Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Police Surround Twin Peaks In Waco Texas Following Biker Massacre

WACO, Texas – Several reliable witnesses that were at Twin Peaks on May 17th during a scheduled meeting of the Confederation of Clubs (Co)0 said they heard a few pistol shots and then came a barrage of semi-automatic gunfire. But law enforcement authorities including Waco police spokesman W. Patrick Swanton still have not said how many of the nine dead and 18 wounded were the result of police gun fire.

W. Patrick Swanton covering up the Waco biker slaughter by Law Enforcement

Police have identified only one assault weapon, a semi-automatic gun among the firearms confiscated from bikers, and that was found in a locked car after the shooting ended. The gun was brand new and still in the original box. Law enforcement insist that the bikers started shooting in a "Biker Brawl That Turned Violent" but three witness that are military veterans with extensive weapons training tell a different story.

Law Enforcement only found one assault weapon, it was new & still in the box 

What the Witnesses had to say:

1. Navy Veteran Steve Cochran, a member of the Sons of the South Motorcycle Club, pulled into the parking lot facing the Twin peaks patio minutes before the shooting began. He was there to help set up for the meeting of the Confederation of Clubs and Independents. “I heard one pistol shot. All the rest of the shots I heard were from assault rifles,” said Cochran, who took cover behind a crane about 30 yards away.

2. Marine veteran William English said he heard a couple of shots from a small caliber weapon followed by “a rapid succession of shots from what sounded to me like an assault rifle.” English said the shots came from the Twin Peaks patio as he and his wife approached the building. They and other members of their Distorted Motorcycle Club took cover on the opposite side of the patio.

3. Former Army and Coast Guard officer Ron Blackett is also a Confederation of Clubs and Independents Leader reported hearing one or two pistol shots followed by a blast of assault rifle fire.

Aftermath of Biker Massacre by Law Enforcement

As of this writing, more than 100 of the 170 people arrested are still in custody and cannot give their eyewitness accounts. Just by being at Twin peaks, nearly all of those arrested were charged with engaging in organized crime, a felony. About 65 people had bonded out with more to follow, but those with the best views of what happened still remain in jail and cannot talk.

 Swat Team at the Entrance of Twin Peaks in Waco, Texas after Shooting Bikers

More:

“We have nothing whatsoever to hide,” Waco police spokesman W. Patrick Swanton

Larry Karson, a retired Customs Service agent who is an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston Downtown, said police owe the public an explanation.

“Unlike the Waco siege of the Branch Davidians, with a lack of sympathy for outlaw bikers, there is little pressure by the public or the media on the department for more transparency in the investigative process,” he said. “The public is only offered a police version of events or a blue wall of silence.”

Theory: Pre-Planned By law Enforcemet

Screen shot of Steve Cook's Twitter Page. Steve is the Executive Director of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association. Seen here selling T-Shirts at the Waco Texas Twin Peaks Sports Bar March 30th according to his twitter feed.This was almost 2 months prior to the police massacre. 

 His Twitter Page is linked Here
 His Midwest Gang Task Force Unit has scheduled a Training Session on June 15-18 in Waco Texas called
"Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Organized Crime On Wheels"

The page link with the schedule is linked HERE

Sundays Rally:
A rally to support those still in jail is planned for Sunday in Waco. Large groups of bikers are planning to meet at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Sam’s Club at 2301 E Waco Dr, Waco and ride around Waco before meeting in front of the courthouse.

( News Source- Star Telegram | CtvNews | WacoTrib )

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article23286006.html#storylink=cpy

Waco Biker Massacre - Sorting It Out

Roll Back In Time to May, 17th, 2015 at 11:00 am in Waco Texas —The Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas has cold beer, hot wings, scantly clad waitress's and is an ideal spot for Bike Nights even though they have only been open for about a year. The Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents had never held its bimonthly meeting at Twin Peaks before, but the organization's state chairman was returning from a national convention, and he wanted to speak to as many Texas bikers as possible about various legislative initiatives.

After nine bikers were shot dead, 20 were wounded, and 177 people from at least five different clubs wound up being arrested—the Waco Police Department would claim that the bloodbath was triggered by the Bandidos MC and the Cossacks MC arguing over the things that MCs tend to argue over: Namely Territory and Respect. Months later, the Waco Police Department was still suppressing any video footage and ballistic analysis that could offer proof of what started the whole mess. Some of the 177 arrested (including four women) sat in jail for weeks, others for months, before they could afford to post bail. All of them, even guys who hid out in the bathroom while bullets flew could face up to 99 years in jail.

Over the past two years, the Bandidos MC and the Cossacks MC have been engaged in a power struggle over Territory. In November 2013, two Cossacks were stabbed in a roadhouse parking lot in Abilene; the president of the local Bandidos chapter was arrested in connection with the assault. Earlier this year, on March 22, Cossacks allegedly forced a Bandido MC member off I-35 in Lorena and beat him that he nearly lost an eye. At a gas station in Mingus that same day, Bandidos confronted the Cossack son of a local politician and demanded that he remove the Texas bottom rocker from his cut. When he refused, they allegedly attacked him with a hammer.

May 17th, 2015 12:23 pm

The police were already there as the rest of the clubs arrived that morning. “They're circling like buzzards on a dead deer,” one said. “I look at the people I was riding with, and I said, ‘This don't look right.’ ” Afterward, said the Cossacks' John Wilson, “a Waco spokesman was touting the quick 40-second response time of the police, when that was obviously false. They were here.”

The bikers believe this provides a clue to the Waco Police Departments ongoing silence: The cops know their response was overzealous, unlawful, and now they're covering it up. Some bikers and now more of the general public believe there's an even more sinister explanation: that a firefight of some kind was supposed to happen—that it was all part of a plan by the Waco P.D. to provoke rivals into a public brawl that could be violently crushed and then used as a basis for sweeping RICO indictments.

Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

Waco, Texas, USA (February 8, 2019) BTN — Hoping to build on the successes of six anti-gang centers across the state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is proposing to add two new crime-fighting centers, including one in Waco.

Abbott announced plans for new Texas anti-gang centers in Waco and Tyler in September and reiterated his resolve to fund the creation of the two new centers and to give additional funding for the six existing centers, during his state of the state address this week.

