‘Criminal Meeting’ of Bikers in Waco was Actually Organized Political Gathering

‘Criminal Meeting’ of Bikers in Waco was Actually Organized Political Gathering

by Lee Stranahan 21 May 2015

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/05/21/criminal-meeting-of-bikers-in-waco-was-actually-organized-political-gathering/

Despite the characterization by police that the afternoon gathering at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas that led to Sunday’s bloody shooting incident was a gathering of criminal biker gangs with violent intent, the meeting appears to have been a legitimate, organized gathering of motorcycle riders meeting to discuss political issues.

The group that met was the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents (CoC&I) and a look at that group’s website and history gives a very different impression of the group’s purpose and goals than what has been said repeatedly by Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton.

Swanton has been a central media figure, conducting several press conferences since shootings that left nine dead and dozens injured happened on Sunday. Swanton’s statements have been echoed by the media, creating an image of a get together of thugs converging on Twin Peaks in an event obviously fraught with danger that authorities tried desperately to stop until they were foiled by the uncooperative restaurant owner.

An AP report on Tuesday gives what has been the now-standard media narrative:

Five gangs had gathered at the restaurant as part of a meeting to settle differences over turf and recruitment. Prior meetings had been held at the restaurant, and managers there had dismissed police concerns over the gatherings, he said.

“They were not here to drink and eat barbecue,” Swanton said. “They came here with violence in mind.”

The “gathering of criminal bikers” story was even used to justify the $1 million bail that the 170 arrested bikers were each handed. From the same AP report:

McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. Peterson set bond at $1 million for each suspect. He defended the high amount, citing the violence that quickly unfolded in a shopping market busy with a lunchtime crowd.

“We have nine people dead, because these people wanted to come down and what? Drink? Party?” Peterson said. “I thought it was appropriate.”

Despite those claims by Texas officials of drinking, partying and violence in mind, the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents website and other information give every impression that the group’s meeting on that Sunday was legitimate.

This does not mean that groups or individuals who participated in CoC&I meeting don’t have criminal connections. Some see the CoC&I as a way for clubs like the Bandidos to gain legitimacy, an assessment shared by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Gang Threat Assessment from 2014:

Formed in the 1960s, the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (Bandidos OMG) 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.

However, it’s not clear that everyone who attended the CoC&I meeting had criminal connections. As the Gang Threat Assessment report pointed out, even the Bandidos have recruited members with no criminal history in an attempt to clean up there reputation. As a comment on the biker site Aging Rebel suggests:

If thirty guys were fighting who were the other 140 that were arrested? The Christian Ministries, the Veterans Clubs, and everyone else who attended a COC meeting aimed at keeping bikers safe, biker legislation, and scheduling biker events? So now your local motorcycle minister is locked up on a 1 million dollar bond.

A look at the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents website and events calendar does show a group that’s focused on legislative issues and elections.

The CoC&I site has an entire page dedicated to National, State and Local Happenings with links to various political calls to action and events.

That page features a photo of a U.S. Marine standing at attention with a group of bikers and a photo an eagle over an American flag with the motto “Don’t tread on me. I refuse to allow my civil servant to run my life.”

A look at the group’s events calendar shows that the Twin Peaks meeting was listed on the Calendar as a “Region 1 Texas COC&I Meeting”; one of a number of meeting that happen in every part of Texas on a regular basis.

Other events on the Calendar show an actual legislative purpose. For example, on April 22nd at 7am the Calendar lists a public hearing on legislation:

The Motorcycle Safety Fund Bill (SB754) will be brought to the floor for public hearing in the Transportation Committee.

Paul and Jude will be testifying in support of the bill and we need as many people as possible to attend the hearing to support our community spokesmen, Senator Watson and show we are unified in seeing SB754 passed.

Later in April was a two day “Texas COC&I Christian Unity Event”, described as:

This event is open to everyone. We want to include Christians from all traditional MC’s and not just the Christian MC’s and MM’s.

You are welcome even if you are not a Christian, but the event will be Christian by nature.

Looking beyond the group’s website, eyewitness reports are beginning to paint a very different picture than that the official version from the Waco police.

Halfway through this WacoTrib.com story comes an account from someone who was at event that claims the biker’s political event was interrupted by uninvited bikers from the Cossacks gang.:

Steve Cochran, a national bikers’ rights advocate from Waco who witnessed the melee, blamed the incident entirely on the Cossacks. Cochran, who is a founder of the Waco chapter of the Sons of the South, is an official with the U.S. Defenders Task Force, a legislative group affiliated with the Texas Confederacy of Clubs and Independents.

He arrived at Twin Peaks on Sunday to set up a sound system for the COC&I meeting, only to find that the violence already had started.

Bandidos members were to be part of the meeting, which was to focus on legislative issues common to all bikers, Cochran said. He said police gave no indication to him or other COC&I members that their lives might be in danger.

“These meetings have gone on for 20 years, and we’ve gone all these years without a single incident until Sunday,” he said.

Other reports say that about 60 Cossacks arrived at the meeting and a list of those killed indicates that only one of the victims was from Waco. Tuesday, Breitbart Texas reported exclusively on indications on social media of aggressive moves by the Cossacks, including “transfers” of bikers into Texas.

