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What Waco Police Still Won't Reveal About the Biker-Gang Shootout
The Atlantic ^ | June 4, 2015 | Conor Friedersdorf

Posted on 06/04/2015 6:36:16 AM PDT by don-o

As the Texas shootout that killed 9 motorcyclists fades from national headlines, local newspapers and a few larger media organizations have broken a series of small stories that prompted one alert Houston Press journalist to predict,“in the coming years, the Waco authorities' handling of the Twin Peaks biker gang shootout will become a textbook example of how not to handle an emergency situation.”

Two weeks later, Waco authorities still aren’t telling how many of the dead bikers were shot by police officers, how many cops fired their weapons, or how many total rounds they discharged.

snip

Little wonder: holding upwards of 160 bikers on a blanket bond of $1 million was self-evidently excessive. An attorney for one of the arrestees has filed a complaint against the justice of the peace who set the bond, the Waco Tribune reports, alleging that he “violated several judicial ethical canons,” including by telling the local newspaper, “I think it is important to send a message. We had nine people killed in our community. These people just came in, and most of them were from out of town.”

snip

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: abuseofpower; nifongism; overcharged; waco; wacobikers; wacobikerscoverup; wacoshootout
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1 posted on 06/04/2015 6:36:16 AM PDT by don-o
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To: don-o; Texas Fossil

Ruby Ridge and Mt. Carmel all over again. They just brought it to the City.

More slow “conditioning” of the sheep.


2 posted on 06/04/2015 6:40:11 AM PDT by mabarker1 (congress, The Opposite of Progress.)
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To: mabarker1

I must say, if the Atlantic is “for it”, I am “agin it”.

Let’s see how this plays out. The data on who shot who will eventually come out. There may have been some innocents biker wannabees that got swept up in this. For the most part, it looks like a very unsavory bunch did a circular firing squad on themselves.

Most of the latest “Cops are the bad guys” stories have ended up being just that: stories. All fiction.


3 posted on 06/04/2015 6:44:50 AM PDT by RedElement
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To: don-o
Two weeks later, Waco authorities still aren’t telling how many of the dead bikers were shot by police officers, how many cops fired their weapons, or how many total rounds they discharged.

We're peasants. We have no need to know such things!

4 posted on 06/04/2015 6:49:31 AM PDT by dware (Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it?)
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To: RedElement
Most of the latest “Cops are the bad guys” stories have ended up being just that: stories. All fiction.

And in this case, I hope you're right.

5 posted on 06/04/2015 6:51:18 AM PDT by dware (Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it?)
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To: RedElement

Interesting point.

There is so much questioning of government reports around here, it is interesting to see some willing to accept the government’s stories when it supports their view of the world. Yet, anything else that comes out of government is looked at with a cynical eye.

I am not defending 1% motorcycle gangs and their crimes. And I am always for waiting for the entire story to come out before passing judgement.

My comment, not directly specifically at you, is how people will cherry-pick when they want to believe the authority figures, and when they question them.


6 posted on 06/04/2015 6:51:32 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: RedElement

“it looks like a very unsavory bunch did a circular firing squad on themselves.”

If that were the case, the DA et al would have been quick to hold a news conference touting that line and trotting out supporting evidence - that’s what usually happens in most cases in most places.

That the DA et al have, instead, clammed up and are saying as little as possible - and what they are saying is profoundly stupid - is putting this story squarely in the implied “other” category opposing your “most of the latest” comment. Isn’t helping that their behavior strongly resembles notable police/legal behaviors in the same city some 22 years ago - an event which was hardly “fiction”.


7 posted on 06/04/2015 6:59:00 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (Hillary:polarizing/calculating/disingenuous/insincere/ambitious/inevitable/entitled/overconfident/se)
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To: RedElement

On the surface I would agree but I think we need to recognize one thing we can agree on when we can. If there is still a libtard left that is actually rational we need to reach out where possible. I don’t want my children suffering under tyranny imposed by the likes of Lindsey Graham any more than Hillary Clinton. If The Atlantic is becoming alarmed at what we are seeing in Twin Peaks, that is a good thing, IMHO. This story is begging for a Woodward and Bernstein. If the ATF was actually anywhere near this it is much bigger than Watergate. I don’t care if it is The Atlantic or The Wall Street Journal. This story is crying out for the last real ethical journalist in America to go to work, if there still is one.


8 posted on 06/04/2015 7:03:03 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: don-o

“Two weeks later, Waco authorities still aren’t telling how many of the dead bikers were shot by police officers, how many cops fired their weapons, or how many total rounds they discharged.” article

I have seen that same concept posted here days ago...

I’m glad they are picking up on that angle of the story.


9 posted on 06/04/2015 7:06:26 AM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
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To: RedElement

Even more, where is Abbott in all this? After all it is HIS state! Seems to me he is the one guy who could start calling people on the carpet with one question. “WTF?”


