Free Republic

HARNEY COUNTY, Ore. — KATU News has learned the leader of the armed occupation at Malheur Wildlife Refuge has been arrested, along with three other individuals Tuesday evening.

John Wilson, who leads the McLennan County chapter of the Cossacks Motorcycle Club, was in the Waco Twin Peaks parking lot when the shooting broke out on May 17 between the Bandidos and Cossacks. His son Jake Wilson was also there. John Wilson owns Legend Cycles in Waco. He and his son were arrested, along with 175 others, and later indicted on organized crime charges. John Wilson is one of the only Cossacks speaking out about what happened that day, and he insists that many of those arrested are innocent. His interview with Julie Lyons is excerpted here. Wilson begins...

The following people were indicted Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 by a McLennan County grand jury. The District Attorney's Office no longer furnishes the age or city of residence of the people on this list.

The Texas Court of Appeals has determined over the last week that officials had probable cause in only five of the 177 arrests following a shootout between two rival biker gangs and local, state and federal authorities outside of a Waco restaurant in May, with just over a dozen more cases set to be reviewed over the next two weeks. Among those still facing charges are a Bandidos chaplain and a husband and wife. Officials also found probable cause against Bandidos members Marcus Pilkington, 36, and Reginald Weathers, 43, who ascertain they are “being illegally confined” and authorities lack sufficient...

Waco City Council signed off on the application Tuesday for a federal grant to offset the cost of responding to the Twin Peaks biker shootout last May 17. The city is seeking a $248,841 Justice Assistance Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The bulk of the requested funding, more than $240,000, would go to the Waco Police Department for overtime and equipment, with small amounts going to Waco Transit, the Waco Fire Department and the police departments in Robinson, Woodway, Hewitt and Lorena. "Based on the feedback we've received, I believe we will receive a portion or all of...

Rattle Can was a real person. His family wants you to know that. He was a "big ol' bear" of a man, tall and strong and slightly rotund, with a long, ginger beard hiding a strong-jawed, handsome face. His given name was Jacob Lee Rhyne, though most people called him Jake. He could come off gruff, and he didn’t watch his language. Rhyne loved his kids and sports and Miller Lite. He worked at the same place for 19 years, pouring iron at a foundry. You couldn't drag him away from his hometown, Ranger, Texas, a decrepit place nearly a...

De Oppresso Liber? We Shall See This is addressed first and foremost to the entire U.S. military, but especially to the military Special Operations Command and community. Secondly, it is addressed to federal LEOs, and especially to their SRTs, such as the FBI HRT (many of whom are former military special operations). This comes from combat arms and special operations veterans, along with veteran Sheriffs and police officers, within the Oath Keepers organization: Critical Warning: The Ammon Bundy led occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon must be handled as a normal, non-crisis, law enforcement matter, and preferably...

This week, Harney County Fire Marshall Chris Briels resigned after discovering undercover FBI agents posing as militia members near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which has been the site of a standoff for weeks now. According to Briels, he found FBI agents who were impersonating militia members lurking around the town’s armory. When he inquired about the undercover operation with county Judge Steve Grasty he was told to back off. Just before this discovery was made, there were reports of people who looked like militia harassing locals, which is uncharacteristic of the protesters who initially assembled at the refuge. It...

Two more bikers indicted two months ago in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout pleaded not guilty Tuesday during brief court hearings. Two others had scheduled arraignments Tuesday in Waco's 54th State District Court, but one waived his court appearance and the fourth had his arraignment postponed while he seeks to hire an attorney. Judge Matt Johnson approved a request from Rene Cavazos, 47, a member of the Bandidos motorcycle group from Frisco, to have his GPS ankle monitor removed after no objection from prosecutor Amanda Dillon. Dusty Alan Oehlert, 32, of Hudson Oaks, also pleaded not guilty during his...

efore retiring to dry heat and a second career in politics, Arizona state Sen. John Kavanagh arrested criminals in Times Square and other New York-area transit areas -- and one heroin bust 40 years ago, he says, inspired his new, instantly controversial bill to criminalize close-up filming of police in public. The legislation would require people to be at least 20 feet away while recording “law enforcement activity” or farther if officers decide that’s needed. Recording inside private buildings such as homes would be allowed from “an adjacent room or area” unless an officer objects. Violations would be petty offenses...

