Posted on 08/08/2015 8:09:05 AM PDT by don-o
Waco might not get away with it.
So far it has been impossible to know exactly what all it is that Waco has spent the last 83 days hiding because that’s the nature of official secrecy in an institutionally corrupt Dogpatch run by Jack S. Phogbound.
For the last 83 days Waco has been hiding something, maybe many things, about the Twin Peaks Massacre last May 17. For the last 83 days the case has been a black barrel full of question marks.
Right out of the gate, it certainly seems obvious as sunrise that the Waco Police, the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department knew what might happen in advance and either encouraged or failed to prevent an apparent ambush of a dozen or so Bandidos by some unknown number of Cossacks. Or vice versa. It is obvious that the cops knew in advance because they erected pole cameras around the crime scene before the crimes happened. And then after the crimes happened they kept the video evidence secret. And that has led to speculation that has been at best informed and at worst half baked.
Something Happened
One recurring version of what happened, popularized by the Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle, is that the Bandidos came in hot while the Cossacks greeted them as Samoset and Squanto greeted the Pilgrims. Then there was some shooting by somebody and nine men were killed and at least 18 were wounded. All of this bloodshed was recorded by dozens of dash cams, security cams, body cams and cell phone cams as well as the pole cams and most of that footage remains officially secret.
The Post/Chronicle version is that the Bandidos lit the Cossacks up. According to the Post/Chronicle, Cossacks named “Richie” “then Diesel, then Dog” died. An alternative version argues that between seven and a dozen Bandidos were “surrounded and attacked before they could get off their bikes or turn off their ignitions” A Bandido named Manny “Candyman” Rodriguez was “shot first as punches were thrown beside him.” In that version someone “reached over the shoulder of a Cossack” and shot Rodriguez “in the head at point blank range.” In that alternative version, unpublished by the Post or Chronicle, Rodriguez was the first man to die.
Virtually none of the forensic evidence has yet been released. So, it is impossible to know if Rodriguez, or Cossacks Richard Matthew “Richie” Jordan II, Danny “Diesel” Boyett or Charles Wayne “Dog” Russell died the way they have been reported to have died. Or if, say, the police killed them.
Covering Up
Immediately after the bloodbath, officials from all seven of the police forces listed above rounded up all the witnesses, seized their vehicles and their cellphones and sealed the crime scene and the area around the crime scene for days. Then the witnesses were intimidated with million dollar bonds and further punished. According to the Post/Chronicle account, Jordan’s stepfather, a Cossack officer named Owen “Big O” Reeves was invited by a Bandido to bring many hungry Cossacks to the Twin Peaks that Sunday for a peace powwow and brunch. The same account portrays Reeves as an instigator of the fight between members of the two clubs. A single source told The Aging Rebel in May that Reeves, “when in jail, attempted to say he was undercover.” There have been impossible to refute accounts that undercover lawmen and contract employees were there and in biker costume when the bloodshed started.
Of course everyone’s good name, including Reeves, could be cleared if only Waco, state and federal officials weren’t so actively engaged in suppressing and potentially destroying evidence and spinning the story to their own advantage. Nobody in Waco seems to give a damn about justice.
Suppressed Evidence
Defense attorneys have tried a couple of strategies to get a look at the actual evidence in the case – the many videos, the autopsies and the forensic evidence. Dallas attorney Clint Broden, for example, subpoenaed video from both the Twin Peaks restaurant and the Don Carlos restaurant on the other side of the parking lot. A Waco judge named Matt Johnson couldn’t find a reason to quash the subpoenas but he did slap Broden and his client, a Scimitar Motorcycle Club member named Matthew Clendennen, with a gag order on June 30.
The McLennan County District Attorney, Abelino “Abel” Reyna had been threatening for weeks to gag defense attorneys who made too much noise. Some lawyers became quiet as little mice but not all. When Broden refused to sit down and shut up Reyna asked his former law partner, Judge Johnson, to silence him. Since this was Waco, Johnson did. Johnson didn’t do it to ensure fair trials for the 177 defendants in the case. He did it as part of a concerted effort to continue to hide whatever it is that everybody in Waco has been hiding for almost three months. Ask Richard Nixon how that worked out for him.
Broden and the attorneys for 16 additional defendants requested what Texas calls “examining trials” for their clients. Examining trials are strategically important for defenders in Texas because they allow attorneys an early look at aome of the evidence. Prosecutors must either “discover” evidence to the accused or let him go. A judge or magistrate decides how much evidence is enough but when the examining trials start there is an excellent chance that at least some of Waco’s secrets will be revealed.
A buffoonish justice of the peace named Walter H. “Pete” Peterson illegally signed the original arrest warrants for the witnesses who were jailed after the Twin Peaks Massacre. Peterson’s conduct was so blatantly illegal that Waco hired him a lawyer But Peterson still planned to preside over all the examining trials – except Clendennen’s because Broden successfully sued to stop that.
This Morning’s News
This morning the official censorship in Waco began to falter. First an appeals court told Judge Johnson to lift the gag order on Broden and Clendennen. The higher court told Johnson he could stall for another week but then Broden and Clendennen must be allowed to talk about the case. Almost simultaneously Peterson announced that he had “changed his mind” and would no longer preside over any of the examining trials. A retired judge named James E. Morgan will decide what evidence the defense attorneys can see.
Nothing really changed today. Broden still can’t speak and 177 people have still been extrajudicially punished for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What happened today was a reaffirmation that all of the United States of America, even Texas, even Waco is a part of a nation governed by law, not by corrupt nepotism. Implicit in the ongoing official coverup is the undeniable notion that Waco has had something to hide. As the examining trials unfold America might begin to glimpse what that is. Clint Broden can finally begin to tell the country what he thinks Waco has been hiding sometime next week.
