Mick Jagger was once the target of an assassination attempt by the Hells Angels.
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The Rolling Stones singer only survived the plot orchestrated by members of the notorious motorcycle gang in the early 70s, because a boat carrying his would-be killers was wiped out in a storm, according to former FBI agent Mark Young.
Jagger became a target for the gang after a row over the death of a crowd member at the 1969 Altamont Speedway concert in California, organised by the band.
The Stones had hired the Hells Angels to act as security at the now notorious show, which saw the death of 18-year-old man Meredith Hunter, who was stabbed and kicked to death by members of the gang.
Tom Mangold, who presents a radio series about the FBI and interviewed Young for the show, said: “The Hells Angels were supposedly running security and after the concert Jagger said he would never work with them again. They were so angered by his treatment of them they decided to kill him.
“A group of them took a boat and were all tooled up and ready to attack him from the sea in his home in The Hamptons on New York’s Long Island. They planned the attack so they could enter his property from the garden and avoid security at the front.
“But the boat was hit by a storm and all the Hells Angels involved were thrown overboard. All survived and there was not said to have been any further attempt on Jagger’s life.”
Hells Angel Alan Passaro was arrested and tried for Hunter’s murder in 1972 but was acquitted after a jury concluded that he had acted in self-defence because Hunter was carrying a handgun.