What Is The Biggest Biker Gang In Florida And When Was It Founded?

Since its inception in 1903, Harley-Davidson has been the motorcycle brand of choice for many American men. The Milwaukee-based company ruled the U.S. market during the two world wars since soldiers used Harleys on the battlefield. After World War I, recreational use of Harley-Davidson bikes grew among both veterans and non-veterans, leading to the formation of riding clubs — including the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

The Outlaws MC is considered the world's oldest outlaw biker club. Founded outside Matilda's Bar on Route 66 in McCook, Illinois in 1935 by employees of the locomotive firm Electro-Motive, it was originally named the McCook Outlaws Motorcycle Club. World War II limited the group's activities, but in May 1946 members gathered at Chicago's Soldier Field. After that, the club's expansion was in full swing.

In 1950, the group moved from McCook, in Chicago's suburbs, to the city and rebranded itself as the Chicago Outlaws, ditching its original winged motorcycle logo for a skull with crossed pistons. In 1963, it became an official member of the "one percenter" Brotherhood of Clubs, which got its name from the term the American Motorcycle Association used to distinguish the 1% of delinquent motorcyclists from the 99% of law-abiding ones. In the years that followed, the Outlaws spread across the country, with chapters formed across 19 states by 2003. Today, the Outlaws MC is the biggest biker gang in Florida.

From its founding until the 1960s, the Outlaws focused on recruiting more members within the U.S. From 1977 onward, they branched out overseas, and now have 441 chapters in 43 countries. The club does not disclose its membership data, but the latest publicly available information claims it has around 3,000 members worldwide. Still, it's just the third-largest motorcycle club in the world, trailing behind the Bandidos' estimated 5,000 members and the Hells Angels' 6,000.

Given their name, the Outlaws had a reputation to keep from Day 1. It's no secret that this was not just a club, but the group kept denying any gang-like activity. However, its motto — "God forgives, Outlaws don't" — seemed to give away the kind of behavior the members were expected to present against rival gangs, outsiders, and even law enforcement.

Through the years, the club has become notorious for its criminal involvement. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Outlaws MC members of crimes including assault, intimidation, kidnapping, money laundering, prostitution, robbery, extortion, and murder, and in 2011 its national president, Jack Rosga, got 20 years in prison for leading a violent criminal organization. It's unclear if the club's overseas chapters mirrored the same activities, but it's worth noting that its international president, Harry "Taco" Bowman, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 for crimes including arson, racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy to commit murder. He died, still locked up, in 2019.

According to the Department of Justice, the U.S. is home to more than 300 active Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, biker collectives that engage in criminal activities. Among them, the Hells Angels, Bandidos, Pagans, and Outlaws are regarded as the "Big Four" outlaw MCs. But despite their track record of misdemeanors and malfeasance, Hollywood seems fixated on giving them the spotlight and romanticizing biker-gang culture as a whole.

Focus Features' "The Bikeriders" is a 2024 film about a Midwestern motorcycle club called the Vandals, who are based on the Outlaws. Starring Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, and Jodie Comer, the movie chronicles the club's formation and heyday, and includes violence and substance abuse. But the focus is on the love triangle involving its three leads.

The 2008-2014 TV series "Sons of Anarchy" had a more gruesome take on the OMG culture, depicting violence, crimes, and dark moments in gang members' lives. Several other big-screen and small-screen titles have attempted to do the same. But unless they were documentaries, most of them ended up depicting biker clubs as the epitome of cool.