Never Forget: Waco Biker Massacre Revisited

Waco, Texas, USA (May 17, 2025) - On this day, 10 years ago, on May 17, 2015, an ambush that resulted into a massacre erupted at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas. More than 200 folks, including members from several motorcycle clubs like the Bandidos, Cossacks, and other allies were gathered for a planned peaceful meeting about political rights for motorcyclists.

 

Aftermath of the massacre on May 17, 2015 at a Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas  

The massacre was the deadliest and most high-profile event in the Waco area since the botched federal siege of the Branch Davidian compound in 1993. The bikers said the agenda at the regional meeting of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents (COC&I), a statewide biker group coalition based in Tyler, involved political issues regarding the rights of motorcyclists.

 

READ MORE: WACO MASSACRE TIMELINE

According to several law enforcement agencies, trouble was brewing between the Bandidos MC and the Cossacks MC. It was reported that eighteen Waco police officers and four state troopers were there, monitoring the event from outside, when they alleged an altercation between two rivals led to a fight, then to open gunfire. When the gunfire finally ended, nine bikers were dead, most of them killed by the police, and 18 others were injured. No law enforcement officers or civilians were injured as a result of the gunfire.

 

Motorcycles seized after the Twin Peaks ambush on May 17, 2015

In the end, the event led to a five-year-long prosecutorial fiasco that ultimately resulted in not a single conviction, in spite of the fact that 177 bikers were arrested at the scene and 15 others were later charged, as well. The conflict began a little bit after noon, then Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

Initial reports would suggest the conflict began over a parking spot where “someone had their foot run over”, Swanton would say at the time, and the brawl escalated from there. Then at precisely 12:24 p.m., the ambush began and gunfire erupted.

Lunchtime patrons crowded into Twin Peaks and other nearby restaurants began looking for cover, people were scurrying across parking lots, hiding behind cars, running as fast as they could from the gunfire. Police later would say it was amazing, miraculous no one was hurt.

Police snipers armed with rifles identified those bikers who were shooting in self defense and targeted them, which brought the gunfire to an abrupt end. Then officers, assisted by dozens of others who’d responded when the gunfire call was broadcast, began rounding up people and holding them, each one under arrest.

Not long after, busses were dispatched to transport those detained to the Waco Convention Center where police were trying to figure out who needed to be charged and with what. District Attorney Abel Reyna, soon took charge of the scene and instructed that each of 177 people would be charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and then Justice of the Peace Pete Peterson proceeded to set a $1 million bond on each defendant.



Peterson, at the time, said it sent a strong message: “We had nine people killed in our community. These people just came in, and most of them were from out of town. Very few of them were from in town.” 

Those comments started a media storm that continued for months as those defendants began hiring lawyers who began filing motions for bond reductions and other legal documents that brought justice to a halt in the county while all those issues were resolved.

Finally, in November 2017, Christopher “Jake” Carrizal went to trial, the first of those arrested that day to do so, and just a few days later the judge in the case declared a mistrial in the case after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked and could not render a verdict. Jurors deliberated for 14 hours before returning their decision against Carrizal, who was then the president of the Bandidos’ Dallas chapter.

Barry Johnson replaced Reyna as District Attorney in 2019 and began looking into the Twin Peaks cases that remained, by April 2, 2019, all of the remaining criminal cases were dismissed. Two and a half weeks after the massacre, more than 140 of those arrested were still held, unable to post the $1 million bonds. Law school professor and civil rights lawyer David Kairys characterized the attitude of police as “Let’s arrest them all and sort it out later.”

READ MORE: WACO MASSACRE TIMELINE

Dutch Court Rules Hells Angels MC Illegal

Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 17, 2022) - The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that means the Hells Angels motorcycle club is illegal and an illegal association. The ruling means, among other things, that it is not allowed to wear clothes that are associated with the motorcycle club.

 

This is the third time that a court has now ruled that the Hells Angels motorcycle chub should be dissolved. The first time was in 2019 at a court in Utrecht. That judgment was appealed to the Court of Appeal in Arnhem-Leeuwarden, which, however, came to the same conclusion. Since then, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which on Friday set the final sentence in the case.

In the past, the Satudarah motorcycle club has also been declared illegal in the Netherlands by the Supreme Court.

