Michael Thompson (Aryan Brotherhood)
Encyclopedia
Michael Thompson was a leader in the Aryan Brotherhood
(AB) prison gang. He has been in prison since 1973, and has been sentenced to additional life terms for crimes committed behind bars.
, coming from a Native American
background. He stands almost 6 feet, 4 inches (192 cm) tall and has a massive figure. He was a former High school football star. Contrary to some reports, Michael was never a troubled teenager, but his mother's boyfriend didn't want all seven of her children. The two systematically started to place the children elsewhere, and Michael was put in a boy's home. His sister was sent to an orphanage, and later put up for adoption. His older sisters were pregnant and married by the time they were 16, and his older brother was forced to enlist in the military by his mother, who had forged his birth date.
Thompson moved from the boy's home to a foster home, which was a working horse ranch in Orange County
, California. He attended Villa Park High School
, where he excelled in football and was an A-B student. A family took him in and mentored him, and he became the first to graduate high school in his immediate family.
After high school, Thompson attended Orange Community College. At 19, he married a woman twelve years his senior, a go-go dancer and bartender at a local bar. Through her, he was introduced to a dangerous new crowd; she got Thompson a job as a bodyguard for a drug dealer. He later killed two other drug dealers with a ball-peen hammer
, and was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. He claimed this was to prevent an assassination plot against his boss, but it is generally believed that he wanted to be with the wife of one of his intended victims. In fact, he did marry Patricia Nunley, the widow of one of his victims, before she discovered he had murdered her husband.
after another AB member, Curtis Price, killed the father, wife and friend of an AB informant named Steven Barnes. Thompson was appalled by the lack of respect shown by the organization to their fellow member, and started cooperating with the FBI. Thompson's name was subsequently put "in the hat," which is AB code for placing his name on their kill-list.
Though still in prison, Thompson has spent the past twenty years working with authorities in their efforts to clamp down on the activities of the AB. As well as testifying against AB members in court, he has given lectures and written documents on the activities of the Brotherhood. Thompson is sentenced to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole, and will spend the rest of his life in protective custody sections of California prisons.
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
(AB) prison gang. He has been in prison since 1973, and has been sentenced to additional life terms for crimes committed behind bars.
Background
Michael Thompson was born October 14, 1941 in Bakersfield, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, coming from a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
background. He stands almost 6 feet, 4 inches (192 cm) tall and has a massive figure. He was a former High school football star. Contrary to some reports, Michael was never a troubled teenager, but his mother's boyfriend didn't want all seven of her children. The two systematically started to place the children elsewhere, and Michael was put in a boy's home. His sister was sent to an orphanage, and later put up for adoption. His older sisters were pregnant and married by the time they were 16, and his older brother was forced to enlist in the military by his mother, who had forged his birth date.
Thompson moved from the boy's home to a foster home, which was a working horse ranch in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California. He attended Villa Park High School
Villa Park High School
Villa Park High School is a suburban public high school in Villa Park, California. The school was built in 1964 and is one of four comprehensive high schools in the Orange Unified School District. The campus serves students residing in Villa Park and portions of the cities of Orange and...
, where he excelled in football and was an A-B student. A family took him in and mentored him, and he became the first to graduate high school in his immediate family.
After high school, Thompson attended Orange Community College. At 19, he married a woman twelve years his senior, a go-go dancer and bartender at a local bar. Through her, he was introduced to a dangerous new crowd; she got Thompson a job as a bodyguard for a drug dealer. He later killed two other drug dealers with a ball-peen hammer
Ball-peen hammer
A ball-peen hammer, also known as a machinist's hammer, is a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It is distinguished from a point-peen hammer or chisel-peen hammer by having a hemispherical head...
, and was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. He claimed this was to prevent an assassination plot against his boss, but it is generally believed that he wanted to be with the wife of one of his intended victims. In fact, he did marry Patricia Nunley, the widow of one of his victims, before she discovered he had murdered her husband.
Informant
Thompson later became an informant against the Aryan BrotherhoodAryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
after another AB member, Curtis Price, killed the father, wife and friend of an AB informant named Steven Barnes. Thompson was appalled by the lack of respect shown by the organization to their fellow member, and started cooperating with the FBI. Thompson's name was subsequently put "in the hat," which is AB code for placing his name on their kill-list.
Though still in prison, Thompson has spent the past twenty years working with authorities in their efforts to clamp down on the activities of the AB. As well as testifying against AB members in court, he has given lectures and written documents on the activities of the Brotherhood. Thompson is sentenced to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole, and will spend the rest of his life in protective custody sections of California prisons.
External links
- National Geographic documentary - Aryan Brotherhood.