The Aryan Brotherhood (AB; aka Alice Baker, One-Two, or The Brand) is one of the most notorious prison gangs in the history of U.S. prisons. Although AB began in a single prison as a prison gang whose purpose was to provide protection to White inmates, its influence has spread throughout the U.S. state and federal prison system and even into communities. As members are released from prison, their lifelong commitment to the AB encourages engagement in criminal activities after release.
This article reviews the history, organization, and criminal activities of the AB, one of the largest and most organized prison gangs in existence. It then discusses depictions of the AB in popular media and ends with a brief discussion of the AB in the 21st century.
History
In the 1950s, the Diamond Tooth gang was formed at California’s San Quentin State Prison. Largely comprising Irish motorcycle gang members, it was named for the diamond chips embedded in members’ teeth. One of the motivations for the formation of the gang was to provide protection for White inmates. In the early 1960s, as the gang grew in size and its influence spread, the gang changed its name to the Blue Birds. In the early 1960s, paralleling social movements in the communities, prison inmate populations began fractionalizing. African American inmates started the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang, and almost all African American inmates joined. The Black Guerrilla Family started competing for dominance with the Blue Birds. In response, the Blue Birds formed alliances with other White inmate groups, and in 1964, at San Quentin State Prison, these alliances led to the formation of the AB. The founders were two inmates, Barry “The Barron” Mills and Tyler Davis “The Hulk” Bingham.
As the AB gained power and influence, the gang formed additional chapters rapidly in other prisons in California. By the late 1960s, the AB had spread to numerous prions in many other states. The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported that the AB has chapters in most federal and state prisons in the United States, with the largest AB membership in California and Texas. As its power and influence increased, the AB adopted a “blood in, blood out” oath (in 2016 Texas, “God forgives. Brothers don’t”). Recruits are often required to commit a significant criminal act, such as murder, to fulfill the “blood in” oath. “Blood out” means the only way to quit the AB is by death. In some locations, new members have been required to read Mein Kampf written by Adolf Hitler. This was Hitler’s political manifesto and blueprint for National Socialism (Nazism) as he created the Third Reich in Germany in the 1930s. Members had to swear eternal allegiance to the gang, even after being paroled from prison, and in some cases adopt Asatru, a form of Odinism dating back to the Vikings and Norse gods.
Because of the lifetime commitment (under penalty of death if violated), the AB began to have an influence in criminal circles and gangs outside of prison. By the early 1990s, the AB had become involved in various forms of organized crime, including drug trafficking, prostitution, arms trafficking, extortion, dog fighting, and murder-for-hire. The AB also began working with other gangs and organized crime groups to further spread its influence and criminal enterprises. For example, in 1996, John Gotti, crime boss of the Gambino crime family (mafia) is alleged to have reached out to the AB to murder an inmate who attacked him while serving a prison term (Gotti’s assailant was put in protective custody and never murdered). Membership in the AB is open to any White inmate, except those who are convicted of child molestation or who have served in law enforcement or as informants for law enforcement.
Organization and Criminal Activities
Some estimate that the AB has about 15,000 members in and out of prison, about 1% of the total prison population in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported that even though small in number, the AB is responsible for about 18% of all murders in federal prisons. Inside prison, the AB continues to engage in criminal activity, including drug smuggling, extortion, protection rackets, gambling, and murder.
Depending on location or state, the AB has different organizational structures, but all do have a structure. Most are paramilitary style and modeled after formal organizations, with presidents and vice presidents, generals, majors, captains, and lieutenants. Individual members are known as soldiers. In prisons, AB uses a council or committee to govern. In Texas, in addition to the paramilitary structure, the AB used The Wheel, a council of five generals in different regions of the state (all in prison) who govern AB activities throughout the state (both inside and outside of prisons).
In a major intelligence coup, in 1994, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics raided the residence of AB member Bartow Usry. While an inmate at Parchman Farm, a Mississippi State Penitentiary, Usry had served as head of recruitment for the AB. Although Usry had moved shortly before the raid, he left behind two file folders containing information about the AB. In addition to detailing the inner workings of the AB, these folders contained a copy of the AB secret constitution and membership oath, an interview questionnaire for potential new members, a decoder for an AB prison code, and an organizational hierarchy chart. Information in the files listed characteristics that potential AB members should possess, including (a) belief in the racial purity of the White race, (b) genetically of European ancestry, (c) willingness to be supportive of the Brotherhood outside prison, (d) pact-bound, (e) obedient of all known Aryan laws, (f) noble and superior in nature, (g) honest in any and all Aryan business, among others.
Over the years, the AB has formed alliances and worked with other prison and community gangs and criminal organizations, including the American Mafia, Mexican Mafia, European Kindred, European organized crime groups, street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and drug trafficking organizations (cartels). The AB has historically been at odds with and has fought street gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, Black Guerrilla Family, Nuestra Familia, MS-13, Latin Kings, The Texas Syndicate, among others.
