Dress Code Keeps 9 Hells Angels Out of Fair in Ventura

Nine Hells Angels were denied entry to the Ventura County Fair on Wednesday evening after refusing to remove black leather vests emblazoned with the trademark winged skull of their motorcycle club.

Stopped at a side entrance, the bikers were told by a security guard their clothing violated a fair policy that bans gang attire.

The guard told George Christie Jr., president of the local Hells Angels chapter, and his associates that they would have to remove any clothing bearing the name of their group to enter the fairgrounds.

“I want to exercise my rights as a United States citizen,” Christie responded.

Holding up two tickets, for himself and the 9 1/2-year-old daughter of his fiancee, Christie asked, “You will not accept these tickets?”

Security guard Mike Priester then handed Christie a copy of the fair’s dress code policy and again told him he could not come through the gate unless he removed the clothing bearing the Angels insignia.

As he walked away from the fairgrounds, Christie called the policy unconstitutional and said he will file a lawsuit challenging it.

“I take offense,” he said. “We are not a street gang, we are a motorcycle club.... We are going to seek legal action.”

Ventura attorney Kay Duffy, who had walked with the Hells Angels and a few of their family members from the group’s nearby clubhouse to the fairgrounds, said she had hoped fair organizers would back down from the policy and allow the Angels inside.

“The next step is the court system,” she said.

Fair spokesman Devlin Raley said organizers had no choice but to turn Christie and company away.

The dress policy aims to create a safe atmosphere for families to enjoy the fair, said Raley, adding that it will be enforced during the 12-day fair that began on Wednesday.

“They chose not to comply with the dress code. It was a challenge of the policy and the policy was enforced,” Raley said, adding that the conversation with the Angels at the gate was peaceful.

Concerned about gang violence, the fair board recently approved a tighter policy on gang attire.

The policy specifically prohibits anyone wearing clothing, visible tattoos or other articles bearing the name or insignia of a criminal street gang from entering the fairgrounds.

It does not ban the wearing of specific colors or sports team logos unless clothing has been altered to symbolize a gang.

“This doesn’t prevent anyone from coming to the fair,” Ventura Police Lt. Ken Corney said this week. “You just can’t be wearing gang attire.”

The policy identifies 27 local groups as criminal street gangs--including the Hells Angels and the rival Mongols motorcycle clubs.

Christie and lawyers representing the Hells Angels contend there is no evidence the club meets the legal definition of a criminal street gang.

But police say recent convictions stemming from a massive drug-and-racketeering case involving Hells Angels members prompted law enforcement officials to deem the organization a criminal street gang.

Corney said revisions to the fair’s decade-old dress code were prompted by a recent appellate court decision in which justices in Northern California found a similar dress code unconstitutional.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a Hells Angels member who was denied entry to the Sonoma County Fair and Exposition after refusing to remove a vest emblazoned with the club name.

The appellate court found the dress code to be vague and overbroad.

The decision prompted Ventura County Fair officials to revisit their dress code.

A revised policy was crafted by the Ventura city attorney’s office and approved July 16.

Unlike the Sonoma decision, Ventura lawyers and police say the new policy is specific and are confident it would withstand a legal challenge.

Corney said the original dress code was enacted more than a decade ago in response to gang fights and has been successful in reducing violence.

This year law enforcement and fair officials have expressed concern about potential violence between Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs.

Sixteen people were injured and three men killed during a shootout between the groups at Harrah’s Casino in Laughlin, Nev., earlier this year.

In the wake of the shootings, fair organizers say the dress code will help ensure that violence between those groups and other gangs does not occur during the fair.