Robert Donald "Donny" Petersen (17 April 1947 – 12 December 2021) was a Canadian outlaw biker, writer, and alleged gangster.
[4] Accordingly, to the biography posted on his website, Petersen "then began working with drug induced problems in the early seventies hippie era".
[4] Starting in 1992 and continuing right up to his death, Petersen wrote a monthly column entitled "Techline" in American Iron Magazine.
[1] Petersen had no criminal record and in 1996 sued the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for their roadside stop policy for outlaw bikers, claiming that this was harassment.
[7] In the fall of 1997, Petersen became the first outlaw biker to address the prestigious Empire Club of Toronto, which the journalist Jerry Langton noted was "...an honor normally reserved for heads of state and titans of industry".
[7] Previous speakers at the Empire Club included former U.S., president Ronald Reagan, the evangelist Billy Graham and the 14th Dalai Lama.
[6] Petersen was a successful and wealthy businessman whose many friends in Toronto's corporate elite included Gareth Seltzer, a well known Bay Street investor.
[6] Petersen's speech at the Empire Club represented a trend of the outlaw biker sub-culture becoming part of the mainstream of Canadian life.
[6] Sitting alongside Petersen at his table at the Empire Club were Charles Dubin, the former chief justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and Alan Borovoy, the president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
[12] Petersen wrote in his lawsuit: "My membership in a motorcycle club has always been and continues to be an important part of my personal belief system in individual freedoms and defiance of arbitrary and unlawful authority".
[16] Schneider described the typical Canadian Hells Angels in the 21st century as well dressed, well trimmed, clean-cut businessmen who drive luxury cars and live in affluent suburbs, stating the club now aims to project a 'respectable' image.
[16] Sher and Marsden described Petersen as "a smart, smooth-talking businessman who would eventually rise to the top of the Hells Angels hierarchy in Ontario.
[4] Petersen remained the principal spokesman for the Hells Angels, although he proved to be loath taking unscripted questions from journalists as time went on.
[17] Petersen refused a request for an interview from the journalists Julian Sher and William Marsden, saying in an email: "No matter what I say, it always gets mixed up with dead babies".
The Hells Angels and the biker sub-culture represent freedom and individuality...In a multicultural society such as ours, it is my opinion that no one person or group could possibly dominate the drug culture.
[17] In 2002, Petersen went to the Hells Angels' Canada Run hosted by Gerald Ward and was confronted in a hotel lobby in Niagara Falls by Sher and Marsden.
[19] Sher and Marsden noted that the secretary of Petersen's downtown Toronto chapter, Thomas Craig, was convicted of drug charges as a result of Project Shirlea.
[20] On 8 April 2006, Petersen was asked by Peter Edwards, the crime correspondent of The Toronto Star, if the Hells Angels had anything to do with the Shedden massacre.
[24] As a man with no criminal record, Petersen was able to travel to the United States, Australia, and Europe, becoming the principal liaison between the Canadian Hells Angels and those elsewhere.
[30] Many journalists were disappointed that Petersen ceased to be the Hells Angels spokesman as he always provided a good news stories with his media appearances.