Claus Barrit Bork Hansen (31 December 1963 – 21 March 2001), nicknamed "Karate Claus", was a Danish outlaw biker and gangster who served as the European sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, as well as the president of the club's Hedehusene-based Mideast chapter. He was later expelled from the Bandidos and was murdered by members of his former club following an internal feud.
Bandidos
Hansen was raised in the western Copenhagen suburb of Hedehusene. Following a meteoric rise in the ranks of the Bandidos, he remained a senior member of the club for five to six years, serving as the European sergeant-at-arms in Marseille, France, before returning to Denmark, where he was allegedly a candidate for the Bandidos' national presidency. During the Nordic Biker War in Denmark, from 1995 until 1997, Hansen was personally appointed as the bodyguard of European president Jim Tinndahn, with whom he travelled to France and Australia. Hansen opposed the peace treaty with the Hells Angels which ended the biker war in September 1997, following which he became president of the Bandidos "Mideast" chapter in Hedehusene. He began to fall out of favour with the Bandidos leadership, however, partly due to his refusal to keep a low profile. Hansen reportedly had issues with Tinndahn's "militant" leadership style, and sought more room for individualism within the club. He was a well known figure in Hedehusene and was perceived as a physically large man who sported a black beard and wore a long, black fur coat, but who had a kind and outgoing personality. Hansen was known for his eccentric behaviour and would often walk in the street with his pet monkey on his shoulder. He was nicknamed "Karate Claus" due to of his prowess in martial arts. Hansen dated porn star Dorthe Damsgaard, who described him as a well respected and humble man who did not advocate violence and opposed the drug trade.
An internal feud in the Bandidos began in the summer of 2000 following the expulsion of Hansen's close friend, Mickey Borgfjord Larsen, in August 2000. Hansen was warned by Bandidos president Jim Tinndahn that he should resign before being expelled from the club in "bad standing". He responded to Tinndahn by saying that he would not hand in his "colors", and that if the Bandidos wished to recover their property, they may attempt to do so. After disbanding the chapter by expelling its membership and burning all Bandidos symbols in the clubhouse, Hansen was ousted from the Bandidos and told by club leadership that he must leave the property by 1 March 2001. Hansen left the Bandidos along with three other central members of the club. The remaining members and supporters of the chapter transferred to Bandidos chapters in Roskilde, Dalby and other cities where the Bandidos operate. After failing to start a chapter of the Outlaws, Hansen instead transformed the former Bandidos clubhouse on Reerslevvej in Hedehusene into a branch of the Red & White Crew, a Hells Angels support club, in December 2000. Shortly after Hansen resigned from the Bandidos, a close friend of his in the club was promoted to a senior biker position, which escalated the conflict. Hansen accused his former friend of having been a jailhouse informant during a prison stint several years prior, and obtained internal papers from the Prison and Probation Service confirming the man's informant status, which he distributed throughout the biker community.
Hansen lived in Ølstykke for a number of years, but in February 2001, he sold his home and moved into his Thai girlfriend's basement apartment in the Copenhagen suburb of Vanløse. The money Hansen made from the sale of his home was reportedly used to pay off debts in the biker community.