Aftermath of police massacre in Waco, Texas  

“The State of Texas is sending a message to criminals and gang members that any attempts to compromise the safety of our communities will not be tolerated,” Abbott said. “My top priority as governor is keeping Texans safe, and these latest proposals will help me do just that.”

The anti-gang centers involve local, state and federal law enforcement brought together under one roof to cooperate, share information and crack down on violent criminal activity, officials have said. The existing centers in Houston, San Antonio, McAllen, El Paso, Lubbock and Dallas, have achieved significant success in curbing gang activity governor’s office spokesman John Whitman said.

“The governor has said we know that these work because we have seen the results,” Whitman said. “In 2017, 1,400 criminals associated with gang-related activity were taken off the street in the Houston area. We have seen the results and we need to replicate that around the state, and the next two places we are proposing to do that are Waco and Tyler.”

Related | Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Archive | Waco Shooting History

Abbott has requested $7.1 million to continue funding for existing anti-gang centers and the two proposed centers, Whitman said. The Waco City Council approved a resolution Tuesday for the city to submit a $3.5 million criminal justice grant request to the governor’s office to fund the Waco center. If awarded, there would be no matching local funds required, Whitman said.

Funding is contingent on approval from the Texas Legislature, but Whitman said the governor has widespread support from lawmakers for most of his criminal justice proposals. The grant awards will be released in September, he said.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said if the money is allocated for the center in Waco, there is no specific timeline to have it operational. He said it will take time to find an appropriate location, furnish and equip it and select and possibly train officers who will participate.

Waco police Sgt.W. Patrick Swanton still in denial of what really happened

“As a department, we are very proud that the governor thought enough of us to ask us to be a part of this,” Swanton said. “It also is a big deal for our community because it will make our city safer. If you look at our past history, we know that gangs are here. We had outlaw motorcycle gangs that disrupted our community several years ago. There are prison gangs. MS-13 is here. Mexican Mafia members are here. Other prison gangs, the Bloods, Crips, they are here. We kind of run the gamut from everything from large organized prison gangs to your little neighborhood wannabe gangs. The officers will deal with those and try to cut off the head of the snake.”

Swanton said Waco likely was selected because of its central location, its gang presence and the May 2015 midday shootout at the former Twin Peaks restaurant between rival biker groups, Bandidos and Cossacks, that left nine dead and 20 wounded. 

“Gang members are some of the worst criminals out there, and our history with the Bandidos and Cossacks show the level they are capable of,” Swanton said. “They could care less about the citizenry. When you have a shootout in a very open mall area in the middle of the day, they don’t care about citizens and their safety. They could care less about who is in their way or who gets hurt, and that is what we are trying to combat.”

Cover up continues - Follow the money

Besides local agencies like police departments and sheriff’s offices, anti-gang centers typically include investigators from the Texas Department of Public Safety and federal agencies, including possibly the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service, DPS spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said. Anti-gang officers also work closely with state and federal prosecutors, Cesinger said.

The state’s first anti-gang center was established in Houston in 2012.

“Gangs and their associates are a significant threat to public safety, not only because of their penchant for violence and criminal activity, but also their relationships with other criminal organizations, such as Mexican cartels,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement. “The TAG centers utilize a proven strategy to increase safety in our communities by seamlessly coordinating local, state and federal resources in an effort to identify, disrupt and prosecute ruthless gangs operating in our communities.”

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, said he expects support for the measure in the House and Senate. He said Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 77 provide natural corridors for drug and human traffickers, and Abbott’s proposed anti-gang center will help combat those major crime areas.

“I really appreciate the governor supporting law enforcement in our area that way,” Anderson said. “There are others around the state that have done well, and I am pleased the governor is helping to protect us in our area and I believe it most likely will come to fruition.”

SOURCE:  WacoTribune-Herald

Ex-firefighter fights to get job back

Waco, Texas, USA (November 27, 2019) BTN – A Waco firefighter who lost his job in part over his ties to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club is fighting to be reinstated, saying he was unjustly terminated four years ago.

Bill Dudley, a 13-year veteran with the Waco Fire Department, testified in an all-day hearing Tuesday in a third-party arbitration review of his termination in October 2015.

Dudley was arrested during a traffic stop in Tarrant County on May 12, 2015 and charged with unlawfully carrying an unconcealed weapon in his truck. Crowley police ran a safety check on Dudley and found that the Texas Department of Public Safety flagged him as a member of the Bandidos, which DPS classifies as a "criminal street gang."

The arrest occurred five days before a deadly shootout at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco between the Bandidos and rival Cossacks motorcycle club.

"It is my opinion that they used the Twin Peaks (incident) to fire me," Dudley said in the hearing. "I believe they used things outside the statute for punishment. I did not do anything in that traffic stop that showed poor moral character. I did everything the officers asked me."

Dudley, 37, said he was a former member of a support club for the Bandidos and wanted to start a new chapter of the Bandidos near his home in Burleson. He said he was considered a Bandidos recruit for several months, but he left active membership in the clubs after he was injured in a Fort Worth bar shootout involving Bandidos in 2014.

Waco fire Lt. Philip Burnett, president of the Waco Professional Firefighters Association Local 478, sat with Dudley in support during Tuesday's hearing. He said he is a friend of Dudley and said he would have no hesitation serving with Dudley on any call for service with the department.

"The Texas State Association of Firefighters and the Waco Professional Association of Firefighters want to make sure that firefighter Bill Dudley receives all he is entitled to under our Civil Service rights as firefighters pursuant to the Texas local government code," Burnett said.

Arbitrator Thomas Cipolla with American Arbitrator Association oversaw the hearing and heard testimony from city staff, Crowley police, and current Waco firefighters and friends. Attorneys Lu Phan and Antonio Allen represented the city while state-level union representative Rafael Torres represented Dudley during the hearing.

The daylong hearing ended with no action Tuesday evening. Cipolla said attorneys will have the option to submit briefs and allow Cipolla to review the case before he issues a decision to uphold the termination, reduce the disciplinary or dismiss Dudley's claim.

"Today the city presented the facts and findings from the original investigation to the arbitrator," Waco Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Vranich said. "We now will have to wait for the arbitrator to make his decision."

