I came across this thread while doing a web search. There were some questions as to who was a Hells Angel and who wasn't.
This is for identification purposes and applies to the photos at Altamont only:
Only people wearing the
full patch were Hells Angels:
Back of Vest: Top Rocker (Hells Angels), Winged Death’s Head, Bottom Rocker (California by 1969)
Front of Vest: Location patch left front (Berdoo, Frisco, Dago, etc), Officer patch on right front, assorted patches (AFFA, DFFL, 1%, Wings, etc)
Full Patch but with Smaller Winged Death’s Head = San Francisco Chapter Only
Only Bottom Rocker = Prospect
Incomplete Patch = Prospect
No Patch = Not a Hells Angel
Examples:
Assorted Hells Angels on stage. You can see the full back patch. Notice the smaller Deaths Head patch on the Angel on the left which denotes he was from the San Francisco Chapter.
Right before the killing. Of the 4 Hells Angels on the stage at least 2 were from the San Francisco Chapter based the smaller Deaths Head Patch.
Hells Angel from the San Francisco chapter. I believe he was identified already in the thread.
The guys with the pool cues have incomplete or no patches. The one in the striped shirt has no patches on his vest at all (there is another picture of him on the web). These were prospects / hang arounds. There are full patch Hells Angels in the crowd but the pool cue guys were not.
This is an amazing picture. It appears to capture Meredith Hunter being knocked off the box he was standing on. According to the accounts of witness Paul Cox, this was the event that lead to the killing. Hunter appears to be looking at a man in a leather jacket with no noticeable patches on the front. The man in the leather jacket appears fixated on Hunter as well. Note where the Hells Angels on the stage and most of the crowd were focused.
Scott