The Aryan Brotherhood

In the mid 1960’s the United States penal systems started to desegregate its inmates and with this the inmates chose to associate within their own ethnic groups. The inmates today still refer to their ethnic divisions as prison politics.
If you are Mexican, Black, or White you stay within your own group and the penalty for mixing outside your race carries with it a high price which would even result in death. Also it was a known rule that if you see a rival gang member attacking a member of your race you must help that man even if you are out numbered otherwise you were in serious trouble with your own race.

During the early years of the desegregation of inmates in the United States penal systems black African Americans and Mexicans started mixing within their own ethnic groups. These were known as prison gangs who were representing their ethnicity. White inmates were terrified of these gangs and were subject to brutal beatings and even rapes while the guard’s backs were turned. As a result of this, white inmates decided on their own group known to this day as The Aryan Brotherhood. The Aryan Brotherhood banded together and used this to stand up and be accounted as a threat to rival gangs who oppose them. No longer were white inmates were going to stand down and be bait for other ethnic groups.

The Aryan Brotherhood also known as the “AB” or “The Brand” is still today the most organized and most lethal prison gang in the US penal system.
Members of the Brotherhood aren’t just admitted because you are “white” you had to prove yourself before becoming apart of this deadly gang. In order to do this you had to beat and/or assassinate another rival inmate in what is known as a gang war.
Once this has been accomplished a member of the Brotherhood would approach you and offer you into their gang.

The founders of the Aryan Brotherhood are known to be Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham. In order for any member of The Brand to murder someone you had to confirm the hit with either of these men. These two men Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham are the true godfathers inside prison systems in the United States.
The Aryan Brotherhood prides itself in the knowledge of quality not quantity. This simply means that other rival gangs in the penal system seek safety within numbers while The Brand only admits the most deadly, cunning and violent of inmates into their group.

The Brotherhood make up less than a percent of the entire inmate population in the United States prisons however they are responsible for up to 26% of all murders in the system all within prison walls. The Aryan Brotherhood also offers protection against rival gang members. It has been said that when Aryan Brotherhood members are released from prison they continue to help brothers on the inside and are usually sort out by the Italian Mafia because of their known ruthlessness.

The Aryan Brotherhood comprise of hardened killers. First lesson you learn in prison in the United States penal system, do not mess with the AB. Fear and sheer horrific detail surround the Aryan Brotherhood. If you cross their path they wont just beat you up they will kill you and they don’t care how but if they have a say it will be bloody and you will not walk away from it.
Michael Thompson Quote: “These men are not just a bunch of neo-nazi kids, they are very dangerous men who will exterminate your family.”

Thanks to Aryan Brotherhood defectors we now know more about The Aryan Brotherhood to let you in on some of their most key secrets that today the FBI are investigating and many members of The Brand are awaiting trial.

Michael Thompson an Aryan Brotherhood defector spoke to the National Geographic and gave his side of the story about his role in the Aryan Brotherhood.
Michael Thompson boasts that he has murdered 22 men INSIDE prison walls for Aryan Brotherhood business. Quote: “I am one of the most violent individuals you will ever meet, the fact that I’m still alive proves that. Few things are as intimate as murder.”

Michael Thompson arrived at the Californian Penal System in 1975 convicted of being an accomplice in the murder of a drug dealer. Thompson had no prior convictions or records and he entered the system as what is referred to as a “fish”.
Thompson soon learnt the way things worked and stuck within his own race and even survived an attack from two rival black gang members called the DC Blacks.
Not long after, The Brand approached Thompson and asked him to join their group.
With most of the members in the Aryan Brotherhood being neo-Nazis, Thompson hesitated to join being part Native American.

When the Brotherhood assured Thompson that their group was not on the basis of White Supremacy he welcomed the protection and home he found with The Brand and was soon to become a great figure and confidant with the godfathers of the Aryan operation Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham. Thompson says that it is purely a criminal organization.

The Aryan Brotherhood members mark themselves with noticeable tattoos displaying their loyalty to The Brand. These include, The Shamrock, which is a three-leaf clover. Also Nazi symbols and the initials “AB” can be found marked upon their bodies.

The Brotherhood gained access to valuable sources in 1973 when Charles Manson asked the Aryan Brotherhood for protection from other inmates but was initially turned down when it was learned that he was convicted of murdering a pregnant woman. To The Brand members this was a dishonorable man but that soon changed when it was learned Manson had connections outside prison walls and Manson’s followers managed to smuggle drugs and even weapons into the system for The Aryan Brotherhood.