The city presented its claims that Dudley was fired for the Crowley arrest, as well as not obeying rules and regulations; being absent from work without good reason; failing to notify the department within 24 hours of his arrest; using poor judgment that reflects negatively toward the fire department and the city; and demonstrating poor moral character by associating with and/or being a member of a known criminal street gang.

Torres said Dudley was not a member of the motorcycle club, and the city did not have the legal right to terminate him. Torres said the city denied Dudley's due process rights and relied on circumstances outside the scope of a 180-day Civil Service review for disciplinary action.

Those testifying for the city included Vranich, who served as acting fire chief Tuesday, as well as former Waco Fire Chief John Johnston and Crowley police officers. Johnston indefinitely suspended Dudley in October 2015 following a three-month internal affairs review Vranich conducted.

Vranich testified he was unable to determine if Dudley was an active member of the Bandidos. Johnston stated he found cause to fire Dudley for violating city policy, department policy, and Civil Service rules and regulations. He said Dudley did not report his arrest to his supervisor within 24 hours, violating department policy.

He said Dudley used a sick day to get out of work for "personal reasons," but never told anyone about his arrest. "He would have flown under the radar," Johnston said.

Torres claimed the Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine dead and nearly two dozen injured, heightened the department's disciplinary response toward Dudley.

Dudley pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in 2017 and received deferred adjudication for 24 months in Tarrant County. The plea deal required him to plead guilty to the charge.

The hearing ended late Tuesday afternoon no action. Cipolla said he will likely review the case and briefs submitted by attorneys before coming to his decision in the next few months.

SOURCE: Waco Tribune - Herald

Waco Massacre: Main stream media insanity

Disclaimer: This is a recent story, in it's entirely posted by KWTX-TV News 10 out of Waco, Texas. We have opted out of correcting misinformation so our educated readers can see for themselves the ludicrous accusations made by the main stream media regarding this tragic event. Below is their fabrication, including headline. We filed this story under our Propaganda Tag. - Biker Trash Network

New 'credible threats' made by bikers against local police

Waco, Texas, USA (December 13, 2019) BTN – It appears some of the key players in the Twin Peaks shootout can't seem to let go, even though the McLennan County District Attorney's Office dropped all of the pending cases against bikers earlier this year.

KWTX has obtained classified information about a secret meeting that recently took place between biker gangs which led to confidential law enforcement memos about possible hits on officers stemming from 2015's deadly biker brawl.

According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, within the last two weeks, memos were sent to several local law enforcement agencies about a meeting between two top biker groups--the Bandidos and the Outlaws--seeking revenge against police.

The Bandidos and Outlaws are both classified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs).

The FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety have yet to confirm the existence of these memos to KWTX, however, several local law enforcement sources have.

The first memo, sent last week, said law enforcement had received information that the Bandidos and the Outlaws were attempting to hire Bolivian nationals to carry out three hits on officers: two in Waco, and one in Florida.

The memo called the threat 'credible.'

The DPS, the Waco Police Department, the McLennan County Sheriff's Office and several judges were made aware of the threat, sources confirmed to KWTX.

Then, on Wednesday, the threat was supported by information obtained by an an out-of-state agency.

Local departments were sent a memo saying a confidential informant with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported that the Bandidos and the Outlaws and their support clubs, are attempting to do contract hits on officers in Waco, Florida, and possibly against other law enforcement officers nationwide.


On May 17, 2015 nine bikers were killed and more were injured as a result of what authorities say was a turf war between rival gangs--the Bandidos and the Cossacks--at the Twin Peaks restaurant at Central Texas Marketplace in Waco.

177 bikers were arrested but none were ever convicted of a single crime in connection with the shootout.

In April, the new McLennan County DA, Barry Johnson, dismissed the charges against the last of the bikers with criminal cases pending.

A spokesman for the DA's office told KWTX Thursday they know nothing about these memos or threats.

The FBI provided this statement:

"While our standard practice is to decline comment on specific law enforcement bulletins, the FBI routinely shares information with our law enforcement partners which identifies potential threats to law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. The FBI also directly notifies individuals and organizations of information that may be perceived as potentially threatening in nature."

Local law enforcement sources would not comment on the police response to the information contained in the memos, but did say they're "being more vigilant."

While Twin Peaks happened more than four years ago, it's fair to say it hasn't been forgotten, and, if anything, appears to have only emboldened some of those involved.

KWTX attempted to make contact with both the Bandidos and the Outlaws through their websites, but had not heard back as of Thursday night.

SOURCE: KWTX News

Waco Biker massacre cases dismissed

Waco, Texas. USA (April 2, 2019) BTN —  Recently elected District Attorney Barry Johnson said in a release that, "following the indictments, the prior District Attorney had the time and opportunity to review and assess the admissible evidence to determine the full range of charges that could be brought against each individual who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl, and to charge only those offenses where the admissible evidence would support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl. Over the next three years the prior District Attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day."

Johnson said that when he assumed office in January, the statue of limitation expired on most of the offenses.

"I believe that any effort to charge and prosecute these individual charges at this time would only result in further waste of time, effort and resources of the McLennan County judicial system and place a further unfair burden on the taxpayers of McLennan County," Johnson said.

Related | Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

Related | Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Archive | Waco Shooting History

On May 17, 2015, a shootout erupted at the Twin Peaks located in the Waco Central Texas Marketplace. The shootout was between two motorcycle clubs - the Bandidos and the Cossacks.

Nine bikers died in the shootout and dozens were injured. Following the incident, nearly 200 bikers were arrested.

Of those 177, 155 were indicted with various charges.

The first trial was held in September of 2017. The defendent, Jacob Carrizal, was being charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and directing activities of a criminal street gang. His trial lasted one month and ended with a mistrial.

After his trial, the amount of money spent on these cases totaled more than $1 million.

The results of Carrizal's trial started a domino effect. No other biker was tried, and the district attorney at the time, Abel Reyna, began dropping Twin Peaks biker cases. At one point, 60 cases were dismissed at one time by Judge Strother.

The remaining 24 bikers were re-indicted on a riot charge.

"I do not believe that it is a proper exercise of my judgment as District Attorney to proceed with the further prosecution of what I believe to have been an ill-conceived path that this District Attorney’s Office was set upon almost four years ago by the prior District Attorney, and I do not believe that path should continue to be pursued," Johnson said.

