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There's absolutely a war going on,

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and I think you can equate all of
this back to the Twin Peaks massacre

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in Waco, Texas.

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Police Detective Steve Cook has
investigated outlaw motorcycle gangs for

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three decades.

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He warns that escalating violence
in a turf war between the Bandidos

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and other motorcycle clubs may
spill over onto innocent victims.

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Hello, I'm investigative
reporter Robert Riggs.

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In this episode of the True
Crime Reporter podcast,

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I will take you inside the crime
scene tape of a deadly war going on,

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on the nation's highways in bars, and
at biking events in the southwest.

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A writing point is Detective Steve Cook.

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You just heard from Cook Works on
the front lines of this battle.

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Steve, the, the Hollywood's version of
an outlaw motorcycle gang, of course,

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is Sons of Anarchy. Separate
for me, if you will,

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the fact from fiction of
what they're really about.

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Well, I mean, I think like anything
that you, uh, see in Hollywood,

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it's glamorized. You know,

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they try to turn these guys
into anti-hero type characters,

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when in reality, you know,
these guys are organized crime,

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they're involved in a multitude
of criminal activities,

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and a lot of times the
portrayals that we, you know,

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just the general public get to see,

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are completely inaccurate with the facts
for people that actually have to deal

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with them on a day-to-day basis.

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Talk, if you will, about how the
gang works, how they make money,

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who gets the money, who runs the club,

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how do you get in the leadership
of the club and how do,

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how do you become a member? Well.

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I guess to, to break it down
first and foremost from a,

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a membership side is you're either
recruited because you know somebody

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that's already in,

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or there are individuals that just kind
of come in off the street that think

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that they like the, uh, lifestyle, think
it's something that they wanna pursue.

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So they will access, uh,
somebody who's in the,

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the group somewhere in
public, whether it's at a,

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a bike night or a bar or what have
you, maybe even at a dealership.

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And they can express their
intentions, if you will,

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to maybe hang around a little bit, come
around the group, if that's, you know,

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reciprocated. If they, if
they're okay with that,

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then that kind of starts the journey for
'em. Uh, as far as getting up into a,

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a leadership, uh, it's
extremely political.

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It's no different than any other
organization, whether it be a,

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a law enforcement agency or, uh, a
large hospital or, or what have you.

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You know, if you want to get into
those upper echelon positions,

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you're gonna have to do a
fair amount of politicking.

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It occurs in these groups as
well. So, you know, in short,

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as far as financially speaking,
uh, I think a big misconception is,

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is that the gang itself is making money.

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The purpose for the gang is to
enrich the individual members

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of the organization through their
membership in the organization.

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And by that, pretty much everybody
becomes enriched, you know,

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so I, I think for, you know, a lot
of times people think that, oh,

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there's just this one person kinda
like Oz sitting behind the curtain and

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they're reaping all the, the
benefits of this organization.

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It really doesn't run like that. Now,

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that's not to say that you don't
have guys that get into leadership

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positions that don't, uh, steal
money, embezzle money from,

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from the organization, you know,
do things to enrich themselves.

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But by and large, it's kind of a, uh,

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a vehicle for the
membership to commit crimes,

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to be involved in criminal
activity, and to have a, uh,

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support system behind you. Uh, you
gotta think about it in these terms.

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If you're a drug dealer and somebody
rips you off for a key of Coke,

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they're ripping you off. But if
you're a member of the Hell's Angels,

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they're ripping off the Hell's Angels.
At least that's their perception of it.

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And most people aren't gonna go
down that road to do that. So it,

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it does play a big factor,
uh, just having that patch.

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So it's a deterrent, uh, being a drug
dealer with a gang behind you, you,

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you don't want that gang
coming after you. Well.

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Absolutely. You know,
obviously drug addicts and,

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and people that buy and sell
and use and, and what have you,

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they're gonna have s erratic
behavior. But even those individuals,

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I know their limitations and it's
a lot easier to go rip off a nobody

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than it is to come at these
guys, try to rip one of them off,

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and then it turns into
a much bigger situation.

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Do the gangs rule by actual
violence or the reputation

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or fear of violence?

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Well, I mean, I think it's a little
bit of both. When they go into an area,

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they stake their claim.

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A lot of times the initial step
of that is to try to regulate any

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existing motorcycle gangs
that are in the area,

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because obviously you don't want to
compete with those people for that

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territory. So I think, you know, that's
a starting point definitely for it.

