Posted on 11/04/2015 6:44:26 AM PST by Elderberry
According to a usually informed source, both CNN and The Associated Press are in possession of previously unreleased evidence related to the Twin Peaks Massacre last May.
The evidence has been presented to a grand jury currently convened in McLennan County and includes materials that have not yet been discovered to defense attorneys in the case. The evidence includes an affidavit by a Waco police detective who testified that a Texas Department of Public Safety “covert camera†recorded a member of the Cossacks Motorcycle Club “executing†a member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.
At a bond reduction hearing on June 5, Assistant District Attorney Michael Jarrett referred to the covert camera video and said it showed “Bandidos executing Cossacks and Cossacks executing Bandidos, some at point-blank range.†Jarrett described the video in detail at that hearing. He said it showed Cossacks arriving and occupying the patio of the Twin Peaks then “spreading out across the patio in sentry positions.†Jarrett is leading the grand jury that will decide which of 177 defendants will be indicted for murder, criminal conspiracy and other charges. The covert camera video has not yet been released to defense attorneys in the case.
The usually informed source did not speculate who leaked the evidence but volunteered that although the major news sources have “all of this evidence, they are not reporting anything positive for the Bandidos.†FBI
Ann O’Neill, Ed Lavandera and Jason Morris of CNN have reported that “FBI agents in San Antonio and El Paso picked up intelligence that the Bandidos were planning to go to war with the Cossacks.â€
The three CNN reporters also allege that “The Bandidos made a crucial decision on March 27 of this year, moving the regular meeting of the Confederation of Clubs and Independents from Austin to the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco,†and that “Waco police feared, with good cause as it turned out, that the May 17 meeting would trigger violence.â€
Coverage of the incident has been so largely dominated by police and Cossack accounts that it is impossible not to suspect an interconnection.
The day after the deadly confrontation, a Cossack named Scott “Scoot†Keon told the Palestine, Texas City Council that his club was law-abiding and the Bandidos were not. “On our side, we are not a gang,†Keon said. “We are an organization that is Texas-wide. None of us are one-percenters.â€
Keon blamed the Bandidos for the massacre. “There are things that they (the Bandidos) are involved in that we have no interest in,†he said. “We are businessmen, family men, and veterans and are in no way affiliated with them. We won’t be pressured into paying them dues, and that’s where their anger is coming from. Just because other clubs have given in, doesn’t mean we are going to.†Published Accounts
All published first hand accounts of the massacre in which nine men died and 18 more were hospitalized have relied on statements made by Cossacks.
On May 23, The Washington Post ran a lurid account of the confrontation titled “‘Richie died, then Diesel, then Dog’: An eyewitness to the Waco biker brawl.†The eyewitness was a Cossack who was “president of a North Texas chapter of the motorcycle gang.†According to the well known Washington daily, the single source for the story “asked not to be identified because he is now in hiding and said he fears for his life. He is a rare eye-witness speaking publicly about the Waco massacre.â€
On June 20, the Houston Chronicle ran an even more lurid first hand account titled “Life and death in Waco: A biker’s story.†That feature described the Bandido “execution†of Cossack Danny “Diesel†Boyett. The principal source for that story was Boyett’s son Cody Ledbetter. The account describes an unprovoked attack by Bandidos on Cossacks who had come to the Twin Peaks that day to talk peace. The story, by Dane Schiller, states, “A law enforcement officer familiar with the clash at Twin Peaks and well-versed in motorcycle gangs said Ledbetter seems to be telling the truth.â€
The recent CNN coverage of the incident has relied on statements made by John Wilson, who is described as “president of the Waco-area chapter of the Cossacks.â€
Wilson, not surprisingly, describes the Cossacks as victims of the Bandidos. According to CNN, “many Cossacks and their supporters said they were invited to the meeting and told it had been called to broker peace. Now they’re wondering if they were set up.â€
Wilson has described the confrontation on camera, in detail for the cable network that describes itself as “the most trusted name in news.â€
“I couldn’t even see who threw the punch. But I saw our guy’s head go back, and it looked like he was getting ready to punch back whoever did it and a shot went off.†Wilson told CNN there were “a couple more shots, some scuffling around and then, almost instantly, gunfire just erupted from all around the perimeter.â€
“I promptly got down on that sidewalk trying to avoid being hit myself. At that time it was pretty horrific, there were guys getting hit, falling, and I realized that I needed to get away from where I was. I looked to the guy to my left, a good friend of mine, and said, ‘We need to get off the sidewalk or we are going to die here.’â€
None of these dramatic accounts has been viewed skeptically. CNN has not questioned who fired the shots that “erupted from all around the perimeter.†The Police
During a bond hearing, Wilson’s attorney Mike White told Judge Ralph Strother that Waco police “actually advised him to begin a dialogue to try to lower the tension that had been preceding this event (the May 17 Confederation of Clubs and Independents meeting) for numerous weeks…They suggested that he either go to this meeting or start some dialogue or start having sit-downs with opposing motorcycle clubs.â€
The police “suggestion†came at least weeks after the Confederation of Clubs and Independents decided to move its meeting from the Twin Peaks in Austin to the Twin Peaks in Waco. Representatives of the Confederation have said the meeting was moved to make it easier for members from the Dallas area to attend. The only basis for the theory that the meeting was moved to Waco to send some sort of message to the Cossacks is police conjecture. If it was meant to be a show of force by the Bandidos it is likely that the Bandidos would have made the Waco event a mandatory run. The whole argument that the Bandidos instigated the confrontation only sounds reasonable to people who know nothing about the very punctilious world of motorcycle clubs..