In 1997 within Louisburg Penitentiary one of THE most secure federal prisons in the US an assassination was carried out at the hands of The Brand.
Brand members were armed with home made steel shanks and surprised two members of the DC Blacks in their cell and stabbed both of them over 40 times. When the guards found the bodies the sight was unimaginable there were pools of blood everywhere. The details are horrifying and add to the fear that surrounds the Aryan Brotherhood.
One year something unthinkable happened a man named Steven Barnes agreed to testify against The Brand in court and was locked away under dead bolt away from the other inmates it was impossible to get to him and that is exactly how Barnes wanted it.

A high level meeting was assembled with Brotherhood members among them was Michael Thompson. They all agreed that it was impossible to get to Steven Barnes and then it was brought up that they should make an example of him. They would kill his mother and father his wife and kids. A vote was called and Thompson was the only one who voted no, it was against Thompson’s morals. Thompson’s vote was ignored and The Brand agreed that an inmate who was soon eligible for parole could carry out this job his name was Curtis Price. Once paroled Price went to the home of Barnes’s father and shot him in sleep. Then killed an associate who helped Barnes with his testimony, beating her to death with a blunt object. And Barnes’s wife. This was a move greater than anyone could have imagined. The Brands terrifying rain had reached out from outside prison walls for the first time.

In a shocking move Michael Thompson left the Brotherhood. Thompson has spent 20 years helping FBI and giving out lectures about The Brand in hopes to bringing them to justice. Thompson explained that his name is in the hat. Meaning he is now marked for murder. Thompson was transferred to a Special Needs Yard away from his former group members for protection.

The Brotherhood work on a “Blood in Blood out” oath this meant you would kill to get into the group and the only way you could leave was to be killed. The Brand was for life and Thompson defecting was punishable by death and nothing less would do.
Thompson has survived attacks on his life and claims it’s only a matter of time before they attack again. Another Aryan oath is: "An Aryan brother is without a care/He walks where the weak and heartless won't dare/For an Aryan brother, death holds no fear/Vengeance will be his, through his brothers still here."

The AB also manage to possess drugs in the penal system and selling them for a profit. A single Cigerette can cost as much as forty dollars. Somehow inmates are able to pay for these habits with what they own. AB followers on the outside act as debt collectors and if you didn’t pay up there were very horrible consequences.
AB followes on the outiside have been known to smuggle drugs into the system for an amount and the AB can more than triple the profits by selling to other inmates.
The Aryan Brotherhood today is a MULTI MILLION dollar organisation.

One year inside a maximum security penitentry Thomas Silversteen was escorted out of his cell in handcuffs. Thomas Silversteen is known as “Terrible Tom” and was a known Brotherhood assasin. While in handcuffs other inmates in their cells distract the guards and Silversteen slips his cuffs into an adjacent cell and an inmate with a stolen cuff key free’s Silversteen of his cuffs. Once free Silversteen rushes a defenseless guard and stabs him repeatedly, almost forty times. Another Brotherhood member on the very same day carries out the exact same form Silversteen did and murdered another prison guard. This day 2 prison guards were murdered.

Thompson: “What’s the message? Cant stop us! Doesn’t matter if we are in cuffs or in the hole WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU that’s the message.”
Brotherhood Member Anonamous: “We will kill you in the wardens office if we have to and if the warden gets in the way we’ll kill the warden to and it doesn’t matter!”

In this instance The Aryan Brotherhood proved that no one is untouchable.

2002 Police raided prisons in the United States and arrested 30 of the most deadly Brotherhood members and they await trial for conspiracy and drug trafficking.
At the trials prisoners are to be chained to the floor for the safety of the jury and others. Jurors placed themselves in danger just by being there for the fact that any Brotherhood member could decide to murder you for acting against them in any shape or form. Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham were convicted of conspiracy and drug trafficking and were given consecutive life sentences but because of a split jury’s decision they never received the death penalty. Curtis Price was sentenced to death row thanks to Michael Thompson’s statement in court and other criminating factors. Other Brotherhood members today are still awaiting trial.

Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham were sent back to their cells and the irony in the case was that this was where it all began from the same prison cells they are condemned to spent their lives in with no chance of parole. Who is to say this madness will stop?
Michael Thompson believes the Aryan Brotherhood’s power and influence in the prison system has not ended and will continue to grow but he will not stop fighting against them. Brothers who he had sworn to protect and now he swears to seek vengeance.

COPYRIGHT Belinda Boyle. 10 January 2008