Posted on 05/21/2015 5:37:51 AM PDT by Jack Black
The bloody incident at Waco’s Twin Peaks restaurant was not a “biker shootout.” At present there is no evidence that any of the nine victims were killed by fellow bikers, rather than being “taken out” by the scores of police — including snipers — who had effectively turned the parking lot into a kill zone.
The Twin Peaks Massacre has prompted the predictable outpouring of state-centered outrage over the purported threat posed by Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs (OMCs). Buried beneath the blizzard of re-purposed official press releases is a critical disclosure made by former FBI undercover operative John Matthews: During the 1990s, as part of the FBI’s PATCON (Patriot Conspiracy) operation, Matthews and his handler, Donald Jarrett, sold illegally converted full-auto machine guns to narcotics-dealing motorcycle gangs. (I first reported about this in early March.) This was done through one of the firearms stores later forced by the ATF into participating in the “Fast & Furious” gun-walking scandal, in which firearms of that kind were provided to operatives of Mexican criminal cartels.
“As we talk of gun control … over the years [of] how many cases of sporterized SKS, AK47s, and SKSs were sold to groups and case after case of ammo for them all with the blessings of the FBI & ATF with no paper work,” Matthews wrote in a November 8, 2014 email (lightly edited here for spelling and grammar). “Also let’s not forget the AR15s, they were made full auto from the Lone Wolf gun store back in the 90s by a guy brought in by the FBI for me to put in place. Those guns went to bikers who were sell[ing] drugs on the border. Those drugs were [believed] to be coming in from China.”
In March 2013 correspondence with Jarrett, Matthews referred to the David Mann, the dealer brought in by the FBI to broker the firearms transaction with the biker gang.
“I [would] pick him up in Payson, AZ on our way up to Surplus & Stuff in Snowflake … and met with a guy name[d] Tim,” Matthews recalled in a March 28, 2013 email to Jarrett. “He [would] show him his weapons that he was making and how he could make them anything they wanted. Then from there we took a trip up to where the guy [kept] the tractors that we were thinking the dope was coming in from.”
The tractors were apparently being used as part of an international narcotics smuggling operation.
During the trip recalled by Matthews, he and David Mann met with another individual who “ran the church and we [thought was] selling the drugs to the bikers. We were going to get David to sell weapons too [sic] them. This trip was where [I] got David in with this [sic] guys so I could move on. Does this sound right to you[?] Also have more info on him and [meetings] at gun store (Lone Wolf) and other places like Scottsdale, before we turn[ed] him loose.”
“Yes, that sounds absolutely correct about David,” Jarrett replied the following day. “I only introduced you to one guy that work[ed] with guns, and that was David.”
On March 2 I sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General requesting an investigation of Matthews’ confirmed claims about the FBI’s role in arming biker gangs. A week later I received an official reply that tacitly validated those claims while dismissing them as inconsequential: “The Investigations Division of the Office of the Inspector General has thoroughly reviewed your allegations and concluded that the issues raised do not warrant an investigation by this office.”
Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who has been investigating the death of his brother Kenneth in FBI custody following the 1995, following the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, has been responsible for nearly all of the key disclosures regarding the PATCON program. This was an effort by the FBI to infiltrate so-called Radical Right groups with informants and provocateurs. In a telephone interview, Trentadue told me that he firmly believes that there is a connection between the PATCON-related FBI initiative to arm biker gangs, and the bloodshed in Waco over the weekend.
“At the very least, we’re dealing with part of the legacy of PATCON,” Trentadue declared.
PATCON wasn’t the FBI’s only means of infiltrating OMCs. In 2004, James “Pagan Ronnie” Howerton, a prominent member of the Pagans OMC and a convicted murderer, was recruited by the FBI. He eventually became the club’s sergeant-at-arms. Five years later, the Feds breathlessly announced that with the help of their undercover asset they had compiled a massive indictment against the Pagans as an interstate criminal conspiracy. That bloated indictment eventually deflated into a small number of relatively trivial charges against specific members of the club. The interstate “criminal enterprise” was reduced to the accusation that the Pagans had committed a federal offense by running a raffle.
The only notable violent crime arising from the federal investigation of the Pagans was the police murder of Iraq combat veteran Derek Hale, who was tasered a dozen times and then murdered, execution-style, by Lt. William Brown of the Wilmington, Delaware Police Department. Hale, who was killed in front of the wife and children of a friend from the club, had no criminal record, nor was he a criminal suspect. He died because the State’s officially licensed gang decided to wage an indiscriminate war on the motorcycle club to which he belonged — which, in all probability, is what happened in Waco over the weekend.
Great questions.
When one side has control of the Media and they claim they were 100% right, I smell an odor.
“I know of no one who has been shot over wearing colors of a club they don’t belong to.”
google “shot for wearing colors”
Utter bullshit. You are comparing government agencies, which are chartered by law, with the desires of gangs. Is some neighborhoods in LA one can not wear red, because it symbolizes the other gang. That's not legitimate, it's evil thuggery. The only law supporting that is the law of the jungle "right makes right". Sure, you should expect trouble if you are not a member of any organization and wear their uniform. You'd be an idiot to wear Hell's Angels colors if you don't belong to that group.
But the CoC mechanism (and the backstory being told about Waco) is that no one else can have the word "Texas" displayed on their colors because the Bandidos say so. To equate that with not wearing a police uniform is asinine. Truly, I hope you understand the difference.
Gee, there are lots of other groups that way...Police, military, even company logos. Try going to Disneyland dressed like an employee and see how far that gets you.