Most Cossacks, and most members of Cossacks friendly clubs like the Scimitars and Bogatyrs learned about the Twin Peaks run long after police learned that the Confederation would be meeting in Waco. About March 27
What happened, exactly if not in totality, according to legally obtained police reports, was that the Texas Department of Public Safety learned that the COC&I was coming to Waco on March 27. They learned this from a Lorena, Texas Police Officer named Shawn Board who got his information from confidential sources of information. “Officer Board explained that the COC is run by the Bandido OMG. Officer Board further explained that the COC is where other motorcycle clubs are required to join and pay dues to the Bandido OMG to be able to operate in Texas. Officer Board felt like the change of the meeting location was purposely done to show support for the Bandido OMG in the Waco area to the Cossacks MC.â€
How officer Board learned this remains an official secret.
Waco police and DPS agents then made contact with John Wilson on April 16, a month before the Twin Peaks Massacre, and told him that he was in danger. Let’s Have Brunch
Then, purely by coincidence, 30 – 40 Cossacks as well some number of Scimitars and Bogatyrs arrived at the Twin Peaks well before the scheduled start of the COC&I meeting and stole all the seats and most of the parking spaces. As about a dozen Bandidos and scores of Bandidos supporters rode into the Twin Peaks parking lot, a Cossacks prospect named Clifford Pearce told the pack to find somewhere else to park. Local police were well aware the pack was coming. At 10:30 that morning, Texas DPS agents observed the pack assembling at the Flying J Truck Stop in Waco. Local and state police had assembled a large and heavily armed force, including a Bearcat armored vehicle, to “gather intelligence†at the meeting.
Seconds after Pearce told the Bandidos to park somewhere else he was reinforced by additional Cossacks.
There are conflicting accounts of what happened next. One that hasn’t been reported before describes a man in a yellow full face helmet firing a stainless steel or chrome revolver. The man has never been identified although CNN does possess a photo of a yellow full face helmet sitting in the grass.
The same grand jury that a source identifies as the source of the leaked evidence has also subpoenaed virtually ever imaginable record that might be in the possession of the COC&I including: “All individual members names, club affiliations and any other persons claiming independent status with the COC&I, home addresses, billing, shipping, email and IP addresses, home and alternate telephone numbers for each member and club; a copy of the original applications filed by each past and current member;†“any and all documents relating to the organizational structure of the Texas COC&I and its relation to all other state COC&I’s and/or its relations to a national COC&I organization or US Defenders.†Cocktail
From up close all of this looks like a witch hunt. But from a longer view much of this, including the recent CNN reports, looks like a smoke screen. Waco and McLennan County have been frantically searching for somebody to blame for the Twin Peaks Massacre since about an hour after it happened.
Officials have blamed this putrid cocktail of death, personal tragedy, cop speak and Bonfire of the Vanities quality journalism on a cabal of “five motorcycle gangs,†who “didn’t come to Waco to eat barbecue;†on the owners of the Twin Peaks Waco franchise; on the dead; on the Confederation of Clubs; on the witnesses; and on the Bandidos.
