Check this out.
Please do it before you run into a pack of these guys in a bar or campground.
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/
A biker stops by the local Harley Shop to have his bike fixed. They
Couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and would
Just walk home.
On the way home he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket and
An anvil. He stopped by the feed store/ livestock dealer and picked up a
Couple of chickens and a goose. However, struggling outside the store,
He now had a problem: how to carry all of his purchases home.
While he is scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady
Who told him she was lost. She asked, "Can you tell me how to get to
1603 Mockingbird Lane?"
The biker said, "Well, as a matter of fact, I live at 1616 Mockingbird
Lane. I would walk you home but I can't carry this lot."
The old lady suggested, "Why don't you put the anvil in the bucket,
Carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the
Goose in your other hand?"
"Why thank you very much," he said and proceeded to walk the old girl
Home.
On the way he says, "Let's take my short cut and go down this alley.
We'll be there in no time."
The little old lady looked him over cautiously then said, "I am a lonely
Widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get in
The alley you won't hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and
Have your way with me?"
The biker, astonished, said, "Holy smokes woman! I am carrying a
Bucket, an anvil, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I
Possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?!?!?!?"
The lady replied, " Well, set the goose down, cover him with the bucket,
Put the anvil on top of the bucket, and I'll hold the chickens."
Of course I wouldn't...But they're still big puffs with put together "bykes" that bang ugly women with sever "go fast" addictions. Sores, track marks and crappy tattoos are considered beauty marks.
No flames from me. I was trying to point out that Bike Families (Gangs/Clubs) might be rowdy, and some may be criminal (as are some Americans from all walks of life), but they are as American as you or I.
The ones that I know hate islamofacists, love America, and by a large percentage, are made up of Veterans. If the fit hits the shan, I would rather have a biker fighting the enemy with me than ANY dim!
LLS
ugly women without severe "go fast" addictions are safe?
Check this out.
Please do it before you run into a pack of these guys in a bar or campground.
And it is silly to riff on my name.
If the shoe fits....
Actually, that's what I was thinking. When I think of Sturgis, I visualize fat slobs on Honda Goldwings with radios in their helmets and pulling little trailers.
You and FreeDUMB should get together and watch some more movies. Neither of you know anything about what you are talking about.
Hells Angels on Vespas
Patriotic? Murderers, pimps, drug lords...thugs.....scum
Ask the parents of crack addict daughters that sell their bodies to get high and make these scum richer if they think they are patriotic. Or the familes of those who have been murdered for standing up to them.
It should a automatic prison sentence to even belong to a outlaw bike gang. You wear colors you go to prison, period.
I sure hope he's got a strong jail with lots of guards. They might just try to take them right out of the jail.
When I worked in Radiology at county Hospital back in my twenties had one come through with a bullet in his gut. His pals and "biatches" were outside. Tat's everywhere. All he could do was cuss and throw things around. Tried to do a KUB on the idiot and he would scream some cuss words and his "biatches" in the waiting room would yell back as to why we were killing him. Never forget it.
Might practices differ from place to place?
Here is a report from as recently as 2001 that lists your buddies as domestic terrorists: http://ag.ca.gov/publications/org_crime2004.pdf
Do you really need me to go back into the archives to pull the information about your smoochies' organized criminal activities?
If you are little guy I undersand how important it is to throw your lot in with (and now support and protect) a bunch of bullies andf cowards -- makes you a really big man, huh?
"You are lucky to be that close to Sturgis when this rally is going on. "
There are camsites for millions. I have never had a reservation in 9 trips to Sturgis and never had a problem getting a campsite right in town.
On the west side of town, at the Route 90 exit there is a campground named Day's End. They always have space for a bike and a tent. The showers are private and clean.
How long a queue at the showers?
Awww, that's Canadiwimps....
"I hope the outlaw bikers beat up the wannabe Harley-riding lawyers."
The gangs seldom interact with civilians. In 36 years of attend biker events, I've never had a problem with a gang member. Leave them alone and you won't have a problem.
That said, I never initiate a conversations with members, especially the pledges (Only two parts to the patch on their back).
For those who have not been there, Sturgis is a little town in the middle of a fabulously beautiful riding area that includes the SD badlands, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore/Keystone, Crazy Horse Mountain, Iron Mountain Road and a bunch of other state parks. Route 90 goes right through town and the town has two 4-lane roads as well.
If you have seen the movie, Dances With Wolves, the place with the buffalo, is Buffalo Chip Campground on the north side of town.
Daytona bike week is about drinking. Sturgis is about riding the Black Hills. It is a mild-mannered event with almost no nudity or violence. There are a couple of private campgrounds with a bit of debauchery, but but the police keep that stuff out of town and in private areas.
If you are looking for serious debauchery and naked women, that can be found at an event called the Rendezvous (formerly Harley Rendezvous) held in Duanesburg, NY on the weekend after Father's Day every year. It makes Sturgis and Daytona look like Cub Scout meetings.
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