‘Glorifying crime’: Quebec minister tells Walmart, Amazon to stop selling Hells Angels clothing

Quebec’s public security minister has requested Amazon and Walmart to stop selling items in their online catalogue that he says promote the Hells Angels.

Quebec’s public security minister said he has requested Amazon and Walmart to stop selling items in their online catalogue that he says promote the Hells Angels.

Searches on the websites belonging to the American retail giants show clothing items that appear to be linked to the outlaw biker group, which has a large presence in Quebec.

Walmart.ca sells a black baseball cap with the words “Hells Angels” on the front. On Thursday evening, the item was out of stock.

The store also sells a black t-shirt with the description “Hells Angels Biker Fashions T-Shirt” in various sizes for $32.15. The shirt includes the text “Red and white. Sonoma Country” and “End of summer run.”

A search on Amazon Canada also shows similar items in its online catalogue.

For example, there are hoodies with the words “Support 81” on them, though they appeared to be sold out on Thursday. The phrase is a symbol of allegiance to the Hells Angels, with “81″ being a metonym for the biker group (8 represents the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, while 1 represents the letter A).

Amazon, Walmart will remove products

Amazon confirmed on Friday morning that it will pull the products due to ‘noncompliance’ with its guidelines.

According to its posted guidelines, “Amazon does not allow products that promote, incite or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promote organizations with such views.”

As of 1 p.m., a men’s ring with the words ‘Support 81′ was still listed on its site.

Walmart also told CTV News it would remove the products.

“These items were sold by a third-party seller on our marketplace website and they strongly contradict our values at Walmart Canada. As soon as we were made aware of this issue, we began to pull the product listings from our site and now they are no longer available for sale,” it said in a statement.

Remove items ‘immediately,’ minister demands

Minister François Bonnardel said in a post on X that he recently learned about the items being sold online and shared a screenshot of a Journal de Montréal headline.

“I am asking these companies to remove the items immediately,” Bonnardel wrote.

“Glorifying crime has no place anywhere, and certainly not on T-shirts and caps sold by Walmart and Amazon,” he added.

Over the years, police in Quebec have arrested several alleged members of the outlaw biker group as they try to crack down on key players in the illegal drug trade and violent crime.