feedback.pdxradio.com forums › feedback.pdxradio.com forums › Politics and other things › Media coverage of biker brawl
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Alfredo_T.
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May 20, 2015 at 11:02 am #10842
Vitalogy
ParticipantOver the weekend, a shootout between three rival biker gangs at a bar in Waco, Texas, left at least nine gang members dead and 18 others hospitalized with gunshot and stab wounds.
It was a huge, devastating tragedy. The New York Times reported that law enforcement sources called it “the worst violence in the Waco area since the siege on the Branch Davidian compound in 1993 that left 86 people dead.”
But if you follow the social media conversations around the incident, you’ll see something in addition to the predictable shock, curiosity, and mourning for the victims: there’s frustration and anger over how the Waco shootout (whose perpetrators appear to be mostly white) is being talked about — and, specifically, how that contrasts with the coverage and commentary of crimes when the people involved are black.
May 20, 2015 at 2:02 pm #10845Alfredo_T
ParticipantWhen I heard this story reported on KOMO 1000 a few evenings ago, they stated that two rival biker gangs had been fighting over the right to wear a “TEXAS” insignia on their jackets. I wasn’t even aware that biker gangs were still in existence because I had not seen biker gangs in the news since a mass arrest of Hell’s Angel’s members circa 1986.
May 20, 2015 at 2:21 pm #10846Langston
ParticipantWhite on white crime. These thugs must be stopped.
May 20, 2015 at 2:35 pm #10847Deane Johnson
ParticipantI don’t think you can call this white-on-white crime, it was more just two biker gangs warring for control. There may be a lot of criminal activity involved, but it’s more a true gang control thing than what might be described as “committing a crime”.
I see the Baltimore/Ferguson things as being very different in nature and intent.
Shooting at cops is certainly one of the ultimate criminal acts, but that was an aftermath of the original intent, while the Baltimore/Ferguson events were intended for confrontation with authority from the beginning.
BTW, weren’t a number of the participants Hispanic? I didn’t pay a lot of intention to race when some of the photos were published.
May 20, 2015 at 2:44 pm #10848Langston
ParticipantSince when do you not pay attention to race?
May 20, 2015 at 3:29 pm #10850Deane Johnson
ParticipantLangston, I really didn’t have any interest in what the race was of those arrested. They’re gang members and I consider them all thugs and the race is immaterial.
Please don’t confuse me with our resident race baiter, Vitalogy.
BTW, we had an excellent female police officer with 3 children, one only a few weeks old, shot and killed this afternoon by a black individual she was helping to arrest for a previous shooting. Other officers filled him with lead and he’s currently taking a dirt nap.
May 20, 2015 at 4:44 pm #10852Vitalogy
ParticipantAs many as 1,000 weapons were found at the Waco restaurant where nine bikers were killed during a mass fight between rival motorcycle gangs, police said on Wednesday.
Investigators recovered items ranging from pocket knives to an AK-47 rifle, Waco police spokesman Sgt Patrick Swanton told the Guardian. Gang members rushed to get rid of their weapons, he said, as gunfire erupted and police moved in to the Twin Peaks restaurant in the south of the city last Sunday.
They were found “stuffed in toilets and hidden under seats,” he said. One firearm was discovered in a bag of tortilla chips, while a knife was located in a bag of flour. Brass knuckles, bats and chains were also unearthed.
Sounds to me like the Texas cops need to start “stopping and frisking” these bikers.
May 20, 2015 at 5:44 pm #10855Deane Johnson
ParticipantAsctully, they should have just stood by and let the two clubs fight it out. They could have sent up a cheer each time a biker took a bullet. Soon, the problem would have solved itself.
May 21, 2015 at 11:46 am #10878Alan Craig
ParticipantUntil there are facts to prove otherwise, I am of the opinion that the majority if not all of the fatalities were probably the result of police (snipers) opening fire on the brawlers. This seemed to be a SOP containment exercise deemed to be the best option available given the circumstances. Bottom line: It should always suck to be a 1%er
May 21, 2015 at 11:50 am #10879Alfredo_T
ParticipantOne of the sad bits of fallout from this incident is that most people who enjoy motorcycles are not criminals. However, when non-motorcyle riders see somebody on a motorcycle, with a motorcycle, or wearing motorcycle clothing, they will think of these yahoos.
This reminds me of the hoax that Vancouver’s Bethany Storro played a few years ago, where she said that an African-American woman wearing a ponytail confronted her on the street and splashed acid into her face. When that story came out in the news, before it was revealed that the burns were self-inflicted, any African-American woman with her hair tied back or with dreadlocks could have been considered suspect.
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