Javier Gonzalez, a reputed member of the Kinfolk Motorcycle
Club, is on trial in 34th District Court on organized crime and murder charges.
Gonzalez is accused of opening fire during a biker fight
inside Mulligan's Chopped Hog bar on George Dieter Drive on July 30, 2017.
Juan Martinez Jr., the 61-year-old president of an El Paso
chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, was shot and later died at a hospital.
Three other men were also shot.
Martinez, nicknamed "Compa," had been described by
friends as a kindhearted businessman. He was owner of J. Martinez and
Associates, an accredited disability representative firm that helps clients get
Social Security benefits.
Jurors saw a video of a deadly 2017 El Paso biker bar
brawl Tuesday, the first day of a murder trial in a shooting that killed a
local chapter president of the Bandidos. The shooting was part of a club rivalry between the
long-established Bandidos Motorcycle Club and the newer Kinfolk Motorcycle Club, according to
court testimony.
Javier Gonzalez, a reputed member of the Kinfolk, faces
organized crime and murder charges in trial that is being conducted under
increased security at the El Paso County Courthouse. Bags were scanned and spectators had to pass a second set of
metal detectors before entering the 34th District courtroom of Judge William E.
Moody.
Gonzalez is accused of opening fire during a fight inside Mulligan's Chopped Hog bar on George Dieter Drive on the night of July 30, 2017. Juan Martinez Jr., the 61-year-old president of an El Paso chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, was shot several times and later died at a hospital.
Martinez — nicknamed "Compa," short for
"Compadre" — was owner of J. Martinez and Associates, an accredited
disability representative firm that helps clients get Social Security benefits. Bandidos members Ballardo Salcido and Daniel Villalobos and
Juan Miguel Vega-Rivera, vice president of the Organized Chaos MC, which police
describe as a Bandidos support club, also were shot.
"This case isn't about the Kinfolk versus the Bandidos.
It's really about the law against violence and murder," state prosecutor
Rebecca Tarango said in court. Gonzalez's lawyers, Dolph Quijano Jr. and Omar Carmona,
suggested that Gonzalez fired in defense of Kinfolk members being beaten during
a fight.
"Can gang members be victims of crime? Yes. Can gang
members defend themselves? Yes," Carmona said during opening statements.
Bar brawl video
El Paso police gang investigator Francisco
"Frank" Balderrama testified that the confrontation was filmed by
several security cameras at Mulligan's Chopped Hog, a known Bandidos hangout. Prior to the shooting, photos presented in court showed that
Gonzalez, Manuel "Manny" Gallegos, Derek Mercado and other Kinfolk
members were nearby at Jack's Beach House bar on Montwood Drive.
The Bandidos were at Mulligan's Chopped Hog after a
motorcycle run when Gallegos and Mercado showed up. Gallegos was a former
Bandido. Mercado was filmed making a phone call outside, which
investigators later traced to Gonzalez, Balderrama said. The video showed Gallegos and Mercado order a beer and soon
being confronted by seven to eight Bandidos. Gallegos allegedly punched Martinez, and "then it was
on," Tarango said.
The video showed a melee, with bikers fighting between bar
tables, punches flying, a biker picking up a bar stool and Kinfolk motorcycles
arriving outside. Other Kinfolk then enter the bar, including a Kinfolk biker
wearing a helmet who opens fire with a gun. Several men fall to the floor and a
man is dragged out of the bar.
Police investigators allegedly found Gonzalez's motorcycle
left behind at the scene.
They also found the helmet, which allegedly had DNA evidence linked to Gonzalez, and a gun found in the backyard of a home day care, Tarango said.
They also found the helmet, which allegedly had DNA evidence linked to Gonzalez, and a gun found in the backyard of a home day care, Tarango said.
Gonzalez was arrested three days later at his parent's home
by the Gang Unit and SWAT team, with help from other law enforcement agencies,
police said.
Gallegos was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity-assault for his alleged role in the bar fight, police previously have said.
Gallegos was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity-assault for his alleged role in the bar fight, police previously have said.
Kinfolk MC
There are three major motorcycle clubs in El Paso — the Bandidos,
which have been in the city for more than 50 years; the Kinfolk, which began in
2016; and the Mongols, a recent arrival, Balderrama said. The Kinfolk MC was established by former Bandidos unhappy
with the leadership of their former club, Balderrama said.
The Kinfolk have at least 15 members in El Paso and use the
colors black and gray, and its emblem is a cowboy holding a gun behind his
back, Balderrama said. The Bandidos, with their Mexican bandit logo, have been
around since the 1960s and are one of the world's most infamous motorcycle clubs,
with chapters around the globe.
The Kinfolk and Bandidos are considered "1 percenter"
clubs — what law enforcement term outlaw motorcycle gangs. "They only believe in the laws they want to obey,"
Balderrama said.
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