A judge declined to throw out an indictment Friday against a biker who saw his stepfather killed May 17 at Twin Peaks and claims to be a crime victim rather than a criminal defendant. Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter, a member of the Cossacks group from Waco, also failed in his attempt Friday to have a trial date set for Ledbetter after asserting for the third time his client's demand for a speedy trial. Looney alleged that Ledbetter's case should catapult to the top of Judge Ralph Strother's 19th State District Court felony docket because Ledbetter is...

WACO -- A Houston-based attorney representing a biker indicted in the Twin Peaks case was denied a request for a trial date Friday. According to Paul Looney who represents a member of the Cossacks, Cody Ledbetter, 26, Judge Ralph Strother refused to give his client a trial setting and denied making the District Attorney’s Office tell him what his client did wrong in the Twin Peaks incident on May 17th that left nine bikers dead. Looney claims the thousands of pages of discovery documents fail to reference anything his client did wrong at that time. "In fact, he told me...

The events now unfolding at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have been compared and contrasted many times with the 1993 siege in Waco. Here is one significant difference: It's not nearly as hard to find different perspectives on the Oregon conflict. From the most high-minded political essays to the dumbest Facebook memes, the debate over the Oregon occupation has been open to a wide range of ideas about the case that set off the conflict, the goals of the people involved, and how the government ought to react. Six days into this saga, I've seen a lot of bloodthirsty garbage,...

Attorney Robert Callahan called the release of information from the McLennan County District Attorney's Office a victory. Callahan withdrew his request Tuesday from the court to compel the prosecutors to release evidence in his client's case, as required by the Michael Morton Act. Callahan filed the motion last week after saying he had attempted on multiple occasions to get the information against his client, William Aikin, a biker charged in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout. The DA's office was asking defense attorneys in the case to sign a release form related to public disclosures before getting evidence against their...

The tragedy last May 17 in Waco. Texas was a rock that fell from the sky into the ocean. Now the rock is buried fathoms deep and only the ripples remain - spreading farther and farther. The local authorities, most notably District Attorney Abel Reyna. know exactly how those nine men died. Video At a glance, this is not a complicated case. The actual bloodshed was captured on multiple video cameras. A mere 42 seconds elapsed from the very first overhand right until the moment a Cossack named Wayne Lee Campbell made the mistake of trying to shoot it out...

Three top leaders of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, considered an outlaw gang by U.S. authorities, have been arrested on charges of racketeering, assault and drug distribution that could bring up to life in prison, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The arrests are expected to send shock waves through the Bandidos, who have about 1,500 to 2,000 members in the United States, prosecutors said. The Bandidos, one of the biggest U.S. motorcycle gangs, with branches overseas, are suspected of being involved in a shootout last May in Waco, Texas, between rival gangs that killed nine people. The three named in a grand...

Discrimination against motorcycle clubs is well documented and irrefutable. Incidents of criminal activity are sensationalized and used to mischaracterize an entire class of people based on stereotype and appearance. It seems that no motorcycle club is immune. Not even those dedicated to the service and protection of abused children. Indeed, from Waco to New Mexico motorcycle organizations dedicated to the protection of children have been the victim of motorcycle discrimination and denied basic civil liberties solely because of expressing their associations. In New Mexico, the Guardians of Children were denied entrance into the Bernalillo County Courthouse unless they turned inside...

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of assassinating a Hells Angel leader in a 2011 shootout between rival motorcycle clubs at a Reno-area casino. The high court issued its ruling Thursday overturning the conviction of Ernesto Gonzalez, 57, saying the district court abused its discretion by not answering a jury question about a conspiracy charge. Justices also said the lower court failed to split up decisions about guilt and whether Gonzalez should get a harsher penalty for gang involvement. "The cumulative effect of these errors deprived appellant of...

In some parts of the country this seems to be a settled question but it’s still cropping up in a disturbing number of places. We’re seeing incidents where court cases are popping up over instances where private citizens out on public property wind up in court with the cops after filming the activities of police on the streets. This can go one of two ways: the citizen is in trouble for doing the filming and faces charges or the cops are on the stand because of how they reacted to the filming. Neither should be showing up on the docket,...

An attorney for a biker charged after the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout is challenging the McLennan County District Attorney's requirement that he sign a release form to receive the prosecutors' evidence in the case. A hearing date has been set for 11 a.m. Jan. 15 before Judge Matt Johnson of Waco's 54th State District Court for a motion filed by Robert Callahan, whose client William Aikin was among the 106 indicted in the case so far. The noon-hour shootout left nine people dead and 20 wounded. Callahan's motion states he has not been able to receive the information after...