Brothers Behind Bars Newsletter… August 2016 – Issue 1…

Sponsored by NCOM…
Brothers Behind Bars Newsletter…
August 2016 – Issue 1…
The Law Offices of Richard M. Lester is the only motorcycle accident lawyer network
that gives back to the motorcycle community! And this is one of the ways… Thank You…
NCOM – National Coalition Of Motorcyclists / AIM - Aid for Injured Motorcyclists
AIM / NCOM - Free Legal And Legislative Consultation
Free All Brothers Behind Bars…
Editor: Mike Davis…
Be Silent And Safe - Silence Never Betrays You…
NCOM Sponsors this Newsletter with a donation of $300.00 per month. NCOM; Richard And Joseph Lester; Attorneys At Law…
CoC
Of . . . . . . . . North Dakota donates $ 25.00 a month…
Bandidos MC
Finland donates $ 50.00 a month.
CoC Of . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oregon donates $ 30.00 a month…
Bandidos MC 1Wire
Texas donates $ 25.00 a month.
CoC Of . . . . . . . . . . . . Alabama donates $ 50.00 a month… Bandidos MC Galveston, TX Chapter donates $ 10.00 a month.
In Country Vietnam MC
USA donates $ 50.00 a month… AOA Nation
USA donates $ 50.00 a month.
Warlocks MC Nation
USA donates $ 40.00 a month.
Outlaws MC
Connecticut donates $ 15.00 a month.
Vagos MC Nation
USA donates $ 50.00 a month…
Outlaws MC
Georgia donates $ 20.00 a month.
SteelHorse Riders
Michigan donates $ 25.00 a month…
Flash Productions
Michigan donates $ 10.00 a month.
Vigilante Cash
Michigan donates $ 20.00 a month… Devils Diciple Tatu
Alabama donates $ 25.00 a month.
IHMC Crooked Nose Mike - prison donates $ 5.00 a month… Devils Diciple SA FCI Milan, MI donates $ 25.00 a month.
Jimbo
Lafayette LA donates $ 20.00 a month… Valkyrie MC
Houston, Texas donates $ 10.00 a month.
Solid Brotherhood MC Minnesota donates $ 25.00 a month…
El Forastero MC Nation
USA donates $ 17.00 a month.
Sons Of Silence MC North Dakota donates $ 100.00 a month…
El Forastero MC
Okoboji, Iowa donates $ regularly.
SOS MC Western North Dakota donates $ 25.00 a month.
VNV/LV MC, Dirty Chapter, Houston donates $ 5.00 a month.
SOS Supporter Wildman
PA donates $ 20.00 a month.
Prairie Rattlers MC North Dakota donates $ 25.00 a month.
SOS Supporter Knucklehead Fred donates $ 20.00 a month… Rough-Riders MC
North Dakota donates $ 40.00 a month.
SOS Nomad Skunk FMC Springfield donates $ 25.00 a month…. Solid Brotherhood MC North Dakota donates $ 25.00 a month.
Tramp in prison El Dorado, Kansas donates $ 5.00 a month… Silent Thunder MC North Dakota donates $ regularly.
TX COC&I Region 3
Texas donates $ 10.00 a month…
Important Editor’s Note: I’ve got a LOTS of Sponsor’s Thank You’s to get caught up on, they will be in the Issue 2 for August 2016…
Happy Birthday Pagan Izzo on Sept 1st…
Happy Birthday Iron Coffin Hooky on Sept 15th…
Happy Birthday Outlaw Richie on Sept 22nd…
Happy Birthday Breed Panhead Fred on Sept 26th…
Happy Birthday Pagan Moose on Sept 4th…
Happy Birthday Outlaw Crazy Joe on Sept 19th…
Happy Birthday Mongol Deano on Sept 25th…
Editor’s Note: For June there was 1 Issue; For July there were 2 Issues; For August this is the 1st Issue…
Editor’s Note: Currently we are sending over 350 copies of this newsletter to members of 84 Motorcycle Clubs…
Editor’s Note: I would like to Thank my Wife “Kari” for getting these Newsletters ready to be mail…
Editor’s Note: This is a benefit for those arrested in Waco. Here is a list of the Items So Far…
The 1st & 2nd Items for the Waco Benefit was painted & donated by Satans Soldier Angelo… Great Paintings… Thank You Angelo…
The 3rd Item for this Benefit was made by Pagan Supporter Opie... He did some Great tooling in this wallet… Thank You Opie….
The 4th Item for this Benefit was donated by Sons Of Silence Supporter Kolby & by John H. Wilson Sr (who actually made it) ...
Page 1
The 5rd, 6th, & 7th Items for this Benefit was made by Bandido Cowboy... Great wallets…
Thank You Cowboy….
The 8th Item for this Benefit was made by & donated by Avenger Pork Chop… Leather Belt - Size 38 - “COC” on the Belt Buckle –
WACO on the back - GBNF on both sides.
Thank you Pork Chop…
The 9th Item for this Benefit was donated by Sons Of Silence Supporter Kolby… Lyon oil painting… Thank You Kolby….
The 10th Item for this Benefit was donated by Iron Horsemen Crooked Nose Mike… Support Waco Bikers… Thank You Mike….
The 11th Item for this Benefit was donated by Ghost Rider White Boy… Skull & Cross Bones… I’ll Frame. Thank You White Boy…
The 12th Item for this Benefit was donated by Friend Kevin… Little Biker Bear… I’ll Frame.
Thank You Kevin…
The 13th & 14th Items for this Benefit was donated by Painted Tree; Dot Art (H-D 372,830 Dots & Devil 167,000 Dots ). Thank You!
The 15th Item for this Benefit was donated by Filthy White Boy Travis; 1%ER Knit Stocking Cap.
Thank You Travis...
The 16th Item for this Benefit was donated by Kari & Ciera Davis; H-D Smokin Hot Sign & H-D Parts & Service Sign… Thanks…
The 17th & 18th Items for this Benefit was made by Bandido T-Black... Leather Gauntlet & Great Leather Belt.. Thank You T-Black….
The 19th, 20th, & 21st Items for this Benefit was made by Bandido Gorilla...
Leather Koozies…
Thank You Gorilla….
The 22nd Items for this Benefit was made by Jimmy Fisher @ Gatesville, Texas... Leather Gun Case…
Thank You Jimmy…
Disclaimer: The News Media does NOT always tell the Whole Truth… It tends to sensationalize the News to Sell Newspapers.
In Fact, Many Times the News Media gets the Facts Wrong!!!
Page 2
The 23rd Items for this Benefit was made by Outlaw Milwaukee Jack...
Leather H-D Wallet… Thank You Milwaukee Jack…
The 24th Items for this Benefit was made by Outlaw Milwaukee Jack...
Leather Clutch…
Thank You Milwaukee Jack…
The 25th Items for this Benefit was made by Jimmy Fisher @ Gatesville, Texas... Leather Key Holder… Thank You Jimmy…
The 26th Items for this Benefit was made by Jimmy Fisher @ Gatesville, Texas... Leather Koozie…
Thank You Jimmy…
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Editor’s Note : It is too hard to keep up with counts, But for your
info here are the Clubs that are getting the Brothers Behind Bars
Newsletter (84 Clubs) in Prison: Avengers, Bandidos, Banshees,
Barons, Black Pistons, Boozefighters, BPM, Breed, Brother
Speed, Brothers 8, Brotherhood Nomads, Brothers Of Wheels,
Cloven Hoofs, Damned Deacon, D.C. Eagles, Death Squad,
Derelicts, Devils Diciples, Diablos, El Forastero, Finks, Fly-InWheels, Forsaken Few, Free Souls, Estedes, Galloping Goose,
Ghost Riders, Grim Reapers, Gypsy Joker, Hellions, Hells Angels,
Hells Lovers, Hells Outcasts, Hermanos, Hessians, Hidalgo’s,
Highwaymen, In Country Vietnam, Iron Coffins, Iron Horsemen,
Invaders, Iron Wings, Iron Mustangs, Legion Of Doom, Liberty
Riders, Long Riders, Marauder’s, Misfits, Mohawk Valley Riders,
Moloch, Mongols, Motopsychoz, Nomads, Outlaws, Pagan’s,
Peckerwood, Phantom’s, Pharoahs, Reapers, Red Devils,
Renegades, Sadistic, Salty Dogs, Satans Soldiers, Scorpions, Set
Free Soldiers, Sin City Deciples, Sons Of Silence, Sovereign,
Sundowners, Thunderbirds, Thunderguards, Unforegiven,
Unforgiven, Vagos, Vietnam Vets / Legacy Vets, Y-Rohirrin,
Warlocks Pa, Warlocks, Winos Crew And Wheels Of Soul…
With newsletters going to Australia, Canada, England, France,
Finland, Germany, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, & Wales.
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Editor’s Note (For BBB Only): Being a Patch holder in Good
Standings does have it privileges… And this is one of them… If
you are a Patch Holder in Good Standings & contact me, include
your Chapter too… If you are Not a patch holder of a MC in Good
Standings, Don’t write me & request that I add you to the mailing
list. You will only get rejected, as I only make very few special
exceptions.
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Editor’s Note: I would like to Thank all of the contacts from all
of the MCs that verify if requesting member is in Good Standing
with their Club; & all of the other assistance that you give me, such
as address changes, being released, & soliciting donations…
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Editor’s Note: I produce this National Coalition of Motorcyclists
Brothers Behind Bars Newsletter which is a non-partisan
newsletter for Bikers by Bikers. Information from the Newsletter
contains News Articles & other information that may be of interest
to a biker behind bars. Financial support for this Newsletter
comes mainly from NCOM, Motorcycle Clubs, And
Confederations Of Clubs…
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Updated News Article Sources: All News Articles contained in
this NCOM Brothers Behind Bars Newsletter, unless source is
specified, are obtained from the following 7 (Seven) Web Sites:
Motorcycle Profiling Project (David “Double D” Devereaux),
FreeRoadBlock (Outlaw RoadBlock 1%er), The Aging Rebel,
Road Scholars (Wolf From Atlanta), Outlaw Biker World, White
Trash News & Becky Cakes…
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Editor’s Note: In the interest of Cost Savings, If you can share
One copy of this Newsletter where I am sending multiple copies
to the same institution, please let me know… Thanks, Mike
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Live Each Day Like It’s Your Last.
One Day, You’ll Get It Right…
Live Free Or Die...