SOURCE: KXXV

More cases dismissed in Waco biker massacre

Waco, Texas, USA (February 25, 2019) BTN — One of four Houston attorneys assigned to handle four Twin Peaks biker cases as special prosecutors dismissed the remaining three cases Monday and called the way the McLennan County District Attorney's Office handled the 2015 deadly shootout a "harebrained scheme" that was "patently offensive" to him.

Scene of the Twin Peaks biker massacre

Special prosecutors Brian Roberts, Brian Benken, Feroz Merchant and Mandy Miller filed motions Monday to dismiss the first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charges against bikers William Chance Aikin, Billy McCree and Ray Nelson. The motions to dismiss said, "Upon reviewing all the facts, circumstances and evidence, it is the state's position that no probable cause exists to believe the defendant committed the offense."

Related | Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

Related | Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Archive | Waco Shooting History

The team of special prosecutors dismissed the case against Hewitt resident Matthew Clendennen in April 2018. "I think, unfortunately, — and this is probably a poor choice of words — but it was simply a shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality," Roberts said. "I can't imagine what (former McLennan County DA) Abel Reyna was thinking other than this was a big case and it was somehow going to be beneficial for him or his office."

Roberts, a former prosecutor who served in the special crimes bureau of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, said he had no problem with the first part of the process, which was to round up more than 200 bikers, identify and photograph them. He said the process was necessary to try to see who was involved and who were merely witnesses. "I do have a very serious problem as a lawyer with the wholesale charging of people without an investigation," he said. "They had plenty of time to conduct an investigation. They had plenty of time to do what they needed to do to find out who the parties needed to be in this harebrained scheme. It is just patently offensive to me.

"Justice is the sword and the shield. You had a number of folks who never should have been charged and whose lives have been turned upside down unnecessarily, and that is something you can't change. You can't take back what has happened over the last four years." 

In the months after his defeat in the March 2018 Republican primary, Reyna dismissed the vast majority of the 154 pending indictments his office sought in the Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine dead and 20 injured. Reyna's office re-indicted 25 Twin Peaks defendants on different charges in May, with most being charged with riot and three being charged with murder and riot. District Attorney Barry Johnson, who took office in January, has said he and his staff are reviewing those cases to determine how to proceed.

Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents Ray Nelson, said he agrees with Roberts. "What Brian said is long overdue. The defense bar has been saying the same thing for nearly four years. This gives a lot of credibility to what we have been saying, and I am very appreciative of them to go through all of the evidence thoroughly and to have the courage of their convictions when it came time to announce it. These people deserve vindication. It is long overdue. They have been treated horribly."

Roberts, who made it clear that he was speaking only about the four cases he and the others were appointed to handle, said that prosecutors bear a greater responsibility to ensure that justice is done. "Whatever justice means. Whether that means pursuing a prosecution, whether that means reducing a case, whether than means getting rid of a case, whether than means never charging a case," Robert said. "A prosecutor's job is not to put people in prison. It is to do justice. I don't think anybody can say that was done here back in 2015."

SOURCE: Waco Tribune-Herald

Waco - Bond Reductions

Bond Reductions Offered only in Exchange for Waiving Potential Lawsuits in Waco Shootout

May 31, 2015

Waco, Texas – Earlier today, detainees in the Jack Harwell Detention Center in Waco were told that in exchange for bond reductions, they must sign a document stating the Waco police “had the right to arrest the inmate and that he/she will not file a lawsuit against McLennan County and/or the City of Waco.”  

On the two-week anniversary of the “shootout at high noon” at the Twin Peaks restaurant between motorcyclists and law enforcement officers, at least 170 people remain detained on $1 million bonds.

This latest information was reported to an attorney representing at least one of the detainees.  “It appears the public defenders office in McLennan County is involved in this scurrilous activity,” said Paul Looney, a Houston attorney with Looney & Conrad, P.C.  “I’ve never seen anything like the lawlessness that the authorities have perpetrated on these people and now to add insult to injury they are trying to cover their own tracks in exchange for bond.  I will be in the reception area of the McLennan County D.A.’s office tomorrow morning at 8:30 with the intention of not leaving until we have the issue of bond resolved.” 

“They know these people aren’t dangerous or they wouldn’t be offering the bond reductions and they know the police and the D.A.’s office have violated the law and now they are trying to hold people hostage until they agree to waive their rights.  It’s unconscionable,” said Clay S. Conrad, Looney’s law partner.

 ( News Source - LooneyConrad.com | Looney & Conrad Facebook )

Cossacks MC member asks appeals judge to intervene

Members being held after Waco Massacre

Texas -February 26, 2016
A man indicted in the fatal shooting between bikers and police outside a Waco, Texas, restaurant nearly a year ago said he is entitled to a speedy trial and asked a state court of appeals to order a local judge to set a date, according to court documents.

Scene of Biker Massacre in Waco, Texas

Cody Ledbetter, a Cossacks motorcycle club member charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and who watched his stepfather die in the shooting, argued that nine months have passed since his arrest and that he is entitled to a speedy trial. He added that he would not enter a plea, so the case would either have to be dismissed or go to trial. The filing was made late Thursday with the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco.

District Judge Ralph Strother in December scheduled Ledbetter’s trial for May 31, but less than a month later, postponed it indefinitely. The request for the court of appeal’s intervention comes weeks after another local judge in Waco postponed a trial for one of 186 people arrested after the shooting. No one among those arrested has been given a date for trial.

The investigation is ongoing and not all of the evidence, including forensic testing, has been analyzed, McClennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna said in a January motion to delay the Feb. 29 trial of another man arrested in the melee, Matthew Clendennen. It could take a year for the firearm DNA analysis alone to be completed, Reyna said.

During a pretrial hearing earlier this month, District Judge Matt Johnson did not grant the state’s motion for a delay but effectively postponed the trial by scheduling a hearing for April 1 to consider Clendennen’s motion for a change of venue. Clendennen had argued that pretrial publicity would taint the jury pool.

The district court judge also ordered the state to turn over evidence from a federal sting operation that led to the January indictment of top officers of the Bandidos motorcycle club.

Nine people were killed and 20 people were injured in an apparent confrontation last May between the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs and police.

The gunfire had erupted shortly before a meeting of a coalition of motorcycle clubs that says it advocates for rider safety.