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And then once you get that street
credibility, that reputation out there,

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a lot of people are not maybe so anxious
to step to you because they know what

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your capabilities are.

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What are the, uh, typical criminal
enterprises of gangs, in particular,

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the Bandidos, they've been
in the news here in Texas,

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and then like a corporation,

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do they just literally sit down and
split up the proceeds each month yearly?

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What.

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Primarily, especially groups use the
Bandidos, for example, drugs is a,

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a big part of what they do.
Now, as far as how that works,

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a lot of times it can be on
an individual chapter level.

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It could even be in a more regional level,

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depending on who's dealing with who
and, and what chapters and, and,

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and so forth. Where you have to look
at is, is that every member pays dues,

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whether that's, you know, some groups,
they pay 'em weekly, some pay monthly.

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It depends on the organization.
Basically how that works is,

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is a portion of those dues goes to
your national leadership, if you will,

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your mother chapter, and they will
determine what to do with those funds.

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And there are a variety of
things that can occur with that.

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They can use it to throw a
party, buy food and booze and,

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and even drugs for some kind of event,

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or they could use it for legal defense
that a lot of guys get locked up in a,

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a criminal matter of some sort.

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They could use it to go to war with a
rival gang to help support that as far as

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guns, ammunition, bombs, you
know, whatever it might be.

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So ultimately, yeah,

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these proceeds of crime do go
to the mother chapter or the,

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the hierarchy of the group. And that's
why these groups are enterprises.

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That's why, uh,

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racketeering laws work so well
against them because they do have a,

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a ranking file, they have a structure,
they have a leadership, they have bylaws,

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they have rules and requirements
for membership, a rite
of passage, if you will,

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to get in.

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So that does make them
elevated to just a standard

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street gang, for example. Whereas you
might have a Crip member in Dallas,

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I can bet you money,

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he doesn't know any Crips in Kansas
City or Los Angeles or Minneapolis for

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that matter, but I can guarantee
you, if you have a Bandido in Texas,

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he knows every bandido in
Kansas City and vice versa,

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because they are a connected organization.

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They associate with each other,
they attend events together, they,

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they communicate with one another.

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What's their source of drugs?
Uh, do they manufacture,

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do they sell at the street level or are
they the middle group in the hierarchy?

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I think things have, obviously
they've changed over time. Uh,

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I think at one point, you know,
you look back into the, you know,

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sixties and seventies
especially, you know,

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these groups were manufacturing
methamphetamine. But now,

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because Mexican meth is so plentiful,

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the quality of it is so much better than
it used to be. And the accessibility,

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there's no point in
trying to make your own.

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That's not to say that you're not gonna
have the isolated incident where someone

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does,

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but from a purely financial perspective,

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it doesn't make sense to try
to procure all these precursor

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chemicals and go through this
elaborate process, which, you know,

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you could get caught pretty easily.

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Or you could just go meet somebody
who's got a cartel connection

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and buy from them.

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And are they pretty, uh, tightly
connected to the Mexican cartels?

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Well, I think most of
these groups, uh, you know,

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especially if you look at your larger
outlaw motorcycle gangs, groups like the,

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you know, hell's Angels, outlaws,
Bandidos, you know, even the Pagans,

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most of those groups, with
the exception of the Pagans,

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have international presence. You
know, both the Hills, angels,

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uh, well actually, Hills, angels,
Bandidos, and now the Outlaws,

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they all have chapters in Mexico.

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The Angels have chapters in
Columbia and Bogota and Cali.

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So they use that to make connections

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with other criminal enterprises.

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That's a big part of putting
this all together for them,

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is to have people in other
countries, other places,

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that have the ability
to make introductions,

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make things happen for them.

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So if they wanted to reach out from
Texas to touch somebody in Australia for

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either violence, drug sales, what
have you, they get, they can do it.

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Absolutely, they can. They've
got a tremendous reach,

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literally in a majority of the world.
Now, the Bandidos, the Hell's Angels,

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the Outlaws, all of them
are in Russia. So it,

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it's not that these are
just groups that have this,

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and I think that's a perception.

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A lot of people think that they
just have this local presence.

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They're everywhere.

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Reporters', notebook. May 17th, 2015,

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the Twin Peaks restaurant, Waco, Texas,

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nearly 200 members of the
notorious Bandidos motorcycle gang,

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crowded inside and outside on a
patio among lunchtime patrons.

