Throttle Demons 1% MC

About  Throttle Demons MC ~ Contact The Throttle Demons ~  ~ Demon~~ Facebook

 

Interview with An Asshole: Yves Lavigne

Moderator: Author Yves Lavigne has published four books on organized crime. Three of them deal with the Hell's Angels. He was a reporter with the Globe and Mail from 1977-87. He will join us shortly.

Moderator: Please welcome Yves Lavigne to the chat.
Karl Svoboda asks: Hello Yves. This is a touchy subject you covered - were you ever threatened?

Yves Lavigne: Many times, but it goes with the turf. Thanks for your concern.
Deborah Petrovich asks: Yves, how did you research to obtain information for your books?

Yves Lavigne: Very carefully. Ha ha. Obviously, since I plan to do this for the rest of my life, it would not be in my best interest to reveal my techniques. But as I get more and more media coverage and my face becomes better known, I find that I have to be more inventive with my investigative technique.
Lisa MacLean asks: Is the latest Hells Angels bust going to put a dent in organized crime?

Yves Lavigne: Only for a short period of time, as the Hells Angels are a very resourceful organization. And there are many other members in Quebec who will pick up the slack.
Ed Thompson asks: Yves, you obviously have been in close contact with the biker world. Have you ever had to betray any of the biker gangs to get your information?

Yves Lavigne: First of all, I am not a biker. I am a journalist. I have never misrepresented myself and never in my life have I betrayed anyone. Which partly explains why I am still alive.
Larry Taylor asks: Yves do the bikers run the prisons they are in?

Yves Lavigne: Only in those prisons where they form the majority. I spent time in Folsome Prison in California in the late 1980s and the Hells Angels were called 'booger eaters' by gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Mexican EME Mafia. Obviously in that situation, they were at the bottom of the food chain. In Quebec though, they tend to rule the roost. In some Quebec prisons they have been known to have their own chefs cook their own meals of imported lobsters and other foods that most of us can't even afford. Let it be said that there is no reported case of a Hells Angel becoming anyone's girlfriend behind bars...
Davco asks: Do you believe the West and East Coast Hell's Angels operate differently?

Yves Lavigne: Yes, they do on many levels, but as members transfer mostly from the East Coast to the West some of the eastern egotistical traits have been showing up on the Pacific Coast. The greatest difference is that Eastern Hells Angels are more likely to kill especially in Quebec.
Anne Pren asks: Yves, do you agree it would be effective to segregate the bikers into their own areas within prisons?

Yves Lavigne: The Hells Angels are segregated to prevent clashes with the Rock Machine. I think the Hells Angels should not be allowed to communicate with each other because at this point in time they just continue to the gang culture behind bars at LeClerc.
null asks: Yves, how do you feel about a 3/4 house (
Moderator: wonders if this is a step between a halfway house and a minimum security prison?) for integrating inmates to freedom?

Yves Lavigne: You can have as many gradations as you want. But, it is still a matter of the inmate wanting to successfully integrate into society. Obviously, no one system will cater to the needs to all inmates. This is why they need to be treated as individual human beings. A more responsive and caring corrections system would benefit everyone. This is not to fault corrections officers as it is up to administrators to devise the best possible ways to curb recidivism - recommitting crimes and going back to jail.
Shayne Meade asks: How big is the Rock Machine compared to the Hell's Angels?

Yves Lavigne: The Rock Machine has always been much smaller in numbers than the Hells Angels. And yet, they were successfully able to wage a war against the Hells Angels. At this point The Rock Machine is weaker than it has ever been. But with the recent incarceration of the Hells Angels Nomad's chapter they face little opposition in Quebec.
Gerry Wilson asks: With all you know...do you believe in capital punishment Yves?

Yves Lavigne: I would like to think that certain individuals don't belong on this planet. But with all the errors police have made over the years in successfully convicting innocent people for example Donald Marshall in Nova Scotia, Guy Paul Morin in Ontario, and David Milgaard out west, I am reluctant to take the chance of executing an innocent person. The justice system is too flawed to take that chance.
JimPower asks: Yves, how is the anti-gang law affecting the angels operations?

Yves Lavigne: I think the anti-gang law is useless, although it can be used to increase sentences upon conviction. The basic tool that police can use to hurt the bikers is still their investigative skills. Unfortunately, police want a law that will do the work for them. But such a law would be unconstitutional. The dream law that the police want would allow them to arrest and jail anyone they suspect of being a criminal without having to prove that it indeed is true. I would vociferously fight such a law.
Deborah Petrovich asks: Yves - are the Hell's Angels really how they are portrayed, as bikers? Or are they now clean-cut business men, people we would never suspect?

Yves Lavigne: They are both. But mostly, people you could stand next to without ever knowing that they are the incarnation of evil. The long-haired biker look has pretty well died along with the notion of brotherhood, or the concept of brotherhood. As the Hells Angels made the almighty dollar their number one priority.
John E. Deukmedjian asks: Yves: what is the relationship between Canadian biker gangs and international organized crime (e.g. Russian, Asian, Italian mafias)?

