15 Facts About The Aryan Brotherhood
Isabella Campbell Quick Links
There are a ton of gangs out in the world and of course, some are more ruthless than the others. Perhaps the gang that’s feared most is the Aryan Brotherhood. As odd as it would sound, we’re lucky that the Aryan Brotherhood is a gang that’s mostly based in prison. There are members beyond the bars but still, the gang’s reign of terror is mostly felt by non-White inmates in prisons all around the world.
The Aryan Brotherhood (also known as the Brand or AB) dates back as far as the early 70s. Since the beginning, the members have shown massive hostility towards non-White members. More specifically, the Aryan Brotherhood commits hate crimes towards Hispanic and Black inmates.
As compared to what they did before, the gang has shifted away from racially biased murders and has focused on organized crimes inside the prison. Still, the gang is found to have been responsible for many deaths of non-White inmates. There’s more to the Aryan Brotherhood than hate and crime though. Here are 15 terrifying facts about the Aryan Brotherhood.
Thomas Silverstein - One Of The Most Dangerous Members
The Aryan Brotherhood is a very popular gang of criminals and remains one of the most feared prison gangs in the world. As expected, there are a few notable members of the gang and it takes a great deal to stand out in a group filled with some of the world's most criminal minds.
One of the notoriously famous members of the gang is Thomas Silverstein. This man was responsible for several deaths including the murders of a few prison guards. Guards who've been in contact with Silverstein describe him as a brutal killer. He was so dangerous, the prison he was being held at was designed specifically for him so that he'll be isolated from other inmates.
One Of The Smallest Gangs But Responsible For A Third Of Prison Crimes
Despite their notoriety, the Aryan Brotherhood isn’t that big of a gang in terms of population. As compared to other gangs such as the MS-13, Yakuza and others, this White supremacist gang is very small. In fact, it has one of the smallest gang population out of all the most well-known gangs in the world. What they lack in size they make up for in viciousness and ruthlessness as the gang is responsible for a huge percentage of prison crimes.
The Aryan Brotherhood’s total population is estimated to be about 10,000 both in and out of prison and it makes up 0.1% of the prison population. This is a very small count as compared to the other gangs. Despite this, the gang is responsible for a whopping 18-25% of crimes in prisons. This includes inmate prostitution, drug trafficking and murder among other illegal activities.
They Have A Few Symbols To Represent Them Including "666"
Each gang in the world has a few symbols that represent them. Most of the time, the symbols are tattooed into members. This would make it easier for other gangs or even civilians to know what gang a person is from. It also allows others to determine which areas belong to which gangs. The Aryan Brotherhood has a few symbols that we are all too familiar with. With the symbols alone, we can already see just how dangerous and heartless the gang is.
The designs for the Aryan Brotherhood commonly include the words "Aryan Brotherhood", "666", Nazi symbolism, as well as shamrocks and Celtic iconography. With “666” and swastikas as part of their insignias, it’s no wonder why the Aryan Brotherhood houses some of the most ruthless criminals in the world.
Gang Members Force White Inmates To Believe That Joining Them Makes Prison Safer
Prisons aren’t exactly safe even for the prisoners themselves. Regardless of how hard the guards track down all potential prison crimes, the inmates are still unsafe. What else was to be expected? Prisons hold criminals, some more ruthless than others so it’s hard to expect a good time in prisons once you become locked up. Inmates grab any opportunity to be safe and here’s where the Aryan Brotherhood steps in to give White inmates the feeling that they’re safe only if they join the gang.
Members of the Aryan Brotherhood force their potential recruits to believe that prison is going to be a lot safer if they join the gang. They promise them protection and a tightly-knit crew. This is true in a sense that the Aryan Brotherhood looks out for each other. However, what inmates are unaware of is that the Aryan Brotherhood is like a lifetime contract. Once they go in, they can’t go out.
Confirmed Gang Members Are Isolated In One-Man Cells
The Aryan Brotherhood does its best to continue to grow in numbers inside prisons. It's not an easy task for them anymore though as the government is hard pressed on trying to stop their population from growing. There have been steps towards stopping current members from recruiting others and it includes locking up confirmed members in one man cells for 23 hours a day.
That's how dangerous the Aryan Brotherhood has become. Jails are forced to isolate them from the rest so that they won't be able to recruit members and commit their crimes. Inmates are given only an hour outside the one man cell. It's where they eat, sleep and stay for the duration of the entire sentence. Despite this, the Aryan Brotherhood members still find ways to recruit others one way or the other.
Charles Manson Wanted To Be A Member
We all know who Charles Manson is. A cold blooded criminal and the leader of a cult back in the 90s. He was responsible for several murders that many call chilling and heartless. To this day, Manson is serving his sentence in prison. Manson’s neo-Nazi stand wasn’t sitting well with the other inmates in prison when he first arrived and that’s why he tried to join the Aryan Brotherhood. He was denied membership, however.
The Aryan Brotherhood didn’t allow Manson to be a member simply because he didn’t want to kill a Black inmate. Back then, this served as the initiation rite of any member. Since he was denied membership, Manson felt unsafe inside the prison. Despite not making him a member, the Aryan Brotherhood still used Manson’s female following to smuggle drugs and weapons into the prison.
They Have Secret Ways To Communicate
Out of all the gangs in the world, the Aryan Brotherhood is the one that's mostly fought by the government. The government is intent on stopping the gang's population from increasing but still, the prison based crime organization continues to flourish in prisons around the United States. This is most likely because the gang has more than a few means of interacting with other group members.
Elder gang members are locked up in maximum security prisons but they are still able to order their members around. They can ask for more recruits, order a killing and much more. Many of the gang's elder members have perfected communicating with hand language and codes. Some members even use a 400-year-old binary alphabet system to keep everyone else out of the loop.
