Hollister
– Legendary Hells Angel Ralph
”
Sonny
”
Barger made another visit to the Hollister rally this year.
Barger, 68, founded the Hells Angels’ Oakland chapter in the 1950s
and once was known by the federal government as the
”
most powerful and well-known outlaw motorcyclist in the
country.
”
Hollister – Legendary Hells Angel Ralph “Sonny” Barger made another visit to the Hollister rally this year. Barger, 68, founded the Hells Angels’ Oakland chapter in the 1950s and once was known by the federal government as the “most powerful and well-known outlaw motorcyclist in the country.”
He’s the author or coauthor of several books, including his most recent, “6 Chambers, One Bullet.” Barger took time away from autographing books at the rally Saturday for a short interview with Free Lance Editor Kollin Kosmicki.
Free Lance: How does the Hollister rally compare to other rallies you’ve been to?
Barger: It’s a really good rally, and I’ve been to every one of them, including last year when there wasn’t one. But I think the police presence is really what destroys it. We have rallies all over the United States, and I don’t think nowhere there’s a presence of police like there is here. Like the Department of Justice, they want to come stand in front of our booth and stare at us. I mean, really, do they think they can stare us down?
FL: Is it a California issue or is it just a Hollister issue?
Barger: California issue.
FL: It’s everywhere then?
Barger: No, probably it’s a Hollister issue, yes. Somehow or another somebody in charge or some police agency that controls this event has got a problem with this event.
FL: Do you think there’s a mischaracterization about bikers or Hells Angels in particular?
Barger: Well, we all know that. They just stand around and say we’re stone criminals and we shouldn’t be here. In Arizona just the other day, the attorney general bought our clubhouse to move us out of the neighborhood because they said they didn’t think a criminal organization should be in a neighborhood. And the neighbors got mad.
FL: What does it mean to be a biker now in 2007?
Barger: It’s hard to say because there’s so many of us now. I have fun. And I’m going to have fun. And that’s what life’s all about.
FL: What are you mostly doing these days? You’re writing. You’re going to these rallies.
Barger: I go to rallies, sell books. I’m working on a movie. I’m working on a TV show. If things come together for me, I’m going to be pretty well set.
FL: What’s the movie project?
Barger: The movie project is with Fox. It’s about my first book. Tony Scott (“Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder,” “True Romance”) is the director. Fox had bought the rights to it, and they’ll probably, with any luck, start filming by the end of the year or (the start of next year) eventually.
FL: What is it like just to be out here and just to meet people and have all these fans come up to you and ask questions?
Barger: I guess “fans” is an all right word. The people that come up here, they love the Hells Angels. If they come up and say, “We love the Hells Angels, they’d probably get beat up.” So they come up and say, “Sonny, we love you.” But that’s what they mean.
