OFF THE WIRE
He’s a Warlock, and he’s proud of it.
Sporting a shaved head and goatee, arms filled with tattoos, a wristband with spikes and a black leather vest with the club’s patches, he looks the part of a tough biker you don’t want to have on your bad side.
But the biker, who did not want to reveal his true identity, is trying to shed the stereotypes associated with being part of a motorcycle club and insists it’s about the brotherhood more than anything else.
“We’re not a gang, we’re a motorcycle club. We are not criminals. You can’t be a Warlock if you’re a criminal,” said the biker. “It’s like any organization. Yes, we have our bad apples, everybody does. But we take steps to ensure that you are thrown out or stripped of your patch. Not everybody is bad.”
The Warlocks have been on police radar since at least 2005, but didn’t officially establish their first Canadian chapter until last November.
The club’s is known as a “one-percenter” and roots that trace back to the U.S., particularly Pennsylvania and Orlando, with international chapters established in Germany and England as well.
The Alberta chapter is the first and only Canadian chapter thus far. The club’s website states “the Warlocks motorcycle club is a strong brotherhood of serious motorcycle riders and is not for everyone. We are not a social weekend riding club, we are a brotherhood of bikers that take riding and flying our colours very serious.”
Although the biker is pleased the Warlocks are now established in Canada, he said existing motorcyle clubs have not all been receptive to their arrival.
“We have no problems with nobody,” he said. “We told them that we were here, we’re not involved in anything, we’re not doing anything.”
According to the biker, members of the club get together for motorcycle rides and raise money for charities. He spends his days working in construction and is involved with volunteer community service during some of his off hours.
The biker said he’s always been part of the motorcycle club community. When he retired from the military, he missed the friendship and camaraderie, so he sought out others who had like interests and he found a brotherhood in the Warlocks.
His most prized possession, of course, is his Harley. And there’s no greater feeling than riding down the highway on his “baby” with his buddies at his side, he added.
“When you ride you feel free. There are no worries. Just the wind in your face, everything is great,” said the biker, who attended the club’s national party last year in South Carolina on the fourth of July.
“It’s a sense of belonging. It’s a network of brothers that will do anything for you and it’s a nice feeling. You know that no matter what, no matter where, there’s a brother there.”