I've covered the police and fire above. As for your Disney example, it's private property. If I try to go in he Bandidos club house with a Texas patch on my non-Badidios vest they have a right to exclude me, just as Disney would. What they don't have a right ot do is beat the crap out of me at Joe's Bar because they don't like the insignia on my vest.
Go for a stroll in a police uniform some time if you aren't a cop and see where that gets you. Really. Yes, but there are laws about that. There are no laws about "rockers", just thugs telling other people what to do.
“I know of no one who has been shot over wearing colors of a club they don’t belong to. But, then I know of no one who would do that anyway. “
Dude in California was shot because he was wearing his pizza hut uniform ... a red shirt.
And many more like it via Google.
1% biker gangs are no more deserving of "respect" than the Crips and Bloods. They operate using the same methods: fear, intimidation and violence. Which is why most people detest criminal gangs, regardless of whether they are street gangs, prison gangs, ethnic gangs, organized crime gangs, or biker gangs.
“As far as keeping non-members from wearing your insignia, think of it as combating copyright infringement.
Gee, even Harley-Davidson and Coca-Cola do that.”
Really? Coca-Cola and HD whack people for that?
“The Coalition of Clubs? I doubt it, not any more than ABATE. People from all walks of life who ride participate, including independents.”
The chairman of the Texas Coalition of Clubs and Independents is a Bandido. You can work your way down from there.
Most of the big motorcycle clubs have copyrights on their insignia. The Hell's Angels and others have gone to court to protect them, as could any other organization.
The Bandidos do not hold the copyright to the word "Texas" in any form, even when displayed on the bottom third of a denim vest.
The Crips do not hold a copyright on the color red.
Your continuing attempts to hand-wave away the gross criminal conduct of these groups is creepy and disingenuous.
It's surprising that someone on a Conservative web site is an apologist for thuggish criminals intimidating people. I tend to expect that from liberals, but expect most Conservatives understand "rightful liberty".
Despite having a page full of quotes from the founders on your home page you really don't seem to get it.
“But the CoC mechanism (and the backstory being told about Waco) is that no one else can have the word “Texas” displayed on their colors because the Bandidos say so. “
The chairman and several officers of the Texas CoC are Bandidos.
Very Nice.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/gangs-all-here
Last March, for instance, police in Austin announced that the Bandidos were the prime suspects in one of the city’s most shocking murders: the slaying of a 44-year-old local motorcyclist named Anthony Benesh. Benesh, who had been trying to start an Austin chapter of the Hells Angels, had been shot in the head, apparently by an unseen sniper, as he was leaving a North Austin restaurant with his girlfriend and two children. According to homicide detective
The bottom line is that no one wants some person who isn't approved (in this case by the issuing group) wearing insignia which identify them as a member of that group. Period.
The reasons for this are self-evident to anyone who has a brain, and include not having your group blamed for doing something you didn't.
With the great sense of 'fair play' I have seen spewed on this thread and others on the subject, I can tell that something as simple as a petition for injunction would be met with complete sympathy. Maybe the Banditos should lobby the legislature for a law? (That was sarcasm, in case that evaded you).
The 'so effing what, who cares attitude' is what prompts people to take care of the problem themselves, people from all walks of life. How far that goes depends on the person.
As for a Texas patch, wear one, just not as a rocker, and I really doubt you will get your butt kicked. The rocker is a form of insignia claimed by another group and wearing that might cause issues. Just like wearing a military uniform if you haven't served, or don't deserve to wear the ribbons you have on. (You can get 'schooled' for that, too).
As for going to a Banditos club house with a Texas rocker on your vest, well, why would you be associating with 1%ers, anyway? (Yep, more sarcasm)
“As for a Texas patch, wear one, just not as a rocker, and I really doubt you will get your butt kicked.”
So, if you wear one as a rocker, you will get your butt kicked?
And you approve of that behavior?
BTW, I didn't come here to defend any particular club. I'm an independent, and have been for decades.
So quit spamming me with 'this group is evil so all bikers are evil" trollery.
It isn't working, even if it seems loud in the echo chamber.
“As for going to a Banditos club house with a Texas rocker on your vest, well, why would you be associating with 1%ers, anyway? (Yep, more sarcasm) “
Why would the Cossacks go to a restaurant wearing a Texas rocker where there are Bandidos in attendance?
I couldn't say one way or the other. It was someone else who made that assertion. I was just trying to be helpful.
By all means, go get your butt kicked. Twice if you're not too tired.
“So quit spamming me with ‘this group is evil so all bikers are evil” trollery.”
I never said all bikers are evil. So quit trying to rewrite my posts.
My father was riding Harley’s before WWII.
I started riding in the 50’s. I have toured the U.S. on a motorcycle.
But I will NEVER defend the gangs like you do.
Ask them. Maybe they went for the meeting, maybe to ogle the waitresses, heck, maybe they were hungry.
Luk 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
“Why would a Christian Biker hang out with 1%’ers at a bar called Twin Peaks! Beam Me Up!”
Luk 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
Where did Jesus deliver the Gospel?
It is just absolutely unbelievable that in 2015 there wouldn't be video available.
I'm a biker. Have ridden with Christian biker orgs, and the PGR. I know that some 1%ers can be really bad news, but also know that there are Christian Motorcycle Ministries attempting to minister to these folk both in and out of prison. It is not an easy or safe mission.
I think that it really says something that there are so many folks who would actually believe the 1%ers over any pronouncements by Fedgov. It says a lot about how far down Feds in specific, and cops in general have fallen in the average Joe's estimation.
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