Guy Trains Computers to Find Future Criminals - July 18,
2016 - Wisconsin - By Joshua Brustein; www.Bloomberg.com When historians look back at the turmoil over prejudice & policing
in the U.S. over the past few years, they’re unlikely to dwell on
the case of Eric Loomis. Police in La Crosse, Wis., arrested
Loomis in Feb 2013 for driving a car that was used in a drive-by
shooting. He had been arrested a dozen times before. Loomis took
a plea, & was sentenced to 6 years in prison plus 5 years of
probation. The episode was unremarkable compared with the
deaths of Philando Castile & Alton Sterling at the hands of police,
which were captured on camera & distributed widely online. But
Loomis’s story marks an important point in a quieter debate over
the role of fairness & technology in policing. Before his sentence,
the judge in the case received an automatically generated risk
score that determined Loomis was likely to commit violent crimes
in the future. Risk scores, generated by algorithms, are an
increasingly common factor in sentencing. Computers crunch
data—arrests, type of crime committed, & demographic
information—and a risk rating is generated. The idea is to create a
guide that’s less likely to be subject to unconscious biases, the
mood of a judge, or other human shortcomings. Similar tools are
used to decide which blocks police officers should patrol, where
to put inmates in prison, & who to let out on parole. Supporters of
these tools claim they’ll help solve historical inequities, but their
critics say they have the potential to aggravate them, by hiding old
prejudices under the veneer of computerized precision. Some
people see them as a sterilized version of what brought protesters
into the streets at Black Lives Matter rallies. Loomis is a
surprising fulcrum in this controversy: He’s a white man. But
when Loomis challenged the state’s use of a risk score in his
sentence, he cited many of the fundamental criticisms of the tools:
that they’re too mysterious to be used in court, that they punish
people for the crimes of others, & that they hold your
demographics against you. Last week the Wisconsin Supreme
Court ruled against Loomis, but the decision validated some of his
core claims. The case, say legal experts, could serve as a jumpingoff point for legal challenges questioning the constitutionality of
these kinds of techniques.
To understand the algorithms being used all over the country,
it’s good to talk to Richard Berk. He’s been writing them for
decades (though he didn’t write the tool that created Loomis’s risk
score). Berk, a professor at the Univ of Pennsylvania, is a shortish,
bald guy, whose solid stature & I-dare-you-to-disagree-with-me
demeanor might lead people to mistake him for an ex-cop. In fact,
he’s a career statistician. His tools have been used by prisons to
determine which inmates to place in restrictive settings; parole
Depts to choose how closely to supervise people being released
from prison; & police officers to predict whether people arrested
for domestic violence will re-offend. He once created an algorithm
that would tell the Occupational Safety & Health Administration
which workplaces were likely to commit safety violations, but
says the agency never used it for anything. Starting this fall, the
state of Penn plans to run a pilot program using Berk’s system in
sentencing decisions. As his work has been put into use across the
country, Berk’s academic pursuits have become progressively
fantastical. He’s currently working on an algorithm that he says
will be able to predict at the time of someone’s birth how likely
she is to commit a crime by the time she turns 18. The only limit
to applications like this, in Berk’s mind, is the data he can find to
feed into them.
Page 4
“The policy position that is taken is that it’s much more dangerous
to release Darth Vader than it is to incarcerate Luke Skywalker”
This kind of talk makes people uncomfortable, something Berk
was clearly aware of on a sunny Thu morning in May as he headed
into a conference in the basement of a campus building at Penn to
play the role of least popular man in the room. He was scheduled
to participate in the 1st panel of the day, which was essentially a
referendum on his work. Berk settled into his chair & prepared
for a spirited debate about whether what he does all day is good
for society. The moderator, a researcher named Sandra Mayson,
took the podium. “This panel is the Minority Report panel,” she
said, referring to the Tom Cruise movie where the Gov’t employs
a trio of psychic mutants to identify future murderers, then arrests
these “pre-criminals” before their offenses occur. The comparison
is so common it’s become a kind of joke. “I use it too,
occasionally, because there’s no way to avoid it,” Berk said later.
For the next hour, the other members of the panel took turns
questioning the scientific integrity, utility, & basic fairness of
predictive techniques such as Berk’s. As it went on, he began to
fidget in frustration. Berk leaned all the way back in his chair &
crossed his hands over his stomach. He leaned all the way forward
& flexed his fingers. He scribbled a few notes. He rested his chin
in one hand like a bored teenager & stared off into space.
Eventually, the debate was too much for him: “Here’s what I,
maybe hyperbolically, get out of this,” Berk said. “No data are
any good, the criminal justice system sucks, & all the actors in the
criminal justice system are biased by race & gender. If that’s the
takeaway message, we might as well all go home. There’s nothing
more to do.” The room tittered with awkward laughter.
Berk’s work on crime started in the late 1960s, when he was
splitting his time between grad school & a social work job in
Baltimore. The city exploded in violence following the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Berk’s graduate school
thesis examined the looting patterns during the riots. “You
couldn’t really be alive & sentient at that moment in time & not be
concerned about what was going on in crime & justice,” he said.
“Very much like today with the Ferguson stuff.” In the mid-1990s,
Berk began focusing on machine learning, where computers look
for patterns in data sets too large for humans to sift through
manually. To make a model, Berk inputs tens of thousands of
profiles into a computer. Each one includes the data of someone
who has been arrested, including how old they were when first
arrested, what neighborhood they’re from, how long they’ve spent
in jail, & so on. The data also contain information about who was
re-arrested. The computer finds patterns, & those serve as the
basis for predictions about which arrestees will re-offend. To
Berk, a big advantage of machine learning is that it eliminates the
need to understand what causes someone to be violent. “For these
problems, we don’t have good theory,” he said. Feed the computer
enough data & it can figure it out on its own, without deciding on
a philosophy of the origins of criminal proclivity. This is a
seductive idea. But it’s also one that comes under criticism each
time a supposedly neutral algorithm in any field produces
worryingly non-neutral results. In one widely cited study,
researchers showed that Google’s automated ad-serving software
was more likely to show ads for high-paying jobs to men than to
women. Another found that ads for arrest records show up more
often when searching the web for distinctly black names than for
white ones.
Computer scientists have a maxim, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
In this case, the garbage would be decades of racial &
socioeconomic disparities in the criminal justice system.
Predictions about future crimes based on data about historical
crime statistics have the potential to equate past patterns of
policing with the predisposition of people in certain groups—
mostly poor & nonwhite—to commit crimes.
Berk readily
acknowledges this as a concern, then quickly dismisses it. Race
isn’t an input in any of his systems, & he says his own research
has shown his algorithms produce similar risk scores regardless of
race. He also argues that the tools he creates aren’t used for
punishment—more often they’re used, he said, to reverse longrunning patterns of overly harsh sentencing, by identifying people
whom judges & probation officers shouldn’t worry about.
Berk began working with Philadelphia’s Adult Probation &
Parole Dept in 2006. At the time, the city had a big murder
problem & a small budget. There were a lot of people in the city’s
probation & parole programs. City Hall wanted to know which
people it truly needed to watch. Berk & a small team of researchers
from the Univ of Pennsylvania wrote a model to identify which
people were most likely to commit murder or attempted murder
while on probation or parole. Berk generally works for free, & was
never on Philadelphia’s payroll. A common question, of course,
is how accurate risk scores are. Berk says that in his own work,
between 29% & 38% of predictions about whether someone is
low-risk end up being wrong. But focusing on accuracy misses the
point, he says. When it comes to crime, sometimes the best
answers aren’t the most statistically precise ones. Just like
weathermen err on the side of predicting rain because no one wants
to get caught without an umbrella, court systems want technology
that intentionally over predicts the risk that any individual is a
crime risk. The same person could end up being described as
either high-risk or not depending on where the Gov’t decides to
set that line. “The policy position that is taken is that it’s much
more dangerous to release Darth Vader than it is to incarcerate
Luke Skywalker,” Berk said.
“Every mark of poverty serves as a risk factor”
Philadelphia’s plan was to offer cognitive behavioral therapy
to the highest-risk people, & offset the costs by spending less
money supervising everyone else. When Berk posed the Darth
Vader question, the parole Dept initially determined it’d be 10
times worse, according to Geoffrey Barnes, who worked on the
project. Berk figured that at that threshold the algorithm would
name 8,000 to 9,000 people as potential pre-murderers. Officials
realized they couldn’t afford to pay for that much therapy, & asked
for a model that was less harsh. Berk’s team twisted the dials
accordingly. “We’re intentionally making the model less accurate,
but trying to make sure it produces the right kind of error when it
does,” Barnes said. The program later expanded to group
everyone into high-, medium-, & low-risk populations, & the city
significantly reduced how closely it watched parolees Berk’s
system identified as low-risk. In a 2010 study, Berk & city officials
reported that people who were given more lenient treatment were
less likely to be arrested for violent crimes than people with similar
risk scores who stayed with traditional parole or probation. People
classified as high-risk were almost 4 times more likely to be
charged with violent crimes.
Page 5
Since then, Berk has created similar programs in Maryland’s &
Pennsylvania’s statewide parole systems. In Pennsylvania, an
internal analysis showed that between 2011 & 2014 about 15% of
people who came up for parole received different decisions
because of their risk scores. Those who were released during that
period were significantly less likely to be re-arrested than those
who had been released in years past. The conclusion: Berk’s
software was helping the state make smarter decisions. Laura
Treaster, a spokeswoman for the state’s Board of Probation &
Parole, says Pennsylvania isn’t sure how its risk scores are
impacted by race. “This has not been analyzed yet,” she said.
“However, it needs to be noted that parole is very different than
sentencing. The board is not determining guilt or innocence. We
are looking at risk.” Sentencing, though, is the next frontier for
Berk’s risk scores. And using algorithms to decide how long
someone goes to jail is proving more controversial than using them
to decide when to let people out early.
Wisconsin courts use Compas, a popular commercial tool made
by a Michigan-based company called Northpointe. By the
company’s account, the people it deems high-risk are re-arrested
within 2 years in about 70% of cases. Part of Loomis’s challenge
was specific to Northpointe’s practice of declining to share
specific information about how its tool generates scores, citing
competitive reasons. Not allowing a defendant to assess the
evidence against him violated due process, he argued. (Berk
shares the code for his systems, & criticizes commercial products
such as Northpointe’s for not doing the same.) As the court was
considering Loomis’s appeal, the journalism website ProPublica
published an investigation looking at 7,000 Compas risk scores in
a single county in Florida over the course of 2013 & 2014. It found
that black people were almost twice as likely as white people to be
labeled high-risk, then not commit a crime, while it was much
more common for white people who were labeled low-risk to reoffend than black people who received a low-risk score.
