Red Devils motorcycle gang rolls into town
A touring group of Red Devils MC members rode into San Remo on Saturday on their way to overnight digs in Cowes. It’s unlikely the Penguin Parade was on their itinerary.
THE Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission identifies 35 Australian Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, among them the Red Devils MC Australia.
Not as well-known as their affiliate club the Hells Angels and others including the Comancheros, Bandidos, Coffin Cheaters, Gypsy Jokers and Outlaws, they are nonetheless on the list.
And they rolled into town around lunchtime on Saturday.
About a dozen of them rode in formation down the main street at San Remo, just after 12 noon, stopped briefly at the San Remo Hotel, parking their shiny machines out the back and then continued on to Cowes where they roared up the main street and into Chapel Street on their way to overnight digs in Cowes.
It’s unlikely the world-famous Penguin Parade was on their itinerary.
The group stayed overnight at a well-known hospitality venue in town where fellow patrons said they caused no problems and quietly exited the premises on Sunday morning, around 9.30am.
They left no debris or mess in their wake.
“They were just sitting there, having a few drinks and keeping to themselves,” said another visitor to the food and refreshment venue.
Local police were aware of their presence and did a number of drive-bys.
Their visit to Phillip Island comes at an interesting time for so-called “1%” motorcycle riders, those involved in outlaw motorcycle gangs, after legislation passed in the Victorian Parliament last October came into force on August 25 this year introducing a new offence that bans adults from publicly displaying the insignia of an organisation listed in regulations (insignia offence).
Most other states already have these laws.
However, while it is an offence to display the colours of an outlaw motorcycle gang, the penalties that apply, and they are considerable, more than $12,000 for an individual and $61,000 for an organisation, it only applies if a gang is named as prescribed under the new insignia offence.
The Attorney-General is considering whether to recommend prescribing the following organisations for the insignia offence:
- Hells Angels Motorcycle Club
- Red Devils Motorcycle Club
- Finks Motorcycle Club
- Sixty Sixers Motorcycle Club
- Mongols Motorcycle Club
- Raiders Motorcycle Club
- Bandidos Motorcycle Club
- Diablos Motorcycle Club
- Soldados Motorcycle Club
- Outlaws Motorcycle Club
- Comanchero Motorcycle Club
- Rebels Motorcycle Club
- Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club
So, they’ve got the rules, but they haven’t said which clubs it affects.
Background
The Red Devils Motorcycle Club (RDMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club referred to as the principal support club of the Hells Angels.
With chapters in nearly 20 countries, the Red Devils MC, not to be confused with the now-defunct Original Red Devils Motorcycle Club that was founded in Canada in the late 1940s, they have been involved in numerous disputes with law enforcement and rival motorcycle gangs over the years.
The Red Devils MC was initially founded in Karlstad, Sweden in 2001. A charter emerged the following year in the United States in Massachusetts. A Red Devils charter would then go on to be established in Belgium in 2003, and later, expand into other countries.
A Victorian member of the club sustained injuries in a shooting attack in at Epping in 2013 and the clubhouse of the Melbourne chapter was raided by police in 2015 after a number of bullets were allegedly fired at their Clayton South premises. Members of the club ended up being charged with liquor licensing breaches and firearms offenses.
Whether the Red Devils’ insignia, patches and colours become the subject of the legislation has been the subject of a Department of Justice and Community Safety consultation process to which the Victorian Attorney General is yet to reply. See Engage Vic Website for more details: https://engage.vic.gov.au/organised-crime-regulations
According to a report in the Herald Sun on the weekend, Victoria Police has made a submission to the Attorney General seeking action on the insignia bans, adding to their arsenal of control measures against the broad sweep of organised crime in Victoria.
It could be the last time you’ll see members of one of these groups parading their colours in public in Bass Coast, although some of those critical of the proposed bans say it's simply driving organised crime further underground.
“At least if they wear their colours, you know where to find them,” was one remark on social media.