Eventually the secrets that have been hidden and the lies that have been told might be exposed.
Welcome to the Waco discussion.
What do you think about mass arrests off identical pc affidavits and $1,000,000 bonds?
Are you curious about the cause of death of nine people? Are you curious about why the police do not want the public knowing that?
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I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but the more I read, the more it all stinks.
>>> I went to the link. It’s dated August 7, 2015 and talks about stuff that happened yesterday. <<<
Wrong link. Clearly you weren’t paying attention so try post #9, the link I was referring to and the one TexasGator has repetitively posted on the Waco threads he’s trolled.
My understanding is that the cause of death of four of the nine killed during this incident have been released, and all four were killed by police weapons.
Just so I understand you correctly, a man can earn a Purple Heart and have a clean record and you’re OK with the government murdering him if he hangs out with people that you don’t approve of?
Besides freedom of association, are there any other parts of the Bill of Rights you don’t care for?
That's significant new news to me. Do you have a link to any of these reports?
Thank you for the yeoman’s work you’re doing keeping up with this.
We wouldn’t be hearing anything otherwise.
There is nothing in your link that supports your claim.
“According to a law enforcement source, preliminary information indicates that four of the bikers killed were killed by police gunfire. The investigation continues and the ballistics will be analyzed to determine for certain who was responsible for each shooting.”
www.cnn.com/2015/05/18/us/texas-biker-gang-brawl-shooting/index.html
This is the best information available, given the total blackout by official sources.
Me: “He hung out with Bandidos” http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/New-Braunfels-man-killed-in-Waco-shooting-enjoyed-6277290.php
You: Just so I understand you correctly, a man can earn a Purple Heart and have a clean record and you’re OK with the government murdering him if he hangs out with people that you don’t approve of? Besides freedom of association, are there any other parts of the Bill of Rights you don’t care for?
Looking at my post which was a quote from one of his family members) and your response (noting that you did not cite my post) I can see that you just made up that B.S.
“Besides freedom of association, are there any other parts of the Bill of Rights you don’t care for?”
FYI, the Bill of Rights says “Congress shall make no laws ...”
It goes on to say that other limitations are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I’m not sure what country you think this is, but in the United States of America we have this thing called a Constitution. Amending the Constitution is this thing called the Bill of Rights.
Among the guarantees in the Bill of Rights is that you get the freedom to associate with whom you please, and that’s nobody else’s business.
Other guarantees in the Bill of Rights include the right to a trial by jury (as opposed to being executed on the spot by agents of the state), the right to know the charges against you, the right to face your accusers, and the right to present a defense. Additionally, you have the right not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishments.
None of those rights were respected here.
I don’t know exactly where you are coming from, but it is far more reminiscent of places like East Germany or North Korea, where the government can kill whoever it likes and is answerable to no one. That is not what America is about. If you wish to live under rules appropriate to a despotic, totalitarian state, the world provides you with a large range of options - but the United States is not one of them.
“Among the guarantees in the Bill of Rights is that you get the freedom to associate with whom you please, and that’s nobody else’s business.”
A literal interpretation:
“Congress shall make no law ...”
“None of those rights were respected here.”
Really? The gangs were allowed to associate at a breastaurant in a public plaza on a Sunday afternoon and no one interfered ...
Until they started shooting at each other.
“Other guarantees in the Bill of Rights include “
First Amendment: Congress shall make no laws ...
Sixth Amendment: ... the accused shall enjoy the right ...
Notice the difference?
W. Patrick Swanton was the spokesperson early on in the incident. From his CV at the link:
Sgt. Swanton is currently the team leader over the Crisis Intervention Unit. While in Special Operations he furthered his training by attending a course provided by the National Guard on helicopter assaults and courses on basic through advanced S.W.A.T. Team Tactics. While in Special Operations Swanton was also involved in the aftermath at Mount Carmel and was awarded the Police Commendation bar along with his other teammates for their involvement.
“Among the guarantees in the Bill of Rights is that you get the freedom to associate with whom you please, and that’s nobody else’s business. Other guarantees in the Bill of Rights include the right to a trial by jury (as opposed to being executed on the spot by agents of the state), the right to know the charges against you, the right to face your accusers, and the right to present a defense. Additionally, you have the right not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishments.
None of those rights were respected here.”
Right to Jury Trial: That right will be respected.
Right to know charges: That right will be respected.
Right to face accusers: That right will be respected.
Right to present a defense: That right will be respected.
No cruel or unusual punishment: That right will be respected.
The Constitution of the State of Texas also guarantees these rights; the most directly relevant provision is Article I, Section 19, which reads:
“DEPRIVATION OF LIFE, LIBERTY, ETC.; DUE COURSE OF LAW. No citizen of this State shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, privileges or immunities, or in any manner disfranchised, except by the due course of the law of the land.”
You haven’t a leg to stand on in your argument. You have set yourself directly against the core principles on which the United States was founded and to which each and every State in the Union adheres. You ought to be ashamed of the record of comments which appear in your name.
“DEPRIVATION OF LIFE, LIBERTY, ETC.; DUE COURSE OF LAW. No citizen of this State shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, privileges or immunities, or in any manner disfranchised, except by the due course of the law of the land.”
Most are out on bond by the due course of the law of the land.
“You haven’t a leg to stand on in your argument”
Please cite my ‘argument’ ...
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