Evidence reviewed by The Associated Press shows that four of the dead were shot by the rifles police use.

A grand jury indicted Ledbetter along with 105 others in November, all on the charge of engaging in organized criminal activity. Prosecutors haven’t yet presented the remaining cases.

Source: Dallas News

Waco Police Put Everyone in Harms Way

A Twin Peaks biker refused to show up for a motorcycle safety proclamation at a Waco City Council meeting. He took issue with Waco PD’s characterization of the bikers as criminals and said it was Waco PD, not the bikers, who put others in harm’s way. The proclamation had been set-up prior to the shootout at the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas.

 >>>>READ MORE<<<<

Legislation takes aim at asset forfeiture practices

Waco, Texas (January 12, 2019) BTN – The 18-year-old was driving his flashy new Dodge Charger through a Waco suburban community when he saw the unmistakable lights of a police car behind him. He was nervous as he pulled over because he had a little weed on him. The officer was aggressive, and the man’s small marijuana stash quickly was discovered. The officer asked him about his shiny ride.

More specifically, the officer asked if the Charger was paid for, a clear sign to the young man’s lawyer that the officer was searching for a way to bump what otherwise would have been a minor infraction up to a felony. After learning the car indeed was paid for, the officer charged the man with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver in a drug-free zone, despite the fact that he had far less than an ounce of marijuana for his personal use.

Waco attorney Cody Cleveland has had at least five clients who went through that or similar scenarios in at least two Waco suburbs in the past five years. He declined to identify the cities.

“Cops are very aware of the civil asset forfeiture law,” Cleveland said. “It’s not that common, but there are a few officers in my experience who would do everything he could to get his hands on your car or motorcycle, especially if they knew it was paid off. They want assets that are free and clear so they can turn around and auction them off, but they can’t do that unless it’s a felony.

“I have had what I consider some pretty damn shady experiences with local law enforcement in that regard,” Cleveland said. “I’m like most people. I don’t want to see an abuse of the law. I don’t want a law enforcement officer to just make a criminal case so they can line their pockets, so to speak, for financial gain.”

Law enforcement agencies support civil asset forfeiture and see it as a valuable weapon by turning criminals’ ill-gotten gains against them to fight crime. Police agencies can seize cash, cars, boats, motorcycles, planes and other items in civil lawsuits if they can prove the items were obtained through illicit means, such as dealing drugs.

However, headline-grabbing abuses of the forfeiture system in recent years have prompted legislative attempts to curb the practice, though they have not succeeded. Also, a pending U.S. Supreme Court case could have a major impact on law enforcement’s ability to turn the proceeds of crime into crime-fighting cash through the forfeiture process.

Luckily for his client, Cleveland said, the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office served as a checks-and-balances system, making common-sense decisions to prevent such abuses.

“They did right by my client,” Cleveland said. “It didn’t take a lot of tooth-pulling. They said they were not playing that game and they released the car back to him. The DA’s office is supposed to be the gatekeeper, and so far, they have been pretty reasonable.”

$50 million in seizures

In civil asset forfeiture cases, police agencies team with prosecutors’ offices, who file the lawsuits and then split the proceeds with the agencies after judgments are entered.

Last year in Texas, law enforcement agencies and DA offices forfeited more than $50 million in cash, vehicles and other property allegedly linked to crime, according to a report by the Texas Tribune. That includes property under both criminal and civil forfeitures. Criminal forfeitures require a conviction before assets can be taken. Civil forfeiture cases do not.

Cleveland’s experiences with the local DA’s office were under District Attorney Abel Reyna. Reyna was replaced this month by Barry Johnson. Tom Needham, Johnson’s executive district attorney, said Johnson has just started his tenure and has not had a chance to review office policies for civil asset forfeitures.

“We are aware of the potential for abuse,” Needham said. “We feel it is a good statute and a good program to remove the fruits of crime from criminals and from criminal activity. But we recognize the potential for abuse if not handled ethically and conscientiously.

“At this point, we have just gotten into office and have not yet reviewed current policies and procedures for civil forfeitures, but we will be doing so and will ensure that they are being handled in the manner intended in the statute to promote justice.”

In the past four years under the Reyna administration, the DA’s office has averaged seizing about $250,000 in cash and property annually, according to records kept by the county auditor’s office. The DA’s office forfeiture fund balance in that time period has averaged about $550,000, and Reyna averaged spending about $100,000 each year using proceeds from the fund.

Records show the DA’s office spent forfeited funds on equipment, travel, training, investigative costs and crime prevention programs.

During the time period, an average of 75 vehicles a year were seized with the intent to sell them at auction and use the proceeds for law enforcement, or in some cases, use the vehicles for police duties.

Twin Peaks

Motorcycles seized after the Twin Peaks ambush May 17, 2015, sit on a trailer outside the restaurant. Much of the seized property has been returned. Since most of the criminal cases have been dismissed, much of the property seized that day has been returned.

After the 2015 biker ambush by law enforcement at Twin Peaks in Waco, Reyna orchestrated the arrests of about 200 bikers, sought indictments against 155 of them and filed civil forfeiture proceedings against 16 motorcycles, eight pickups and two SUVs.

The criminal cases and forfeiture cases languished for three years before Reyna, during and after the hotly contested re-election bid that led to his defeat by 20 percentage points, dismissed the vast majority of criminal cases as well as the forfeiture cases.

During that time, some of the bikes and vehicles were returned to their owners, while others were repossessed after lien holders learned the vehicles were at Twin Peaks.

Dallas attorney Brian Bouffard represented Jorge Salinas in the Twin Peaks case. Salinas, a Cossack from Lometa, walked away from his motorcycle, an older model, after it was seized because it was too expensive and too much trouble to try to get it back, Bouffard said.

Bouffard called the seizures in the Twin Peaks cases a “prime example” that reform is needed.

“The civil asset forfeiture program is about the most unconstitutional thing I can imagine,” he said. “The government can take all your stuff on a mere allegation of misconduct. In my opinion, there is no good argument to be made for the idea that just because someone is accused of a crime that the government ought to be able to steal their property.

