why No One Should Mess With The Mongols Motorcycle Club, 14 Little Known Facts About The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club, Here's Why You Shouldn't Mess With The Mongols MC, You Wouldn't Want To Meet This 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS Restomod Alone At Night, This 2023 McLaren F1 Concept Will Reclaim The Fastest Car Throne From Bugatti, The Upcoming Dodge Challenger EV Looks Every Bit A Muscle Car, Ranking The 28 Cars In Jeremy Clarkson's Garage, 10 Ridiculously Rare Classic Cars That Won't Break The Bank, 10 Reliable Luxury Cars That Will Last 500,000 Miles. You never really know how long you can stay before youve worn out your welcome, Kincaid said. He explained how he learned to battle the conflicts both within the gang and within himself in order to keep his identity a secret. He had a whole life story, part invented, part probably real. To tell you the truth, Id go up to him and shake his hand.
What started out as a simple motorcycle club in California grew to be something much bigger. and I knew they had made me. That happened in about a year and a half. Not only do patches show loyalty and commitment to the club a member is part of, but they also show their achievements and ranking within that club. He swaggered into one biker bar after another from the San Fernando Valley to Daytona Beach, Fla., lingered in Harley shops and tattoo parlors and apartments stashed with methamphetamines and cocaine, climbed straight up the ladder of Mongoldom from hang around to prospect to full patch member and then finally, somehow, to the organizations inner circle. In any event, for the 28 months of his life as Billy St. John, Billy Queen was given a medal and a $2,000 bonus -- the same size bonus, he said, as the agent who put together the office Christmas party. Major players in the drug trade the club has been accused of running meth, cocaine and heroin with a direct connection to the Mexican cartels. says, Taiwan presidents meeting with McCarthy inflames divide among local immigrants, Alleged shooter in Trader Joes parking lot in West Hills is charged with murder, This Studio City rescue saved abandoned puppies in Lancaster. The Eme told the mongols that they had to pay the tab for the discovered lab. Going by the name Billy St. John, the agent prospected, got patched up and attained a position as chapter vice president. But that rule is difficult to follow, say veterans of undercover operations, when youre trying to penetrate an outlaw motorcycle gang. Queen's background includes a stint in the Special Forces in Vietnam where he earned the Silver Star. The Five Mongol Commandments Below are the Five Mongol Commandments as printed in the Mongol Constitution. You know, a lot of people, they don't understand, but you know what I have? Yall be lucky if you live to be half my age, hed tell younger Mongols. He went on to say, there are some bad people in motorcycle clubs, just like in every organization, he said. Queen was certain Red Dog, and other Mongols, were about to kill him one day at their makeshift firing range deep in an orange grove. Id say, Billy, man, you got us, you did your homework, you got us good. . Police have not forgotten the case of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar, who was tortured and killed in 1985 after a Mexican drug cartel discovered his identity. "I mean what can they do? The Mongols, conversely, expressed their deep love and concern for him during that difficult time. When the work began to have the effect of isolating Queen, he explains in the book, the Mongols began to feel like his own family, causing emotional difficulty for him when the investigation closed more than two years after it had begun. Mr. Queen holds deep affection for certain men in the gang. Clashes with police and other biker gangs, like the Hells Angels, have cemented the Mongols reputation. The Mongols, conversely, expressed their deep love and concern for him during that difficult time. The Mongols not only accepted him but made him secretary-treasurer of the chapter, giving him access to the gang's financial records involving drug and weapons deals and extortion. He was well cast--old, hairy, weathered, rough. [1] The ATF later described Queen's time undercover as "its most successful [biker gang] penetration. But it was just a bluff, part of Queen's initiation. "I couldn't say anything. He was so successful, was taken in so fully, that he was elected chapter treasurer. Plus the beef with the Hells Angels was still jumping off too. Heres how to help, 3 found dead in building operated by troubled Skid Row Housing Trust; drugs suspected.
Former ATF agent William Queen spent two years under cover as a member of the Mongols, an outlaw motorcycle gang. WebQueen, a motorcycle aficionado since his youth, had his own big Harley Davidson he rode. That would be the end of them, and they know it. In a 2005 New York Times article, Mr.Queen said there was a fine line between a lawmen and a outlaw. But Queen missed his children, and he realized how distant he had become from his family when he took his children to a school function and saw that he frightened and repulsed parents and teachers. He said: 'Billy, I know you want to be back. That's why they're not very fond of people trying to stop them from wearing their patches. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). WebUnder and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang William Queen 4.15 4,914 ratings432 reviews In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. The Mongols would have never existed. Back in 1998, agent William Queen from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) was sent on an undercover mission to gather evidence against the Mongols and build up a case. The confrontation led to the bust of the operation by police, which upset the Mafia. The CNN special, titled This is the Life aired on October 7, 2015 further enhancing the already mythical legend that the Mongols MC enjoys.
