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192 Arrested in Waco Biker Killings

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Mon May 18, 2015 at 11:17:27 AM EST
Tags: Waco, bikers (all tags)
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Police in Waco have arrested 192 people in yesterday's biker killings at the Twin Peaks Restaurant.

Apparently, 165 - 175 of them are being charged with organized crime. Bond for those who have appeared in court has been set at $1 million.

Some of those killed were struck by law enforcement bullets.

The two groups involved were the Bandidos and the Cossacks.

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    192 Arrested in Waco Biker Killings | 34 comments (34 topical)

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    Another Link... (none / 0) (#1)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 18, 2015 at 11:38:01 AM EST
    ...has some different information.
    Swanton said at least five rival gangs gathered at the restaurant to address turf and recruitment issues, areas where the groups have often clashed. There were up to 200 gang members from across Texas inside the restaurant.

    He said the violence could have been avoided, and he blamed management at Twin Peaks for not cooperating with police, who had learned beforehand of possible trouble and were waiting nearby, preventing further injuries and deaths.

    Swanton said police had been aware for several months that gang members were gathering, and at least 10 SWAT officers from Waco and the Texas Department of Public Safety were in marked cars outside the restaurant.

    There were no plainclothes officers in the restaurant. Swanton said that was partly because the officers felt they weren't welcome inside and were concerned with legal issues.

    Police have attempted to work with Twin Peaks management "to no avail," Swanton said.

    "Individuals at Twin Peaks knew this was occurring and allowed that to continue, which brought us to where we are today," he said.


    LINK

    the restaurant denies the (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Mon May 18, 2015 at 11:43:22 AM EST
    claims against it.

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    On The News... (none / 0) (#3)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 18, 2015 at 11:53:03 AM EST
    ...they mentioned that and the police said something like nothing could be further from the truth.
    I don't know who to believe, the cops or corporate America, both known to be less than honest.

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    I find it a bit hard to believe (none / 0) (#4)
    by CST on Mon May 18, 2015 at 12:09:54 PM EST
    that they picked that particular restaurant by accident.

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    From What I Gather... (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 18, 2015 at 12:26:27 PM EST
    ...the altercations at this restaurant had been going on for some time and ramping up.

    If they were asked to close and didn't, there is going to be a firestorm.  The cops were ready, along with SWAT.  I would find it extremely odd for them to not warn management.

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    Twin Peaks Catered (none / 0) (#6)
    by smott on Mon May 18, 2015 at 12:30:39 PM EST
    ....to the bikers it seems, with regular "Biker Night"s....

    Can you imagine being an employee there?
    Knowing many of these Cossacks or Banditos or whomever are likely armed and maybe on short fuses? Esp when drinking?

    I thought I read that the corporate offices might revoke that Waco location's franchise....bravo for that.

    Alos read that they did not pick that place by accident, and apparently planned their "summit" there.

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    Done (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 18, 2015 at 01:03:52 PM EST
    WACO (May 18, 2015) The Twin Peaks corporate office Monday revoked the franchise of the Waco restaurant where a shootout between rival biker gangs Sunday left nine dead, 18 injured and about 170 in custody.

    "We are in the people business and the safety of the employees and guests in our restaurants is priority one," the company said.

    "Unfortunately the management team of the franchised restaurant in Waco chose to ignore the warnings and advice from both the police and our company, and did not uphold the high security standards we have in place to ensure everyone is safe at our restaurants.

    "We will not tolerate the actions of this relatively new franchisee and are revoking their franchise agreement immediately. Our sympathies continue to be with the families of those who died and are very thankful no employees, guests, police officers or bystanders were hurt or injured," the statement said.

    LINK

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    More... (none / 0) (#9)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 18, 2015 at 01:30:32 PM EST
    Sgt. Swanton reiterated the department's feeling in a Monday morning news conference, saying the local restaurant's statement - in which they said local police were their "partners" and that they were cooperating with the investigation - was a "complete fabrication."

    He said police have been focusing on the restaurant for about two months and that local police had been in touch last week with Twin Peaks' national management after the local owners refused to cooperate with authorities.

    TABC(Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) does not mess around, they can't sell alcohol for a week and will investigate whether to revoke the license, which if I am not mistaken has to be reapplied for because they are no longer Twin Peaks.

    But I can't imagine the owner getting a license with the police and corporate throwing them under the bus.