“I think the legislative intent was to allow it to happen only on a conviction. I still have a problem with that, but I have much less of a problem with that than the way things are now. It has been nothing more than a cash grab for counties. Apparently, they don’t make enough money fleecing citizens with traffic tickets. They also have to take their property merely by a police officer thinking something happened.”

‘Tool for law enforcement’

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara and Waco Police Chief Ryan Holt both said their agencies are enhanced by profits derived through the forfeiture process.

“It’s an unbelievable tool for law enforcement,” McNamara said. “We are very mindful that there have been abuses, but we are very careful to follow the letter of the law on this. The best way of stripping drug dealers of their power is you hit them in the pocketbook. It is a way of hitting the drug dealer below the belt.”

McNamara said his department has used seized funds to buy a $50,000 search and rescue boat, to pay for training and important life-saving vests for his deputies and to upgrade other equipment.

“We use that boat to search for bodies, and it didn’t cost the county taxpayers a dime,” McNamara said. “We are very conscious of that. We are very serious about keeping the taxpayers from footing all the bills, and the forfeiture program is part of that effort.”

Holt said the police department has $236,145 in its state forfeiture account and $59,615 in its account from federal court forfeitures. The department has used those funds for travel and training for officers, office furniture, special body armor, radios and expenses related to its K-9 program.

“I certainly understand the criticism of what has been done in some locations,” Holt said. “But I don’t think it is right to use a shotgun approach to punish everybody because a few folks can’t follow the rules.

“I think it would probably be good if there was some clarification in the process that allowed you to wait for the criminal case to move forward or at least get a disposition. I think that would help potentially resolve some of the criticism of the process. But more than anything, people need to follow the rules of the programs.”

Calls for reform

Notable cases that brought attention to the program, and brought lawsuits and calls for reform, include a district attorney in Southeast Texas who bought a margarita machine with seized assets, a former DA in the Hill Country who used the money to pay for a trip to Hawaii, and a South Texas DA who pleaded guilty to misusing funds to pay bonuses to three secretaries and $81,000 to himself.

Officers in Tenaha drew a negative spotlight after it was alleged they committed “highway robbery” by extorting cash from drivers, mostly minorities, by threatening to jail them or remove their children if they did not sign waivers allowing them to seize their property without court intervention.

Holt likened those extreme cases to abuses by drug task force members in Tulia.

“After that, they cut funding for task forces and they all shriveled up and went away,” Holt said. “I think that is the tendency of some lawmakers is that they try to make a simple answer to a complex question, and this issue can be resolved through clarification of the current statutes.”

SOURCE: Waco-Tribune Herald

Bullet from deceased Bandido sent for test

 Twin Peaks Restaurant In Waco Texas 

Waco, Texas  (Sept. 17, 2015) - A bullet removed from the arm of a James ‘Spaz’ Anderson, a member of the Bandidos MC wounded May 17 at Twin Peaks and killed four months later in a traffic wreck will be analyzed by federal investigators. Jason Chambers, an investigator in the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office, obtained a search warrant last week to extract the bullet.

Texas Ranger Jake Burson executed the search warrant for the bullet at a funeral home in Henderson on Friday, the day before Anderson’s funeral. Anderson, 53, was killed Sept. 3 when his motorcycle struck a deer on a highway in northwestern Nebraska. The bullet was removed, but it could not be determined initially what caliber it is.

 James ‘Spaz’ Anderson - Bandidos MC

Authorities want the bullet in Anderson’s upper left arm to compare it to weapons seized after nine bikers were killed and 20 were wounded at a meeting of bikers at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco.

The bullet will be forwarded to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is conducting the forensic analysis of weapons, bullets, bullet fragments and casings recovered at the scene.

Jason Chambers believes that an analysis of the projectile in Anderson’s upper left arm will be beneficial in the investigation and may more accurately identify the weapon used against him during the incident.

According to the affidavit, Lanie Smith, a Longview police officer, received information that Anderson had been shot May 17 at Twin Peaks. The officer found him “recuperating” from his wound at a home near Longview. Anderson reportedly admitted to Smith that he was shot in the left arm but managed to leave Waco without being identified by police or arrested.

The Nebraska State Patrol reported that Anderson, an electrician, was riding with a group of bikers about 6 a.m. Sept. 3 when he hit at least one deer on U.S. Highway 385 about three miles south of Chadron, Nebraska.

Source: DailyNews  | WacoTrib

WACO: Police Snipers on Rooftop During Fundraiser

Photos on a Facebook Page called Free All The Waco Bikers clearly shows police snipers on an apartment building rooftop, across the street from Geuene Harley Davidson in New Braunfels, south of Austin. They were a hosting a memorial service for Jesse Rodriquez, a decorated Vietnam vet who was known to fellow bikers as “Mohawk,” and frequently did charity rides with his wife. He was shot and killed at Twin Peaks in Waco on May 17.

It's unclear why snipers were in place. Many who knew Rodriguez-a father of 7 and grandfather of 19-have disputed that he was a criminal. According to the New Braunfels Heralnd-Zeitung: Vincent Ramirez said media outlets have portrayed his father, Jesus "Jesse" Delgado Rodriguez, 65, as a bad person, and that's not just inconsiderate - but wrong. And he insisted his father was not involved with any biker gang.

"I don't want people to be categorizing my dad. That's not the kind of man he was," Ramirez said. "He was a veteran. He fought for his country. He was a family man. He loved to ride his motorcycle. He rode with all kind of groups."

The article also quotes Carlos Casillo, a friend who knew Rodriguez for 40 years, as saying:
  
Reports about Rodriguez being a member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang are false. Rodriguez knew some Bandidos, sometimes rode with some and bought patches in support of some of their benefits, Castillo said. "He wasn't a violent person at all; he was a loving person," Castillo said. "He never carried any weapons. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was an innocent bystander."

POLICE SNIPERS ON ROOFTOP

The photos posted shows police snipers on two rooftops directly across from the Harley-Davidson dealership that hosted the event, which included a raffle, food and music. You can clearly see by Google Maps that the apartment building shown in the photos is indeed directly across from the Harley dealership.

This is the second time in less than a week that snipers have been posted outside the Harley Davidson dealership after the Waco incident. The second sniper incident was reported this past Saturday at Longhorn Harley Davidson in the southern Dallas suburb of Gran Prairie.

