About 1,000 members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club are expected to come to Palm Springs this weekend, according to Palm Springs police.

Lt. Gustavo Araiza, the department’s spokesperson, said the members will be here for a club meeting. He estimated the club has held yearly meetings on and off in Palm Springs for at least 15 years. He said most attendees are expected to come into town on Friday and remain through Sunday afternoon.

Araiza said the meeting is being held at Hotel Zoso in downtown and believed that most attendees would be staying there, with some also staying at the city’s nearby Hilton and Hyatt hotels. A Desert Sun reporter observed a large law enforcement presence near the hotel Friday afternoon. When the group held a similar gathering in September 2024, people wearing Mongols apparel could be seen in downtown Palm Springs throughout the weekend.

Assistance From Other Police Agencies

Araiza said that as in past years, Palm Springs Police will be assisted by other law enforcement agencies, including the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol and police departments from nearby cities, in providing law and safety enforcement while the event is going on.

“We’ll just be doing traffic enforcement, making sure they’re following the rules of the road and that type of thing,” he said.

He said that while officers will have a presence as they do for any major event in the city, there is not a history of major or widespread problems tied to the Mongols’ meetings in Palm Springs. The club notifies police that they will be holding the meeting ahead of time and Araiza said the department, in turn, reminds them law enforcement will have a presence and wants to make sure they are following the rules of the road just as they do with the organizers of any event.

Palm Springs Chief: We’ll “Meet the Threat Head On’

Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills took a different tack in a Facebook post he wrote late Friday afternoon in which he said police would “meet the threat head on.”

The post included a photo of a large room full of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies that Mills wrote was taken at the Hotel Zoso and was accompanied by audio of the AC/DC song “Highway to Hell.” In the post, Mills described the Mongols as “an outlaw motorcycle gang.” He also alleged that many of the attendees were “convicted criminals” and that the meeting would involve the selection of a new president for the group.

He added that “in the first few hours we took guns off criminals, among other contraband” and said that residents could see helicopters and drones being used by law enforcement while the Mongols were in town.

“Mongols roll deep, we roll deeper,” Mills wrote.

Araiza added that the department thought it was particularly important to notify the public that they would likely be seeing law enforcement from outside the city given the current climate, which might cause people to wonder if the officers were conducting immigration enforcement.

Mills said ICE and Homeland Security investigations were not among the agencies who would be assisting police.

Who Are the Mongols?

Details about the Mongols, how the club defines itself and the nature of the gathering being held in Palm Springs are hard to come by beyond those provided by law enforcement because information about the group and event does not appear to have been published online or otherwise publicly posted or advertised.

While police said there have not been a history of problems at the group’s events in Palm Springs, the group has been associated with criminality, including in a recent Florida shooting.

The U.S. Department of Justice lists the Mongols on its website as an outlaw motorcycle gang, saying members engage in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking. In July, 28 people who were identified by law enforcement as members of the Mongols were arrested by the FBI after what was described as a shooting between the Mongols and another motorcycle gang that left multiple people injured at a Florida gas station.

The group’s trademarked logo — which depicts a Mongol warrior riding a motorcycle — has also been the subject of litigation that ended in 2023 when an appeals court overturned a federal court ruling that would’ve required the group to forfeit its trademark after the group and 77 of its members were convicted of racketeering.

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Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 1,000 Mongols Motorcycle Club members expected in Palm Springs this weekend

Reporting by Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun

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