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U.S. NEWSTuesday 19 May 2015
Charges filed against 170 motorcycle gang members in Texas
N. MERCHANT ports of rival bikers going and eat barbecue,” Swan- day issued a seven-day sus- tained in the hours after the
D. WARREN elsewhere to continue the ton said. “They came here pension of the restaurant’s shooting were seen wear-
Associated Press fight. Those at the conven- with violence in mind.” liquor license, but owners ing leather vests that read
WACO, Texas (AP) — About tion center were later tak- Twin Peaks — a national had the option of reopen- Bandidos or Cossacks.
170 members of rival motor- en to jail. chain that features wait- ing to serve meals. McLennan County Sheriff
cycle gangs were charged It’s too early to determine resses in revealing uniforms Police and the restaurant Parnell McNamara, whose
with engaging in organized how many motorcycle — on Monday revoked the operators were aware of office is involved in the in-
crime Monday, a day af- gang members will face franchise rights to the res- Sunday’s meeting in ad- vestigation, said the nine
ter a shootout at a Texas murder charges, Swanton taurant, which opened in vance, and 18 Waco of- dead were members of
restaurant that killed nine said. August. ficers in addition to state those gangs.
people and wounded 18. More than 100 motorcycles
The crowd of suspects was Waco Police Sgt. Patrick Swanton addresses the media as law enforcement continues to investi- were in the parking lots
so large that authorities gate the motorcycle gang related shooting at the Twin Peaks restaurant, Monday, May 18, 2015, around the restaurant Mon-
opened a convention cen- in Waco, Texas, where nine were killed Sunday and over a dozen injured. About 170 gang mem- day, along with another 50
ter to hold them all before bers charged with engaging in organized crime are each being held on a $1 million bond and to 75 vehicles that prob-
they were arrested, police authorities say charges of capital murder are expected in the wake of the Central Texas shooting. ably belong to gang mem-
said. bers, Swanton said.
Sunday’s melee at the Twin (AP Photo, Jerry Larson) All were scheduled to be
Peaks restaurant in Waco towed from the scene, 95
drew a broad police re- Five gangs had gathered Company spokesman Rick troopers were outside the miles south of Dallas.
sponse that included plac- at the restaurant as part of Van Warner said in a state- restaurant when the fight Swanton said authori-
ing officers atop buildings a meeting to settle differ- ment that the manage- began, Swanton said. ties had received threats
and highway overpasses to ences over turf and recruit- ment team chose to ignore Swanton has repeatedly against law enforcement
watch for other bikers rush- ment. Prior meetings had warnings and advice from declined to identify which “throughout the night” from
ing to the scene south of been held at the restau- the company, and did not gangs were involved in biker groups and stood
Dallas to retaliate. rant, and managers there establish the “high security a fight that began with ready to confront any more
McLennan County Justice had dismissed police con- standards” that the com- punches then grew to in- violence. Officials stopped
of the Peace W.H. Peterson cerns over the gatherings, pany requires. clude chains, knives and and questioned motorcy-
set bond at $1 million for he said. The Texas Alcoholic Bever- then guns. cle riders. Agents from the
each suspect. He defend- “They were not here to drink age Commission on Mon- However, many men de- FBI and the federal Bureau
ed the high amount, citing of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-
the violence that quickly arms and Explosives were
unfolded in a shopping assisting local and state au-
market busy with a lunch- thorities.
time crowd. In a 2014 gang-threat as-
Peterson also performed sessment, the Texas Depart-
inquests on the nine dead ment of Public Safety classi-
bikers but declined to iden- fied the Bandidos as a “Tier
tify them pending notifica- 2” threat, the second high-
tion of family. Peterson says est. Other groups in that tier
all nine were from Texas. included the Bloods, Crips
Police acknowledged firing and Aryan Brotherhood of
on armed bikers. But it was Texas.
unclear how many of the The Bandidos, formed in the
dead were shot by gang 1960s, are involved in traf-
members and how many ficking cocaine, marijuana
had been shot by officers. and methamphetamine,
Waco police Sgt. W. Pat- according to the U.S. De-
rick Swanton said the partment of Justice.
Waco Convention Center The Bandidos conduct
was used to hold the sus- their activities as covertly
pects temporarily as po- as possible to avoid public-
lice rushed to secure many ity, according to the DPS
parts of the city amid re- assessment.q
