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I will be very interested to see the results of the bond hearings scheduled next week. I logically expect there will be more releases, especially of the independent and non-affiliated... (like the three Vice Grips Club members who were released recently); and there no doubt should be. I have a spreadsheet of those arrested that I am trying to update with Club Affiliation, when released, etc.

They did not arrest everyone who was initially detained at the scene and the affidavit shows five who were “unarrested.” So there were a lot of arrests, but still some discretion involved in those initial hours. I can see that they had to detain / arrest a large number that day. Reports say there were ~70 Cossacks and 100 Bandidos present, so the 170 number initially does not seem suspicious. [Not using LE source, the Cossack witness said there were about 70 Cossacks and then about 100 Bandidos rolled in.]

Rubber stamped affidavits — again, the first day they would not have had time to produce 170 separate narratives. As the LE spokesman said, they are going to be charged with RICO and we are going to send a message that outlaw gang activity will not be tolerated. [words to that effect, not a direct quote.]

No matter which judge approved those initial arrests, as the days passed, the bond could have been reduced; the implication is that the prosecutor agrees with the charges and has legal basis for it.

The message might be something like:
A meeting of The Confederation of Clubs and Independents is not just a group of recreational bikers. If you associate with outlaw MC gangs you are in fact associated with outlaw MC gangs. . . especially at a crime scene where murder and mayhem have just occurred. Waco does not intend to turn into Baltimore, where rival gangs shoot each other on the streets.

Recreational bikers know that association. Every club site I have looked at (not many but enough to get the picture) makes the hierarchy and rules pretty clear. Advice ranges from ~ if you want to form a club you will go to the main MC club in your territory ~ [paraphrasing but the following is pretty close] ~if you don’t want to get your teeth kicked in ~ ~ and if you don’t know where to find them, you aren’t ready ~

But if the above is the message Waco intended to be sent, it is lost on many posters here. Riding means being free to ride. But that effectively means riding with the permission of the gangs. Some others believe it is time and beyond time for legitimate bike clubs to stop any and all affiliation with the outlaw gangs, and it defies logic why they won’t do so since they are the majority.

The wall of silence . . . I am not in TX, maybe the news cycle has passed it by . . . which should not be the case because people are still clearly interested.

Any legal proceedings are public record, but they are not on-line in that County. I appreciate it when FReepers post news of the cases.

Yes, it is troubling as a precedent for “guilt by association”, which is one reason there is so much interest.

Trouble had been brewing and threatened to escalate. LE had been called to Twin Peaks at prior meetings (think he said about the last couple months) to break up fights, and asked TP to stop hosting the event. Other places do post — no colors or something similar so it does not seem an unreasonable request. [Dispatch records would show the calls in case anyone wants to look it up.]

It does indeed take time to sort out who shot whom. I was thinking, if I were in charge of the information management (which is actually spread out among different LE organizations), how I would approach it.

In addition to the interviews done ahead of time, there are 170 interviews of the ones arrested. The information has to be cross-checked against other testimony and forensic evidence. Follow-up interviews have to be conducted based upon that analysis.

Compare interview 1 to interviews 2 . . . 170;
compare interview 2 to interviews 3 . . . 179; etc.

To do it right, it would be tedious and time-consuming.
I am not at all surprised they are not “done” with the investigation in a couple weeks and doubt they will be any time soon.

The issue today is how long they will stay in jail. I guess for the truly guilty, at least it will count for “time served.” For those with no individual culpability other than association with outlaws . . . I hope we will see more of them released this week. Personally I hope a release condition is to refrain from any association with criminal gangs . . .

I try to be logical and reasoned, which makes this sound mealy-mouthed. I am like many here, troubled.

Excessive criminal behavior causes LE response. Indeed, it can become excessive LE response. BUT the excessive criminal behavior is what started it in this case. IMHO.

RICO would not exist as a remedy against criminal gangs, if criminal gangs had not come into being and terrorized communities . .

And Servus, of course.