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The Justice Department considers the
Bandidos one of the eight most dangerous

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motorcycle gangs in the United
States. Judo, its links to drugs,

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weapons, and human trafficking.

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A gang threat assessment by the Texas
Department of Public Safety has ranked the

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Bandidos as a tier two gang,

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or the second most dangerous
classification alongside the

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Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

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So police were there and
they watched from a distance.

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Then members of a arrival motorcycle gang,

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the Cossacks arrived
and all hell broke loose

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00:11:18,260 --> 00:11:22,840
at 12:24 PM Gunfire
erupted, police snippers,

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00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:27,320
armed with scope rifles zeroed in
on the bikers who were shooting

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and put them down.

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Gunfire quickly stopped when the gun
spoke, cleared after just three minutes,

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nine bikers lay dead, 18 others wounded.

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The shootout was the deadliest
incident in the Waco area.

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Since the Branch Davidian
cult Siege in 1993,

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Steve Cook says The deadly confrontation
at the Twin Peaks continues

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to fuel a violent territorial
war among rival outlaw motorcycle

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gangs across the Southwest.

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Basically,

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what you had happen at Twin Peaks
is the Bandidos historically have

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controlled Texas. That's been
their kind of power base.

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And they had a coalition of clubs
that they were, uh, you know,

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kind of running, for lack of better terms,

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which is pretty common in different
states. Some call it coalition,

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00:12:20,950 --> 00:12:25,880
some call it a confederation, uh, of
clubs. But basically what it is in short,

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is it's a way to keep
a thumb on other groups

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00:12:30,940 --> 00:12:32,760
in the state and to, uh,

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maintain some sort of control over
what goes on within the motorcycling

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community in that state.
So in this situation,

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the Cosics didn't want to be
a member of this coalition.

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They just were kind of independent, wanted
to do their own thing. The Bandidos,

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of course, that wasn't acceptable to him.

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The Coex had also put on
a Texas bottom rocker.

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00:12:55,830 --> 00:12:58,960
There's quite a bit of
dispute, if you will,

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on whether that was authorized or not.

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Some say that a Bandido had
given them permission to do it.

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00:13:05,940 --> 00:13:08,960
Others say that they didn't.
So, uh, you know, that,

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that's kind of up for speculation,
I guess you could say.

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00:13:12,620 --> 00:13:14,000
But the bottom line is,

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00:13:14,020 --> 00:13:19,000
is the Bandidos had had a coalition
meeting planned somewhere else that day,

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00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,160
I believe, in the Dallas area,
and they decided to come to Waco,

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00:13:23,820 --> 00:13:26,920
and it was intentional. Waco
was, you know, the Cossacks area.

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So they came there and
all hell broke loose.

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00:13:31,110 --> 00:13:34,960
Main reason for that is, is the
cossacks weren't afraid of it.

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00:13:35,110 --> 00:13:40,040
They stood their ground. There were a
lot of unnecessary deaths that occurred.

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00:13:40,390 --> 00:13:44,440
Nine, I believe, when it was all said
and done. A lot of people injured.

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00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:49,600
But what really was accomplished out
of that, if you wanna use that term,

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00:13:50,380 --> 00:13:55,360
is it exploited the Bandidos.
It showed others that, Hey,

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00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:55,680
you know,

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maybe these guys aren't as strong as
they lead everyone to believe they are in

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Texas. A lot of groups, you know,
around the nation hadn't heard of Coex.

225
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,000
They didn't know who these guys
were, and they thought, wow,

226
00:14:07,010 --> 00:14:11,480
these guys stepped up to them
in a big way. Why not us? Why,

227
00:14:11,500 --> 00:14:15,560
why don't we go down there and plant
our flag? Which is what's happened?

228
00:14:16,060 --> 00:14:20,200
So suddenly there was a chink in
the armor of the Bandidos and I,

229
00:14:20,300 --> 00:14:25,100
but it sounds like this is all
about turf and who controls what

230
00:14:25,100 --> 00:14:29,140
part of, uh, the state and the
sales of drugs and other activities.

231
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,500
At the end of the day,
it's all about turf.

232
00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:36,620
And what goes along with turf is
controlling certain aspects of crime.