Members Must Follow Rules Even If They Get Out Of Prison
Like most organized crime gangs, the Aryan Brotherhood gives their members a strict set of rules to follow and adhere to. Not being able to follow the rules will lead to an array of punishment which includes death and other cruel things. Despite being a prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood requires their members to follow the gang’s rules regardless of where they are. This means that whether or not they’re in or out of prison, the rules must be followed.
The gang doesn’t have a strict set of rules but we’ve yet to fully know every rule that members have to follow. What we do know for sure is that members are required to uphold loyalty and respect to the gang and other members. Loyalty is a very big deal for the Aryan Brotherhood.
Betraying The Gang Is A Death Sentence
Most gangs give their members a set of rules to follow. These rules are made by the founders of the gang and it continues to change and adapt depending on what benefits the gang in the long run. The Aryan Brotherhood functions the same as other gangs as they have rules to follow and punishments to be handed out whenever a rule is broken. What’s different about the gang is how loyalty is a really big deal for them.
“Any Aryan brother caught up with homosexual acts, snitching a fellow brother, acting disrespectfully towards a brother or destroying a brother's property will face an immediate sanction,” is one of the Brotherhood’s alleged law. The punishment wasn’t exactly detailed but there are a few accounts that reveal that betraying the gang warrants a death sentence.
Their Origin Comes From A Gang Called Diamond Tooth
Even the Aryan Brotherhood must've started out from something, right? Like most criminal organizations, the Aryan Brotherhood started out as a smaller entity but throughout the years, has grown and has been responsible for even more crimes. Their origins can be traced as far back as the 1950s at San Quentin State Prison.
In said prison, they began a renegade motorcycle gang with Irish roots called the Diamond Tooth. The gang's main goal was to protect all White inmates from assault from other racial groups inside the prison. What's with the name, you ask? Well, the members of the Diamond Tooth gang had shards of glass embedded on their teeth. In the 60s, the gang changed their name to Blue Bird. Also in the 60s, racial tension began to grow. That's when the Blue Bird gang began their killings of non-White inmates for hate reasons.
Murder-For-Hire
The Aryan Brotherhood isn't just a gang of petty thugs and wannabe bad guys. These guys are a legit crime organization and they wreak havoc across prisons in the United States. They are responsible for a huge percentage of crime inside prison and what's worse is that they aren't even that big of a group. Who knows just how much more chaos can the gang be held accountable for if they grew bigger.
The main crimes of the gang are drug trafficking, extortion, inmate prostitution, and murder-for-hire. What's even more terrifying about the gang is that they do murder-for-hire even in prisons. Once an inmate strikes a deal with an Aryan Brotherhood hitman, then the targeted inmate will be taken care of likely within a few days. The Aryan Brotherhood will kill any target so long as they aren't loyal members of the gang, meaning that no one is safe from their murder-for-hire gig.
Someone Created A Forum About The Aryan Brotherhood
Not many gangs are open about what makes them tick but that can't be said for the Aryan Brotherhood. The gang isn't too secretive about the ins and outs of the gang and apparently, someone even made a forum about the gang. We've yet to know exactly who made the forum go live online but from the look of things, it could be from someone within the gang itself.
The forum is complete with a few details about the Aryan Brotherhood. For starters, it shows a few rules for members of the gang. In the forum, hating another race is a welcome discussion and a lot of forum members are proudly expressing their hate for non-White individuals. What's worst is that there are a lot of others who are interested in joining the gang. Lucky for us, it's not that easy to join the gang outside of prison. It's just terrifying how many are interested in joining the Aryan Brotherhood.
They Have A List Of Aryan Brother Characteristics
Once an inmate becomes a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a lot is expected from them by the elder members of the gang. Aside from following a specific set of rules, members are also required to hold within them a few characteristics that would separate an Aryan Brother from any other gang member or inmate.
The characteristics expected from an Aryan Brotherhood member includes: awareness of your surroundings and environment at all times, belief in and of the racial purity of the white race, mental stability, efficiency in acquiring further knowledge, family oriented for your race, willingness to be supportive of the Brotherhood outside prison, and obedient of all known Aryan Laws among other aspects.
Being Unable To Follow Their Constitution Could Lead To Death
Much is expected from a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and perhaps the most important aspect of being a member of the gang is to be able to follow the set of rules provided by the elders. The gang has with it a constitution that members must follow and adhere to. If members break some of the rules in any way, they could be punished in a few ways and for severe offenses, the punishment could be death.
Aside from upholding unwavering loyalty to the gang and its members, there are other rules in the Constitution to follow. No one knows what the exact Aryan Laws are; no one except the members. According to the Constitution, however, there are a few revealed lines of laws. One of which is "under no circumstances shall the A.B.'s constitution be ignored, neglected, disrespected or used in slander by anyone for any insult is certain of IMMEDIATE DEATH!!!"
Entry To The Gang Is Started With Killing A Black/Hispanic Inmate
The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist gang. They believe that the Aryan race is the most superior of all and like Hitler's murderous rampage against the Jews, the Aryan Brotherhood is also intent on killing inmates that aren't white. This is a major part of being a member of the gang and in fact, it's how one begins his journey towards joining the sinister group.
To be considered as a possible member of the Aryan Brotherhood, one must first kill a Black or Hispanic inmate. Once done, only then will the other members fully begin the initiation of the new member. It's a horrible act and it puts the non-White inmates in a more horrific state as compared to what they are already in. Inmates interested in joining kill simply for the reason of joining the gang and nothing else. No bad blood or qualms about their victim. Just pure murder.