RELATED | Dutch Court Upholds Ban on Hells Angels MC

In Denmark, the Loyal To Familia (LTF) has been all the way past the Supreme Court. In 2021, the court affirmed that the club was an illegal association and therefore should be dissolved. The Hells Angels motorcycle club are also represented in Denmark and has been in the country for many years.

In November 2020, the long-standing unofficial spokesperson Jørn Jønke Nielsen was reportedly thrown out of the Hells Angels, he co-founded the club in Denmark and had been a member for almost 40 years. He has previously been convicted of violence and murder, as have a number of other members of Hells Angels in Denmark.

Cossacks MC Member Acquitted

Lubbock, Texas, USA (October 7, 2020) - Justices with the Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas ruled that a 54-year-old man’s membership in a motorcycle club was not enough to convict him on a misdemeanor weapons charge that prohibits club members from possessing guns. 

The September 28 ruling overturns 54-year-old Terry Martin’s February 2019 conviction of a class A misdemeanor count of unlawful carrying of a weapon. A jury in the Lubbock County Court of Law 2 found Martin guilty and levied a $400 fine with no jail time.

Justices stated in their opinion that while there was evidence he was a member of a group that met the designation of a criminal street gang, the state failed to show that he was engaged in criminal activity as a gang member. “Both gang membership and connection to criminal conduct are required,” the opinion states. 

Martin’s conviction stemmed from an April 17, 2018, traffic stop by a corporal with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office for traffic violations including speeding, making an unsafe lane change and having a partially obscured license plate.

During the stop Martin told the corporal he had a weapon in his vest, which bore the Cossacks name and colors. Martin admitted to being a member of the Cossacks motorcycle club, which is recognized by Texas law enforcement as a criminal street gang, defined by statute as “three or more persons have a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities.”

A gang member is one of three or more persons who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities, according to statute. The unlawful carrying of a weapon charge includes a provision that prohibits members of a criminal street gang from possessing a firearm.

The corporal arrested Martin, who was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on the Class A misdemeanor. Under the statute, it is illegal for members of a criminal street gang to possess weapons.  Martin appealed his conviction citing 15 grounds, the last one citing insufficient evidence to show he met the criteria of a criminal street gang member prohibited from possessing a firearm.

However, justices ruled only on the insufficiency argument, saying his trial counsel failed to preserve the other grounds, which challenged the constitutionality of the statute, for his appeal by not raising them at his trial.

During Martin’s trial, prosecutors called on the arresting deputy, who told jurors he determined Martin was a member of the Cossacks based on Martin’s admission during the stop and his attire, which was the vest bearing the gang’s black and yellow colors.



He told jurors he was aware the Cossacks Motorcycle Club is a criminal street gang actively engaging in criminal activity in Lubbock. However, he said he did not know of any criminal charges filed against a Cossack members in the area.  “The only thing I do have is just intelligence,” the deputy said.

A member of the Lubbock Anti-Gang Center, who served as the state’s gang expert at trial, told jurors that the Cossacks is an outlaw motorcycle gang that operates nationwide engaging in assaults, threats of violence, intimidation and illegal firearms possession.

Among the criteria used by Texas law enforcement to determine gang membership include a judicial finding and self-identification by a person during a judicial proceeding. Martin was also entered in the Texas Gang Database by the McLennan County Sehriff’s Office and DPS in Waco.

Martin told jurors during the trial that he didn’t believe the Cossacks was a criminal street gang. He also told jurors he has never been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor crime, other than traffic violations. Among the evidence presented to the jury of Martin’s criminal record was a May 2015 arrest in connection with the fatal shooting in Waco involving the Cossacks, Bandidos and law enforcement.

The shooting resulted in nine deaths and the arrest of more than 170 people, including Martin who was charged with organized crime. However, the charge was dismissed and justices ruled that it was insufficient to prove that Martin was a gang member that “continuously or regularly associated in the commission of criminal activities.”

“Both gang membership and a connection to criminal conduct are required,” the justice wrote in the unpublished opinion. “This single arrest, on charges which were later dismissed, does not establish that appellant continuously or regularly associated in the commission of criminal activities.”