The emerging picture of what really happened on Sunday in Waco raises some doubts about the initial police explanation of the incident as well as their suggested remedy. For example, Waco spokesman Swanton has repeated blamed the restaurant for not refusing to host the event.

However, the very political nature of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents and its website raise troubling First Amendment questions about the police trying to pressure a business to shut down a lawful political meeting that had never led to problems previously, regardless of the people at that meeting.

Texas Law Enforcement has had a difficult job dealing with biker gangs. One frustration is that some groups like the Bandidos combine legitimate elements (with charity rides) with criminal (like meth dealing.)

Waco

1993 Waco (TX) siege said Waco siege inspired the Oklahoma City bombing.

Note: Timothy McVeigh said the Waco siege inspired his Oklahoma City bombing, and was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing bomber.

Reginald J. Brown was a special counsel to victims for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Cameron F. Kerry was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is the U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry’s brother, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Common Cause, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Debo P. Adegbile is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and was opposed nomination as assistant attorney general by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Kenneth Canterbury is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

John Magaw is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and was the under for the secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Clark Kent Ervin was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the deputy attorney general for the Texas state government, and is an analyst for CNN.

David L. Grange is a military analyst for CNN, and a director at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Maya Lin is the designer for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and an honorary trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

J. Robert Kerrey was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a board of adviser’s member for VoteVets, and a commissioner for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Bill Belding is a board of adviser’s member for VoteVets, the president for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, and was the chief of staff for the Common Cause.

Jamie S. Gorelick was a commissioner for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Reginald J. Brown is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and was a special counsel to victims for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Timothy McVeigh was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing bomber, and said the Waco siege inspired his Oklahoma City bombing.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank). 

Ted Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the founder of CNN.   

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)

http://www.illuminati-news.com/110106a.htm

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), an advisory board member for the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and was the vice chair for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Eli Broad is an advisory board member for the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands, and an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety.

Martin O'Malley was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Baltimore (MD) mayor, and is the Maryland state government governor.

Ex-Mayor Martin O'Malley Heckled During Baltimore Riot Tour (Past Research on the Homeland Security Advisory Council)

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/04/ex-mayor-martin-omalley-heckled-during.html

William J. Bratton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the commissioner for the New York City Police Department, was the police commissioner for Boston (MA), a superintendent for the Boston Metropolitan Police, and the chief for the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department.

Elliott B. Broidy was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a commissioner for the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System.

Frances Fragos Townsend was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, a counsel to the attorney general, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District for the U.S. Department of Justice, and is a commentator for CNN.

Clark Kent Ervin  is an analyst for CNN, was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Kenneth Canterbury is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Debo P. Adegbile was opposed nomination as assistant attorney general by the Fraternal Order of Police, and is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Reginald J. Brown is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and was a special counsel to victims for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Timothy McVeigh was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing bomber, and said the Waco siege inspired his Oklahoma City bombing.

Jamie S. Gorelick is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a commissioner for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States investigated the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Cameron F. Kerry was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is the U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry’s brother, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

World Trade Center was destroyed by the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center is at the site of the World Trade Center.

Michael R. Bloomberg was the chairman for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center, and is the founder of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Eli Broad is an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety, and an advisory board member for the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands.

Lee H. Hamilton is an advisory board member for the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and was the vice chair for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Judith Rodin was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is a director at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center, and the president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States investigated the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Clark Kent Ervin was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the deputy attorney general for the Texas state government, and is an analyst for CNN.

Ted Turner is the founder of CNN, and a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Margaret A. Hamburg is the VP for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and was a trustee at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Rockefeller Foundation was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), was a trustee at the Rockefeller Foundation, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)

http://www.illuminati-news.com/110106a.htm

Donald Kennedy was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Mark B. McClellan was a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), an advisory board member for the Annenberg-Dreier Commission at Sunnylands, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, was the vice chair for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, and a co-chair for the Iraq Study Group.

Iraq Study Group made policy recommendations on U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Iraq reconstruction post-war rebuilding effort in Iraq.

Civilian Police International is a contractor for the Iraq reconstruction.

Clark Kent Ervin was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the deputy attorney general for the Texas state government, and is an analyst for CNN.

Martin O'Malley was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Baltimore (MD) mayor, and is the Maryland state government governor.

Ex-Mayor Martin O'Malley Heckled During Baltimore Riot Tour (Past Research on the Homeland Security Advisory Council)

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/04/ex-mayor-martin-omalley-heckled-during.html

William J. Bratton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the commissioner for the New York City Police Department, was the police commissioner for Boston (MA), a superintendent for the Boston Metropolitan Police, and the chief for the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department.

Elliott B. Broidy was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a commissioner for the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System.

Kenneth Canterbury is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Debo P. Adegbile was opposed nomination as assistant attorney general by the Fraternal Order of Police, and is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Reginald J. Brown is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and was a special counsel to victims for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Timothy McVeigh was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing bomber, and said the Waco siege inspired his Oklahoma City bombing.

Jamie S. Gorelick is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a commissioner for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States investigated the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Cameron F. Kerry was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is the U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry’s brother, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

World Trade Center was destroyed by the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center is at the site of the World Trade Center.