Throughout its history, the AB has been targeted by federal law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and state/local law enforcement in every state in which it has chapters. In 2002, leaders of the AB across the country were charged and tried under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Criminal charges included murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, robbery, drug trafficking, and other lesser charges. In all, over 30 national and state leaders of the AB were convicted including the top four leaders of the AB: Barry “The Barron” Mills, leader of the AB for federal prisons; Tyler Davis “The Hulk” Bingham, top aide to Mills in the federal prison system; Edgar Hevle, federal inmate leader; and Christopher Overton Gibson, in charge of day-to-day operations. All were given life sentences to be served at the Administrative Maximum Security Facility (Supermax) in Florence, CO. After being moved to Florence, authorities broke up a complex communication ring used by the leaders to remain in contact with members and to oversee criminal activity.
Many (if not all) AB members can be identified through body art. Most have multiple tattoos signifying membership, from a simple AB tattoo to more complex tattoos of swastikas, the number “666,” HH (Heil Hitler), 88 (for the eighth letter of the alphabet), Sinn Fein-style falcon, double lightning bolts (Nazi SS), and other White supremacist-/racist-oriented tattoos. Not all states or chapters have the same identifying AB tattoo. For example, California AB members and chapters use the swastika and shamrock, whereas the Texas AB uses the swastika with sword and three-pointed shield.
In Texas especially, the AB have a large presence in the criminal underworld outside of prison. AB members have been involved in virtually all organized criminal activities, working with outlaw motorcycle gangs, drug trafficking organizations, organized crime, local street gangs, and even acting individually. The AB also engaged in making and supplying methamphetamine until it became cheaper to produce in Mexico. Now, the AB assists in the trafficking of the drug on the U.S. side of the border, as well as all other drugs that cross the border illegally. The AB has distribution networks established between states to facilitate the movement of drugs and weapons. Because of a brutal string of murders committed by AB members, in 2008, a federally led task force (Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and numerous city and county agencies) began a massive investigation of the AB. In November 2012, the task force arrested over 70 members of the AB, including almost all of the top leaders, some of whom were already incarcerated. By 2014, 73 had been convicted or pled guilty to numerous felony charges, receiving over 900 years in federal prisons combined without parole.
While the federally led task force impacted the AB in Texas, it did not stop AB criminal activities or reign. The AB is still a prominent force in Texas crime circles. It still has a major involvement in drug and weapon trafficking, organized criminal activity, murder, and other felonious activity.
AB and Popular Media
The AB has been the subject of several contemporary documentaries, movies, and television shows. Documentaries that have explored the AB include Marked on the History Channel, Gangland on the History Channel, and Aryan Brotherhood on the National Geographic Channel. On film, the AB has been featured in Supremacy, Honour, Snitch, Fire With Fire, Felon, The Death and Life of Bobby Z, and Lockdown, among others. Television series that have built a storyline around the AB or have an AB element as part of another storyline have included Law and Order, Prison Break, American Gang, and Breaking Bad. Most notoriously, the AB had a significant presence in the series Sons of Anarchy. Several plot lines, while not mentioning the AB, were seemingly based on AB activities. For instance, in one episode, the motorcycle gang used a blowtorch to remove the gang tattoo of a disgraced member. In 2010, the AB attempted to kill Albert Parker by using a blowtorch on the AB tattoo on his rib cage.
The AB in the 21st Century
Today, the AB remains a White supremacist gang. For many White prison inmates, it is a gang to join for protection and personal safety. Despite efforts of the federal government and law enforcement, the AB continues to be a major force in the prison gang culture and prison life. Many inmates find safety and security in becoming an AB, so upon release from prison, they remain an AB. Outside the walls, the AB continues to engage in significant criminal activity and be a force in the criminal underbelly of communities. Although White supremacy is the driving force of the gang, racial ideology has been supplanted by organized crime activity, which provides money to members, as it is more profitable for the AB to engage in criminal activity than racial activity.
References:
- Anti-Defamation League. (2018). Aryan Brotherhood of Texas for law enforcement. Retrieved from https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/aryan-brotherhood-of-texas
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2018). Aryan Brotherhood. FBI records: The Vault. Retrieved from https://vault.fbi.gov/Aryan%20Brotherhood%20/ Aryan%20Brotherhood%20Part%201%20of%201/ view
- Morlin, B. (2017). Cop-killer suspect has Aryan Brotherhood ties. Hatewatch: Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/04/19/cop-killer-suspect-has-aryan-brotherhood-ties
- Southern Poverty Law Center. (2014a). Aryan Brotherhood. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter .org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/aryan- brotherhood
- Southern Poverty Law Center. (2014b). Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/aryan-brotherhood-texas
- Smith, C. E. (2004). Hate on trial. Intelligence Watch: Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligencereport/2004/hate-trial