( News Source - Breitbart | Facebook | Herald-Zeitung | CNN | Fox News )

Attorneys battle over litigation waiver rumors

We have a safe bet and we have a reason to believe a lot of paper work at the Waco Sheriff's Office and at the The District Attorneys Office along with emails and other documents e-mail’s are being deleted as we post this. ~Biker Trash Network

A Houston attorney’s media release alleging jailed bikers were being forced to waive their rights to sue the city and county is false, but the controversy it created has that lawyer squaring off with a Waco attorney over the rumors.

Houston attorney Paul C. Looney and Waco attorney Brittany Lannen claim each other is responsible for rumors spreading like wildfire among the jailed bikers, their families and friends and on social media that the bikers were being told they needed to waive their rights to sue the city of Waco or McLennan County in exchange for bond reductions.
 
Looney’s Sunday media release accused McLennan County officials, including those in the “public defenders office,” of this “scurrilous activity.” McLennan County has no public defenders office. “I’ve never seen anything like the lawlessness that the authorities have perpetrated on these people, and now to add insult to injury, they are trying to cover their own tracks in exchange for bond,” Looney claimed in his Sunday statement.
 
But State District Judges Matt Johnson and Ralph Strother, who have approved bond reductions recently for at least 25 of the bikers, say Looney’s assertion is not true. Also, attorneys who have negotiated bond reductions with the district attorney’s office said there was no such provision in the agreements they reached to secure their clients’ releases.

As the judges and fellow attorneys discounted Looney’s statements, he issued another press release Monday, pointing his finger at local attorney Lannen as the source of the waiver rumors. In that second statement, Looney talked of how cooperative and “quite helpful” the judges and DA’s office were in helping secure reduced bonds for his two clients.

“It has been determined the district attorney’s office was not involved in yesterday’s attempt to get defendants to waive their rights of litigation in exchange for bonds,” Looney said. “That entire debacle was orchestrated by McLennan County private attorney Brittany Lannen. Her behavior in this matter is bizarre, unprofessional, unethical and unappreciated by all of the attorneys representing defendants, by the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office and by the McLennan County court staff.”

Looney told the Tribune-Herald he first heard of the supposed waivers after Lannen called him “and tried to get me to go along with her scheme.” “My client had already been approached by other people inside the jail about this waiver,” Looney said. “She said attorneys could get the bikers out quickly, the DA’s office supports the idea — which they didn’t, by the way — and that everyone should say that they were treated fairly.”

Lannen denies the accusations and said she first heard of the waivers from Looney’s media release on Sunday. She called his claims “reprehensible.”
She provided a statement from her Valley Mills firm, DLW Law, which said: “This mythical waiver was brought to our attention by a post from Mr. Looney. No client of DLW Law has signed such a waiver and no such waiver will ever be presented by DLW Law. We are unaware of any other defendants who have signed such a waiver. No one from this office has seen this waiver and has no knowledge as to who drafted it and whether it even exists.”

Looney promised to report Lannen’s behavior to the State Bar of Texas. Susan Criss, a former state district judge from Galveston who represents three of the jailed bikers, said she also plans to file a bar grievance against Lannen for reportedly suggesting the bikers sign a waiver of litigation. “That is just way out of line,” Criss said.

  ( News Source -WacoTrib | Looney & Conrad Facebook )

Biker Rights Organizations Ignoring Waco

Massacre at Twin Peaks on May 17th, 2015

Our fellow bikers are locked up in Waco, Texas on false charges & we wonder where the hell are the Attorneys & Rights groups that eagerly took money for "Protecting Our Rights" are doing about getting them out..ABATE, NCOM the MRF & the rest of the so-called motorcycle organizations are silent..They need to put up or shut the hell up..Are you pissed yet?..we surely are..~Biker Trash Network..

The Main Stream News Media are starting to wise up..
When her husband was arrested after a shootout at a biker club gathering at a Twin Peaks restaurant here May 17, Sheree Clendennen figured security camera video would soon clear him. “At first I just thought they’re going to take all these guys, look at the video, see who’s innocent and let all these guys go,” said Clendennen, 29, of nearby Hewitt. “Then Week 2 it was like, ‘Oh my gosh -- they’re not letting people go. They don’t care what’s on the video’,” she said of police, “With all of the security cameras and all of them out in the parking lot watching what went on, there is no reason all of these guys should have been held so long.”

But 17 days later, of the 177 people arrested in connection with the shooting that killed nine and wounded more than a dozen, 143 remain jailed this week, many on $1-million bond. Some face at least a month long wait for a bond-reduction hearing, and attorneys say it’s unlikely their clients will post bail. They have been arraigned but have not been formally charged. Prosecutors have 90 days to present a case to indict to a grand jury before those in custody are entitled to reduced bonds.

Bandidos MC Leader could get life in prison

San Antonio, Texas (September 24, 2018) BTN — The Bandidos Motorcycle Club’s former second in command, a San Antonio man who directed the biker group’s violent racketeering enterprise, including drug dealing, extortion, beatings and murder, is expected to be sentenced Monday to life in prison.

Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra is scheduled to sentence John Xavier Portillo, the national vice president of the Bandidos, at a morning hearing. Portillo, 58, served as second in command for national president Jeffrey Fay Pike, 62, of Conroe, who led the club for more than a decade.

Bandidos Motorcycle Club Colors

Both were convicted after a three-month federal trial in San Antonio of ordering and sanctioning a racketeering conspiracy that aimed at keeping the biker club's stronghold on its home turf of Texas. The trial showed that the Bandidos, once the second-largest biker club in the world behind the Hell’s Angels, split off from its international chapters in Europe and Australia because of turmoil in the ranks.

By the time Pike became president in 2005, law officers estimated the Bandidos had 5,000 members in 210 chapters, located in 22 countries. But by 2016 — six years after Pike first sought to break away from most of the international chapters — the Bandidos had dropped to 100-plus chapters and more than 1,000 members mostly in the United States and parts of Latin America.

Despite its smaller numbers, the Bandidos still exerted clout. Texas’ deadliest biker shootout occurred while Portillo and Pike were at the helm. Neither Pike nor Portillo were at the May 17, 2015, shootout at Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that involved other Bandidos, members of the Cossacks Motorcycle Club, some of their support clubs, and police. That incident resulted in nine bikers being killed, 20 injured and nearly 200 being arrested on state charges of engaging in organized crime in prosecutions that have yet to result in any convictions.

