| Founded | Mid 1960s |
|---|---|
| In | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Years active | 1960s-present |
| Territory | Northeastern and Midwestern United States |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, murder, assault and prostitution[1] |
| Allies | Hells Angels[2], Sons of Silence and Warlocks[3] |
| Rivals | Black Pistons and Outlaws[4] |
The Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in the mid 1960s. The club now also has chapters in Kansas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, California, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York. Their insignia is a winged, metallic horse's head and their motto is "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if it weren’t for the Iron Horsemen, the highways would rust".[5] Law enforcement classifies them as an "Outlaw Motorcycle Gang".[6]
There is also another club in Australia which uses the same name. This club was founded in Melbourne in 1969.[7]
Police arrested three Iron Horsemen for beating a man to death and assaulting another on April 20, 1997. The attacks took place on two different occasions at bars in Leonardtown, Maryland.[8]
Two members of the Iron Horsemen were sentenced to five years in prison, and another three were given sixteen years in total on June 26, 2008 for drug dealing. They sold methamphetamine and speed in the Western District of Kentucky between December 2003 and December 2005, and distributed between 50 and 200 grams each. Both the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were involved in the case.[9]
On May 19, 2009, fifteen Iron Horsemen, including a State President, were convicted of drug trafficking at the District Court in Portland, Maine.[10] They smuggled cocaine and marijuana, which they obtained from drug cartels in Mexico, to Atlanta, Georgia and then Haverhill, Massachusetts before trafficking it to Maine where they distributed it throughout the state. The ring operated from 2004 until December 2007.[11] The DEA and ATF investigated the club for over a year and carried out the final raids on March 12, 2008.[12] During these raids, they arrested a total of 29 people and seized 10 kilos of cocaine, 600 pounds of marijuana, AK-47s, AR-15s, handguns and $37,000 in cash. The case was known as "Operation Trojan Horse".[13]
One member of the Iron Horsemen was shot in a gunfight with Cincinnati Police on September 18, 2010. [14] Local media reported that a gang member opened fire on several identifiable police officers and 2 undercover officers as they approached JD's Honky Tonk and Emporium escorted by marked police cruisers. The two undercover officers were injured and the gunman that started the incident was killed in the gunfire.
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