Northpointe challenged the findings, saying ProPublica had
miscategorized many risk scores & ignored results that didn’t
support its thesis. Its analysis of the same data found no racial
disparities.
Even as it upheld Loomis’s sentence, the Wisconsin Supreme
Court cited the research on race to raise concerns about the use of
tools like Compas. Going forward, it requires risk scores to be
accompanied by disclaimers about their nontransparent nature &
various caveats about their conclusions. It also says they can’t be
used as the determining factor in a sentencing decision. The
decision was the first time that such a high court had signaled
ambivalence about the use of risk scores in sentencing. Sonja
Starr, a professor at the Univ of Michigan’s law school & a
prominent critic of risk assessment, thinks that Loomis’s case
foreshadows stronger legal arguments to come. Loomis made a
demographic argument, saying that Compas rated him as riskier
because of his gender, reflecting the historical patterns of men
being arrested at higher rates than women. But he didn’t frame it
as an argument that Compas violated the Equal Protection Clause
of the 14th Amendment, which allowed the court to sidestep the
core issue. Loomis also didn’t argue that the risk scores serve to
discriminate against poor people. “That’s the part that seems to
concern judges, that every mark of poverty serves as a risk factor,”
Starr said. “We should very easily see more successful challenges
in other cases.” Officials in Pennsylvania, which has been slowly
preparing to use risk assessment in sentencing for the past six
years, are sensitive to these potential pitfalls. The state’s
experience shows how tricky it is to create an algorithm through
the public policy process. To come up with a politically palatable
risk tool, Pennsylvania established a sentencing commission. It
quickly rejected commercial products like Compas, saying they
were too expensive & too mysterious, so the commission began
creating its own system.
“If you want me to do a totally race-neutral forecast, you’ve got to
tell me what variables you’re going to allow me to use, & nobody
can, because everything is confounded with race & gender”
Race was discarded immediately as an input. But every other
factor became a matter of debate. When the state initially wanted
to include location, which it determined to be statistically useful
in predicting who would re-offend, the Pennsylvania Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers argued that it was a proxy for race,
given patterns of housing segregation. The commission eventually
dropped the use of location. Also in question: the system’s use of
arrests, instead of convictions, since it seems to punish people who
live in communities that are policed more aggressively. Berk
argues that eliminating sensitive factors weakens the predictive
power of the algorithms. “If you want me to do a totally raceneutral forecast, you’ve got to tell me what variables you’re going
to allow me to use, & nobody can, because everything is
confounded with race & gender,” he said.
Starr says this
argument confuses the differing standards in academic research &
the legal system. In social science, it can be useful to calculate the
relative likelihood that members of certain groups will do certain
things. But that doesn’t mean a specific person’s future should be
calculated based on an analysis of population wide crime stats,
especially when the data set being used reflects decades of racial
& socioeconomic disparities. It amounts to a computerized version
of racial profiling, Starr argued. “If the variables aren’t
appropriate, you shouldn’t be relying on them,” she said.
Late this spring, Berk traveled to Norway to meet with a group
of researchers from the Univ of Oslo. The Norwegian Gov’t
gathers an immense amount of information about the country’s
citizens & connects each of them to a single identification file,
presenting a tantalizing set of potential inputs.
Torbjørn
Skardhamar, a professor at the Univ, was interested in exploring
how he could use machine learning to make long-term predictions.
He helped set up Berk’s visit. Norway has lagged behind the U.S.
in using predictive analytics in criminal justice, & the men threw
around a few ideas. Berk wants to predict at the moment of birth
whether people will commit a crime by their 18th birthday, based
on factors such as environment & the history of a new child’s
parents. This would be almost impossible in the U.S., given that
much of a person’s biographical information is spread out across
many agencies & subject to many restrictions. He’s not sure if it’s
possible in Norway, either, & he acknowledges he also hasn’t
completely thought through how best to use such information.
Caveats aside, this has the potential to be a capstone project of
Berk’s career. It also takes all of the ethical & political questions
& extends them to their logical conclusion. Even in the movie
Minority Report, the Gov’t peered only hours into the future—not
years. Skardhamar, who is new to these techniques, said he’s not
afraid of making mistakes: They’re talking about them now, he
said, so they can avoid future errors. “These are tricky questions,”
he said, mulling all the ways the project could go wrong. “Making
them explicit—that’s a good thing.”
Page 6
Big Win: QuikTrip Fires KC Police Officer For Threatening
1%’ers – July 17, 2016 - Missouri - By David "Double D"
Devereaux; www.MotorcycleProfilingProject.com - A recent
incident involving an off duty police officer captured on video
threatening members of 1% clubs with false arrest for trespassing,
while working as a security guard at a QuikTrip gas station in
Kansas City, mobilized the Nat’l Council of Clubs membership in
Missouri & Kansas resulting in a significant victory for clubs in
the region. Following a press release & official inquiries to the
corporation & the KCPD, QuikTrip has renounced the actions of
this off duty officer, released him from employment as a security
guard, & clarified its policy of inclusion to all security guard
personnel. This success in Kansas City is a recent example of how
effective a mobilized grassroots movement like the Nat’l Council
of Clubs can be & how to develop a pattern of evidence necessary
for legislative relief.
Mobilized Grassroots Response: A member of the Sons Of
Silence MC was cognizant enough to videotape the prejudicial
actions of off duty officer Marchant the night of June 25th. This
member immediately forwarded the video to the NCOC for
review & action. The NCOC coordinated with its membership in
Kansas & Missouri & quickly formulated a plan of action. 1st, a
statement describing the incident & released along with the video
was published on motorcycleprofilingproject.com & forwarded to
local media outlets, the QuikTrip corporation, & the KCPD.
Second, the Region II NCOC spokesperson then drafted a letter
of inquiry to QuikTrip corporate & formally requested QuikTrip’s
official policy regarding customers that are members of 1% MCs
& a request to clarify that policy to security personnel.
July 1, 2016 - Chet Cadieux, CEO; QuikTrip Coporation
4705 South 129th Street; Tulsa, Oklahoma 74134
Sir: I’m writing today to report multiple occurrences of a
disturbing nature happening at your location at I-435 & Front St
in Kansas City, Missouri.
On at least 2 recent occasions,
individuals who happen to be members of 1%er MCs have visited
this location to purchase fuel & other sundries from your
convenience store. These individuals have visited this particular
store on a regular basis for this purpose in the past. In fact, one of
them reports that he stops by this store every night on his way to
work to purchase a cold soda pop to take to work with him. On
the 2 occasions that have been reported to me, an off-duty Kansas
City, Missouri P.D. officer, named Officer [Marchant] (Badge Nbr
1706), who was apparently working as a security guard
approached these individuals as soon as they arrived & ordered
them off the property, saying that 1%ers weren’t allowed to
patronize the store. The officer gave no reason for ordering them
from the property except to say that they were on private property
and, as long as KCMOPD officers were present, were trespassing.
I am not aware that QuikTrip Corporation has announced a policy
of refusing the business of 1%er MC members. Certainly, there
was no indication that 1%ers weren’t welcome at your Front St
location on the occasions I mentioned above; there were no signs
that stated as such or even that MC colors weren’t allowed. When
questioned, the clerks who were on duty at the store stated they
had no problem with these individuals’ presence on the property.
The only indication of any problem was Officer [Marchant’s]
insistence that they were trespassing.
Over the past several years, various federal district & appellate
courts have ruled that by identifying with particular groups &
wearing clothing that identifies the wearer as a member, citizens
are exercising rights of free speech & assembly guaranteed by the
US Constitution. By employing individuals in security positions
who profile MC members & single them out for special treatment,
QuikTrip Corporation is complicit in violations of their
Constitutional rights.
Please help me out here: Does QuikTrip have a policy that
members of 1%er MCs aren’t allowed to patronize QT locations?
If that is the case, I’ll be sure to publicize this policy so as to insure
motorcycle club members know they aren’t welcome on QT
property. This includes a significant number of big truck drivers
within our community—not just within the Kansas City area but
across the Midwest & Southern states—who regularly purchase
fuel at QT locations. Several who I have personally spoken with
stated that, if this is the policy of your company, they will be sure
to avoid any QT location going forward.
We only seek to be allowed to exercise our Constitutionally
guaranteed rights as any other American can. Of course, we
respect the right of QuikTrip to put in place whatever policies are
legal & the company believes are appropriate on its private
property. I respectfully ask that, if a prohibition on motorcycle
club members is in fact in effect at your locations, you clarify this
policy so we may be sure to comply. On the other hand, if Officer
[Marchant] is mistaken & is acting outside of QT policy &
procedures, I’d ask that you review security policies & make
appropriate adjustments.
Respectfully, Brian P. Cohoon; Spokesperson
Region II, Nat’l Council of Motorcycle of Clubs
cc: Terry Williams, Division Sales Manager, Kansas City Area
Finally, a member of the Mongols MC who owns a trucking
company informally reached out to another QuikTrip location in
Missouri that his company regularly does business with. A
member of the Mongols MC was also threatened with false arrest
for trespassing by officer Marchant on June 12th. The amount of
fuel sold to motorcyclists involved in the trucking industry in the
Kansas City area is significant. This member’s informal inquiries
were intended to determine whether this incident was isolated to
one location or prevalent at other QuikTrip. The results of the
NCOC’s coordinated efforts generated near immediate results.
A Win For Motorcyclists, Club Members & 1%’ers. Initially,
the manager of the other location writes to the Mongols MC
member that informally inquired:
“Wanted you to know that this officer is no longer working security
for any QT stores – so sorry for the mistreatment of your friends
& family – we highly value your business & respect.”
Although not an official policy statement, this was the 1st result
of mobilized action. On July 8th, the 1st official communication
from QuikTrip corporate was received & strongly echoed the
informal response.
Page 7
Motorcycle Profiling at the State & Fed level becomes selfevident.