233
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,260
And there is a certain, you
know, component of it that
is just plain and simple,

234
00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:44,700
toughest kid on the
schoolyard, machismo, you know,

235
00:14:44,950 --> 00:14:48,780
who's the baddest kid on the block? We
wanna be the toughest spike gang around.

236
00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,060
No, we wanna be the toughest spike
gang, you know? And, and sadly enough,

237
00:14:52,450 --> 00:14:54,500
there's a lot of stupid
that goes along with that,

238
00:14:54,500 --> 00:14:59,260
because you give people fueled with
drugs, making irrational decisions.

239
00:14:59,970 --> 00:15:03,060
Some of these guys, uh, you know, you
especially see this with the angels,

240
00:15:03,100 --> 00:15:04,780
a lot of steroid use and things like that.

241
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:10,380
So you get a lot of these guys
that, uh, they get pumped up and,

242
00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:15,220
you know, they, they buy into the hype,
uh, of what this lifestyle is about,

243
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,900
and they're willing to go out and kill
somebody over, uh, a piece of fabric.

244
00:15:20,970 --> 00:15:22,940
That piece of fabric is the patch,

245
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,780
the gang colored insignia with
a bandido name proudly and

246
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,100
boldly worn by members to
make their presence known.

247
00:15:31,810 --> 00:15:36,740
They ride in large groups and seek to
turn public sentiment to their favor

248
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:42,110
by organizing frequent charity runs.
According to the Bandidos legend,

249
00:15:42,670 --> 00:15:45,870
a 36 year old Vietnam
War veteran in Houston,

250
00:15:46,100 --> 00:15:49,270
dock worker started the club in the 1960s.

251
00:15:50,050 --> 00:15:53,670
It adopted the red and gold
colors of the US Marine Corps.

252
00:15:54,690 --> 00:15:58,710
The one percenter sign on the patch
refers to a saying that was coined in the

253
00:15:58,910 --> 00:16:02,550
1950s by the American
Motorcyclist Association.

254
00:16:03,260 --> 00:16:08,030
They were saying that 99% of
motorcycle riders were law abiding,

255
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:09,950
upstanding members of society,

256
00:16:10,650 --> 00:16:15,510
but 1% of motorcycle riders are
criminals and give the whole

257
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,070
group a bad reputation.

258
00:16:17,990 --> 00:16:21,800
This saying was specifically directed
at clubs like The Hell, hell's Angels,

259
00:16:22,140 --> 00:16:25,800
who at the time were seen as
being involved in various crimes.

260
00:16:26,580 --> 00:16:29,040
The saying was adopted
by the clubs themselves,

261
00:16:29,140 --> 00:16:33,560
who sometimes call themselves
one percenters with pride.

262
00:16:35,030 --> 00:16:39,830
Do they always have on the jacket in the
patch so you know they're amongst you?

263
00:16:39,930 --> 00:16:43,000
Or often are they in civilian clothes?

264
00:16:43,750 --> 00:16:47,040
Well, if they're on their motorcycle,
they should have their patch on. Uh,

265
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,240
that's pretty standard.
But most of these guys,

266
00:16:51,430 --> 00:16:52,560
even if they aren't,

267
00:16:53,270 --> 00:16:56,280
have something on 'em because they're
proud of who they are, you know,

268
00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,200
this is a accomplishment,
if you will mm-hmm.

269
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,080
<affirmative> for them to get
into these types of organizations.

270
00:17:01,380 --> 00:17:06,120
So they're gonna have, uh, what we call
soft colors, which is a t-shirt, uh,

271
00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:10,920
with their patch screen printed on
it, or a belt buckle or a necklace,

272
00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:14,840
or rings, definitely
tattoos. So, you know,

273
00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:16,240
if you know what you're looking for,

274
00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:18,560
you're gonna be able to
pick them out in public.

275
00:17:19,730 --> 00:17:22,270
So if I walk into a restaurant
and I see some of these things,

276
00:17:22,270 --> 00:17:24,910
maybe I should pick a different
table or a different restaurant.

277
00:17:25,180 --> 00:17:28,750
Well, I, you know, like I say,
you know, I don't know that, uh,

278
00:17:29,430 --> 00:17:33,470
I personally want to go and sit down at
a table next to four or five of these

279
00:17:33,470 --> 00:17:36,070
guys, not because I'm worried
that they're gonna do something,

280
00:17:36,330 --> 00:17:40,590
but I don't know who's gonna ride by and
see their bikes in the parking lot and

281
00:17:40,590 --> 00:17:42,630
decide to ambush 'em when
they walk out the door.

