Gowanus Motorcycle Club Raid Nets 24 Arrests, Drugs, Weapons

GOWANUS, NY — Twenty-four people are under arrest after authorities raided a notorious Gowanus motorcycle club over the weekend, the NYPD told Patch. For more updates on this story and other Gowanus news, click here to subscribe to Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.

Authorities executing a search warrant at 326A Butler St., between 3rd and 4th Aves., early Saturday morning also found weapons and drugs inside the headquarters of the "God's Only Demons" motorcycle gang, police said.

Of the 24 arrested, 19 had outstanding search warrants, police said. Authorities also found a .380 pistol, a 9 millimeter handgun, a .380 handgun, an "inoperable tommy gun" automatic rifle, a 6 millimeter BB gun and "assorted ammo," police said, along with alleged cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

In 2014, the city called the club a “public nuisance” that “endangers the safety or health of members of the surrounding community" in a lawsuit that tried to shut it down, according to the New York Post.

The lawsuit cited a 2012 murder outside the club and a 2013 hospitalization of a 16-year-old boy who was served alcohol at the location, the Post reported.

A 2014 DNA Info profile of the club, though, included neighbors who said the place was harmless and even hosts events such as baby showers.

"You drive by a door that says 'God's Only Demons' and you'd think there's child porn and heroin going on inside, but it's not that," a nearby business owner told DNA Info. "They're good guys just doing their thing."

Image via Google Maps