July 6, 2016 – Mr. Brian P. Cohoon, Thank you for contacting
QuikTrip. The direct answer to your question, “Does QuikTrip
have a policy that members of the 1%er MCs aren’t allowed to
patronize QT location”? The answer is QT does not have such
a policy. The other request you referenced in your letter, was to
clarify our policies & procedures with the various L.E. agencies
that from time to time, we contract with to provide security
officers. We have done so. QT, appreciates you taking time to
contact us. QT, also appreciates that many of your members from
Region II, Nat’l Council of Motorcycle Club, choose QT for their
fuel & various sundries purchases. Mike Thornbrugh; Manager
of Public & Gov’t Affairs
A True 1%’er: Although LE falsely describes a 1%’er as an
individual proudly displaying criminality, the individual that took
the video of officer Marchant’s threats truly demonstrates what a
1%’er is really all about. A 1%’er stands his ground. A 1%’er
is not afraid of being arrested based on idiotic & unconstitutional
threats. A 1%’er is absolutely committed to the idea that we
should all be free from abusive authority & social control. A
1%’er epitomizes a freedom fighter & the struggle against an
emerging police state that operates by imposing fear &
intimidation on innocent people. A 1%’er stands up for the basic
liberties embodied in the 1st Amendment & the right to express
this commitment to his brotherhood even when confronted by an
authority figure attempting to illegally & unjustly discriminate. A
1%’er will be the 1st one to say “fuck off” when it needs to be
said. A 1%’er commits to a life of loyalty, honor, respect for
oneself & ones Brotherhood & will not back down from that
commitment. Most people are too mentally weak & ethically
compromised to be a true 1%’er. Most people would not risk their
freedom or their lives to stand up for themselves or their
community in the face of abusive police action. This 1%’er has
integrity, intelligence, & foresight. And this 1%’er acted like a
real man with confidence. as opposed to the intellectually &
morally bankrupt officer Marchant.
Conclusions: These results should be considered a significant
victory. Although the KCPD has not officially responded, officer
Marchant being relieved of his position as a security guard at all
QuikTrip locations is a win for motorcyclists & MCs in the
Midwest region. Moreover, an official statement from QuikTrip
welcoming all motorcyclists, including 1%’ers, cuts against an
inaccurate & vilified stereotype that motivated officer Marchant’s
discriminatory mindset in the 1st place. As the pattern of evidence
continues to build, the necessity for legislation addressing
US House of Representatives Introduces Nat’l AntiMotorcycle Profiling Resolution – July 17, 2016 – U.S.A. – By
David
"Double
D"
Devereaux;
www.MotorcycleProfilingProject.com - The 1st step towards a
law prohibiting motorcycle profiling at the Nat’l level was
introduced in the US House of Representatives on July 13, 2016
& referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary the same day.
House Resolution 831 promotes public awareness of motorcycle
profiling at a Nat’l level & urges state law enforcement officials
[in all 50 states] to condemn “motorcycle profiling in written
policies & training materials.” Although resolutions are nonbinding, H. Res. 831 makes motorcycle profiling a Nat’l
discussion & directs states to condemn the practice. This policy
directive to all 50 states will greatly assist the efforts in any state
pursuing anti-motorcycle profiling & discrimination legislation.
Res. 831 is a direct result of the collaborative efforts of the
Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the Nat’l Council of Clubs, the
Motorcycle Profiling Project, & the Nat’l Coalition of
Motorcyclists. The MRF has taken the lead with feet on the
ground in DC demonstrating the value of an established lobbying
infrastructure in our nation’s Capital. The Motorcycle Profiling
Project is primarily responsible for policy research, consultation,
& substantive analysis. The NCOC is focused on media & public
relations at the grassroots & Nat’l level. Finally, NCOM has
endorsed the unified effort to pass legislation addressing
motorcycle profiling at the Nat’l level. Res. 831 represents the
first time that these organizations have explicitly collaborated on
a Fed initiative. In terms of discrimination, motorcyclists,
motorcycle rights organizations & motorcycle clubs have far more
in common than differences.
Every motorcyclist concerned about the issue should contact
their US House of Representatives urging them to co-sponsor
& or support H. Res. 831.
Shooter gets resentencing for 2013 slaying outside Philly biker
gang club – July 20, 2016 – Pennsylvania – By Daniel Craig;
www.PhillyVoice.com - he man convicted of fatally shooting a
member of a Philadelphia biker gang outside the group's West
Philadelphia clubhouse will have his sentence revised, according
to a Tuesday court ruling. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania
has ruled that part of Daniel Tucker's sentence will be vacated &
his case remanded to Common Pleas Court for resentencing for
the incident that played out in the early morning hours of Jan. 6,
2013. But since Tucker's legal win only affects one of the many
charges for which he was convicted, he will likely still spend at
least 35 years in prison for the bloody scene that occurred outside
the 61st & Market street clubhouse of the Philadelphia Chapter of
the Wheels of Soul MC. The request for resentencing was one of
five appeals made by Tucker, who raised issues with how witness
testimony was presented & with the state's case that Tucker had
"intent to kill" the 2 others shot outside the club that morning. The
other 4 appeals were squashed by the Superior Court ruling.
The Case: According to a trial court summary of the case facts,
members of the gang were returning to the clubhouse around 5:40
a.m. after attending a funeral for a fellow member in Chicago.
There, they were greeted by Tucker, a regular at the club despite
not being a member of the gang. Tucker reportedly greeted them
& opened fire, striking 3 members: Richard Motes Jr., Nezzer
Pankey & Rodney Turner. Tucker fled down Dewey Street. Motes
was struck in the thigh, while Turner was hit 2 times in the neck,
once in the buttocks & another bullet grazed his left chest. Pankey
was shot in the left side of the head, & the bullet traveled into his
brain. He was pronounced dead later that evening. Mahogany
Livingston had been at the club earlier & left at about 5 a.m., only
to realize that she had left her cellphone there upon returning
home. When she went back to get her phone, she said she noticed
a man, who had been kicked out of the club earlier, waiting outside
with his hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt, where there
appeared to be the imprint of a gun. Aaron Burnett, who had been
working security at the door, said he kicked Tucker out that
morning for being unruly. When Tucker left, he said, “I will be
right back," according to Burnett's testimony. Livingston said she
told those in the club she had seen someone outside with a gun, &
shortly after that, heard gunfire. An arrest warrant was issued for
Tucker, & he was taken into custody in April 2013.
The appeals: Tucker was originally sentenced in the
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in April 2015 after a jury
convicted him of 3rd-degree murder, 2 counts of attempted
murder, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime
& 2 counts of violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. It is one of
those counts of violating the Uniform Firearms Act for which
Tucker will receive a resentencing. According to the Superior
Court's ruling, Tucker was originally given a 5-to-10-year
sentence for one of the violations, despite the fact that it was a 3rddegree felony, for which the statutory maximum sentence is seven
years. Yet that will only alter a fraction of the totality of Tucker's
continuous sentences, which amounted to 35 to 70 years in prison.
In court, the prosecutor included a part of Poole's interview that
referenced previous time Tucker had spent in jail, despite the court
reminding the prosecutor to avoid making mentions of past time
Tucker spent incarcerated. Yet because Tucker's legal counsel
didn’t immediately file an objection following the reading of
Poole's testimony, the Superior Court ruled that Tucker failed to
raise the issue in a "timely & specific" manner. Another appeal
from Tucker said that the verdicts of third-degree murder, which
means no prior intent to kill, & attempted murder of Turner &
Motes proved inconsistent. Tucker was acquitted on first-degree
murder charges for Pankey's death. But because the attempted
murder verdicts stand-alone based on the evidence to support them
specifically, & not in relation to the acquittal of 1st-degree murder,
Tucker's argument was "misdirected," the court ruled. Two other
appeals regarding the admission of a previous statement made by
Motes to police & denied continuance for DNA testing of a knife
found at the scene were also shot down in the ruling. Tucker also
called for a mistrial because of testimony from his ex-girlfriend,
Brianna Poole, that was read in court by a prosecutor. Tucker was
at her home at the time of his arrest.
Mongol Mark Graham loses final appeal over attempted
murder of Bandido Jacques Teamo - July 20, 2016 - Australia
– By Kim Stephens; www.News.com.au - A Mongols bikie who
claims he acted in self-defense when he gunned down a Bandido
rival at a busy Gold Coast shopping centre in 2012 has lost his
final bid to have his attempted murder charge quashed. An
innocent passer-by was injured in the crossfire & shoppers were
sent fleeing when, on a busy Sat afternoon in late April 2012, Mark
James Graham strode into the Robina shopping centre & opened
fire on rival gang member Jacques Teamo. Graham, who sports
the facial tattoos “carnage”, “revenge” & the bikie tag “1%” was
visiting family members on the Gold Coast from his Victorian
base, when in what was described as a “chance encounter” he
spotted Bandidos member Teamo in a store. CCTV footage then
captured the entire incident, in which the Gold Coast’s simmering
bikie war was thrust jarringly into the public realm. As Graham
& Teamo became engaged in a tense standoff, shoppers continued
to walk past them.
A man pushing a baby in a pram can be seen passing the pair
just moments before gunfire erupted, while a good Samaritan
sporting boardshorts & a t-shirt stopped to return a $10 note to
Graham, that, unbeknown to the man, fell from the bikie’s bag
when he removed his gun. Within seconds of the good Samaritan
moving away, Graham opened fire on Teamo, hitting him in the
arm. As Teamo ran away, Graham pursued him, firing a second
time but missing his target & hitting passer-by Kathy Devitt in the
hip. As the sounds of gunshots ring out, the busy crowd of lunch
time shoppers are then running for safety. Graham returned to
Victoria, where he was arrested 2 days later.
In the intervening 4 years, Graham argued, unsuccessfully,
across 3 legal jurisdictions he acted in self-defence, arguing
Teamo had pulled a knife on him. On Wed morning, the country’s
highest court, the High Court of Australia, became the third
criminal realm to reject his claim, after a Queensland Supreme
Court jury found him guilty of attempted murder & the Court of
Appeal later upheld the conviction. It was his final avenue of
appeal. Graham will now serve the remainder of the 12-year
sentence the Queensland Supreme Court handed him in late 2014.
The shooting was a defining moment in the-then Campbell
Newman-led Govt’s subsequent war on outlaw motorcycle gangs.
While bikie turf wars had long been part of the fabric of
southeast Queensland, & in particular, the so-called Glitter Strip
of the Gold Coast, where their criminal activities flourished, when
Graham opened fire on the crowded second floor of Robina
Shopping Centre that day, the war spilled jarringly into the public
realm. Teamo, now a former Bandido, survived the shooting &
went on to gain notoriety about 18 months later as the ringleader
of the infamous Broadbeach restaurant brawl, the largest public
bikie brawl in Queensland history, in which 18 gang members
were charged. It was that brawl that sparked the Newman
Government’s strict anti-bikie laws, which made it a crime for
patched gang members to associate publicly in groups. With
Wed’s High Court ruling marking the final chapter in Graham’s
legal fight, he will remain in the jail cell he has resided in since
the jury in his Supreme Court trial returned a guilty verdict to both
the attempted murder of Teamo & the unlawful wounding of Ms.