282
00:17:42,850 --> 00:17:46,350
And hopefully you're not walking out the
door at the same time. It happens, but,

283
00:17:46,730 --> 00:17:48,910
uh, you know, yeah, it's,
it's not good for business.

284
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,060
And a and a lot of places know that I
go down to Daytona Beach a lot for Bike

285
00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:56,780
Week, and most of the bars down
there have signs, you know, uh,

286
00:17:56,810 --> 00:17:58,660
that you can't wear colors, uh,

287
00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:03,420
or any kind of support gear inside their
establishment because they know what it

288
00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:05,700
brings with it. They can't
afford to lose the business.

289
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,970
When we come back after this message,

290
00:18:09,780 --> 00:18:13,810
Steve and I will talk about the ongoing
war that stems from the Twin Peak

291
00:18:13,810 --> 00:18:14,643
Shootout

292
00:18:25,870 --> 00:18:30,540
reporters' notebook.
Saturday, April 2nd, 2022,

293
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,670
2:00 PM four Bandidos and
seven members of the Rival

294
00:18:36,090 --> 00:18:36,690
Home's.

295
00:18:36,690 --> 00:18:41,430
Outlaw motorcycle gang traded insults
at a gas station on Main Street

296
00:18:41,530 --> 00:18:46,270
in Madisonville, Texas. It's a small
town located between Dallas and Houston.

297
00:18:46,410 --> 00:18:47,990
On Interstate 45,

298
00:18:49,090 --> 00:18:52,830
the home ethos cranked up their
motorcycles in circle back,

299
00:18:53,380 --> 00:18:56,430
opening fire on the
bandidos in the parking lot.

300
00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:05,770
Bystanders hit the ground for cover
as dozens of nine millimeter bullets

301
00:19:06,220 --> 00:19:10,250
ricocheted around them. While
there were no serious injuries,

302
00:19:10,710 --> 00:19:13,530
at least one round struck
a bandidos motorcycle,

303
00:19:13,790 --> 00:19:18,690
and police found a bullet hole in a
car parked more than 400 yards away.

304
00:19:19,510 --> 00:19:22,130
Police arrested three
members of the home, mitos,

305
00:19:22,130 --> 00:19:26,610
and including its 28 year old
president from Oklahoma is

306
00:19:26,610 --> 00:19:29,450
36 year old Vice President
from Kansas City,

307
00:19:30,030 --> 00:19:33,210
and 28 year old Eric Oberholser,

308
00:19:33,430 --> 00:19:36,490
the gang's president of
its Oklahoma City, chapter

309
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,490
reporters notebook. April 1st, 2023,

310
00:19:42,070 --> 00:19:47,040
11:00 PM almost exactly
a year after Ober Holzer

311
00:19:47,060 --> 00:19:51,160
was charged with opening fire on a group
of Bandidos in Madisonville, Texas.

312
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,420
The Bandidos surrounded the Whiskey
Barrel Saloon in Oklahoma City,

313
00:19:56,870 --> 00:19:58,700
where the Ho Vidos hung out.

314
00:19:59,780 --> 00:20:03,910
Ober Holzer and another member of the
Unidos traded insults with a group of

315
00:20:03,910 --> 00:20:05,750
bandidos near the patio entrance.

316
00:20:06,710 --> 00:20:11,590
A security cabr recorded a bandidos
shooting one of the MDOs twice

317
00:20:11,970 --> 00:20:15,590
in the back, Oberholser Lido of the MDOs,

318
00:20:16,010 --> 00:20:20,190
and a member of the rival Bandidos
shot it out and killed each other.

319
00:20:21,060 --> 00:20:25,630
When the gun smoke cleared two
Unidos and one Bandido laid dead

320
00:20:28,020 --> 00:20:32,130
reporters' notebook. April 14th, 2023,

321
00:20:32,940 --> 00:20:37,490
three Bandidos driving to the funeral of
the fellow club member killed two weeks

322
00:20:37,490 --> 00:20:41,410
earlier in Oklahoma City
are shot dead on Interstate

323
00:20:41,410 --> 00:20:43,130
45 2,

324
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,340
died on the side of the highway
near a colossal six story tall white

325
00:20:48,340 --> 00:20:52,540
statue of Sam Houston, the first
president of the Republic of Texas,

326
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,740
an eyewitness who tried to give
First aid said of one victim.

