Iron Order Motorcycle Club
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 Iron Order Motorcycle Club emblem | |
| Founded | July 4, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder | 8 founders: Mad Dog, Big Rick, Chief, Copper, Doc, Ice, Professor, Willie Ball |
| Founding location | Jeffersonville, Indiana, United States |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Territory | Worldwide (Approximately 244 chapters in the United States and 8 countries) |
| Membership | 2000+ |
| Activities | Local charities |
Iron Order Motorcycle Club (IOMC) is a motorcycle club that was formed on July 4, 2004, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. With a worldwide membership, the Iron Order is one of the largest and fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the world. The IOMC has charters in nearly every U.S. state and in eight countries around the world. Membership is open to all males over the age of eighteen.
The Iron Order Motorcycle Club was founded in Jeffersonville, Indiana by eight men: Bad Dog, Big Rick, Chief, Copper, Doc, Ice, Professor and Willie Ball on Independence Day 2004. The following year the club expanded into Georgia, and by the end of 2006 several charters had been established in six additional states. Since then, the club has grown significantly and has approximately 224 charters spread across the continental United States. It has also branched out internationally with charters in eight other countries across the world to include: Aruba, Bonaire, Suriname, Canada, Curacao, England, Germany, and Puerto Rico.[1][2]
According to their website, the Iron Order Motorcycle Club seeks to emulate the motorcycle clubs of the 1950s and 1960s, adopting the "non-conformist" attitudes of those early clubs. The IOMC states it is not a 1% motorcycle club, and as such does not endorse nor condone any form of criminal activity from its membership. However, both the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have labeled the club as being "outlaw." The membership of the IOMC is made up of individuals from every possible background, including active and retired United States Armed Forces (military) personnel. Despite this, the club is actively monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In 2014, the ATF publicly released records of their recent surveillance on Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG). The Iron Order MC was named in the record regarding their significant rivalry with other OMGs and their propensity for violence.
Around this time (2014), the Iron Order MC experienced a large exodus of its members. These members, including long-standing ones, cited that there was a shift in the club from its original values. Many of these former members indicated the club began to embrace and participate in activities described as "outlaw culture." The club also began to permit felons to become members, which was a previous disqualifying factor. Former International President, Ray "Izod" Lubesky, disclosed after his separation from the club, that the Iron Order MC displayed an increase in violence. To support this claim, Lubesky revealed that the club was involved in 11 separate shootings within a 22 month period.
Additionally, certain commands and stations within the U.S. military have put restrictions on their members from joining, believing the Iron Order to be a "gang."