Devitt on Oct 1, 2014. He will remain there for at least another
decade.
--------------------------------------------------------
Motorcycle Clubs Are Not Street Gangs;
Support the Right to Fly…
Motorcycle Clubs are NOT Street Gangs!
MC Not MG: Got it Dickhead? Theirs is a Difference.
I’m a Biker not your next Road Kill Open Your Eyes…
Free Road, Full Tank, & Full Throttle…!!!
Bikers are never alone…
Page 9
Proposed anti-consorting laws for bikies dropped over human
rights concerns - July 22, 2016 - Australia - By Markus
Mannheim; www.CanberraTimes.com.au - The ACT Gov’t has
ditched its proposal to prevent bikies from consorting, saying it
has struggled to draft laws that satisfy police while respecting
human rights. Atty-General Simon Corbell, who will not recontest
his seat at the Oct election, said he had too little time left as
minister to strike a satisfactory balance between the competing
priorities. However, he said the Gov’t would revisit the issue if it
was re-elected & he would announce new funding soon to help
police crackdown on outlaw gangs.
It is understood the
controversial plan – which is opposed by Greens minister Shane
Rattenbury & much of Labor's Left faction – was set to spark a
divisive debate at Sat's ACT Labor conference. Corbell's decision
coincides with the release of a damning Ombudsman's report on
similar laws in NSW, which found police in that state repeatedly
misused the powers – designed to dismantle organised crime &
motorcycle gangs – against children, the homeless & Aborigines.
The ACT Gov’t had released a discussion paper on its proposed
legislation just last month, which foreshadowed 2-year jail terms
for people who breached warnings not to associate with known
criminals. Anti-consorting laws, used in NSW & Queensland,
aim to disrupt bikie & crime groups by preventing their members
from meeting or speaking. ACT Policing had urged the Gov’t to
grant it similar powers & Mr. Corbell first mooted legislation 18
months ago, saying: "We need to keep ahead of outlaw motorcycle
gangs." However, he told Fairfax Media on Fri it had been
"difficult to reconcile the operational needs of police with the
concerns of human rights protection agencies" & lawyers' groups.
"I've always said very clearly that anti-consorting legislation will
only be brought forward if the ACT can achieve human rightscompliant legislation," he said. "To achieve that will take a longer
period of time than is available to me ... Therefore, this work will
continue & it will be for another minister to take it forward."
“I've always said very clearly that anti-consorting legislation
will only be brought forward if the ACT can achieve human
rights-compliant legislation.” - Atty-General Simon Corbell
The territory's Humans Rights Commissioner, Helen
Watchirs, told the Gov’t last month she opposed the laws, saying
criminalising "the act of associating with a particular class of
individual should have no place in a modern democratic society".
"It is disappointing that the ACT Gov’t is actively proposing to
enact consorting laws from other jurisdictions, after having
maintained a principled position previously that it would 'tackle
[organized crime] based on the offending behavior, based on the
offence, [and] based on the criminality'." However, Opposition
Leader Jeremy Hanson, who has backed anti-consorting laws for
seven years, said on Fri the Liberals would introduce their own
legislation if they won office in Oct. "It's very disappointing that
the Gov’t has thrown such critical legislation in the too-hard
basket," he said. "This is needed to prevent increased bike gang
activity. Since NSW introduced laws, police advice is that bikies
use weaker laws as an opportunity to conduct activity in the ACT."
The ACT has far fewer bikies than NSW or QLD: The Gov’t
estimates the 3 outlaw groups in Canberra have just 45 members.
However, police fear the rival gangs – the Rebels, Nomads &
Comancheros – are becoming more active as they vie for control.
Corbell acknowledged police desires for greater powers against
these groups but said that "ultimately, this is a matter of the elected
Gov’t to decide". "It's clear to me that police do need further tools
but they need to be human rights-compliant, & there is a need for
further work to be done to achieve that outcome."
Questions abound in recent arrest for 1979 murder of
Bandidos leader’s son - July 24, 2016 – Texas - By Dane Schiller;
www.HoustonChronicle.com - Don “Mother” Chambers, founder
of the Bandidos MC, lived long enough to make peace with the
death of his son near the Astrodome 36 years ago, but not long
enough to see the recent arrest in the decades-old case. The
booking of an elderly Ohio man for the fatal 1979 shooting,
however, is sparking more questions than answers. Do authorities
have the right man? And what prompted interest in the case more
than a generation later? The Chambers family waits to see if after
all these years they’ll have answers. “I’d like to look at him
personally & say, ‘Why did you do that?’” Donna Chambers said
this week, after learning about the arrest in her brother’s death.
Defense Attys, however, are adamant the wrong man was arrested
& are pushing for the charges to be dropped. “This is someone
that has unfortunately been arrested for something he truly didn’t
do,” lawyer Catherine Samaan said. “He has been misidentified.”
Leon Dudley, 69, of Ohio, was arrested in June on a decades-old
warrant, shackled & shipped in chains by bus to Houston. After
12 days in transit & a week in a Harris County jail, a state district
judge here released him on minimal bond - $30,000 for a murder
charge. He was allowed to return to Ohio on the condition he check
in regularly by phone. Dudley has no criminal record aside from
traffic violations, according to police. He is married & has lived in
Ohio for decades. Samaan said when Dudley heard that police
had been to his door looking for him, he went to the station to ask
what they wanted. The Harris County District Atty’s Office
declined to comment on the arrest but said it is reviewing
evidence. Stephen Chambers was killed in the early morning
hours of Nov. 3, 1979, outside the Dome Shadows night club,
where his wife worked as a waitress. Chambers & his brother-inlaw, Charles Philleo, were outside the night club when Chambers’
wife reportedly got into an argument in the parking lot. It ended
with shots fired by a man with a handgun in a 1973 Mercury sedan.
Chambers was in shot in the head & died later at Ben Taub
Hospital. Philleo was shot in the jaw but survived; he died years
later of natural causes. The shooter fled the scene. Investigators
said that the shooter did not appear to have a specific target.
Suspect ‘subdued’: Police said Dudley was identified in a photo
line-up & was fingered by his roommate, who said he was in the
car with Dudley & saw him open fire, police said. Dudley was
believed to have left the city shortly after the shooting. An aging
Harris County court file contains indictments for murder &
attempted murder issued Nov. 15, 1979, & the original warrant for
the arrest of Leon “Stash” Dudley. A typed “Defendant
Description” sheet describes him as having a “heavy” build on his
6-foot-1-inch frame but notes that authorities were unable to make
an arrest because of “insufficient defendant descriptors.” Samaan
said her client didn’t do it. She indicated the problem is rooted in
the original case investigation but declined to be specific &
declined to let Dudley speak to the Chronicle. “My duty at this
point is to my client, & I’m going to take care of him,” Samaan
said. “I’m sure people can understand the horror right now. He’s a
good man with a good family.” Houston Police Detective Darcus
Shorten said Cold Case Unit investigators were not actively
searching for a suspect in the case when the Gulf Coast Violent
Offenders Task Force found an address for a Leon Dudley near
Cincinnati, Ohio. Shorten described Dudley as “subdued” when
questioned by police, saying he had limited conversation & did not
discuss the shooting. Chambers said her father - who founded the
Bandidos in Houston in 1966 & died in 1999 - said there was no
tie between the Bandidos & her brother’s death. At the time of his
son’s death, Don Chambers was in prison for a double murder near
El Paso over a drug deal but was temporarily allowed out to attend
the funeral. Chambers said she’d heard about the argument
outside the Dome Shadows & that her former sister-in-law, who is
white, may have fired off some racial epithets.
Wait & see: Chambers said she has lost contact with the woman
long ago & has nothing to do with her. She said she long struggled
with her brother’s death but that her mother, who died in 2013,
took it hardest. “The person I don’t think was ever at peace with
my brother’s murder was my mom,” Chambers said. “She used to
say, ‘You don’t know what it is like to lose a child.’” Chambers
said she’ll wait & see what happens in court regarding Dudley or
whoever killed her brother. “One thing I have learned from this,
(the killer) has to live with what he did, not me,” she said. “I have
to live without my brother.” Jeff Pike, a recent Pres of the
Bandidos who lives in Conroe, said the club has no issue with
Dudley. “We have no animosity toward this guy,” Pike said. “I
didn’t even know Don had a son.”
Cripple Creek & Teller County Braces for Hells Angels Rally
– July 26, 2016 – Colorado – By www.MountainJackpot.com Cripple Creek is biker country, with southern Teller bustling with
armies of Harleys on any weekend in the summer due to the ideal
climate & scenery, coupled with the added perks of 24/7 gambling
& cocktails. After all, this is the home for the Salute to American
Veterans Rally & motorcycle ride that attracts tens of thousands
of riders every Aug. Other biker groups often congregate in the
Creek & Victor area & aren’t afraid to display their tattoos & club
patches. This biker-friendly trend will roar into high gear this
week, as 200 to 250 members of the HAs, one of the most
notorious & often controversial outlaw motorcycle organizations,
with actual military ties dating back to 1948, rolls into the area for
a Nat’l run. Members of the group from across the country this
week will frequent local casinos/restaurants & shops, tour the
region & play recreational softball. At the same time, they will
have meetings & will occupy lodging rooms & campsites in the
area. Even with the image associated with HAs name, local
leaders, LE authorities & business operators are welcoming
members of the club with mostly open arms. Many rooms in the
area are booked, & some business folks see the run, which
officially kicked off July 25, as a boon for the region. “We don’t
have any problem with it. They probably just want to be left alone
& have a good time,” said one local long-time resident & member
of the Two-Mile-High Club.