327
00:20:57,410 --> 00:21:02,180
I've never seen anything like that.
His eyes were open, wide and empty.

328
00:21:03,290 --> 00:21:06,900
Well, now we've seen this
escalate into, uh, you know,

329
00:21:07,340 --> 00:21:11,380
Bandidos being shot off their bike in
Huntsville, Texas, on the interstate,

330
00:21:11,380 --> 00:21:14,100
you know, which is the home to
the te prison system in Texas,

331
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,580
and then an outbreak in Oklahoma and
then New Mexico. What's going on?

332
00:21:19,130 --> 00:21:23,460
Well, I think what's happened is
you've had a couple things go on. One,

333
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,980
the Twin Peaks incident, definitely,

334
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,620
but you've also had a lot of disruption
within the bandidos themselves,

335
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,380
the young, against the old.

336
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,660
You have a lot of the old time Bandidos,

337
00:21:37,660 --> 00:21:41,940
many of of whom I know that weren't happy

338
00:21:42,530 --> 00:21:45,060
with the trajectory that the group was on.

339
00:21:45,060 --> 00:21:49,980
They didn't like how these young
members were coming in gang bangers,

340
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,900
not really interested in
riding their motorcycles.

341
00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:57,500
They were more interested in partying
in violence, things like that.

342
00:21:57,810 --> 00:22:00,540
Some of the older time
bandits, they didn't want that.

343
00:22:00,540 --> 00:22:02,660
They wanted to ride their
bikes. They, you know, sure,

344
00:22:02,660 --> 00:22:06,620
they wanted to party a little bit, get
high, but by and large, you know, it's,

345
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,820
you guys do your thing, we do ours, and
we'll leave each other alone. You know,

346
00:22:10,820 --> 00:22:13,340
we just don't need it. We've,
we've, we've lived through it.

347
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,740
So you had a lot of guys
break away to the Kin folk,

348
00:22:18,030 --> 00:22:22,580
which started some immediate
violence from that time. You've had,

349
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,540
uh, several bandidos and,

350
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,460
and support club members become
Mongols in the state of Texas,

351
00:22:28,590 --> 00:22:33,300
which has created a lot of adversity. And
then you've got, uh, two other groups,

352
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,100
the, uh, brothers East known
as the Beast and the Uhs.

353
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,260
And both of those groups
have, you know, not all,

354
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,260
but they both have some former
bandidos within those groups.

355
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,380
So what you have is, is you
have a lot of hostility.

356
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,460
You have a lot of animosity, if you will,

357
00:22:51,770 --> 00:22:54,380
unfortunately for the Bandidos, you know,

358
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,700
now with the Pagans being
in the state of Texas,

359
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:01,220
the Bandidos have a lot of issues.
They're kind of on an island, if you will,

360
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,300
within their own home state down there,

361
00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,740
because they're surrounded by
people that don't like them.

362
00:23:07,620 --> 00:23:11,390
Reporters notebook. May 28th, 2023,

363
00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:14,390
5:00 PM Memorial Day weekend,

364
00:23:15,670 --> 00:23:18,990
thousands of motorcycle
enthusiasts converged at Red River,

365
00:23:19,050 --> 00:23:22,830
New Mexico for the 41st
annual motorcycle rally.

366
00:23:23,790 --> 00:23:28,630
A fight broke out and then gunshots
between members of the Bandidos and the

367
00:23:28,630 --> 00:23:30,270
Water Dog's Motorcycle Club.

368
00:23:30,850 --> 00:23:35,430
It stemmed from a wedding photo
posted on a Facebook of the Water Dogs

369
00:23:35,430 --> 00:23:39,590
President, standing with two members
of the Mongols Motorcycle Club,

370
00:23:40,110 --> 00:23:42,150
a hated rival of the Bandidos,

371
00:23:42,890 --> 00:23:45,420
the California based
Mongols set up in Mexico.

372
00:23:45,730 --> 00:23:48,780
Without getting required
permission from the Bandidos,

373
00:23:49,370 --> 00:23:50,900
according to the F B I,

374
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,260
the Bandidos saw the photo
and likely felt disrespected.

