I told you that you and your bunch would get into trouble if you went to Waco! .... :>)
I’m a Moderate Biker Gang Member Compelled to Condemn This Violence
By WAJAHAT ALIMAY 19, 2015
Credit Julie Glassberg for The New York Times
On Sunday, a biker gang meeting at the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Tex., erupted in violence that claimed the lives of nine people and injured 18. This tragedy stemmed from the criminal actions of a fringe minority that does not represent the democracy-loving values of the majority of tolerant biker gangs devoted to freedom, denim, mutual understanding and leather accessories.
As a moderate biker gang member, who has never met the suspects, visited Texas or even seen the TV series “Twin Peaks,” I offer a full-throated condemnation of, and apology for, their violent acts.
Unfortunately, Sunday’s violence, which led to about 170 people being charged with involvement in organized crime linked to capital murder, has created an opportunity to demonize our biker gang communities as vicious thugs. In a familiar pattern of rhetorical retribution, people are demanding: When will moderate bikers take responsibility for crimes committed by these violent extremists?
But when did I become responsible for the criminal actions of a handful of deluded fanatics just because I ride a motorcycle, sport facial hair and have tattoos? Americans are as much at risk of being killed by falling vending machines as by domestic terrorist attacks, but do we indict Coke and Pepsi?
The Department of Justice claims that we represent a “serious national domestic threat,” but the moderate bikers I mix with represent no threat when we meet to discuss biker issues. In no way are our gang names — such as the Bandidos, the Cossacks and the Scimitars — intended to intimidate the public or law enforcement officials.
Yet, potential presidential candidates cynically exploit the issue with anti-biker memes like “biker gangs are at war with the West” and “the biker gang world needs a reformation.” One prominent governor has accused bikers of belonging to “communities of people that don’t want to integrate” into America, while cable TV news pundits warn of “no go zones” in towns and cities allegedly infiltrated by radical biker gangs. Recently, in Texas, a radical liberal blogger held a provocative competition for cartoons lampooning Hells Angels.
To make matters worse, our community is now in the spotlight in Congress, with a special hearing on the “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Biker Gang Community and That Community’s Response.” Another congressional panel will investigate “Biker Gangs and Their Culture of Violence.”
Jay Leno, the former late-night talk show host, who is also a motorcycle aficionado, will be asked to speak as a counterterrorism expert. The cast and crew of “Sons of Anarchy” are expected to be subpoenaed to testify on whether there is a stealth cultural jihad to indoctrinate impressionable young Americans with biker gang-inspired “violent extremism.”
Let me be clear: There is no such thing as a single, monolithic “biker gang community.” There is a diversity of biker gang communities: white men with goatees, bushy beards, trimmed mustaches; white men with cropped hair, long hair, ponytails; white men with leather jackets, denim jackets, leather vests; white men with shotguns, handguns, brass knuckles, knives and so forth. It should be obvious that the way innocent bikers are profiled by the police and law enforcement agencies is a threat to all our constitutional liberties.
Law enforcement has engaged in mass surveillance of biker gang communities, sending F.B.I. agents in fake mustaches to roadhouses and blanketing Texas’ Harley-Davidson shops, Jiffy Lubes and multiplexes playing “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
My concern is that innocent citizens — the moderate majority — are bearing the burden of such intrusive, unnecessary and ineffective anti-biker policies. White bearded hipsters have logged a huge rise in complaints of police abuse. The stars of “Duck Dynasty” have had to move to Miama to escape law enforcement harassment.
In spite of this, moderate biker gang members have responded by extending a leather-gloved hand across the aisle and partnering with allies in good faith. The liberal mayor of New York has invited local chapters of Hells Angels for a beer-and-prayer meeting this weekend. And we are reclaiming our narrative and our identity on social media using the hashtag #notmybikergang.
We refuse to be demonized as a criminal, violent community — an ugly stereotype abused by politicians and members of the mainstream media for profit and ideological gain. We urge peace-loving citizens to reject this worrying trend of Bikerphobic bigotry.
|