But some locals are a little apprehensive about the group’s past
image & history, & say it just takes 1 bad incident to create a
disaster. Plus, recent memories of the melee that occurred at the
Colo Motorcycle Expo last Jan in Denver still linger in the minds
of Coloradoans. This incident, capped by a fight between rivaling
gangs, left 1-person dead & caused many injuries. However, local
LE officials say the community is more than equipped to handle
the HAs Nat’l run, which often occurs in mountain locales in the
Rocky Mountain region. “We are treating this like any large
event,” said Cripple Creek Police Chief Mike Rulo “We don’t
expect any trouble, but we are prepared. Our main concern is for
the safety of the citizens. There will be an increased LE presence
in the area.” In many ways, Rulo compares the preparation for the
HAs Nat’l run to what occurs for the Salute to American Veterans
rally & even the state-wide USA cycling competition. “We share
a lot of resources,” said the police chief. He said the Cripple
Creek PD will be working closely with the Teller County Sheriff’s
Dept & other agencies in the region. “We have a good plan in
place.” Rulo said the Nat’l run has occurred in past years without
any glitches, & expects the same scenario for Cripple Creek. The
HAs run has been held in the past in Gunnison, CO, Cody, WY &
in MT. Last year, it was held in Clarksburg, VA, a community of
about 1,100 residents. Rulo described it as a gathering for
members of the group & a mini-vacation, as they prepare to head
to Sturgis, SD, the site of the biggest biker gathering in the
country. The police chief said he hasn’t received that many
concerns about the rally from local residents & business operators.
According to local business owner & Cripple Creek/Victor RE1 District School Board member Tim Braun, many locals &
business operators are supportive of the run. “We don’t see any
problem with it,” said Braun. “There haven’t been any problems
in the other towns where this was held. It is really a non-issue.”
Some business operators, in fact, are hoping for an increase in
commerce during the run. Similar sentiments are echoed by
Cripple Creek City Admin Ray DuBois. He said that the goodwill between biker members & residents, which occurs at many of
these events, is often overlooked. “People just remember the bad
incidents,” admitted DuBois. To date, he said he has been quite
impressed with the professionalism displayed by the HAs’ Nat’l
run coordinators. “They have been very cooperative. So far,
everything has been extremely positive,” said the city
administrator. DuBois said HAs representatives have mostly
inquired about facilities in the area & the availability of local
services. Officials are mum, though, about specific meeting
locations. A recreational softball game, involving many members
of the HAs, is scheduled for the afternoon of July 28 at the Cresson
baseball diamond. In recent years, the HAs organization, which
now operates as a corporation, has tried to improve its image
through charity events, recreational activities in the host
communities & toys for tots drives...
Past image still a subject of concern: But still, the past ruffian
image of Hells Angels, highlighted in Hunter Thompson’s famous
1966 nonfiction book, “HAs: The Strange & Terrible Saga of the
Outlaw Motorcycle Gang,” haunts the organization. Thompson
rode with the outlaw gang for an extended period & nearly got
stomped to death at the end of his journalistic stint with the club.
Many also remember the Altamont rock festival in Calif, when
members of the HAs, acting as security guards, beat up many
concert-goers & even the lead male singer of the Jefferson
Airplane, Marty Balin. Mick Jagger, lead singer, of the Rolling
Stones band, pleaded with the club members to ease up on their
security tactics, which authorities claim led to a fatal stabbing & a
bevy of injuries & other deaths. Around that time, the HAs were
strongly involved in the hippie counter-culture movement & often
a hung out with such psychedelic icons as Ken Kesey, Timothy
Leary, Allen Ginsberg & Jerry Garcia. Since then, their image
has mellowed quite a bit & many of their famous members &
leaders have gotten older. However, the Dept of Justice still
regards the HAs as an organized crime syndicate, contending the
organization is involved with drugs, prostitution, domestic
violence, intimidation & violence. Angels’ leaders, however, say
this perception is false, saying they are just motorcycle enthusiasts
who are more known now for organizing charity events & social
gatherings. Many members claim they are persecuted by police &
Fed agencies because they opt to live unorthodox lifestyles.
Page 11
The Hells Angels MC was actually founded in San Bernadino
in 1948. The name stems from a military squadron in China In
World War II. Today, the club has charters throughout the United
States totaling more than 2,500 members, & on every continent
except Antarctica. Rulo declined to comment on whether the
organization has improved its standing with law officers. “Our job
is not to pass judgement on the HAs, but to make sure that our
citizens are safe,” said Rulo. According to inquiries his agency
has conducted, the police chief has concluded that the Nat’l Hells
Angels’ runs have occurred without any problems. And in reality,
Cripple Creek is a prime spot for motorcycle & sports-car
enthusiasts in the summer. “Who wouldn’t want to come up here
for a motorcycle ride,” noted DuBois. Rulo said that the club
members will probably spend a good portion of their time touring
the area & enjoying the sites. “They want to come up here for a
lot of the same reasons that you or I & many people like coming
up here for,” said the police chief.
Supreme Court Guts the 4th Amendment - Aug 5, 2016 - USA
- By David “Double D” Devereaux; www.Motorcycle
ProfilingProject.com - Incriminating evidence found during an
illegal stop should be considered fruit from the poisonous tree.
The Supreme Court has long excluded incriminating evidence
found as a result of an illegal stop conducted without reasonable
suspicion or probable cause. Over time the court has embraced
exceptions to this rule. But recently the court created an expansive
exception which gives law enforcement much more authority to
search persons stopped for no reason at all. In the words of Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, this decision “says that your body is subject to
invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights. It implies
that you are not a citizen of a democracy.” This new exception
means that anyone can be stopped at any time, regardless of guilt
or innocence. What can be done? State legislation is one of the
only mechanisms available to provide civil liberty protection
beyond limited federal minimums.
The Court’s Decision: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June
20th that courts need not suppress evidence of a crime obtained
through an illegal stop if an outstanding warrant is discovered after
the seizure. The facts of the case: A man named Edward Strieff
was seen leaving a location under surveillance for drug dealing
based on a tip from an anonymous source. Narcotics detective
Douglas Fackrell admitted he had no reason to believe Strieff had
done anything wrong. But he still illegally stopped Streiff &
detained him while radioing in to check for outstanding warrants.
A warrant for a minor traffic offense came back so the detective
searched Streiff & discovered a small amount of illegal drugs. The
Utah Supreme Court threw out the conviction because it stemmed
from an illegal stop. But in a 5-3 decision the majority said that
“officer Fackrell’s discovery of the outstanding warrant broke the
connection to the unconstitutional stop.” As a result, the evidence
found in the search could be used in court.
Why The Courts Decision Impacts All Americans, Including
Motorcyclists: Justice Sotomayor’s dissent explains the dangerous
precedent. Police will be able to stop anyone on a “whim or a
hunch”. That illegal stop can then be extended to search for a
minor outstanding warrant, a warrant that the police officer didn’t
know existed before the illegal seizure. A warrant obtained as a
direct result of an illegal stop which can then be used to conduct a
search & obtain incriminating evidence. Previous to June 20th,
evidence obtained in this way could not be used in court. The
impact of the court’s decision is staggering & impacts Many
Americans. Justice Sotomayor noted that state & federal databases
say “there are more than 7.8 million outstanding warrants, the vast
majority of which are for minor offenses. In New Orleans, a third
of the 60,000 arrests in 2011 were of people with outstanding
traffic or misdemeanor warrants for infractions such as unpaid
tickets.” In some communities the vast majority of people have
outstanding warrants. NPR reported on June 20, 2016 that “in
Ferguson, MO., a town with a population of 21,000, 16,000 people
had outstanding warrants — in one case for failure to feed the
meter with enough quarters, according to the Justice Dept.” “We
must not pretend that the countless people who are routinely
targeted by police,” are, as the majority maintains, “isolated”
cases, says Sotomayor. “They are the canaries in the coal mine”
who warn us that “unlawful police stops corrode all our civil
liberties. Until their voices matter too, our justice system will
continue to be anything but.”
What Can Be Done To Preserve Eroding Liberties? The
answer to an expansive rights base resides in state legislatures &
state constitutions. State lawmakers have the power to pass
legislation that provides more protection than federal minimums
as interpreted by the Supreme Court. State laws prohibiting illegal
stops & providing exclusion of illegally obtained evidence,
including relief for victims, would provide protection now
unavailable at the federal level. Laws prohibiting motorcycle
profiling are an example of such state protections. Supporting
motorcycle rights organizations & events is one of the best ways
motorcyclists can have a direct impact on state legislation.
--------------------------------------------------------
Stress Management... Just in case you are having a rough day,
here is a stress management technique recommended in all the
latest psychological journals. The funny thing is that it really does
work & will make you smile.
1. Picture yourself lying on your stomach on a warm rock
that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.
2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in
the cool running water.
3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.
4. No one knows your secret place.
5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called
the world.
6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air
with a cascade of serenity.
7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out
the face of the person you are holding underwater...
An American Biker
Ironhorse writer; American Biker Poet
I tend to push the limits;
I ride against the wind.
I look upon my vices;
Without the guilt of sin.
I dig the smell of leather;
I like the look of chrome.
I prefer the feel of a woman;
Without the silicone.
I am all for getting even;
I settle every debt.
I have faced many a demon;
Without a thought of regret.
I believe in God And country;
I know sacrifice.
I honor those who’ve given;
Without regard of price.
I am an American Biker;
I don’t subscribe to hype.
I ask only that you see me;
Without the stereotype.
Page 12
Statistics Prove Outlaw MCs Not A Public Threat – Aug 10,
2016 – U.S.A. – By David “Double D” Devereaux;
www.MotorcycleProfilingProject.com - Authorities openly target
MCs, particularly 1% clubs, selectively enforcing the law, in
order to harass or investigate individuals based on the belief that
they are definitionally criminals. This perspective is based on an
outdated stereotype that is ignorant of statistical reality &
foundational constitutional principles that have been consistently
confirmed by the Supreme Court & other Fed courts. Many Fed
& state authorities insist that what they call “outlaw motorcycle
gangs/OMG’s” are a significant organized crime threat in
America, despite the statistical data that proves criminal activity
involving these clubs is negligible at best. (Note: the OMG tag is
universally rejected by the clubs labeled gangs by LE.) Tens of
millions of dollars are spent targeting & prosecuting MCs based
on a fallacy of composition. The regurgitated actions of the few
are used to create a generalized assumption about thousands of
people, regardless of statistical reality. Crimes committed by
individual members of MCs are highly sensationalized &
presented to be representative of the entire community. In fact,
the statistical data that does exist, including the data generated by
these same agencies, proves definitively that clubs labeled
OMG’s represent a myopic percentage of criminal activity in this
country. Indeed, data suggests that LE agencies commit &
sanction many more major crimes than MCs.
