Posted on 05/18/2015 9:12:16 PM PDT by Colofornian
The more than 170 members of biker gangs that Waco law enforcement officials say were involved in a deadly biker gang shootout Sunday at Twin Peaks won’t be going anywhere soon.
Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson set bonds for 174 gang members charged with engaging in organized criminal activity at $1 million each.
“I think it is important to send a message,” Peterson said. “We had nine people killed in our community. These people just came in and most of them were from out of town. Very few of them were from in town.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Jimmy Don Smith, 59, of Caldwell, moved quickly Monday in getting a bond-reduction hearing set. Dan Jones, a Bryan lawyer, was in Judge Ralph Strother’s 19th State District Court Monday to request the hearing for Smith, a mechanic with Novosad Enterprises of Caldwell. Strother set the hearing for June 5.
Peterson declined to release the identities of the nine men killed Sunday because he said only one man’s family has been notified that he knows of so far.
He said all but two of those killed were not from the Waco area, but declined to say where they were from.
Even if the men bond out of jail, they likely won’t be riding their motorcycles home. The motorcycles were confiscated as part of the massive law enforcement investigation and sources say they likely will be seized and forfeited by McLennan County through civil forfeiture procedures and sold at auction...
“...members and associates of the Cossacks and Bandidos...continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities,” the affidavit says. “The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains a database containing information identifying...Cossacks and their associates as a criminal street gang and the Bandidos and their associates as a criminal street gang.”...
(Excerpt) Read more at wacotrib.com ...
Really tragic and it appears it was all over a parking space????? A shame
where’s Al Sharpton? Why arent there protests about police brutality???? No mention of the race of the SWAT team!!!
What police brutality?
Will JayZ Bail the Bikers?
Gotta love the Waco LEO who said ‘in 35 years he’d never seen senseless violence like this.”
Am I crazy but is is our own government burning a house-full of women and children alive over ‘unclear charges’ at the barrel of tanks and SWAT teams just a tad more senseless than some 1% bikers in a gang fight?
Maybe I’m just crazy and should just “obey.”
After all, what fool brings knives, guns, or any freedoms at all to a tank-fight?
Several bikers are denying that they were shooting at police. [take that with a grain of salt, for now] But it appears at least half the bikers were killed by police.
“Several bikers are denying that they were shooting at police”
Police can also shoot when you are trying to shoot someone else. Or beat then to death with a chain, stab them, etc,,,,
They deserved what they got,,,,,
Really tragic and it appears it was all over a parking space????? A shame
This conflict has been brewing for months. It’s about territory and who controls the criminal enterprises in that erritory.
What police brutality?
ask #blacklivesmatter. They spout such everytime police kills a suspect armed or “un-armed”.
Two points, I’m glad not to be working at the facility now incarcerating those 170 bikers.
Secondly, a majority of the men are probably somebodys Grandpa, or around 60 years old. How do you stay that enraged at fellow bikers for that long? I admit, it’s s a way of life i know nothing about.
I had to laugh at the date of the bail reduction hearing....3 weeks from now. The state judge sounds like he is telegraphing that he has no intention of undercutting the JP.
The cops, including SWAT, were evidently in plain view. What kind of yahoos start a shooting war with those assets in place? Fish in a barrel comes to mind.
Oh. I see just like washDC politicians
The govt slaughter at Waco remains a clarion call for us all to maintain vigilance
There seems to be a lot of rumors swirling around, but it seems like there are some generally agreed on events. At one point, inside the restaurant (at the bathrooms?) some shoving occurred and it was taken outside. Some brawling occurred, and at one point it progressed to a knife fight.
From that point on, what happened is an unknown. Supposedly someone pulled out a gun, started shooting, and officers started shooting. Being that there was 20+ officers there, including a SWAT team, once the shots started, anyone moving towards anyone would be a target - just the nature of the beast when that many bodies are involved. Even raising a hand could be seen as a threat.
More confusing are the statements from the management company that owns the restaurant; their statement reads to me as some rather shocked owners wondering just what the heck is going on and they have scant information about their business, and almost none about contacts from the parent company to the franchise restaurant.
Good for all of us is that they're going to be spending a pretty penny to try to figure out exactly what happened, if for no other reason than to mitigate their exposure to the ensuing lawsuits. And I'd expect there'd be a number of them.
I think one really key question that should be answered is: Would there have been any shooting if LEO hadn't been staged outside waiting for trouble?
Ping
Wonder who the "sources" actually are. I am not very enthused about asset forfeiture processes. Not excusing the bikers, but with that number it is doubtful that they can prove all were "involved" in crimes.
I hope the answer is a number of idiots. I fear the answer is no one is that stupid.
United States Constitution
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Good point. What happened is devastating but “asset forfeiture” usually does not mean due process. Criminals do wrong—bad. Government does wrong—good, and it does not take a wrong move by anyone for the government to do wrong.
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