Tucker Carlson, who works for Fox News, surprised a lot of people when he showed up at a memorial for a well-known biker. When Carlson asked a simple question during his speech, the crowd cheered.
Tucker Carlson said that he “cleared his schedule” and flew 3,000 miles across the country to go to Stockton, California, for the memorial service for Sonny Barger. Carlson surprised the thousands of people who had come to the Stockton 99 Speedway to pay tribute to the longtime president and founding member of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
The Fox News host told the crowd that he had made the long trip for a few reasons. He said, “One, I’m from California.” “This is where I grew up, but I remember another state. “You make me think of the state where I grew up,” he said as he thanked the few people in the audience who were smoking. “Because I haven’t smelled cigarette smoke in this state in 30 years… Those who are going to the Stockton gun show in a few days, thank you. I can’t believe this California is still around, but I’m glad to see it is.
Carlson said that he was “cruising up I-5 in my mother’s station wagon” and saw all the cars pull over to the slow lanes when the Hells Angels motorcycles went by. “But I’m not here for that,” he said. “I never met Sonny Barger, but when he died, his letter to his wife and friends was made public. If I remember correctly, the letter said, “Stand tall, stay loyal, stay free, and always value honor,” which made me cry when I read it.
“Stand tall, stay true, stay free, and always put honor first,” Carlson said over and over again. “And I thought to myself, if there is a phrase that better describes what I want to be, what I aspire to be, and the kind of man I respect, I can’t think of one,” he said.
“I thought that phrase came from the famous outlaw biker Sonny Barger?” Carlson said it. “Is that how Sonny Barger sees the world? He asked the crowd, “Why don’t we hear that from the people who run the country?” “Why does Sonny Barger have to say, ‘Stand tall, stay loyal, stay free, and always put honor first?’
Carlson kept getting cheers when he made fun of Joe Biden. “Every morning when he salutes the flag, the president of the United States should say that, but only Sonny Barger does,” he said. “I thought to myself, “I want to honor the man who said those words,” and when I was invited to this funeral, I thought, “I don’t care how hard it is to get from Maine to Stockton, I’m going, and I’m honored to be here.”
According to his obituary, Barger was “the perfect example of an outlaw biker,” a reputation he built up with his charm and smarts, making Hells Angels a worldwide brand. Law enforcement saw the Angels as more of a gang than a club, but in the 1960s, the media jumped on Barger, selling the outlaw image to the world as a form of countercultural protest in movies like Easy Rider (1969).
Barger said that he spent about 13 years in prison over the course of his life. A report says that he went to prison for crimes like having marijuana, selling heroin, assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, having guns, and planning to blow up the clubhouse of a rival gang.
In Stockton, police said there could be trouble at Barger’s funeral, but nothing bad happened. Local news outlets said that about 7,000 people were there. People gathered in the track infield all afternoon in front of a stage with rose wreaths where Barger’s family and friends gave speeches. Barger was one of the first people to join the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels in 1957.
The Department of Justice’s website says that the Hells Angels are an illegal motorcycle gang “whose members use their motorcycle clubs as fronts for criminal activities.” The DOJ says that there are more than 300 illegal motorcycle gangs in the country. The Hells Angels is one of the better-known groups.