10 posted on 06/04/2015 7:06:27 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: don-o

It is getting to point where all these stories are starting to converge. Putin’s Agency, etc. my wife asked me last night, “if the media isn’t covering this how certain can you be it even happened.”. I was left not only stunned but speechless.


11 posted on 06/04/2015 7:09:42 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: RedElement; Vermont Lt
There may have been some innocents biker wannabees that got swept up in this.

While you're waiting for more information to come out, consider FACTS (not opinions, not speculation, but FACTS) already known:

TWO THIRDS of the people arrested and still being held on million-dollar bail have ZERO criminal record in Texas.

So -- either this meeting was heavily dominated by out-of-state criminal bikers ....

-- or only one in three "unsavory" bikers, whether they are wannabees or "patched," have criminal records.

Critical thinking here, from real-life experience right here on the ground with real people: even a wannabee "bad" biker, let alone a REAL one, who is intent on meth pushing, racketeering, murder, and robbery, HAS A CRIMINAL RECORD.

If there's zero criminal record, then it's a pretty sure bet that it's just a regular ol' Harley dude or dudette who may or may not belong to a motorcycle buddy club. America is blessed with hundreds of thousands of such Harley patriots, and I am very proud to say that there are several in my own immediate family and a whole lot more among my personal friends going back more than 50 years.

Here's another FACT for you guys to consider while you wait (and it will be a long time) to "see how this plays out." One of the guys killed, J.D. Rodriguez, was a decorated Marine (Purple Heart), a lifelong Harley rider, a Texan, with ZERO criminal record and ZERO affiliation with any club, let alone any criminal club.

It isn't rocket science, guys.

12 posted on 06/04/2015 7:15:44 AM PDT by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: RedElement
When I first heard about this story I agreed with you.

The problem is that after seeing the pictures showing where the bullets came from and where the bodies dropped it does not make this a circular firing squad, it looks like an execution squad.... if the pictures are true. The other problem I now have is the authorities actions to date. I thought the conspiracy theories a joke the first couple of days, now they are becoming a lot more interesting because of pictures and actions of the authorities.

Something is very rotten here because if this was all good for the authorities this would be playing out differently.

13 posted on 06/04/2015 7:27:05 AM PDT by Lady Heron
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To: Lady Heron
Yep. See my post 12. I thought the same as you at first.

FACTS is facts. Critical thinking is critical thinking.

And dupes are dupes. Happily, in real individuals (as opposed to frequency of individual posts), the dupes here on FR as well as on MSM outlets like Yahoo and local newspaper and TV stations' comment sections, are OUTNUMBERED by a margin of about two to one.

So the folks who are buying the official line are in a very small minority -- ironically, about one third, which is the same number of the now 175 (it was 170 for a long time) "criminals" in jail being held for two weeks on million dollar bail who actually have criminal records.

Two third of those being held on $1 million bail have ZERO criminal record (in Texas, anyway, not known if out-of-state records exist), just like two thirds of average Americans are smart enough to smell a big, crap-filled rat in this Waco experiment in tyranny.

14 posted on 06/04/2015 7:36:08 AM PDT by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: mabarker1
"Ruby Ridge and Mt. Carmel all over again. They just brought it to the City."

It's WACO all over again!
SSDD

15 posted on 06/04/2015 7:47:19 AM PDT by Redbob (W.W.J.B.D.: "What Would Jack Bauer Do?")
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To: Redbob

Mt. Carmel is what the media CALLED Waco. Now it’s actually IN Waco instead of outside the city near by.


16 posted on 06/04/2015 7:53:05 AM PDT by mabarker1 (congress, The Opposite of Progress.)
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To: mabarker1

Yep.

Some of the sheep are not asleep.

And the general public in TX is not buying all this crap. They know what is happening and are already pressuring State Gov. to end this.


17 posted on 06/04/2015 8:06:14 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: RedElement
There may have been some innocents biker wannabees that got swept up in this.

The 1% bikers do not come to open meetings at public places. The 1% are hard core criminals, most have records and the last thing they want is to commit a crime in a place where police are present or cameras are in place. They a criminal, but they are not stupid. Few if any of those at the meeting were hardcore criminals. 1/3 of arrested had criminal record, of any type. That is pretty broad statement.

18 posted on 06/04/2015 8:14:36 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: wastoute

Someone needs to call him out on that in a very public way.


19 posted on 06/04/2015 8:35:04 AM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't belOieve in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: mabarker1
this would have been a national story with hundreds of thousands of BGI protestors if the cops pulled this crap on black bikers....

but whiteys?...do anything to them you want...the white population is apathetic...

20 posted on 06/04/2015 8:42:20 AM PDT by cherry
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