The stakes are high. There is considerable evidence that local, state and federal law enforcement officials knew of a conflict between the Cossacks and the Bandidos; decided that the Waco Twin Peaks was where that conflict might escalate into something RICO worthy and interesting; encouraged Cossacks to confront Bandidos at the Twin Peaks; surrounded the Twin Peaks with militarized police; set up their cameras; then watched, as in CNN’s memorable phrase, a “parking lot was turned into a raging war zone;†and have been pounding their chests ever since.
The city of Waco, McLennan County, the state of Texas and, possibly, the Department of Justice face potential liabilities of billions of dollars. The Twin Peaks Massacre has not faded from public consciousness with the passing of a few dozen news cycles. This is a big story and it is not going away. Whoever leaked all that evidence to CNN should have known that. November is a sweeps month. The most trusted name in news knows that. And CNN has obviously made the editorial decision to play its leaked documents and videos as sensationally as possible.
Whoever leaked the documents knew how CNN would play this story. Seen in the context of a brisk November day the leak looks like a masterful spinning of the facts. Seen in the context of all that has happened since last May, the leak looks more like an act of desperation.
I luff you. Come, let us cuddle.
I have no idea what words being typed by you mean.
Interestingly, the state of Texas tries to put some definitions to this matter.
"Texas Penal Code §71.01 defines a criminal gang as three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities."
From
2015 Texas Gang Threat Assessment
Couple of observations...
Like the 2014 Assessment, Bandidos are classified as in the middle of Tier 2 as to their threat level.
The only mention I see (first reading) of Cossacks is their role in the May 17 affair at Twin Peaks. Do not even make Tier 3.
I would wager that both the Grand Jury and any jury that hears a trial for violating 71.01 is going to be surprised to learn the criteria that the law sets forth. The DA might be able to indict (ham sandwich syndrome - but, seems to me he will need actual convicted criminals). And as Finny (props) often reminds us, they rounded up a bunch of folks with no criminal record on 5/17/15.
Also interesting to note that Waco PD gets no mention as a contributor to the report. Seems that Stroman, Swanton, et al get no respect from the Big Boys.
It's good for a man to know his limitations.
That is pretty much what these turf battles are all about - controlling areas where only an exclusive biker gang - emphasis gang and not club - controls territory so they can make money.
Your post above proves only that you are actually talking out your ass.
You are like a Midwesterner who has never been to California, telling everyone what Los Angeles is really like, and who proves it by saying something like "a 3.0 earthquake will bring the city to a standstill."
Your very words prove you to be laughably ignorant about the subject at hand. It would be funny if it wasn't so damned crucial -- here is an incident as clear a day of people being arrested and having their lives destroyed for exercising their right to free association and free assembly. And you are prattling insulting crap like "middle aged men who ride bikes on the weekend and try to look 'bad' with the real outlaw" -- truly, you deserve a good hard smack upside the head for the ugly contempt you have for men a whole helluva lot better and more honorable than you. You are a loser, Trumpinator. And dangerous to the American constitution.
Yer on the good political side, the Trump side, so stop pissing everyone off.
I'm not an attorney. I just work with several. The thing is, that all the other statements made by the article regarding the cops' actions individually are not wrongful. For instance:
1. "..local, state and federal law enforcement officials knew of a conflict between the Cossacks and the Bandidos.." OK, so they knew. So what? That doesn't mean they have to do anything about it.
2. "..[the police] decided that the Waco Twin Peaks was where that conflict might escalate into something RICO worthy and interesting.." Nothing wrong with what the cops did here.
3. "..surrounded the Twin Peaks with militarized police.." Nothing wrong here. This is well within police authority.
4. "..set up their cameras.." Nope, nothing wrong here.
5. "..then watched, as in CNN's memorable phrase, as the parking lot was turned into a raging war zone.." This involves a matter opinion by CNN. But still, nothing says the cops have to act every time they see crime in progress. Remember the Joe Horn case? The cops were watching as the burglary took place, and Horn shot the perps.
However, what ties this all together and begs to establish a cause of action is if the cops PROVOKED the gunfight. If the bikers can establish this, then everything else points to a conspiracy, and the bikers have a BIG lawsuit. Without evidence that the cops provoked the fight, the bikers have nothing but empty accusations.
It is the current trend of tranny(and the rate of change) that concerns me. I don’t give a wit about someone’s skin color.