SOURCE: Lubbock Avalanche Journal 

Cops arrest man dressed as Hitler at event

Augustusburg, Germany (January 16, 2020) BTN — A man dressed as Adolf Hitler raised eyebrows as he rode around in the sidecar of a Nazi-era motorcycle during a weekend festival in Germany, according to a report.

“When people dress up as Adolf Hitler, an investigation is always necessary,” a spokesman for Saxony police said Monday, according to state-owned Deutsche Welle.

The faux Führer –- sporting Hitler’s signature mustache and Nazi insignia –- was spotted in video shot at the classic motorcycle event in the city of Augustusburg near Chemnitz.

The motorcycle was being driven by another man dressed as a World War II German soldier, the footage showed.

In Germany, it is illegal to wear Nazi paraphernalia in public, so the impersonator faces possible legal action, the spokesman said.

The video also showed the motorcycle pulling up and parking next to a police car, where a cop could be seen smiling as he snapped photos of the pair and people laughed nearby.

Beim traditionellen Biker-Wintertreffen auf Schloss #Augustusburg in #Sachsen kam es zu einem Vorfall, der für die Beteiligten ein Nachspiel haben wird. Ein Motorradfahrer war mit einem als Adolf Hitler verkleideten Mitfahrer im Beiwagen aufgetreten. pic.twitter.com/ZnugYIxO7G

— EHA News - Deutsch (@eha_deutsch) January 13, 2020

The officer may also face consequences for failing to take action during the event, which drew almost 10,000 people over the weekend. “We would have expected our colleague to put a stop to all this without the least hesitation,” the spokesman said.

Saxony premier Michael Kretschmer also slammed the Hitler lookalike. “Dressing up as a mass murderer is more than just bad taste,” he tweeted. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable and shouldn’t be repeated.”

The state in the former communist East Germany has seen a recent increase in the number of far-right and neo-Nazi events taking place.

SOURCE: EHA News 

Ohio: Coalition of Clubs donate 10 grand of toys to kids

Dayton, Ohio, USA (December 20, 2019) BTN — A statewide motorcycle organization generously donated time and toys for children in foster care.

The Ohio Coalition of Clubs is a group of 60 motorcycle clubs. On Saturday, they delivered donated bikes and toys for children in foster care at the Haines Children’s Center on North Main Street in Dayton.

Keith Tickle says, “The purpose was really to give back to the children to make sure they know they’re not forgotten this holiday season. We come together as a unified group of bikers to truly spread blessings this holiday season.”

Three trailers were needed to deliver all the toys, which totaled about $10 thousand.


SOURCE: WDTN

Motorcycle Club agrees on right to choose

Brighton, Michigan, USA (April 20, 2019) BTN — It's been seven years since the universal motorcycle helmet law was repealed in Michigan and the debate between whether riders should wear a helmet or have the choice to wear a helmet is still going strong.

Channel 6 News got the chance to go to the Forbidden Wheels Motorcycle Clubhouse in Brighton. One member named Jerry Jaskloski, also known as 'Jitterbug' has been riding since he was 16 years old and rode for only three years with no helmet law. "Just about turning nineteen the helmet law came on," said Jaskloski.

For most of his years riding, the law was in place, until April of 2012, when the law was repealed and riders had the choice to wear or not wear a helmet. Jaskloski says he was used to wearing his helmet when the law changed but over time, he slowly stopped wearing it. He added that when it hails, rains, etc., is usually the only time when he wears it.

Another rider, Russell Cockerham, says whether it's rain or shine, it's his decision to wear it or not wear it. "I was happy it got passed, not because I'm going to stop wearing my helmet, I'm happy I got my choice," said Cockerham.

According to study done by the Center for Management of Information for Safe and Sustainable Transportation, the percentage of riders who were wearing a helmet while involved in an accident dropped from 97.7 percent in 2011, to 68.8 percent in 2017. It also showed the the number of motorcycle accidents isn't increasing, but the number of fatal motorcycle accidents are.


The study also compared the number of accidents before and after the law was modified and how many of those were fatal.

Channel 6 News took the topic to our WLNS Facebook page where we asked people to vote whether they think riders should always wear a helmet or it should be the riders choice. After the poll was closed, 66 percent of people voted that motorcyclists should always wear a helmet and 34 percent voted that it should be the motorcyclists choice.

SOURCE: WLNS