None of the charges against Pike and Portillo were for the Twin Peaks shootout, and during the federal trial, the two Bandidos leaders challenged the government’s contention that they were the bosses of what the feds called “the mafia on two wheels.” The pair denied ordering, authorizing or sanctioning the criminal activity of their fellow Bandidos, and Pike claimed local Bandidos chapters were autonomous and didn’t act on orders of national leaders.

But federal witnesses that included ex-Bandidos and wiretaps of Portillo’s phone, along with body-wire recordings worn by cooperating witnesses, helped sway jurors to agree with prosecutors.

The federal jury convicted Pike and Portillo of conspiracy to murder and assault of members and associates of the Cossacks. Government witnesses testified that Portillo, with Pike’s approval, declared in 2013 or 2014 — before the Waco incident — that the Bandidos were “at war” with the Cossacks. According to that testimony, a number of violent acts — before and after the Waco gunfight — were committed by Bandidos around Texas in furtherance of this “war,” including in Fort Worth, Gordon, Odessa, Port Aransas and Crystal City.

John Xavier Portillo, former national vice president of the Bandidos, arrives at the San Antonio federal courthouse for the first day of his racketeering trial on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.

Among the murders the jury heard about were that of Geoffrey Brady, a supporter of the Cossacks shot by Bandidos members in December 2014 at a Fort Worth bar; street gang member Robert Lara, who was shot by Bandidos in Atascosa County on Jan. 31, 2002; and Anthony Benesh, a purported Hell’s Angels member who was shot outside an Austin restaurant by other Bandidos on March 18, 2006.

The clashes cited in the federal trial were over the Cossacks wearing patches on their biker vests that said “Texas,” which is considered the territory, and home base, of the Bandidos. Defense evidence showed Pike, at one point, had approved of Cossacks wearing the Texas “bottom rocker,” or patch, but at least one government witness testified that relations soured: Some Bandidos were angry that permission was granted for Cossacks to wear the patch, and because the Cossacks’ Texas patch was larger than the one Bandidos wear.

Pike was national president of the Bandidos from mid-2005 until he stepped down in January 2016 after his arrest. Pike picked Portillo as his national vice president in 2013. Portillo had been in that position until he was arrested, also in January 2016.

Pike is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ezra on Wednesday, and also faces life in prison. Both men are appealing.

Written by: Guillermo Contreras

SOURCE: My San Antonio

Set Up

Screen shot of Steve Cook's Twitter Page..Steve is the Executive Director of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association. Seen here selling T-Shirts at the Waco Texas Twin Peaks Sports Bar March 30th according to his twitter feed.This was almost 2 months prior to the police massacre.  Click Photo To Enlarge..His Twitter Page Here

His Midwest Gang Task Force Unit has scheduled a Training Session on June 15-18 in Waco Texas called
"Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Organized Crime On Wheels"

The page link and schedule is HERE

Slow News Day: Rival Clubs meet at Harley Shop

The Bandidos and the Cossacks come face to face for the first time since deadly massacre

WACO, TX ( November 18, 2016)  - The two Motorcycle Clubs involved in the Twin Peaks shooting a year and a half ago met again last night at the Harley Davidson store in Waco.

Police were called to the location on South Jack Kultgen Expressway by the store's manager around 8 p.m. Thursday. 

This was the first time the Bandidos MC and the Cossacks MC have been seen publicly in the same place since the deadly massacre where law enforcement opened fired on the bikers at the Twin Peaks restaurant.

A local news reporter spoke with police and they said there were certainly tense moments for store managers and witnesses on the scene. According to police however, the two groups left the store without any incidents.

Witnesses say the incident was uneventful.

The Bandidos MC and Cossacks MC have had a historically bitter relationship. Their past includes a 2013 fight that led to a stabbing outside the Logan's Roadhouse in Abilene. They were also involved in a bar fight in Fort Worth in 2014.

SOURCE: KCENTV

Waco Info

The Biker Switchboard Nation has generously setup a page pertaining to the May 17th, 2015 Waco, Texas arrest detainees. They have a  growing list of all the known Fundraisers, Contacts, Petitions with links all in one place. Be sure and comment updates here and we will pass them along. More info at: http://bikerswitchboard.com/WacoInfo

Motorcycle Clubs are breaking the "Outlaw" stereotype

San Angelo, Texas (September 19, 2018) BTN— Motorcycle Clubs are breaking the "Outlaw" stereotype that has been pinned to them.

The club manager at San Angelo's Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Janet Sheppard, says, "I've been asked many times why I let the motorcycle clubs hang out at the VFW. Most of the times the people in these motorcycle clubs are either active duty or veterans, and the VFW is there home."

Non-members of the American Motorcyclist Association, and incidents, such as the shootout involving motorcycle club affiliates in Waco, Texas, are some of the things that created the outlaw stereotype of motorcycle clubs.

The president of Iron Horse MC-McCulloch County, "Iron Horse Preacher", says, "To overcome something like Waco, we just have to work and show the community what happened. There was an isolated incident. Those Confederation of Clubs and independent meetings like that — we've been doing this for over twenty years, we've never had an incident at any of them, until that one."

To prove these incidents are individual issues rather than club-associated issues, they involve themselves in different fundraisers and give back to the community.

A member of the Silent Heroes MC, "Squirrel," explained "in July, we did a BBQ benefit at the VFW. Every year we go to Shannon and we go deliver toys to the kids."

Besides fundraising for events, they are also politically involved.

President and Founder of Ponderosas MC, Gypc Serna, says, "We are trying to get motorcycle profiling an amendment on the Texas state constitution."

Members say police pull them over due to their outfits. Profiling also comes from establishments around town.

"There are several in San Angelo, that you can't wear any of your colors in," says Preacher.

So people might ask, why the club? Why not just ride?

"It's the unity of the club, it's the structure of the club," says Preacher. "A lot of the guys that are in clubs are ex-military because they miss that structure that they had in the military."

The clubs call themselves a brotherhood and sisterhood. They enjoy the comradery the organization has to offer.

"If there was ever any trouble in here," says Sheppard. "I feel certain that I would be protected, first of anyone."

SOURCE: Concho Valley Homepage