True Red
The life of an ex-Mongrel Mob Gang Leader. True Red is the essential biography of one man’s fascinating journey out of the realm of darkness. Wearing the colour red, living by the ‘law of lawlessness’ and having the patch with the emblem of the mighty bulldog on your back was what ex-Mongrel Mob leader Tuhoe ‘Bruno’ Isaac called being True Red.
“Because all levels of society hated us we created a new society of hatred symbolised by the bulldog. Its ferocious habits were engraved on our hearts,” Tuhoe says, “If you weren’t a mobster you weren’t worth knowing.” He lived this way for 17 years.
However, constantly living for the bash, beer, prison and the possibility of dying in a pool of blood saw Tuhoe eventually search for another way of life. Leaving the Mob was hard. Not only did he face the rejection of his own and the fierce judgemental prejudices of mainstream society, but with the awakening of his conscience came the realisation of a past filled with inflicting pain on others besides himself, and of a life devoid of any sense of love or hope. This led him down a path of forgiveness and reconciliation.
