4 men charged, Gate Keepers clothing seized during harassment investigation
'They were wearing their gang colours as a means to send a message and inspire fear in the victim'
Four men are facing charges after they allegedly threatened and harassed someone in Upper Musquodoboit while wearing the patch of an outlaw motorcycle gang.
The men were wearing Gate Keepers paraphernalia when they were arrested, according to Nova Scotia RCMP. The Gate Keepers are affiliated with the Hells Angels, police say.
RCMP said they were called to a disturbance at a home in Upper Musquodoboit, a rural area in the Halifax Regional Municipality, on Oct. 9.
Police have not given out any details about what happened there, nor have they said what the men wanted with their alleged victim.
"They were wearing their gang colours as a means to send a message and inspire fear in the victim in that situation," said RCMP Cpl. Dal Hutchinson.
After speaking with the victim, police were given descriptions of four men involved.
Three men on motorcycles matching those descriptions were arrested without incident a short time later and their vests and jackets bearing the Gate Keepers symbol were seized by police.
"When you have the presence of outlaw motorcycle gang paraphernalia and clothing and an offence has taken place it's used as a weapon of intimidation," said Hutchinson. "That's why the gang colours, the paraphernalia were seized that night."
A fourth man was arrested the following day.
The four men have been charged with uttering threats and criminal harassment. The men range in age from 38 to 46 and are from Upper Musquodoboit, Eastern Passage, Dartmouth and Cow Bay.
The men were released on conditions and will appear in Dartmouth provincial court on Nov. 20.
RCMP said their investigation is ongoing.