The Satan’s Choice biker gang wants to re-establish itself in Toronto. But, as the Toronto Star reports, it won’t be doing so if the Hells Angels and their Facebook friends have their way.
Toronto Hells Angel Donny Petersen is adamant that the competing bikers are not welcome in the province of Ontario and he has a lot of social media friends who agree with him.
“The man makes the patch. The patch does not make the man. Those who take a patch from a respected club, one that has history, courage, who has paid their dues, died, done time and all the rest . . . like what are you thinking?” Petersen chided his opponents on Facebook.
“You are pretenders,” Petersen wrote.
Petersen’s tough words were liked by his legion of Facebook friends.
Satan’s Choice was originally from Oshawa, Ontario and chose a smiling Satan as its logo.
Despite the Facebook furor, the upstart biker gang is “evaluating everything,” according to an anonymous spokesman for the gang. They could change the name or just stay home — though the gang denies that the social media criticism has anything to do with their hesitation.
Petersen’s comments are the first time that the Hells Angels — notorious throughout North America for their record of criminal activity — have any objection to the new Satan’s Choice, which first appeared around the national capitol of Ottawa in July. The Hells Angels used to have a clubhouse just outside of the city but the gang closed it last fall.
One veteran Satan’s Choice alumni says he concurs witth Petersen’s dire warnings. Lorne Campbell is certain that anyone who decides to put on the devil’s patch will be riding into physical danger.
“They’ll be laughed at. They’ll be punched out. They’ll be jumped,” Campbell told the Toronto Star.
Though the old Satan’s choice was like a college of criminality, the new club will renounce illegal activities and will stress community service and charitable causes, according to their anonymous spokesman.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Satan’s Choice hasn’t been too aggressive in its public relations program. Sgt. Len Isnor of the OPP biker squad says he’s only aware of a “few sightings” but wants to assure the public that they are aware of the new gang’ s existence and will be watching for any aggressive action.
Campbell, who fondly recalls his 35 years in the old Satan’s Choice gang, said the new club “can’t be proud of who they are.”
Whereas he can point to a record where he was “involved in shootings, stabbing, beatings, the whole gamut.”