375
00:23:56,150 --> 00:23:59,330
Two Bandido members were killed
along with one of the water dogs.

376
00:24:00,030 --> 00:24:04,370
The shootout brought the annual
motorcycle rally to a screeching halt.

377
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,770
Yeah, the Die in Red River
is a complete fiasco,

378
00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:14,490
sadly enough is there are a lot of good
people that have went to that event

379
00:24:14,710 --> 00:24:17,650
for a lot of years, and now it's done.

380
00:24:17,850 --> 00:24:21,130
I don't know that it comes back
from a liability standpoint.

381
00:24:21,950 --> 00:24:26,490
How do you allow it to come back? And
I think the saddest part of it is,

382
00:24:26,950 --> 00:24:29,290
is a lot of this stuff is preventable.

383
00:24:30,310 --> 00:24:34,490
But in the law enforcement
circles in a in a lot of places,

384
00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:39,010
this is not deemed a priority. I,
I cannot wrap my head around it.

385
00:24:39,530 --> 00:24:41,090
I think a lot of the problem is,

386
00:24:41,110 --> 00:24:44,330
is there's a lot of people over the
years that have put out a lot of bad

387
00:24:44,330 --> 00:24:48,620
information to young cops
and have scared them,

388
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,380
uh, of these guys. And, oh, you know,
you shouldn't stop these guys. You,

389
00:24:53,380 --> 00:24:55,860
you can't pull these guys over
cuz they're gonna do X, Y, and Z.

390
00:24:56,490 --> 00:24:59,900
It's ridiculous. I've been
doing this for 30 years.

391
00:25:00,410 --> 00:25:04,900
I've stopped hundreds of these guys.
I've stopped groups of, you know,

392
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,420
10 plus Hells Angels by myself. Okay?

393
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,780
The job is inherently dangerous.
If you didn't know that,

394
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,460
you probably should have figured it
out before you signed on to do it.

395
00:25:16,900 --> 00:25:20,980
A lot of these places that you see
this activity just running rampant,

396
00:25:22,030 --> 00:25:23,850
it shouldn't be happening like this.

397
00:25:24,550 --> 00:25:28,290
If law enforcement collectively
would put a foot down on this,

398
00:25:28,790 --> 00:25:33,070
you could probably solve a lot of these
issues, prevent 'em from happening.

399
00:25:33,610 --> 00:25:38,390
And a lot of it is just as
simple as having a dialogue,

400
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,310
being able to talk to these individuals.

401
00:25:42,030 --> 00:25:46,470
I spend a lot of my time
talking to leadership

402
00:25:46,890 --> 00:25:50,510
in different al Motorcycle
gangs for that very reason,

403
00:25:50,740 --> 00:25:54,870
because we don't want this kind of
stuff happening. Not for anybody.

404
00:25:55,350 --> 00:25:59,990
I may not like how these guys live their
lives and, and what they represent,

405
00:26:00,170 --> 00:26:01,350
but I don't want 'em dead.

406
00:26:01,970 --> 00:26:06,870
So a lot of this can be
addressed by just sitting down,

407
00:26:06,870 --> 00:26:10,950
getting at the table with somebody
and saying, Hey guys, knock this off.

408
00:26:11,460 --> 00:26:14,390
This is what's gonna happen
if this continues on.

409
00:26:14,430 --> 00:26:17,030
And if that's what you guys
want. If you want prison,

410
00:26:17,490 --> 00:26:21,270
we sell that stuff every day. We,
we can definitely accommodate you,

411
00:26:21,770 --> 00:26:25,710
but how about you guys just pick your
bar and let them pick their bar and

412
00:26:25,710 --> 00:26:26,910
everybody go on about their business.

413
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,840
I do know, you know, when you come
up on them in the, on the interstate,

414
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,690
they're an intimidating presence
about, do I pass? Were they going?

415
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:36,633
That sort of thing.

416
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,410
Yeah, they absolutely are. And they,
uh, they feed off that, that's,

417
00:26:41,470 --> 00:26:45,740
that's built, you know, pumps
the ego and, uh, helps 'em, uh,

418
00:26:45,740 --> 00:26:48,100
beat their chest a little
bit harder of who they are.

419
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,460
And they want that respect,
they want that fear.

420
00:26:51,530 --> 00:26:54,380
They want people not to try to cross 'em.

