Actually, I remember that the info at the very beginning was that the organization was a legitimate group of mostly decent bikers, but these two outlaw clubs came ready to rumble with each other and did indeed find a “provocation” (which can mean, “Mama, he looked at me funny, make him stop”) that set off their fragile criminal egos.
The owner of the restaurant really should have let the police be present. Most of the bikers wouldn’t have minded it, since they weren’t up to anything wrong, and the thugs would have been warned off.
According to many sources
Bandidos were invited
Cossacks were not
The cops were present
If cops so feared the event they could have closed it without owners consent
They immediately blamed owner even though accompany of various black gun cops had the perimeter
Would you as owner preferred to tell them to leave or let the cops do it
It’s a fair question
I
“Actually, I remember that the info at the very beginning was that the organization was a legitimate group of mostly decent bikers, but these two outlaw clubs came ready to rumble with each other and did indeed find a “provocation” (which can mean, “Mama, he looked at me funny, make him stop”) that set off their fragile criminal egos.”
The Bandidos run the Tx coalition. The coalition (Bandidos) determine who wears what and who riders where.
The Cossacks were not members but had put on a Texas bottom rocker against Bandidos rules. That feud had been going on for a few years.
The Cossacks showed up at the meeting uninvited with their ‘unauthorized’ patches.
The Bandidos showed up and the expected melee ensued.
Edward Winterhalder, former Bandido, explains:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/19/watch-how-oreilly-interviews-a-former-white-bik/203707
The conspiracy theorists are acting as if information known from the beginning has been kept secret and is only now getting out.
The very first presser I saw the next morning called it a recruiting event (Political) and trouble was expected from some outside gangs. He also said that they believed that at least 4 had been shot by officers on the scene.
I was talking to a biker at the post office this morning. He said they generally notify and invite police to come down when they have bike shows in the area.
The police story was that they wanted the restaurant to refuse the bikers service, not to hire additional security.
The police were present.
I don't find that assessment to be exactly right - At least not as portrayed. I always have a jack knife and a pistol on me. I always have a rifle in my truck. Does that mean I am 'ready to rumble'? Nah. That formula is exceedingly common in the West, among more than just bikers.
Reports tend toward an interloper here - the Cossacks - That others would be prepared to defend should not be a surprise among Western folks anywhere... Among bikers anywhere... Especially in the West anywhere... Not to even mention Texas.
I find it hard to believe that with prior knowledge, the Bandidos would have exposed their unaffiliated and uninvolved friends, that they would have allowed it to come down where it did (bad for business), and if desiring the fight, it would be remarkable indeed that they did not show up in full force, with outliers and scouts, and the whole 9 yards... They'd have had the place locked down better than the cops could ever do.
It looks more to me like a legit meeting, with Bandidos more or less caught flat-footed by brazen Cossacks, looking for trouble. That they were ready for defense is just a matter of course.
“The owner of the restaurant really should have let the police be present. “
The police knew the groups would be there and they were stationed around the restaurant, including their swat teams, before the riders got there.