Posted on 12/15/2015 1:20:33 PM PST by don-o
May's deadly biker shootout in Waco reportedly left nine dead, many others wounded and more than 170 arrested. Since the shootout, there's been an ongoing legal battle.
Until recently, there's been precious little to say further about this incident, with a few exceptions. A gag order has made the police version of events the only real version we've had to discuss. But thanks to thousands of pages of once court-protected documents leaked to the media, we now have new clues to what actually happened that day.
Newly obtained evidence by the Associated Press reveals that four of the nine people killed during the altercation between rival biker gangs outside the Twin Peaks restaurant were shot by the same caliber of rifle fired by Waco police. A ballistics report matches bullets taken out of the victims' bodies with rifles being fired by SWAT officers that day.
Now, a video released over the weekend shows the likely parking lot confrontation leading up to mass shooting.
Dane Schiller, reporter for the Houston Chronicle, has the latest on the case. He says the video does seem to support the Waco police department's claim that the embroilment and gun fight started between the Cossacks and Bandidos, two rival biker groups.
"What's come into question," Schiller says, "Is what was being done before that and what was done immediately after."
Schiller says that according to the recently unsealed indictments, there was a 10th victim from the shootout, even though the police and the media have been reporting only nine.
"We're all trying to figure out who is this 10th person," Schiller says.
The report says a man by the name of William Anderson died along with the other nine victims. That's a strange twist to the information, Schiller says.
"Nobody by that name has died in McLennan County from the date of that shooting to present," Schiller says. "Someone who was a member of the Bandidos who died in another state in a motorcycle accident and hit a deer - his last name matches the name of that 10th dead person. His father, who's long been deceased, matches that name entirely."
Schiller says media is scratching their head asking for clarification on the matter.
So far in the investigations, Schiller says there's no evidence of any police wrongdoing, but the gag order didn't make them look so good. In other instances of police shootings, Schiller says, police came out with the facts quickly. They showed video tape. Then, the investigations moved on from there.
"The biggest mistake that (Waco) police have made, in my opinion, is they haven't come clean in a timely manner," Schiller says. "But they've harmed themselves from keeping this secret so long."
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.
Yeah...I don’t think a lot of the bikers there were sportin’ .223 caliber platforms.
We have seen many people claiming that all of the dead were shot by police. The question about these four is whether the police shootings were justified.
The question remains - did the police fire first and then provoke the rival gangs into thinking each was firing on the other? And this still doesn’t justify the mass arrests of almost 200 people.
These are standard police tactics when they know they are in the wrong. They go completely quiet until the know what all of the evidence is going to be, then they invent a narrative to explain it all away.
I would quibble with "many". A few is more accurate. I have often posted to debunk such, the fact that (per Chief Brent Stroman), his men were sitting in their cars when the first shots were fired. With all they claim (after the fact) about what they suspected was going down, that seems a very lackadaisical posture to assume.
The question about these four is whether the police shootings were justified.
Yes. There's that. And also the matter of probable cause, excessive bail, property seizures, speedy trial, gag orders....
That's a start but what about the caliber of rifles fired by ATF, state troopers, West PD, the undercovers and other LEOs there that day?
They are forced to admit to these four because they died of .223 wounds. How long until we find out the rest died from pistol rounds fired by police. I continue to believe that this was a police ambush.
I believe what I am seeing are LEO protecting assets & operatives in the field (undercovers).
Each fatality requires individual analysis in my opinion. As more videos are released & the public gets a chance to study them, my opinion is subject to change based on what the video evidence suggest.
The police shot 5 people, four of whom died. They say they only fired 12 rounds. 2 of the four dead only had wounds from the police style rifles, 2 others also had other bullet injuries (preceding or following the police fire).
One was a man armed with a chain, which by itself would be a threatening figure but he was combating several persons with knives and possibly brass knuckles. They do not appear to have been shot. Odd considering those are also forbidden weapons and they did not seek safety, rather engaging in battle with the man (the video does not appear to be strictly self defense).
If the man with the chain was menacing people in a parking lot by himself (random act of violence, totally away from that day or biker related incident) there would likely be a warning to ‘drop your weapon’ and some sort of negotiation before opening fire. He was hit several times and bled out. The other combatants may have ‘surrendered’ after seeing this man taken down but they were willing combatants in battle.
One biker who shot another biker dead does not appear to be among those killed by the police. Odd that a guy with a chain is considered more of a threat to society than someone who’d shoot a guy in the head while the victim is laying down on the ground after already having his head stomped.
These details come from the Daily News article.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3357599/New-police-footage-shows-chaos-erupted-outside-Texas-restaurant-hundreds-bikers-used-guns-chains-defend-massive-melee.html
If the police were trying to restore safety and order, how many of the biker gunmen did they shoot? How many biker gunmen did the bikers shoot? How many persons other than those with guns did the police shoot? 9 persons dead, 20 persons injured from gun wounds.
Has anything more come of the San Antonio ‘former’ detective who was arrested along with the bikers that day?
Chief Stroman has stated that only Waco PD, and no other LEOs, fired shots that day.
We have seen a few claim that.
A larger group (of which I am a part) claim that a fight among a few bikers at a political rally turned into a massacre when some of the law enforcement panicked and fired indiscriminately.
In earlier times if law enforcement knew a few bad apples planned to make hay at a public function they detained some of the parties involved to head it off. Instead law enforcement in Waco set up a sniper ambush at a crowded restaurant. The Waco authorities have only belatedly realized why the old way is a better course of action.
New Information in the Waco Biker Case Shows 4 Died From Police Bullets
Well, that accounts for police rifles. That does not speak one way or another toward the question of who fired the pistol bullets involved, only police rifles.
There. Fixed.
At least they didn’t used military Tanks filled with gas and killing many innocent children this time!!!
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