Posted on 08/29/2015 6:17:21 PM PDT by Elderberry
The Texas Court of Appeals has determined over the last week that officials had probable cause in only five of the 177 arrests following a shootout between two rival biker gangs and local, state and federal authorities outside of a Waco restaurant in May, with just over a dozen more cases set to be reviewed over the next two weeks.
Among those still facing charges are a Bandidos chaplain and a husband and wife. Officials also found probable cause against Bandidos members Marcus Pilkington, 36, and Reginald Weathers, 43, who ascertain they are “being illegally confined” and authorities lack sufficient evidence to prove they engaged in organized criminal activity the day of the shootout, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.
Nine men were killed during the exchange of gunfire that day and another 20 were injured. Authorities confiscated more than 475 weapons, including 151 firearms. No innocent civilians or law enforcement were injured during the shootout.
The incident remains under investigation, which is headed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but a great deal of questions still remain, including who fired the fatal shots, which authorities have yet to disclose. However, Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman confirmed in June that a total of 12 rounds were fired by three Waco officers that day, leaving the remaining rounds at the hands of either the bikers or state and federal authorities.
At last count, 44 shell casings were recovered from the scene, including multiple .223 rounds, but ballistics evidence has not been made public at this time, despite the fact that autopsy reports were already released earlier this month, including vague descriptions of the injury-causing projectiles.
Weathers said the whole incident unfolded over a dispute about a parking space and a perceived act of disrespect, but while the melee initially involved the bikers, it’s unknown when authorities engaged.
According to Weathers, he and more than a dozen other members were outside of the Twin Peaks restaurant, while numerous members of the Cossacks, a rival biker gang, were near the patio area. A member of the Cossacks allegedly yelled at Bandidos club President David Martinez, saying he could not park in a particular space, but Weathers said he had not even pulled into the space at that point. Weathers, feeling his club president had been disrespected, then told the Cossacks member not to talk to his president that way, to which that member responded by punching Weathers in the face, he alleges.
Weathers said he covered his face in a defensive stance, but was soon pushed to the ground. Moments later, he heard gunshots, what he described as a “double tap.” Weathers was shot in the arm, but admitted that he did not know where the first shots came from because he was engaged in a fight with other bikers at the time.
Weathers said altogether the entire incident only lasted about four or five minutes.
“I was hoping (and still am) those whom I strongly suspect of being innocent of what they have so far been charged with, to have enough truth come out, and come out soon, to fully clear them of those charges.”
I think I understand. All the biker gang members are innocent upstanding family members that just happened to be at a breastaurant on a Sunday afternoon instead of at church with their families.
“According to one report,”
According to the report above, they were all cleared. Your beef?
...tell it to yourself, for you have nothing of worth to say, and so will find in yourself a ready match.
You've had your chance today, Princess, but again have failed.
It's over.
Mac_truck may believe that wallet chains make good weapons but a look around the ‘net at self defense forums shows that virtually no one else does.
Here’s an example:
http://edcforums.com/threads/self-defense-chain.119852/
“Yet here you are, and here you come, to each and every ‘Waco’ thread, making it out to be that it is not possible that any of those who were arrested could possibly not be guilty of what crimes they have been universally charged with having committed.
Duh. Did you not see the dozens of references to me BEFORE I even showed up? The gloating? The slurs? The lies? Like the one you just posted ...
It seemed odd to me the writer could give a precise number of recovered cartridge cases recovered, but not a precise number of .223 cases.
Really? Where is the proof of that?
The writer's statement presumes anyone injured was not innocent.
That ranks up there with "Of course he's guilty, your Honor. We shot him didn't we?"
“I’m not concerned with wanting to free any who truly may be guilty, but instead, all along, as I have told you directly & innumerous times, my chiefest concerns have been for those who are (as far as I can tell) very likely to not be guilty of what they have been formally charged with.”
I want justice served. So far it is playing out. I have no desires or hopes for any outcomes other than that the guilty be punished.
CTH duped a bunch last May with their false headline and misleading story. I was the first to call out the real story on that.
Many got duped again today.
” regardless of how much the headline may have ruffled your tail feathers, causing you to apparently suffer ongoing butthurt.”
The only butthurt that day was with the dudes that fell for the fake story ...
“It seemed odd to me the writer could give a precise number of recovered cartridge cases recovered, but not a precise number of .223 cases.”
The only source I have seen is from the police department or county attorney. I believe they said that 10 (or 12?) were from .223’s.
“It seemed odd to me the writer could give a precise number of recovered cartridge cases recovered, but not a precise number of .223 cases.”
At least they got that right!
