Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club is an American

motorcycle club A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles. A motorcycle group can range as clubbed groups of different bikes or bikers who own same model of vehicle like the Harley Owners Group. There ...

founded in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, in 1965. The club is primarily active in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

and only accepts

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

riders.

History

The Grim Reapers MC was founded as a three-piece patch in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1965. In the United States, such motorcycle clubs are considered "outlaw" as they are not sanctioned by the

American Motorcyclist Association The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its motto, mission statement is "t ...

(AMA) and do not observe the AMA's rules. Instead the Grim Reapers have their own set of bylaws based on the values of outlaw biker culture. In 1970, the club provided security for the Kickapoo Creek Rock Festival, held on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend in 1970 near Heyworth, Illinois.

Insignia

The Grim Reapers MC takes its name and iconography from the symbolic personification of

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, the

Grim Reaper The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.

Membership

The Grim Reapers' membership, conduct and operations are governed by national bylaws. In order to qualify for membership, applicants must be

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

males aged 18 or over who own an American-made motorcycle of at least 1000 cc (usually a

). Drug addicts are forbidden from joining the club. Prospective members must serve a probationary period as a "prospect", during which time they are subjected to intense physical and psychological punishment. In order to prove they are not members of law enforcement, prospects may be required to commit crimes and provide information for a

next of kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...

. Members are required to attend two mandatory national "runs" and two regional runs each year. After three years of membership, club members are entitled to sport a Grim Reapers tattoo on their arm, and after eights years, a club back tattoo. Members must pay 10% of any profits made from illegal activity to their chapter

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

as a "road tax"; this money is split between national, regional and chapter treasuries. The club's membership has varied in size from 70 to 200.

Organization

The Grim Reapers have chapters in the U.S. states of Tennessee, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. The club's "mother chapter" is located in

. Each chapter is governed by an officer corps consisting of a

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

, and

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...

, or " enforcer", who report to regional officers of the club's northern region or southern region. These regions are overseen by a national officers corps headed by a national president who is elected to a two-year term.Understanding Organized Crime
p. 192-193, Stephen L. Mallory (2006) Chapter clubhouses, which are typically residences in remote or well-fortified areas, are used to host club meetings.

Criminal allegations and incidents

The Grim Reapers are considered by law enforcement to be among the many second-tier, after the " Big Four", outlaw motorcycle gangs. Members are involved in drug distribution, motorcycle theft, money laundering, mail fraud and firearms violations. The Grim Reapers are allied with the Outlaws and have alleged ties to the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

(KKK) and state militia groups.Understanding Organized Crime
p. 191, Stephen L. Mallory (2006) The Grim Reapers formed a chapter in

Warrick County, Indiana Warrick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 63,898. The county seat is Boonville. It was organized in 1813 and was named for Captain Jacob Warrick, an Indiana militia company commander kill ...

in the mid-1970s, which eventually established a clubhouse in a former antiques shop on State Street in Newburgh. Due to restrictions on the building's occupancy put in place by local authorities, the club moved its headquarters to a riverfront premises in downtown Newburgh. After fielding complaints about the Grim Reapers from local residents, the Warrick County sheriff's office raided the clubhouse along with officers of the Newburgh and Indiana State Police in September 1981. A small amount of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, 187 cans of beer and several weapons were confiscated, and fifteen Grim Reapers members were arrested, although charges were ultimately dropped against all but two of the bikers. The club sold the Newburgh clubhouse in June 1982 and relocated to

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

, where it purchased a house on Indiana Street in June 1983. The Evansville Grim Reapers chapter continued to operate from this property until September 2017, when it relocated to the former Exotic She Lounge on East Diamond Avenue. On August 21, 1983, Grim Reapers member Stephen Earl Thomasson was stabbed to death in a fight behind the Red Garter Tavern in Evansville after he had shot a man in the foot. His funeral on August 23, 1983, was attended by round 200 members of the Grim Reapers and the Outlaws.Slain biker gets peaceful burial while police watch
Hunt Helm, ''

Courier Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' (August 24, 1983) In 1999, charges were brought against 18 members of the club, including the national president, as part of the four-year "Operation Iron Horse", a state and federal investigation under the

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

(RICO Act) into motorcycle clubs in the Mid-West of the United States. The 18 defendants were indicted for selling drugs and dealing stolen motorcycles. The Grim Reapers had purchased 120 kilograms of cocaine worth a total of around $3 million from 1988 to 1998.

References

External links