The ghastly tragedy in Waco, Texas where members of at least five gangs engaged in a fight that began in a restaurant and spilled out into the parking lot, involving guns, knives, brass knuckles, clubs, and chains that resulted in at least nine people dead, 18 injured, around 150 people arrested, and over 100 weapons collected.
More gang members are now reported to be heading to Waco and are now not only threatening revenge against rival gangs, they have also reportedly issued a call to kill anyone in uniform and even threatened hospital staff.
This article examines these gangs and what they do. Thay have names like Bandidos, Cossacks, and Scimitars.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has classified the Bandidos as a Tier 2 gang — the second most dangerous classification — according to the most recent “Texas Gang Threat Assessment” report, released by DPS in April 2014.
“Although these gangs vary in size and structure, they are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime across urban, suburban and rural areas of Texas,” the assessment said.
According to the report, the Bandidos formed in the 1960s and “conducts its illegal activities as covertly as possible and avoids high-profile activities such as drive-by shootings that many street gangs tend to commit.
“However, members are not covert about making their presence known by wearing the gang colors, insignia and riding in large groups. They seek to turn public sentiment in their favor by organizing frequent charity runs. Bandidos are likely to focus on recruiting new members with no criminal history.”
The U.S. Department of Justice identifies the Bandidos as one of the two largest “outlaw motorcycle gangs” in the U.S., with about 900 members in 93 chapters.
According to the Department of Justice website, the Bandidos are “involved in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana and are involved in the production, transportation and distribution of methamphetamine.” The group is most active in the Pacific, Southeast, Southwest and West Central U.S.
I am sure that Fox News will have exhaustive discussions around the clock on the problem of white-on-white violence, the problem of gang culture in the white community, and ask where the parents of these gang members are and why they did not raise their children properly.
The discussions should start any minute now.
So these goons don’t hide and the Texas law enforcement agencies know who they are -- do they ever consider say, arresting them? Or are they considered good guys with guns?
One of those seems familiar …
… yep. The Bandidos are one of those groups under strong scrutiny over here in Germany (the other most heard about are the Hells Angels, who seem to have a long-standing feud with them). Most recently made the news when several of their chapters were outlawed, with numerous homes searched, including use of our equivalent of SWAT teams. They also seem to have connections to neo-Nazis.
Of course, the latest motor cycle gang to make the news over here were the Ночные Волки (“Night Wolves”). Not quite the same thing.
One of the Cossacs in a news story Mano linked to had an SS tattoo on his upper arm.
Who are, of course, Vlad Putin’s best buds.
(sorry to be the one to make the obvious joke)
If only more of these men had guns, this tragedy would have never happened. An armed society is a polite society after all.
re: white-on-white violence …
the discussions should start any minute now
.
soon
very soon
The media calls them “chapters”. If they were muslims, they’d be called “cells”.
On what charges? Gang membership itself isn’t illegal, and you don’t become guilty of a crime simply by associating with criminals. In order to arrest an individual, you have to be able to demonstrate that that individual has committed a specific crime, and you can’t just arrest them on the basis that they’ve probably done something and you’ll figure out exactly what later. All of this is exactly as it should be, for what I hope are fairly obvious reasons.
Over here in the UK we could arrest and jail them simply for possessing offensive weapons, but then we don’t have that pesky 2nd Amendment to worry about.
Speaking of England…
“knives, brass knuckles, clubs, and chains”? Puts me in mind of The Battle of Epping Forest.
When the limos return for their final review,
It’s all through; all you can see is the morning goo.
No-one left alive. Must be a draw.
So the blackcap barons toss a coin to settle the score.
I wonder whether the gang leaders were down there in the fray, or up above the crowd, inside their Silver Cloud.
We’ve had them here too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_war
It always amazes me that people will accept fear of terrorists in Iraq as an excuse for increasing government surveillance and the erosion of our civil rights when the worst violence in Canada in recent history, perpetrated by these biker gangs, doesn’t provoke such over-reaction.
If the cops can seize cash from anyone who looks suspicious, they could probably seize these guys’ guns.