The criminal 1% gangs, are only too happy to have the peaceful biker clubs to associate and give them cover.
Members of the general public don’t have the information or interest, to make fine distinctions, for who does and does not have a particular patch.
I assume the bad guys here, were the Banditos, known criminal gang, and the uninvited Cossacks, known criminal gang, affiliated with the Hells Angels, and not invited to the confab at the sports bar.
Maybe additional criminal elements desiring association with Banditos and/or Cossacks.
Then supposedly, in addition to the known criminal gangs, there are biker clubs, non-violent, in attendance.
And articles like this are pleas for the public to recognize the distinctions. I get that.
But why do non-violent bike club members, even associate with known criminal bike gangs?
When the non-violent folks get caught in the crossfire, or swept up in mass arrests, I have a fairly small reservoir of empathy for them.
IMO the non-criminal clubs, are being used as “respectability” cover, for drug dealers and murderers.
I just finished a series on Netflix about the infiltration, and use of RICO against the NY mafia, by Giuliani, when he was a federal prosecutor. FBI agent Joe Pistone was undercover (aka Donnie Brasco).
Law enforcement wanted to take down the five family leaders. It worked, although some were assassinated or committed suicide.
RICO was the legal mechanism. Everybody involved can be charged with more serious crimes, by association with a criminal network.
Technically speaking, anybody attending last weekend, that knew the nature of the Banditos, might catch a murder charge, since the cops killed some bad guys.
I believe many of the “good guys” like the vicarious thrill of associating with known criminal “bad guys.”
I read that the Cossacks are in the process of being patched over by (absorbed into) the Banditos. The Cossacks want to keep their bottom rocker that says Texas and the Banditos don't want them wearing it. I didn't hear anything about them not being invited.
There will always be a mix of 1%-ers and ‘regular’ bikers at such a meeting. It has nothing to do with outlaw gangs using respectable clubs as “cover”. COC is about any/all interested bikers/motorcyclists of all types and backgrounds getting together to discuss common interests and common problems.
For several decades COC meetings all over the country have been ‘neutral ground’ and everyone left their fights, grudges and vendettas at the door when attending them.
I'm not sure what happened in Waco on Sunday: maybe one or more Bandidos (or one or more Cossacks) simply violated the ‘neutral ground’ tradition, or maybe some hot-shot undercover cock, I mean cop, started a fight. Regardless of what initiated the trouble, something like this happening at a COC meeting is a VERY unusual occurrence.
And, of course, there is the fact that most of the dead were killed by the police. Maybe bikers just aren't as good at killing each other as they're given credit for.
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By the way, do you have a source for the claim that the Cossacks are an H.A. affiliate? I have not heard that before.