Probably an undercover embedded officer that, after alerting the local authorities to the meet-up, made damned sure that he started the shooting fiasco so the cops could arrest everyone. This is the stuff that movies are made of.
Slightly off topic, but since you brought it up first...
what, exactly, was being transported in that miles-long caravan of 18-wheeler trucks headed from Iraq to Syria, and caught on satellite by intel agencies, about three months before we invaded Iraq?
Oh, and btw, it's spelled Hussein (same as Barack Obama's name). Muslim names don't recognize English spelling rules like "i before e except after c".
I keep seeing that before - but Assad and Saddam were bitter enemies. The notion that Saddam sent his WMD to Syria is laughable to me and always has been. Also, chemical weapons degrade real fast - the ingredients have a shelf life as do the shells. At this point I don't even think there was a convoy - lots of reports from that war turned out to have been wrong. Remember the Iraq naval ship that was made to circle the oceans but not dock anywhere that may have held the WMD? That turned out to be a myth also but it was in the press.
First off, no....it was not a myth. It was a fact. One that you still haven’t addressed as to what was being transported.
As for your contention that Saddam and Assad were enemies, ever heard of that age old truism (especially among Middle Easterners) that “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”? Saddam knew his ass was toast three months before Bush went in and dealt with him. Saddam was just desperate enough to strike a deal with Assad. EOS
So your deflection calling it a myth is an epic fail. Intelligence agencies know that caravan happened. What they do not know is what was apparently so important to dispose of that was being transported. You have any clue?
Why would I address what was inside a mythical convoy? Maybe it was Christians fleeing Muslims - the Iraqi Christians all went to Syria. And yes, Assad and Saddam were deadly enemies - Syria participated in Desert Storm.
http://www.wired.com/2012/07/syria-iraq-wmd-meme/
No, Syria Doesn’t Have Saddam’s Chemical Weapons
Don’t mind him Laz. He’s very new.
A retread?
I know, but I still gotta Do The Laz Dance all over Trumpinator.
Please NO! It’s nothing against the dance; it’s just that you wear the spandex short, mesh shirt, fish net stockings and high heels when you do the Laz Dance!
You’ll frighten the cattle!
“his one phone call was not “Hey, please take care of my two sons who are at home alone”, but rather”please go to my house immediately and dispose of all the drugs.”
A great tragedy that any “club” culture requires a man to ride, even leaving his children alone as in the case you cite, or as fatherless in the case of Campbell . . .
And OH what a guy! in your example. He wants someone ELSE — a friend or relative — to become a felon for disposing of evidence of a crime! or hindering a criminal investigation regarding drugs in his possession!
And a man such as this, is presented to us by some here, as an exemplar of Constitutional values?? Sorry, not swallowing that Kool Aid.
Thanks for this believable example. I won’t ask you to openly divulge the identities of your sources.
I assume that was the title.
The deal is, it was never put as Saddam necessarily transported to the State of Syria (as under authority of Assad) what he did not want the U.S. military to find, but that he transferred significant amounts of chemicals to non-state actors within Syria, with some of that possibly ending up in the Bekaa Valley too.
Here is a possible place to begin;
5 1/2 minute youtube presentation hits the highlights. Search on from there, but don't rely on "wired.dotcom" to tell the truth, not when the writers there are entirely partisan, entirely anti-George W. Bush Admin, and actively pro 0bama.
Look around. What has that brought us so far?
Is the world safer now that the evil "Bush" is no longer around?
Zippy ran against W, even though George W was not standing for re-election, that fist time the Liar Who Reads Teleprompter won election (if he really did win, other than a jiggered election, after a jiggered Democrat primary election).
And you casually transfer all of that right on to Campbell, who's own story came from where again?
Two different individuals, two entirely different MC's.
Look! That guy way over there (even way up in Canada) is guilty!
That must mean that all those others way down in Texas must be guilty of the same thing.
Get Judge Roy Bean to hang them all.
String 'em up. It will teach them a lesson.
You people make me sick.
Grand jury to start hearing Twin Peaks biker cases next week
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3356962/posts
Really? What, exactly, is an exemplar of Constitutional values? And for that matter, what IS a Constitutional value?
You sound kinda mixed up. Enlighten me....Are you saying that some standard of character / conduct is required in order for an American citizen to have the protections guaranteed by the Constitution? That question can be answered Yes or No. It's that straightforward.
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