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A former Bank of America Corp. branch location in Greensboro has been sold for just under $6 million to a New York group, according to a Guilf, Republican Michael Logan expected to become a school board member at Tuesday's Guilford County Board of Education meeting. In the book Queen details how, after 28 months, he began to lose his own identity to his new persona. He talked about one man in particular, Rudy Martinez, known as Rocky, whom he sent away on a narcotics conviction. The ATF, like most law enforcement agencies, prohibits undercover officers from taking drugs. Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Productions, acquired the film rights to Queen's story, with early reports indicating that Gibson himself was interested in starring as Queen. It was there, miles from anywhere, that a hard man named Red Dog asked him how long he had attended the police academy. In 2004, a group of Mongols got into a confrontation with members of Lasondra, a gang loyal to the Mexican Mafia, regarding a drug operation the gang was running in a motel that the Mongols were staying in. NY Times Review: "Under and Alone: Hairy Guys on Wheels", "Icon, Warners revving up to shoot 'Alone', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Under_and_Alone&oldid=1118237736, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 October 2022, at 21:33. His new book is Under and Alone. They're real solid people. He speaks fondly of those days, the parties, the camaraderie, the bullying of the Hell's Angels. Vans full of Surenos would open fire on Mongols on the highway. William Queen, an ATF agent who infiltrated the Mongols in 1998, wrote a very good book about the club called Under and Alone. Queen and his ATF handlers prepared carefully for the long haul, and it was good that they did. If there's anything members of outlaw motorcycle clubs take pride in, it's their patches. Or was he Billy St. John, the name the Mongols used for their long-haired, beer-swilling, hard-riding gang brother?His life depended on making the right decision. During a meeting in Vernon, California on August 30, 2008, Doc was voted out of the club due to the majority of the membership believing that he was stealing from the club and provoking a war with the Mexican Mafia. At 5-foot-7 and 55 years old, Mr. Queen has a personality that towers above him. The Mongols refused to pay, which led to a street war going off, resulting in multiple deaths on both sides. They looked at him, not with hatred, but with hurt, he said. He was so successful, was taken in so fully, that he was elected chapter treasurer. He went to headstone ceremonies for downed bikers and to church (chapter meetings), and to scores of weekend runs, riding in tight formation with the collective glint of 50 polished chrome bikes nearly blinding oncoming traffic. Going by the name Billy St. John, the agent prospected, got patched up and attained a position as chapter vice president. The two parties ended up meeting behind closed doors and resolved the ongoing war between the two. Billys first test was a line of speed cut for him by a Mongol named Rocky. There were times he was certain that the gang had discovered his identity and that he was about to be killed. When Mustafa B., president of the German Mongols Motorcycle Club, finally got his license, he was involved in an accident and passed away shortly after the club's formation. The two clubs were engaged in a vicious back and forth beef where bars and hangouts were bombed, members were executed and their was bad blood on both sides. The one percent outlaw motorcycle club, that law enforcement accuses of being a criminal syndicate, exists in an alpha male dominated culture where brotherhood, family and community is valued and cherished. Perhaps. Undercover ATF agent William Queen infiltrated the Mongols in 1998. Steve Campbell, who had been his captain on the High Point Police Department, and ATF agents in Guilford County established phone numbers and stories to tell the Mongols if they called. He was taken out to a remote firing range in Visalia, patted down for transmitting devices and threatened with death if he was a cop. He was 15 or 20 years older than most Mongols, but he was still expected to participate in numerous fights and barroom brawls during his years as a Mongol. "It wasn't all bad. "Billy Queen" redirects here. On Oct. 28, 1998, with a shower of motor oil and beer, Billy was initiated into the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Mongols. But the experience left him emotionally drained. INSIDE THE OUTLAWS GREENSBORO'S BILLY QUEEN, WHO INFILTRATED A CALIFORNIA BIKER GANG, TELLS HIS STORY IN A BOOK AND FILM. "That's when he hit me and pulled out a big Bowie knife.". Queen found that he had a knack for undercover work.