421
00:26:54,690 --> 00:26:56,700
Well, considering the
recent spike in violence,

422
00:26:56,700 --> 00:26:59,060
what do you think is next
more paybacks coming?

423
00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:00,260
Well, you know,

424
00:27:00,300 --> 00:27:05,060
I think the violence is gonna keep
going until somebody puts a stop to it.

425
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,820
And again, a lot of that
from a, a resource side,

426
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:14,740
that's kind of a obligation to the
federal government. Uh, there are several,

427
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,620
uh, federal agencies that
have the capability to,

428
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,940
uh, prosecute these types of
crimes until that changes, I,

429
00:27:23,980 --> 00:27:25,100
I don't know that it does change,

430
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,980
but I can tell you what you will
see is there are a lot of East Coast

431
00:27:30,550 --> 00:27:35,140
based bike gangs and
international based bike gangs

432
00:27:35,930 --> 00:27:38,580
that are playing their
flags in the United States.

433
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,860
You've got groups like the dirty ones,
the unknown bikers, the thug riders,

434
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,980
you know, that are pretty
prominent on the East Coast,

435
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,140
and they're starting to branch out
to the Midwest and, and out west.

436
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,140
So all that's gonna do is create more
violence and more problems because

437
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,510
groups that have
traditionally held areas, uh,

438
00:28:01,580 --> 00:28:03,150
that they consider to be theirs,

439
00:28:03,210 --> 00:28:06,750
are now going to have to
defend that territory.

440
00:28:07,450 --> 00:28:10,990
Why should the law-abiding
public be concerned?

441
00:28:11,340 --> 00:28:13,510
What is there to be concerned about? Well.

442
00:28:13,830 --> 00:28:17,470
I think just like we saw in
the Twin Peaks case, though,

443
00:28:17,890 --> 00:28:22,030
is it would be one thing if this was
just something that these guys hashed out

444
00:28:22,030 --> 00:28:25,310
amongst themselves out
in a field somewhere.

445
00:28:25,850 --> 00:28:28,470
But unfortunately that's not the case. Uh,

446
00:28:28,470 --> 00:28:32,870
people were being shot off their bikes
on interstates, killed at bars, uh,

447
00:28:32,870 --> 00:28:37,710
different public venues. And
anytime something like that happens,

448
00:28:38,380 --> 00:28:42,990
that obviously opens up the
possibility of a stray round

449
00:28:43,260 --> 00:28:46,870
hitting an innocent bystander, which
is something that nobody wants.

450
00:28:46,870 --> 00:28:49,030
And I'm sure it's not something
these groups want either,

451
00:28:49,370 --> 00:28:54,270
but they are creating the
situation where that can occur.

452
00:28:54,570 --> 00:28:57,710
So it, it's one of those
things is we're past a point,

453
00:28:58,130 --> 00:29:02,350
at least in this culture,
where people can say, well,

454
00:29:02,510 --> 00:29:05,790
I don't go to biker bars, I don't
hang around with these types of guys,

455
00:29:05,850 --> 00:29:10,430
so this doesn't affect me because these
guys are everywhere and they go to the

456
00:29:10,430 --> 00:29:15,150
same places you go to, they
go to restaurants, they,
you know, go to Walmarts.

457
00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:15,630
You know, they,

458
00:29:15,630 --> 00:29:20,470
they go to places that
everyday citizens frequent.

459
00:29:20,770 --> 00:29:25,030
So it's not a situation
anymore of avoidance.

460
00:29:30,410 --> 00:29:33,910
In closing, here's my reporter's
recap and reflections.

461
00:29:34,810 --> 00:29:38,550
The violence could have stopped eight
years ago after the Twin Peak shooting,

462
00:29:39,250 --> 00:29:43,220
but no one was ever held accountable.
The deaths of nine bikers,

463
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,820
the case turned into a
prosecutorial fiasco and collapsed.

464
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,860
The leader of the Bandidos blamed the
cossacks and was acquitted of organizing

465
00:29:52,860 --> 00:29:53,740
the confrontation.

466
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,940
All charges were dropped
against 155 bikers.

467
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,380
No end to the violence is in sight.

468
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,900
You've been listening to the True
Crime Reporter podcast, stay true,

469
00:30:07,450 --> 00:30:12,180
stay safe, and stay tuned for more
stories from inside the crime Scene tape.

470
00:30:12,850 --> 00:30:14,900
This is Robert Riggs reporting.