    Parent

    I wonder if the management was afraid? (none / 0) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 18, 2015 at 02:26:05 PM EST
    Felt threatened?  I mean, cooperating with the police when motorcycle gangs are involved can getcha killed.

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    Bahahahahaha! (none / 0) (#10)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 18, 2015 at 02:22:02 PM EST
    Me too

    The Bandidos, I haven't heard about them in years.  Course they aren't very Bama, hanging out West.

    Parent

    There are Bandidos chapters (none / 0) (#16)
    by Chuck0 on Tue May 19, 2015 at 12:10:12 AM EST
    in Alabama. Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana rockers on Bandido cuts are common at biker events. The flock to Gulfport over Memorial Day weekend.

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    Texans fear (none / 0) (#18)
    by Chuck0 on Tue May 19, 2015 at 12:28:12 AM EST
    The Fat Mexican (Bandidos) more than the cops.

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    Of course they do (none / 0) (#8)
    by jbindc on Mon May 18, 2015 at 01:10:57 PM EST
    Can you say "lawsuit"?

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    Jeralyn, according to an LE spokesman ... (none / 0) (#12)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon May 18, 2015 at 02:27:28 PM EST
    ... on TV this morning (or this afternoon for most of you), the number of those who were initially reported to have been arrested following the shootout has since been revised downward, from 192 to 171. That said, I'm not quite sure whether he meant that 21 people were subsequently released after it was determined that they had done nothing for which they could be detained, or that the initial number of detainees had been overestimated in the immediate wake of the confusion.

    According to the report on Yahoo (none / 0) (#13)
    by scribe on Mon May 18, 2015 at 03:17:23 PM EST
    some (if not all) of them are likely to be charged with capital murder.

    Fortunately, Twin Peaks has no (none / 0) (#14)
    by oculus on Mon May 18, 2015 at 08:16:05 PM EST
    franchises in CA. There was an aging biker club meet-up at Rock Bottom Brewery a few years. No violence, but the arrivals were very noisy!

    When Josh was a toddler he was fascinated (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 18, 2015 at 09:49:13 PM EST
    With bikers and tattoos.  Everytime he saw someone dressed as a biker with tattoos he gawked in awe.  My father told me about a recent good Mexican food experience he had on North Tejon in Colorado Springs, so I gathered the kids up and went.  It seemed like an odd place, we sat down and ordered, a whole pack of bikers filed in and it was obviously one of their hangouts.  I felt a little nervous. Then a band started playing blasting loud rock, and toddler Josh got up and onto the dance floor and started dancing.  I thought for sure he was going to grow up to be a biker :)

    Parent
    There is Still Hope... (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by ScottW714 on Tue May 19, 2015 at 09:08:59 AM EST


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    About 50% of everything being put out (none / 0) (#17)
    by Chuck0 on Tue May 19, 2015 at 12:22:13 AM EST
    by law enforcement is pure BS. About 25% is hyperbole by the media. Believe about 25% of what you've heard. I used to live in Fort Worth. I have known and had numerous run-ins with Bandidos. I know even more Cossacks (from Longview/Kilgore). Three Bandits are facing charges for killing an acquaintance of mine in a Fort Worth bar this past December. He was a member of a different N. Texas motorcycle club.

    The fact that they have arrested 170 motorcyclists is meaningless. My guess is less than half of that number are patchholders. Of those, probably none will cooperate with law enforcement. Even the direct combatants. None will provide information, none will testify.

    Google the aftermath of the Mongol/HA throwdown at Harrah's in Laughlin, NV. The whole thing caught on casino cameras, yet there were few convictions, and no one did much time. No one talked on either. Not even the victims. Prosecutors couldn't make the cases. Same thing will happen here.

    It Was Called... (none / 0) (#20)
    by ScottW714 on Tue May 19, 2015 at 09:24:26 AM EST
    ...the River Run Riot.

    I remember seeing the video which was one camera and maybe 10 bikers could be seen.  They were not charged with Organized Crime, but the rest is correct in that I think the longest sentence was 30 months.  If like that Organized Crime is like RICO, they only have to prove they were members of the criminal enterprise(gang) rather that the individual crimes, if I am not mistaken.

    Parent

    I think that I just read about ... (none / 0) (#21)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue May 19, 2015 at 03:12:36 PM EST
    ... the Ft. Worth killing in today's online edition of the Los Angeles Times. Is this the same incident?

