The Aryan Circle is a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

spread throughout many U.S. correctional facilities. The Aryan Circle was founded by Mark "Cowboy" Gaspard in 1985 in the

Texas Department of Corrections The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, ...

as a splinter group of the

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) is an American white supremacist and Neo-Nazi prison and street gang. According to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is one of the largest and most v ...

(ABT). During the 1980s the ABT had shifted focus away from overt crime towards religion. The Aryan Circle split from the Aryan Brotherhood to maintain criminal gang status and

beliefs, and to oppose African American and Hispanic prison gangs. The gang began growing during the 1990s, becoming the second-largest prison gang in Texas by 2008, with 730 confirmed members in state prisons. The gang also had an operational presence in neighboring states and isolated members throughout the country. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

estimated their 2009 nationwide membership to be approximately 1,400, including 150 confirmed members in federal prisons.

Membership and identifiers

Membership in the group usually requires an assault on an enemy of the organization. The Aryan Circle touts four tenets: brotherhood, solidarity, loyalty, and dedication; these beliefs are represented on each side of a diamond patch. Aryan Circle members sport common white supremacist/separatist tattoos such as

swastikas The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

, SS lightning bolts, and Celtic or Germanic symbols. The main patch of the Aryan Circle is a diamond with wood in grade under the heart with a swastika and the letters "AC" in the center of a circle. However, due to the group being classified as a

Security Threat Group A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

, many of its members no longer have the patch tattooed. Older members will have a small circle just below their left pectoral. They also acknowledge each other with patch numbers.

Criminal activities

Aryan Circle members have been convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute large amounts of

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamp ...

. On August 10, 2007, Aryan Circle member Dennis Leighton Clem killed two police officers at a Budget Inn Motel in

Bastrop, Louisiana Bastrop is a city in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. It is the parish seat of Morehouse Parish. The population was 11,365 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 1,623 from the 12,988 tabulation of 2000. The population of Bastrop is 73 percent African A ...

in a shootout, in which he was also killed. Clem and his girlfriend were on the run after Clem shot at an SUV with

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

teenagers who had opened fire on an acquaintance, wounding him seriously, in front of his house in Houston on July 14. Two of the assaulting teenagers were killed, one was wounded.

Rivals

Although the Aryan Circle was created by white supremacists, in the mid-1990s it was caught up in a bloody war with another white supremacist prison gang called the White Knights that cost the life of one White Knights member.Rivalry with the White Knights
published by caselaw.findlaw.com

References

External links

FBI file on Aryan Circle
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Organized crime groups in America Organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in Texas Neo-Nazi organizations in the United States White-supremacist organized crime groups in the United States Prison gangs in the United States Gangs in Texas White nationalism in Texas

Membership and identifiers

Criminal activities

Rivals

See also

References

External links