The Numbers: To begin to paint an accurate picture it is
necessary to know how many members of these clubs & convicted
felons there are in the US. Statistics say that there are 44,000
members of clubs labeled OMG’s, 24,000,000 convicted felons,
& 6,851,000 whom are currently under correctional supervision.
◾The FBI’s Nat’l Gang Intelligence Center estimates that there
are 44,000 members of so-called OMG’s in the U.S. According to
the NGIC, “OMGs are organizations whose members use their
MCs as conduits for criminal enterprises. Although some LE
agencies regard only One Percenters as OMGs, the NGIC, for the
purpose of this assessment, covers all OMG criminal
organizations, including OMG support & puppet clubs.”
◾According to the Princeton Univ study, Growth in the U.S.
Ex-Felon & Ex-Prisoner Population, 1948 TO 2010, 20 million
people in 2010 had a felony conviction. Accounting for growth
rates, there were approximately 24 million people in 2014 with a
felony conviction.
◾According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 6,851,000
adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole,
jail, or prison) in 2014. (see BJS, “Correctional Populations In
The United States, 2014”)
Statistical Reality- OMCs Members a very small fraction of
convicted felons in the US.: Although there is no statistical data
tracking the number of MC members who are convicted felons,
LE would have you believe that all members of clubs they have
labeled OMG’s are criminals. Despite the obvious inaccuracy of
this claim, - most members of Clubs labeled OMG’s have no
criminal record- let us assume for the sake of argument, & to
demonstrate the absurdity of LE assumptions, that every member
of every club that authorities label a criminal gang is a convicted
felon. Even if all 44,000 members of clubs labeled OMG’s were
convicted felons, the overall impact on felony convictions would
be minuscule.
Do the math. 44,000 members/24,000,000
convicted felons=0.00183333 or .183333%. The impact on those
currently under correctional supervision would be similarly
insignificant. 44,000 members/6,851,000 currently under
supervision=0.00642242 or .64%. A fraction of 1% does not
justify the stereotype of criminality. It’s that simple. The
following Pie Chart graphically demonstrates the absurdity of
focusing on MCs as a LE priority.
Actual Number of Convicted Felons Among Clubs Labeled
OMG’s: Although the NGIC estimates the number of members,
no data on how many members are actually convicted felons is
available. On Aug 2, 2016 the MPP conducted a short survey
with a small Nat’l sampling to generate data on the issue. The
survey data is derived solely from MCs labeled OMG’s by LE.
The survey asked 2 questions; 1- number of members in your
Chapter; & 2- number of convicted felons in your Chapter.
Survey Results: # of Chapters included in Survey: 5 (States
surveyed include Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, &
Maryland.) Average Number of members: 15 Average number
of Convicted Felons per Chapter: 3 or 20%
15/3 WA
16/4 OR
14/3 TX
14/1 MD
16/4 CA
The survey results revealed that there was an average of 1
convicted felon in 5, or 20%. Although the above example, which
counts every member of targeted clubs as convicted felons,
demonstrates that clubs definitionally have a minimal crime print,
20% of members is a far more realistic projection than 100%. 20%
of 44,000 = 8,800 club members that are convicted felons. 8,800
represents an almost non-existent 0.036% of the 24,000,0000 total
convicted felons in the US.
Page 13
Why Are There Felons In MCs? Options in society for most
felons are extremely limited in terms of employment & some basic
civil liberties & often felons feel rejected & stigmatized by
society. MC culture was created by individuals that had been
rejected by society after having returned home from war. MCs
provide an opportunity for reintegration to those released from
incarceration without the constraints of a judgmental mainstream.
The MC world is a classless society in terms of mainstream
establishment social hierarchy. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a
common laborer or an executive. When you walk into the club
world, status is dictated by respect & honor & not your education
or job title. Club culture provides an alternative way of life free
from the condemnations of the mainstream. Everyone has to live
by the same legal schematic. But not everyone has to reinforce or
acknowledge mainstream social hierarchies or elitist behavior.
Note: Some crimes are definitionally despicable & individuals that
have committed these crimes are not accepted, or they are
ostracized, from the Club community. Crimes targeting children
are an example of such an offense.
Hypocrisy Defined: LE Authorizes Informants To Commit
Thousands of Major Crimes Annually: For decades, LE agencies
have authorized informants to commit major crimes. Labeled
“otherwise illegal activity”, these sanctioned major crimes are
considered to be necessary for undercover informant work. But,
aside from the FBI, “otherwise illegal activity” has not been
quantified by other state & Fed agencies. In 1997, according to
the criminal defense firm O’Brien Hatfield, PA, “It came to light
when reporters revealed the FBI had authorized mobster “Whitey”
Bulger to continue his criminal enterprise long after he became an
FBI informant in 1975. Since that revelation, the U.S. Atty
General has required the FBI to keep reports on “otherwise illegal
activity” by its “confidential human sources.” But obtaining these
reports has proven difficult over the years. At least until members
of the press were able to obtain some quantifiable numbers from
the FBI. The Huffington Post Reported on Dec 27,2013: “In a Jan.
14, 2013, letter to Justice Dept officials, obtained by The
Huffington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request,
FBI officials disclosed that its 56 field offices authorized
informants to break the law at least 5,939 times during the 2012
calendar year. USA Today reported earlier this year that the
bureau allowed its informants to break the law 5,658 times in
2011.” O’Brien Hatfield explains that the reports “indicate the
otherwise illegal activities were considered Tier I & Tier II
violations. The Justice Dept defines a Tier I violation as activity
that would be criminal if not for the authorization of a Fed
prosecutor, & includes major crimes such as drug trafficking,
public corruption & crimes of violence. Tier II violations aren’t
necessarily less serious but can authorized by a senior FBI field
manager.” “Unfortunately, other LE agencies are not required to
keep such reports, although it is widely assumed that all levels of
LE allow informants to commit crimes during investigations”,
says O’Brien Hatfield. Annually, nearly 6,000 major crimes are
being authorized by the FBI alone. Considering that all levels of
LE authorize criminal acts, the actual numbers would be truly
staggering. All levels of LE sanction informants to commit major
crimes in order to arrest & convict other individuals for
committing these same crimes. This hypocrisy overwhelms the
amount of criminal activity in the club community many times
over.
Study Proves Police Commit More Felonies Than Outlaw
Bikers: Police officers are arrested about 1,100 times a year, or
roughly 3 officers charged every day, according to a new Nat’l
study, thought to be the 1st-ever nationwide look at police crime,
conducted by researchers at Bowling Green State Univ through a
grant from the Justice Dept’s Nat’l Institute of Justice. The most
common crimes were simple assault, aggravated assault, &
significant numbers of sex crimes. About 72% of officers (825
annually) charged in cases with known outcomes are convicted,
more than 40% of the crimes are committed on duty. The number
of convicted felons in clubs labeled OMG’s, as explained above,
is approximately 8,800 total. The number of convicted cops over
the last 11 years, according to the only data that exists, is 9,075.
(825 convicted cops per year x 11 years). More cops have been
convicted of felonies in the last 11 years than the total number of
felons in Clubs LE labels OMG’s. This is hypocrisy at the highest
level. Statistically, without bias, police are more of a threat to
public safety than outlaw MCs have ever been.
Conclusions: MCs Are Not a Nat’l LE Issue.: Considered in
context with data suggesting LE is a larger contributor to crime,
the analysis leaves no doubt that clubs targeted by LE are targeted
based on stereotype as opposed to statistical reality. The vastly
expensive surveillance, investigations, harassment & profiling
campaigns conducted by authorities are simply not justified based
on the irrefutable statistical reality that MCs mathematically have
a negligible to non-existent impact on the level & magnitude of
felony crime in the United States.
Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs Peacefully Assemble - Aug 14, 2016
- U.S.A. – By David “Double D” Devereaux;
www.MotorcycleProfilingProject.com - Many in the mainstream
media have missed the historic significance of who was standing
together during the Nat’l Council of Clubs Press Conference held
in Austin at Shamrock Cycles on May 17, 2016. The press event
announced a Nat’l Protest Against Motorcycle Profiling &
Discrimination. The story took a backseat to regurgitated
sensationalism focused on Waco. Members of clubs that some
media & LE have vilified were standing in unity behind the
common ground issue of motorcycle profiling & discrimination.
There were clubs from around the country in attendance, including
representatives from the Outlaws MC, the Mongols MC, the
Vagos MC, the Hells Angels MC, the Sons Of Silence MC, the
Devils Diciples MC, the Hessians MC, the Valiants MC, the
Infidels MC, the Outsiders MC, & many Clubs from Texas
ranging from Christian Clubs to Veterans MC’s. To be clear, this
does not represent any kind of peace treaty or end to historical
rivalries among MCs. What the NCOC does represent is a
decision by participants to stand together & project a unified voice
on common ground issues that impact all MCs & their members.
Issues like the 1st Amendment, discrimination & profiling. I
suppose peaceful political protest is just not interesting enough to
most mainstream media outlets, particularly events that disprove
& dismantle their choice to perpetuate irresponsible
sensationalism relating to MCs.
--------------------------------------------------------
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a local Catholic
elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large
pile of apples. The nun made a note, & posted it on the apple tray:
“Take only ONE. God is watching.” Moving further along the
lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate
chip cookies. A child had written a note, “Take all you want.
God is watching the apples.”
Page 14
City of Rochester Says OK for Businesses to Ban People
Wearing Motorcycle Gear - Nov 26, 2013 – Minnesota – By
Edie Grossfield; www.AmericanBikerTalkRadio.com - Rochester
bars & restaurants are not breaking the law when they deny access
to people wearing jackets or other clothing that displays the names
or symbols of the Rochester Chapter of the Sons Of Silence &
Med City Crew MCs, said Rochester City Atty Terry Adkins in a
letter to the clubs' lawyer.
Atty Michael Bader, of St. Paul, who represents the Confederation
Of Clubs of Minnesota, stated in an Oct. 31 letter to Adkins &
Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson that Rochester
establishments discriminate against MC members & that the
Rochester P.D. advises the bars & restaurants to do so. Bader did
not return phone calls for this report.
In a Post-Bulletin interview earlier this month, Bader threatened a
lawsuit against the city unless Peterson would try to stop bars &
restaurants from denying access to Sons Of Silence & Med City
Crew members who wear their club's names, symbols & signs in
the establishments.
Such discrimination violates Minnesota
Statute 604.12, unless a person's behavior is endangering other
people or property, or the person's clothing "is obscene or includes
the name or symbol of a criminal gang," according to the statute.