    "Members of the Bandidos, the state's largest biker gang, and the Cossacks, a newer, much smaller group, have tangled in the Dallas area. Just before Christmas there was a beating at a Toys for Tots charity event in Decatur, and a slaying in a Fort Worth bar. No charges were filed in the Toys for Tots attack. But three alleged members of the Bandidos face murder charges in connection with the bar killing."

    I grew up in SoCal, which is the birthplace and erstwhile home of the Hell's Angels, which claims its fame and notoriety by virtue of the hyperbolic West Coast media of the 1950s and '60s, Hollywood films, and "Gimme Shelter," the rather dark documentary about the infamous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, CA. Whether or not they're actually better or worse than any other outlaw biker club is entirely speculative.

    Aloha.

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    Not (none / 0) (#22)
    by FlJoe on Tue May 19, 2015 at 04:31:23 PM EST
    to mention Hunter S Thompson's classic (YMMV) book.

    Parent
    Yes Donald. (none / 0) (#33)
    by Chuck0 on Thu May 21, 2015 at 10:17:01 AM EST
    The reference to the Fort Worth bar killing was the murder of Geoff Brady by three members of the Bandidos. Geoff was 41. I'd known him since he was 28 or 29. He had joined the Texas Ghostriders (a club which pre-dates the Bandidos), which surprised me because although heavily tattooed, Geoff was a very quiet and soft spoken sort. I was very surprised to learn of his murder on a recent visit to Texas this past February from friends who are Ghostriders.


    Parent
    wait a (none / 0) (#23)
    by FlJoe on Tue May 19, 2015 at 04:53:55 PM EST
    minute.
    A memo has gone out to law enforcement in the wake of Sunday's shooting, warning officers that members of the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle gangs reportedly had been instructed to arm themselves and travel to north Texas.
    You can't fool me, this is obviously the first salvo in operation Jade Helm, it's brilliant of Obama using Biker Gangs as mercenaries to disrupt the enemies defenses before the main attack.

    Revised from "100 guns recovered" (none / 0) (#24)
    by Redbrow on Tue May 19, 2015 at 05:55:00 PM EST
    To 50 weapons according KWTX.

    "About 50 weapons were recovered at the shooting scene including guns, knives and a chain with a padlock that could be used to beat someone, police said Monday."

    I thought it was "100 weapons" (none / 0) (#25)
    by nycstray on Tue May 19, 2015 at 06:19:24 PM EST
    not "100 guns".

    Parent
    Do a simple search on Google (none / 0) (#27)
    by Redbrow on Tue May 19, 2015 at 07:08:31 PM EST
    "100 guns Waco" without the quotes and you will find dozens of headlines stating "over 100 guns."

    Parent
    Heh, and the articles (none / 0) (#28)
    by nycstray on Tue May 19, 2015 at 08:37:17 PM EST
    go on to say 100 weapons. Idiots.


    Parent
    The (none / 0) (#26)
    by FlJoe on Tue May 19, 2015 at 06:25:55 PM EST
    cops always lie. Nobody has really questioned the behavior of the police in this case. They apparently knew trouble was a brewing and they just let it happen. They then marched a light infantry squad into the fray with guns ablaze.

    They said they were fired upon first but you know........


    Parent

    My sources from the Waco (none / 0) (#32)
    by Chuck0 on Thu May 21, 2015 at 10:07:59 AM EST
    tell me that a single gun was pulled during the kerfuffle in the parking lot. This led the police to open fire on everyone in the parking lot, fighting or not. Waco SWAT opened fire in the direction of bikers shooting anything that moved. Bikers returned fire, not realizing that it was the cops shooting at them. Everything release about this so far has come from law enforcement. That's the only spin you're getting. Wait a few weeks, the real story will emerge.

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    Is it OK to call them "thugs" (none / 0) (#29)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Thu May 21, 2015 at 08:40:19 AM EST
    even though they are not black?

    How about melanin-challenged terrorists? (none / 0) (#30)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Thu May 21, 2015 at 09:12:06 AM EST


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    For the Racially... (none / 0) (#31)
    by ScottW714 on Thu May 21, 2015 at 09:26:35 AM EST
    ...challenged.

    Rushing to call the Waco biker gang members "thugs" is not what we mean by racial equality

    Parent

    I think it's important (none / 0) (#34)
    by Repack Rider on Thu May 21, 2015 at 05:20:11 PM EST
    ...to call them thugs.  They fit every definition I am aware of.

    Why would black or white be a consideration?

    Parent

    192 Arrested in Waco Biker Killings | 34 comments (34 topical)

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