CLEMSON, S.C. — Police are preparing for hundreds of Hells Angels to descend on a South Carolina college town next week for an annual gathering.
The Greenville News reports an estimated 600 to 700 members of the motorcycle club are expected to ride into Clemson between Monday and Friday.
Clemson Police Chief Jimmy Dixon says more law officers will be downtown and throughout the city beginning Monday.
The U.S. Department of Justice calls the Hells Angels an “outlaw motorcycle gang” involved in drug dealing and other criminal activity.
But Kade Herrick, tourism director for the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce, says the gathering “is almost like a family reunion for them.” Herrick says he does not have concerns about the bikers coming to Clemson.
The group has previously held summer rallies in Missouri.