Yves Lavigne: Well, they are all international organized crime. The Hells Angels have chapters on five continents. Only the penguins keep them out of Antarctica. None of these gangs have official links with each other but individual members can be involved in business deals with members of other gangs. The Columbians for example sell cocaine to the Hells Angels who in turn sell it to a variety of groups including the Italian Mafia. The Columbians are loath to deal with the Italians because some Mafiosi had the nasty habit in the '70s of ripping off Columbian suppliers. And so now the Italians pay more for their cocaine.
Guest asks: Do bikers really bother those outside of their crime rings?

Yves Lavigne: Yes, they do. Indirectly they affect all of us. You may never see a biker but the drug addict who rips off your purse or your car or breaks into your house or robs your corner store and generally makes your life miserable buys his drug from the bikers. And so you don't have to see a person for them to have an affect on your life. They just have to exist.
Lisa MacLean asks: Are there a lot of women directly involved with the biker gangs?

Yves Lavigne: Yes, there are. All of them in a subservient way. Hells Angels have wives and girlfriends, many of whom will carry their guns and drugs for them. But many Angels also have countless prostitutes and exotic dancers in their employ. Many who fail to bring home enough money end up dead. No ugly women need apply. They like them young and pretty.
Ed Thompson asks: Yves, since your books have been published, do you find it difficult to obtain information about the biker world due to your popularity?

Yves Lavigne: The better known I get, the more inventive I have to be to get information. But that makes the job interesting.
Shayne Meade asks: Are all Provinces represented by a chapter of the Hells Angels?

Yves Lavigne: No. Provinces without chapters - Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick, Yukon, Nunavut, N.W.T. The Angels have a prospective chapter in Winnipeg which is slated to become a full fledged chapter this year. It is believed by some that P.E.I. has been protected from the Hells Angels by that legendary heroine Anne of Green Gables.
interested commenter asks: The mayor of an Ontario town welcomed the participation of the Angels in a drive to feed the homeless. Are local politicians being fooled?

Yves Lavigne: All politicians exploit opportunities to get votes. Unfortunately, even the most idealistic politician will compromise his or her values to extend the period of suckling at the public tit. Anyone who participates in a charity event that is used by outlawed bikers such as the Hells Angels to sanitize their public image is working against the best interest of the public.
StefanBouchard asks: If a person doesn't do drugs or anything to do with that, are they safe from the Hells Angels?

Yves Lavigne: You can be clean as a whistle, and still be the victim of a drug addict looking for money to buy drugs from a Hells Angel.
Davco asks: how powerful are the Hells Angels in the Vancouver area?

Yves Lavigne: The B.C. Angels are so powerful and wealthy that they have the fewest criminal records of all Hells Angels worldwide. There are 106 Hells Angels in Quebec, all of whom have criminal records. There are about ninety Hells Angels in B.C. for the first time in 20 years two were convicted last month. Life doesn't get any easier for a biker.
Seamus Hopkins asks: I have seen biker websites on the Internet. Are these just a ploy at PR?

Yves Lavigne: Yes, these websites are all geared to paint the bikers as victims. They are also crafted to part fools and their money. The Hells Angles sell a wide variety of paraphernalia, the proceeds of which they pump into the legal defense fund to pay their high priced lawyers so every person who buys biker crap contributes to keeping a Hells Angel out of jail.
interested commenter asks: How do the angels decide who to accept as a member?

Yves Lavigne: There was a time, 50 years ago, when the Angels accepted any man with a motorcycle in need of brotherhood. Today, their written constitution requires that man to be white, and they emphasize "no niggers" (their words) but most of all, they require someone with good business sense. So much for the motorcycle.
Sandra asks: Do Hell's Angels have connections with police officers or judges?

Yves Lavigne: Hells Angels have corrupted police officers and judges, jurors, journalists, politicians, and anyone else who can make life easier for a criminal.
Seamus Hopkins asks: I understand that there are different classes or ranks of bikers is that so?

Yves Lavigne: The Hells Angels are at the top of the pile. They are the most sophisticated widespread and successful. The other gangs aspire to be like them. As they evolve, the Hells Angels absorb them.
Derek Ripley asks: Some cult organizations have policies which instruct their members to steal anti-cult literature from libraries and book stores. Have you had similar problems with your books?

Yves Lavigne: My first book on the Hells Angels is the most shop lifted book at Pages bookstore on Queen St. in Toronto. To keep my book out of public hands the Hells Angels have gone into book stores and bought the entire stock. There is no proof they read any of them.
T.M.Hallman asks: Yves, I heard that in Nova Scotia the Hells Angels were welcomed in a community because the community felt safer with them there. Have you heard about this

Yves Lavigne: That is false. In any community there are always some people who will like bikers. Any feeling of security is illusory. The reason a neighborhood around a club house is generally safe is that the Hells Angels beat or kill anyone who draws police attention.
Shannon Hartley asks: Yves, I would like to know when your next work will be out and what is the title of the book?

Yves Lavigne: I would never say whether or not I was working on a book, it is part of the secret of staying alive. But after 4 books on organized crime I feel it is time to move and explore other issues. Someone needs to speak up about the plight of homeless penguins as global warming melts their home. Adopt a penguin. Buy a bigger fridge.

Moderator: Thanks to Yves Lavigne for joining tonight's chat.

Yves Lavigne: Thanks for the questions everyone. This was my first time on the Internet and it was pleasant.