Posted on 06/22/2015 4:15:27 PM PDT by Prolixus
If you thought violent biker gangs were a relic of the Altamont era, the shootout at a Waco, Texas, restaurant on May 17 might have come as a shock.
A long-simmering beef between the Bandidos and Cossacks boiled over into gunfire. When police arrived at the scene, gang members shot at them too, leaving nine bikers dead, 18 people injured, and 170 suspects in police custody. Over 100 weapons have been confiscated.
The scale of this incident dwarfs a typical urban gang confrontation, says Harold Pollack, co-director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab and an expert on gangs and guns. We talked to Pollack about why biker gang violence typically gets so little attention. He believes the Waco incident confounds our expectations regarding the race and geographic location of people who perpetrate crime, causing us to see biker gangs as more of a “curiosity” than a threat.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
I’m kind of surprised to see this in a ‘national magazine’ a month later.
A half-assed whitewash like this implies that somebody is taking notice of the problems with the Waco situation and is moving to deflect the issues, either for what’s already happened or something coming up.
It still stinks, however.
With a Fast and Furious tie in?
Hey, dont tease!
Thank you. No. I am not a progressive, that is to say a social activist as the term is defined.
I gave a Henchmen a tank of gas one evening when he was broke. A week later he and 30 of his buddies came in to the station and beat a drunk who was causing a problem sending the guy to the hospital with permanent injuries.
I already mentioned the women who are chattel to them.
A couple of years ago I saw a wanna-be who road into a Hell’s Angel’s peloton and was run off the road into a guard rail, again causing permanent injury.
I also remember the exhumed graves in South Carolina to access the cadavers that Hell’s Angels have sex with as part of their initiation.
I remember the year the Angels road into Cheyenne causing havoc.
Hardly a few bad apples. These are my experiences. Hardly isolated, many bad.
You may believe and behave as you wish, at least for a while, before the progressives further reduce our freedoms. Feel free to invite them over. May I suggest having them for a holiday. Perhaps you may want to introduce them to your daughter as they are fine Americans in your book. Perhaps you may like to become acquainted with the Mongrel Mob? Surely you won’t judge this book by its cover.
http://www.vice.com/read/portraits-of-new-zealands-mighty-mongrel-mob
I, for the moment, am free to judge a book by its cover and say no thank you to being chummy with gangs.
No one is questioning your freedom to judge according to your own discernment. You may paint with as broad a brush as will fit your bucket.
My experiences differ. I associate with those who associate with these biker filth,, and have never had to ask for repayment of money loaned.
You're not. look at the date of the article. It's a month old, printed 4 days after the shooting. Not surprisingly the stories on both sides have changed.
>>>> You’re not. look at the date of the article. It’s a month old, printed 4 days after the shooting. <<<<
Well, damn! It didn’t dawn on me to look at the date, I just figured it was current as it’s freshly posted.
https://www.facebook.com/WacoPoliceDepartment?ref=profile
I have begun to realize there is a group of individuals who regardless of what we say will have a tainted picture of what actually happened at Twin Peaks. You will no doubt see that in the comments that follow this post.
My response to a post from a concerned citizen in reference to our ability to release everything at this point: (please also see the link to the Tribune Herald article that better explains how and when evidence is released to the public)
Donald....have to say thank you for actually being a sensible voice of reason here and maintaining some civility. Obviously what I release has to be approved by PD administration, investigating detectives and the District Attorney as this case will need to be tried in court, not on Facebook.
I said from the very first day we have several videos that captured the scene at Twin Peaks. That fact stands and is undeniable. The FBI is in possession of those videos to assist us in the investigation. It is not up to me as to when that gets released but rest assured it will. Unedited, unaltered and will show exactly what was started by bikers and how it led to officers having to use deadly force to stop their violence towards each other and Law Enforcement.
We have been and will maintain to be truthful, as transparent as possible without jeopardizing the case investigation and will reveal every aspect of this case in time. Some think we can release everything at this point but that is simply not the truth. This is real life and not a made for TV movie.
In the early hours of the incident we put out as much as possible in a very fluid situation to inform our public. We immediately corrected any information if need be as we learned more during the investigation. That is not any indication we misled anyone. It was simply an attempt to share what we believed had occurred during the start of the incident.
Thank you for your concern and as we can, information will be shared with all in as timely a manner as I can.
Sgt. Swanton
But we know how that works. If someone finds out they are wrong, they either back off and sort it out with those who were wronged, or, in the finest Liberal fashion, they double down.
Only you can't sort it out with dead people.
Stop and think, willya? If 1% of any subset of people is engaged in criminal acts, but looks like the rest, then who is imitating who?
Man ... that’s rich.
Are you saying that two thirds of criminal bikers are so clever, and Texas police are so inept, that even though they wear signs on their backs broadcasting their criminality and active intent, that the cops can't catch them in their meth running, extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, and murder at a rate any better than one in three?
So you are saying that?
In the event the rider is separated from the motorcycle at speed, leather provides the best abrasion resistance of any fabric. Black is the most common color, by far and away (and also the cheapest).
The vest is an additional layer over the torso, but also provides a convenient place to put name tags, patches, and pins expressing opinion, lauding a particular brand of motorcycle, membership in organizations from the American Motorcyclists' Association and the MRF to state organizations such as ABATE, individual clubs, commemorating the passing of friends ("in memory of..."), and club affiliations. American flags patches are common on these vests, and in this neck of the woods, Canadian flags, or the two together with the flagstaffs crossed and the staff of the home country in front. If it is Canada, the expression is one of good will and solidarity with the US as well as vice-versa.
Bikers tend to be fiercely patriotic, and a high percentage of the bikers I have known are veterans or active duty service members, either in the Armed Forces or National Guard(50%+). There are entire clubs composed of veterans.
The back of the vest is commonly reserved for a club logo, or in the case of independents (who have no club affiliation), often the logo of a particular manufacturer.
None of these things, in and of themselves denotes criminal activity, and all are expressions guaranteed under the First Amendment.
So, to which insignia do you refer? The arrests at Waco were made without reference to club affiliation.
No one said everyone present was on the fast-track for beatification, but even the worst offender has certain Constitutional Rights, and especially for those who had no criminal records, the violation of those rights is ridiculously apparent.
The caution is this: That no matter who is the focus, those Rights must be maintained or we will ALL lose them. Equal Protection Under the Law is not something to be trifled with. If there are known criminals present, then arrest them and let the others go. Otherwise, it is only a matter of time until sections of freeway are carpet bombed to eliminate some thought criminal, regardless of who else is driving there at the time.
Oh, goody! The CIA cartoon should be out any time now...
Well said!!
If you don't believe that the Bandidos, as an organization, are involved in criminal activity then you should read up on their history.
“What’s CoCi?”
Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents. It is an extortion ring run by the Bandidos where other clubs have to pay dues for the right to ride in Texas.
“The Cossacks appear to have been patrolling the border and reporting illegals.”
That’s a new one ...
“1,000,000 bonds on each and every one? “
No. Some were released on as little as $10k bonds.
“The confrontation alleged to have happened here seems almost beyond belief. This was a large group from a major gang that reportedly donned another gang’s regalia. Why, on this green earth, should that EVER happen. That’s not how a gang accepts new members. “
LOL. It was a gang war over Texas Territory.
“Does that mean everyone who gets around the same way you do should be rounded up or even just shot at because of their mode of transport? “
Silly. No one is saying that. However when two large gangs start shooting at each other in a public plaza they should be rounded up.
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