If you leave what might be the world's most infamous motorcycle club, what are the repercussions?
Is it even possible to leave on good terms?
Keep watching for some of the few examples of people who did it.
Being part of the Hells Angels motorcycle club is a lifelong commitment, and according
to the organization, there is no such thing as a retired member.
There are instances, however, where members have left.
Members have been kicked out for breaking rules, and in rare cases, a member chooses
to leave.
One former Hells Angels member, George Christie, shared his experience after leaving the motorcycle
club that he had been a part of for decades.
Christie always wanted to be part of the Hells Angels, and he finally got his wish in the
'70s.
In an interview with Vice, the former member shared what it was like to be part of the
club, saying,
"I felt there was really a code of honor despite what society at-large would think.
These were guys I could trust.
I knew if I confided in them or told them something, they wouldn't take it and use it
against me."
"The number one rule of the Hells Angel code is, 'Always back your brothers.'
I learned that before I even became a member."
Christie said that being part of the elite motorcycle club made him feel special, and
everyone accepted him with open arms.
Christie spent almost four decades with the Hells Angels, and was the leader of the Ventura
chapter for 35 years.
But he decided to officially leave the club in 2011.
Christie's personal views no longer aligned with the club's activities, so he parted ways
with them.
He said,
"I felt we became the people we rebelled against, and that's exactly what I told them at a meeting
when I left."
"I'm just a guy that, after 40 years, decided to make a change in his life."
As he told KNPR, fights with other motorcycle clubs were about egos, and his efforts toward
attaining peace with rivals were met with resistance.
Christie went through the steps to formally leave the Hells Angels.
He talked to the members, provided his reasons for quitting, gave up his patch, and it seemed
that members understood where he was coming from.
By all accounts, it seemed that the other members were fine with him leaving.
Just weeks later, however, Christie received a call that notified him that he was, as the
members put it, "out bad" with the club.
There was talk about him being an informant, which he told Vice is not true.
Being "out bad" was difficult for Christie.
It meant that members who he considered friends and family could no longer interact with him.
He compared leaving the club to a divorce, saying,
"At first, everyone wanted to be amiable.
They weren't happy about my decision, but they understood it.
As things progressed, it became aggressive, and it was hard to take."
In 2016, Christie released a book titled "Exile on Front Street: My Life as a Hells Angel
He explains his time with the Hells Angels and what happened in his life after he left.
He was called a coward, rumors circulated about him, and he even served prison time
for a conspiracy charge, according to Gangsters Inc.
Not all who leave the Hells Angels have the same experience as Christie, though.
Believe it or not, there are those who can leave the club in good standing.
One of them is David Labrava, who became famous for playing Happy Lowman in the crime-drama
series "Sons of Anarchy" and later "Mayans."
Labrava was initially brought on to the show as a technical advisor for an accurate depiction
of a motorcycle club, according to One Percenter Bikers, but after meeting with the show's
creator, he was given a role.
Labrava was a member of the Oakland chapter of Hells Angels.
In 2008, he was arrested for misdemeanor and drug possession charges.
After years with the club, he decided to leave in 2019, announcing his departure in an Instagram
post.
He wrote,
"I want to say I am no longer a member of the largest motorcycle club in the world,
The HELLS ANGELS M.C.
The only club I am a member of now, is the Human Race."
Labrava went on to say that he left in good standing, and it was his own decision, adding,
"I am no longer a patch holder.
I am no longer in the patch holding set.
I am now what is considered to be a civilian."
Labrava thanked the Hells Angels for his time with them, and it seems that his departure
was cordial.
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