Aryan Brotherhood FBI Files, California & Federal Documents

Aryan Brotherhood FBI Files, California & Federal Documents

1,469 pages of Aryan Brotherhood FBI Files, California, and Federal Documents.

The Aryan Brotherhood is a violent white supremacist group allegedly responsible for numerous attacks and murders of inmates and correctional officers throughout the federal and state penal system. 

Also known as The Brand, Alice Baker, AB or One-Two, The Anti-Defamation League calls it the "oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States."

In the United States most prison systems were racially segregated until the 1960s. It is believed that the Aryan Brotherhood was formed in California's San Quentin State Prison by Irish bikers in response to prison desegregation.

In a report published in 2009 by California Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence, the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) is characterized as one of the largest white prison gangs within the California prisons and is "Both well-organized and recognized for its violent propensities... Although the AB’s membership is relatively low, they control the entire white inmate population inside California institutions."

Collection Contents:

FBI Files

156 pages of FBI files copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., covering the Aryan Brotherhood. The files show that from 1982-1989, the FBI investigated the California prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood. On August 9, 1982, the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office opened a racketeering enterprise investigation into the gang. The case was closed in 1989, when the U.S. Attorney, Los Angeles, declined prosecution. 

The files cover the history of the Aryan Brotherhood, its operating practices, involvement in drug trafficking and murders, and the politics between various prison gangs.


State of California Reports

445-pages, in 8 reports covering prison gangs and the Aryan Brotherhood, produced by agencies of the State of California. A highlight is a 161-page report of a 1974 hearing before the California State Legislature titled, "Gang Violence in California's Penal Institutions." It largely covers the Aryan Brotherhood, Black Guerrilla Family, Mexican Mafia, and Nuestra Familia.

In the introduction Dennis Carpenter, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Civil Disorder states, "Our penal institutions are now experiencing probably the worst siege of violence in their history. In the past two years we've had over sixty fatalities including six prison staff members and more than three hundred stabbings. Indications are that there are problems, violent problems that we think deserve our examination. According to prison authorities, some of whom we will here from today, the majority of these incidents are the result of activities perpetrated by four major gangs within the prison and gang members outside the prison and other revolutionary groups concentrating on the recruitment of inmates for radical purposes.”


Federal Court Documents

320 pages of court documents from high profile Federal cases involving members of the Aryan Brotherhood. These affidavits and indictments give narratives of the history and methods of the organization. A highlight are two sets of paperwork, one from 2002 and one from 2019 seeking RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization) case status against Aryan Brotherhood defendants.

 
Federal Reports 

270 pages of reports from Federal agencies covering prison gangs in whole and the Aryan Brotherhood in part.

 
Prison Gangs their Extent, Nature, and Impact on Prisons (1985)

A 278-page comprehensive report titled, "Prison Gangs their Extent, Nature, and Impact on Prisons," published in 1985 by the Criminal Justice Institute. Includes much material rated to the Aryan Brotherhood.