Nope. Nor have I ever seen anyone use one that way. Most people just wear a fistful of rings.
“The writer’s statement presumes anyone injured was not innocent.”
‘Civilian’ is often used to refer to non-club members. The statement may not be correct as there was at least one ‘non-club member’. Although his family did say that he rode with the one of the gangs involved here.
“You’ve had your chance today, Princess, but again have failed. “
It has been a fun day! Not everyday do I see so many here get duped by a false story!
All the gloating and name calling added in.
For some reason no one will defend themselves after I responded to their gloating ...
Or .32 or .30--why! that's 7.62!
Still too vague. Waiting for the ballistics report.
Nice try TG, your posts display no Christian morality so don’t try to use it as a shield. You’re now up to 37 posts on this thread alone.
And we've been over the fact that not all stoner variant rifles are chambered in .223/5.56X45, too. A .300 blackout case wouldn't be included in the .223 count, nor, for that matter would a 7.62X51 (.308).
You mean they were not -- and that was actually clear to all, a mere three, to four days after the occurrence?
Though I never bought into that portion of the headline claim myself, may I ask you, has there been ongoing repetition of that claim (from that same source which you seem to desire to impugn as irredeemable or something) or has there been in later articles at the same source (CTH) information contrary to the breathlessness of that arguably too hasty headline accusation that it was the police who did all the shooting that led to deaths?
Putting everything else momentarily aside, how many of those who died, would you think the police were the ones who delivered the kill shots to? 4? 5? 6?
And while we're at it, have you wondered about the ones who had 1/4 holes in their heads and elsewhere, which going by what we've seen so far of the autopsy reports, indicate downwards bullet trajectory? It makes me wonder if they were shot while they were laying on the ground, trying to avoid the gunfire (for whatever reasons) and were shot by the police when in that posture, or attitude.
Speaking of attitude, from day one there was portion of a police radio call recording released, that had an officer saying over the radio "they are on the ground shooting at us", with "us" meaning the police.
What if that was mistaken, and no one was deliberately shooting at police? Or if one person had --- but others not, and had no intention to do so, but since most all of them (?) were down on the ground (trying to avoid getting shot!), they still fit a description just given over the radio of people who were allegedly shooting at cops?
What kind of attitude would that put into the minds of police on scene?
Further; how many other of those who were shot and wounded (but were not among those who were killed by whomever) were shot by police? --- the police so far, have not divulged that information.
And what "truth" would that be? Waco PD press releases, which at that time, in the first few days after the shootings, had shifted around to some extent
AND THEN --- and this is significant, while most of the information had been to a significant degree controlled by Waco PD, out comes news of a civil lawsuit having been filed ----by Don Carlos restaurant ownership--- alleging police fired "thousands" of rounds. Wowsa'.
That was bad timing, and as far as I can tell, and most likely highly inaccurate in that one detail. Yet --- the information was coming from the ONE and ONLY source which was in some manner accessible from generalized 'source' some way likely to have had on-scene experience. I suppose the Don Carlos people misled their own lawyers. People do stupid things. That would be one of those? Probably, if I had to guess.
False documents? What false document--- if we were to narrow it down to one.
The civil suit filed in Dallas District Court? That one?
If there is spurious claim there, and the document itself (District Court civil suit filing) cannot be trusted as being an actual lawsuit at all, or if there was a court filing but CTH jiggered with the pdf file concerning it, then how would you know any of that sort of thing?
If instead the filing, even though possibly flawed in some inwards details is yet still a legitimately filed lawsuit, if it were to be compared with what Dan Rather ran with, would be as good as gold in that sort of comparison. You don't want to go there do you?
So the filing itself is not a "phony document" unless you have evidence there is no such filing, or that CTH phonied-up the document itself. Barring that, that would leave CTH having done nothing with the document itself, other than having in some manner or another obtained copy of lawsuit on pdf file from Dallas County of a real & actual lawsuit. The details alleged to be true within the lawsuit itself, is again, yet another story, and there is the flaw of CTH having repeated the claim for thousands of round having been fired by the police, but had skipped over the portion which alleges that the bikers were shooting at each other (at some time before the police fired "thousands of rounds" and it was all the defendant's, Twin Peaks fault.
Yet if do think the entire suit is bogus, or that it was knowingly 'falsified' in some manner comparable to whay whoever it was that cooked documents by running them repeatedly through old mimeograph machines in effort to artificially age them, in order to fool Dan Rather, I would guess that the now former Twin Peaks restaurant operators might also be interested in whatever you may know that could be used to help to defend themselves from the Don Carlos gang.
“Or .32 or .30”
Can you provide a link for that?
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