Posted on 08/12/2006 4:17:00 AM PDT by SLB
STURGIS, S.D. (AP) -- Biker gangs have made the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a violence-marred affair in the past.
The rally, which draws about half a million people each August to the Black Hills in western South Dakota, has since gotten older, laid-back and more diverse.
But this year, gunshots about 75 miles away reminded attendees about the gangs. Authorities said two men affiliated with the Hells Angels shot and wounded five Outlaws Motorcycle Club members in Custer State Park earlier this week.
Suzanne Church, who has ministered to biker gang members at Sturgis since 1997, said she hopes there's no more violence.
"We hate to see people die and go to hell," she said.
The rally attracts bikers of all walks of life, who ride throughout the Black Hills, a patch of forest and valleys 100 miles long and 50 miles wide on South Dakota's western edge. Sturgis, a town of about 7,000, is on the northern edge of the Hills, while Custer State Park is in the south.
Some Hells Angels members own land near Sturgis, so the gang has a presence at every rally, said Jim Bush, Sturgis police chief. Law enforcement officers knew that hundreds of Outlaws members planned to gather at a rented southern Hills campground, Bush said.
The Outlaws are one of the nation's four largest motorcycle gangs, along with the Hells Angels, Pagans and Bandidos. The Outlaws have chapters in 20 states, Europe, Canada and Australia.
A posting on its Web site said law enforcement agencies were informed of the group's plans to attend Sturgis.
It said: "We are not going there to makes any type of statement, or display of power. We are simply going there to enjoy the Sturgis venue, see the historical sights and spend time with our Brothers."
Authorities have their own term for the gangs.
"We classify these organizations as crime syndicates," said Bernard Zapor, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in St. Paul, Minn.
The last major violence involving motorcycle gangs during the Sturgis rally was in 1990, when a Sons of Silence member shot an Outlaws gang member during a bar brawl in which two other Sons of Silence members were stabbed.
"They have not changed," Bush said of the major gangs. "They're as organized and involved in crime as they ever have been."
It was one of only a few major rally-related incidents of violence, Bush said. The only other gang arrests have been three or four members picked up for unrelated crime, he said.
"They usually get along pretty good," Bush said.
In Tuesday's shooting, Chad John Wilson, 30, of Lynnwood, Wash., and John James Midmore, 32, of Valparaiso, Ind., face five counts of attempted first-degree murder. A judge set bond Thursday at $5 million each.
One victim was still in critical condition at Rapid City Regional Hospital on Thursday. Another was in stable condition at a Sioux Falls hospital, said Sara Rabern of the South Dakota Attorney General's office.
On Main Street in Sturgis, a few people wearing Hells Angels vests and T-shirts were spotted at the 66th annual rally, which ends Sunday.
The gang runs a vendor table that sells club pins, T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items. None of three men staffing the table wanted to discuss the shooting. A worker at a tattoo shop down the street that the gang runs also refused comment.
Jim Vlahakis, state Division of Criminal Investigation director, said more than 300 Outlaws members representing 119 different chapters have been seen in the area, along with 80 to 100 Hells Angels members.
Vlahakis said authorities plan to meet with the two gangs to "try to head off any potential problems" but had not done so as of Thursday.
Officers were prepared to respond to gang violence, Bush said, adding that eventual retaliation is likely.
"It may not happen here," Bush said. "It could happen a month from now" somewhere else.
On the Net:
Outlaws: http://www.outlawsmc.com/
Hells Angels: http://www.hells-angels.com/
o^\o..........
I will be relieved when the Hell's Angels and The Outlaws do each other in. Or get religion.
They're big puffs. Riding around on a bike that's about to fall apart, drinking beer all day long, smoking what ever dope they can buy and banging an ugly, dirty woman 24/7....
Well, they are Hell's Angels.
Does this still count as "at the Sturgis rally"?
They are not puffs, you must not know squat.
As someone that belongs to a group that has to deal with this biker thing.
I would prefer that Airborne Rangers take over the biker world.
LOL
75 mi. does seem a bit far away.
Violence at Stergis? Perish the thought.
You are lucky to be that close to Sturgis when this rally is going on. You cannot find a hotel within 400 miles unless you have a reservation WAY in advance.
I had to learn that lesson the hard way one year.
Filling up all hotels in a 400 mile radius, that's got to be a lot of bikers.
****You are lucky to be that close to Sturgis when this rally is going on. You cannot find a hotel within 400 miles unless you have a reservation WAY in advance. ***
And you better be willing to pay twice the every day rates too. They sock it to the motorcyclists during these rally's. I think Daytona is the worst.
Or few hotels.
Nah, the areal hotel density is pretty low in that part of the country. ^_^
I know that it is not PC to ponder this, but do you think that if the muzzies ever try to take over in America, the Hells Angels will agree to wear sheets and towels on their heads? Do you think that they will have problems with their sheets getting caught in the chain drives or spokes?
LLS
Why of course, almost nobody wants to visit Mt. Rushmore.
Doing thier iron-best to destroy the sport of motorcycling for all others.
Good to know that Freep keeps tabs on aging drunken, overwieght never-has beens on their annual rally to nowhere. The current list of outstanding wants ,warrents,parole and probation violations must make for some juicy reading.
Life is good.
They do help sell more harlies.
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