The point of disagreement between Bader & Adkins is whether the
Rochester Chapter of the Sons Of Silence & the Med City Crew
are criminal gangs. Bader contends that neither group has shown
a "pattern of criminal activity," which is required by Minnesota
Statute 609.229 before establishments can deny access to them.
However, after talking with the Rochester P.D. & reviewing the
information it provided, Adkins said he found a pattern of criminal
activity for the Sons Of Silence & the Med City Crew, which
supports the Sons Of Silence. "The Rochester P.D. tells me that
the Sons Of Silence is a motorcycle criminal gang with a common
name whose members wear clothing containing an identifying
sign/symbol," Adkins stated in his Nov. 18 letter to Bader.
Adkins provided the information upon which he based his
conclusion, including five criminal incidents between 1999 &
2013 involving Sons Of Silence members in Rochester, St. Cloud,
Iowa & Colorado. One of the incidents was a large fight at
Whiskey Bones Roadhouse in Rochester in Jan 2011.
The Organized Crime & Gang Section of the U.S. Dept of Justice
has concluded that the Sons Of Silence is "an organization whose
members use their MC as a conduit for criminal enterprises,"
Adkins wrote in the letter. "As such, I have concluded that the
Sons Of Silence is a 'criminal gang' as that term is defined by
Minn. Stat. 609.229, subd. 1," Adkins wrote.
November 18, 2013 - Michael M. Bader, LLC; Atty at Law
1500 U.S. Bank Center; 101 East Fifth St; St. Paul, MN 55101
Dear Mr. Bader: Thank you for your Oct 31, 2013, letter
regarding the Sons Of Silence MC, their clothing that identifies
their affiliation, & the Rochester P.D.’s position that the Sons Of
Silence is a criminal gang as that term is defined by state law. I
have met with Chief of Police Roger Peterson to gather additional
facts regarding your letter. With those facts in hand, I am now able
to respond to you.
Minn. Stat. §604.12 does indeed prohibit a place of public
accommodation from restricting access to a person solely because
the person operates a motorcycle or is wearing clothing that
displays the name of an organization or association. However, as
you indirectly conceded in your letter, there is a major exception
to this statutory prohibition concerning clothing that “includes the
name or symbol of a criminal gang.” Minn. Stat. §604.12, subd.
2(b)(2). To determines what constitutes a “criminal gang,” the
Legislature directs us to Minn. Stat. §609.229, subd. 1. This statute
defines “criminal gang” to mean the following:
1. Has, as one of its primary activities, the commission of 1 or
more of the offenses listed in Minn. Stat. §609.11, subd. 9;
2. Has a common name or identifying sign/symbol; and
3. Includes members or individually or collectively engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal activity.
The Rochester P.D. tells me that the Sons Of Silence is a
motorcycle criminal gang with a common name whose members
wear clothing containing an identifying sign/symbol. The Dept
also provided me with the following information:
1. On April 4, 2001, agents of the ATF arrested 6 Sons Of
Silence motorcycle gang members on charges of trafficking
cocaine, cannabis, & methamphetamine as well as unlawful
firearms possession. These arrests occurred in Iowa.
2. On Oct 9, 1999, 37 Sons Of Silence motorcycle gang
members were arrested on drug trafficking & illegal weapons
charges in Denver. As part of this undercover operation involving
the Sons Of Silence, federal agents seized 20 pounds of
methamphetamine, 35 guns, four hand grenades, 2 suppressors,
cash, & motorcycles.
3. On Jan 15, 2011, a large fight occurred at the Whiskey Bones
Bar in Rochester involving, among others, members of the Sons
Of Silence & Med City Crew.
4. In May, 2013, a large fight occurred at the Roadkill Sports
Grill in Greeley, Colorado involving rival gang members from
Hell’s Angels, Sons Of Silence, & Silent Warriors. Two people
were knifed during the fight & gun shots were fired.
5. On Nov 2, 2013, approximately 20 members of the Sons Of
Silence & Iron Order gangs were involved in a fight at a St. Cloud,
MN bar. One Sons Of Silence member, Scott Steele, was arrested
for Second Degree Felony Assault. Many of the Sons Of Silence
gang members were armed with handguns at the time of the fight.
6. The Organized Crime & Gang Section of the U.S. Dept of
Justice has concluded that the Sons Of Silence (and other Outlaw
Motorcycle Gangs), is an organization whose members use their
motorcycle club as a conduit for criminal enterprises. This is a
highly structured criminal organization “whose members engage
in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking,
& drug trafficking.” The Justice Dept concluded that the Sons Of
Silence members “have been implicated in numerous criminal
activities, including murder, assault, drug trafficking,
intimidation, extortion, prostitution operations money laundering,
weapons trafficking, & motorcycle & motorcycle parts theft.” You
can find this report at the following Internet location:
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/ocgs/gangs/motorcycle.html ...
7. The Med City Crew’s website states “We Support Sons Of
Silence MC.”
Page 15
The above information clearly shows a pattern of criminal
activity involving members of the Sons Of Silence motorcycle
gang. As such, I have concluded that the Sons Of Silence is a
“criminal gang” as that term is defined by Minn. Stat. 609.229,
subd. 1. The City disagrees with your claim of a violation of the
public accommodation law found at Minn. Stat. §604.12 as a result
of the decision of various Rochester establishments to deny access
by Sons of Silence members when they display Sons Of Silence
names, symbols, or signs on their clothing.
Sincerely, Terry L. Adkins; Rochester City Atty
CC: Police Chief
Roger Peterson
City Administrator Stevan E. Kvenvold
Comments:
Noel Wenrich - Dec 5, 2013 - New Holland, Pennsylvania Under such a loose interpretation of those statutes. all clothing
bearing, Christian Crosses, stars of David, rotary club, football
team logos, & so on should be banned because we can find several
members in those groups wearing those logos or patches, that have
committed crimes, been in drunken brawls, robberies, white collar
crimes & on & on. What Idiots. I mean come on I have seen
Prostitutes on the street wearing Christian Cross necklaces &
earnings.
Pat Carr - Nov 28, 2013 - The City Atty's findings are somewhat
inconsistent with the past. He had no problems with 2 felons on
the Fire Dept., one being a unqualified ex-cop who drunkenly ran
over 2 pedestrians, killing one, then sped through the city of Byron
with his headlights off, & at excessive speeds.
James Scott - Nov 26, 2013 - Ignorant people like you always
seem to want to link everything to race...you have a problem
Trevor Hamlen - Nov 26, 2013 - A few bad apples don't
represent the entire club. I wonder if the City would take a
different approach if they were called....ummm, lets say, the "New
Black Panthers", or perhaps even Louis Farrakhans group "The
Nation of Islam"? Just sayin....
--------------------------------------------------------
Confederation of Clubs Goals
Bring the Patch holders Together:
-- Communication between clubs.
-- A judicial coming together (not legislative) to protect our
rights through the courts.
Fight Police Harassment & Discrimination:
-- Introduce anti-discrimination legislation, similar to the Unruh
Act in California, in Confederation States that presently leave
bikers unprotected; A.I.M. attorney to work with state
Motorcycle Rights Organization on new laws.
-- Form delegation of patch holders & other affected bikers; that
together with their local A.I.M. attorney, present police
harassment grievances to the police chief and/or civic
entity responsible.
-- Discriminatory establishments notified by the A.I.M. attorney
that suit will be filed if they don’t cease & desist.
Proclamation of Intent:
-- Working with local state MRO on legislative matters
(ie. helmet issues, anti-biker discrimination, etc).
-- Working with the National Coalition of Motorcyclists on
Nat’l & Fed matters (ie. helmet issues, Fed Gang Bill, etc).
-- Support Aid to Injured Motorcyclists by introducing the
A.I.M. numbered card (special card only for patch holders) &
program to the members & allowing A.I.M. to set up at events.
Breaking the Silence: Nobody said SOS bikers are angels - Sept
25, 2011 – Minnesota – By www.PostBulletin.com - Dear Answer
Man, what is the Sons Of Silence MC & are they on the up-andup? I'm not sure what you mean by "on the up-and-up," but I can
confirm that it's a MC with all the usual baggage.
They were in the news in the Rochester area last weekend as 100
bikers, apparently all or most of whom are members of SOS, as
it's called, visited the St. Isidore Health Care Center in Plainview,
where a biker friend with multiple sclerosis lives. He's in failing
health & wanted to go to Sturgis for the big bike rally. That wasn't
going to happen, but his biker friends brought him some Sturgis
memorabilia instead.The get-together was organized by St. Isidore
staff & the Benedictine Health System Foundation, so the nursing
home had some comfort level with the Sons Of Silence. From all
I can tell, it was a kind & warm gesture for an ailing friend.
The club's website doesn't have much history or background, but
it does call itself a 1-percenter group, which in motorcycle
parlance means they're rowdies. According to Wikipedia, the club
was founded in Colorado in 1966 & has chapters in about a dozen
states & in Germany. There's apparently a chapter up & running
in Faribault. I attempted to contact the club & didn't make much
headway; if you're a member & want to talk, call me.
On their website they have a badge that says "No Fed Fabricated
Crimes." Though there's no explanation, it presumably refers to
federal raids by the ATF about a decade ago in Colorado & Iowa,
& just last month authorities arrested 8 men connected with the
SOS chapter in Indianapolis.
In that case, the charges involved meth trafficking, money
laundering & firearms offenses. The U.S. Justice Dept's Nat’l
Gang Assessment Center described the Sons Of Silence in 2009
as an "outlaw motorcycle gang" & said that "SOSMC members
have been implicated in numerous criminal activities, including
murder, assault, drug trafficking, intimidation, extortion,
prostitution operations, money laundering, weapons trafficking, &
motorcycle & motorcycle parts theft."
Other outlaw motorcycle gangs, according to the 2009 Justice
Dept report, are Hells Angels, Bandidos, Mongols & Outlaws, all
of which were said to have more members.
The Sons Of Silence motto is "Donec Mors Non Separat," which
in Latin means something like, "Not separated until death," though
I'm not certain the ancient Romans would recognize that phrasing.
--------------------------------------------------------
Harley-Davidson: Turning Gas into Noise Since 1903…
On a Harley happiness isn’t just around the corner…
Happiness is the corner…
--------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Defenders:
- We don’t accept applications. We accept commitments…
- If we all do a little bit, Then no one has to do a lot…
- There can be no “I”, there has to be “We”...
- One heart, One Voice…
National Coalition of Motorcyclists…
An Idea Whose Time Has Come…
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