I would say the police presence in Sturgis, for instance, while somewhat onerous is a bit of a deterrent to general misbehaviour, even though that may once have been considered harmless fun.
Having police, sheriffs, BATF, SWAT including snipers, and whoever else present for what would ordinarily be a peaceful CoC meeting is somewhat suspicious, and frankly makes me wonder if there was an agent provocateur or two in the ranks somewhere as a CI or UC.
The whole situation reeks of a set-up, and the follow-up lethargy in processing, release of video (and no doubt there was plenty), wild-eyed weapons counts, and other pejorative statements only entrenches my opinion.
For the police there to convince me they have acted properly is an uphill battle at this point, especially considering the John Doe warrants and million dollar bonds.
Aside from filling the commercially operated jail (170 vacancies? really?), and the potential haul from auctioning over 100 expensive motorcycles, I have heard that the situation has created what Harley Financing considers disproportionate risk, which is cause to call for the note on the bike financed through them to either be paid in full or the bike repossessed. link
If that is the case, anyone who has no criminal record, who did not commit a crime (other than being there, which was likely not a crime in and of itself) who has a motorcycle financed through HD Financial is at risk of losing it, and some allegedly already have. Cui Bono? I don't know, nor do I know who they are related to, but those who did nothing but show up for a meeting of the CoC and got arrested are getting another level of screwing, whether they committed a crime or not.
