THE Hells Angels Motorcycle Club have spoken out to deny they are on a bloody mission of revenge involving a "shoot on sight" order being issued from America.
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The media-shy motorcycle club has rarely spoken publicly since being formed in Australia in 1975. But the Herald was contacted yesterday by a senior member of the Sydney chapter after a report in a Sydney newspaper yesterday that claimed the club had been issued "a shoot Comanchero on sight" edict from America.
"No Hells Angels member or delegate - USA, worldwide or in Australia - has ever ordered its members to shoot Comanchero, or any other person, on sight," a senior member of the Hells Angels Sydney chapter said.
The refutation comes after several months of heightened tension between members of motorcycle clubs, with the NSW Government recently creating new laws that will allow the police to declare some motorcycle clubs as criminal gangs.
A police operation, Strike Force Raptor, was formed to combat bikie violence, with the high-profile unit making 52 arrests since being created last month.
In an organised meeting with the Herald, a senior Hells Angels member spoke out against what he said were "lies in an attempt to produce public hysteria".
The article published yesterday stated "the gang's American leaders" had ordered Australian chapters to shoot Comanchero members on sight in "a deadly bid to repair the gang's shattered image".
It stated that the Big Red Machine, as the club is known, had a long-held policy of "instant retaliation". But the senior member, authorised to speak to the Herald, denied the allegations.
"Hells Angels USA or worldwide have not and never would order Australian chapters to address any issue in Australia, especially would never order to shoot anybody on sight."
He also said the club has never had a policy of instant retaliation, nor had the international club ever expressed concerns regarding its reputation in Australia. Nor had the Australian chapters been banned from the world run, he said.
The Hells Angels were concerned the "lies" in some media reporting could incite a bikie war and helped to support the new legislation.
The club had not been contacted to verify yesterday's story, he said.
