Mr. Lopez-Cantera:
Every year in the state of Florida Motorcyclist are killed, not by failure to wear helmets, but by people who violate their right of way, and are distracted by any number of technological
devices that take their attention from the road. Yet you chose to target sport bikers who make up a fraction of the cause of fatalities. this stance results in one of a few post we have made today starting here:
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2008/11/florida-representative-lopez-cantera.html
We will pray that you do not have a child that someday chooses to ride a motorcycle and and as a result of that choice gets taken out by an SUV driving, cell phone talking driver that blows a stop sign killing them who then walks away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist fine.Add to Technorati Favorites
Florida Representative Lopez-Cantera uses position of power for VENGENCE
This post is being sent to Lopez-Cantera at:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4357&SessionId=53 or Link here, this date cause if there be one thing we can not stand for. Politicians who abuse their positions of power! So if you don't here from me it's cause the state police done come.
And ain't that how it always is? Politicians on the stump declaring how the law they are advocating for is for the "safety of all". Well by God we are only doing this for the "Public Good." We must regulate "YOU" for "YOUR OWN GOOD"!
When the truth of the matter is SPORT BIKERS PISSED LOPEZ -CANTERA OFF and he used his POLITICAL POWER TO GET EVEN!
And that my friends is BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS ABUSE OF POWER!!!!! AND IF IT IS NOT IT SHOULD BE AN ETHICAL VIOLATION OF OFFICE!!!! Whoops, excuse me. I forgot we are talking about politicians.
We should have known when he showed no interest last session in any other type of legislation that would address motorcycle safety other than HB137 that his interest had nothing to do with motorcycle safety and SAVING LIVES and that it was all about pursuing a personal vendetta against SPORTBIKERS," all in the name of safety. Did I say BULLSHIT. Maybe I didn't say it loud enough or strong enough. Here, Let me try it again:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4357&SessionId=53 or Link here, this date cause if there be one thing we can not stand for. Politicians who abuse their positions of power! So if you don't here from me it's cause the state police done come.
And ain't that how it always is? Politicians on the stump declaring how the law they are advocating for is for the "safety of all". Well by God we are only doing this for the "Public Good." We must regulate "YOU" for "YOUR OWN GOOD"!
When the truth of the matter is SPORT BIKERS PISSED LOPEZ -CANTERA OFF and he used his POLITICAL POWER TO GET EVEN!
And that my friends is BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS ABUSE OF POWER!!!!! AND IF IT IS NOT IT SHOULD BE AN ETHICAL VIOLATION OF OFFICE!!!! Whoops, excuse me. I forgot we are talking about politicians.
We should have known when he showed no interest last session in any other type of legislation that would address motorcycle safety other than HB137 that his interest had nothing to do with motorcycle safety and SAVING LIVES and that it was all about pursuing a personal vendetta against SPORTBIKERS," all in the name of safety. Did I say BULLSHIT. Maybe I didn't say it loud enough or strong enough. Here, Let me try it again:
BULLSHIT CANTERA !
So HERE IS THE REAL GIG:
In the story , "Florida Law Targets Sport Bikers who Create Havoc on the Highway" published on SunSentinal.com here. OR cut and paste:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbsportbikes1121sbnov21,0,6688494.story
Florida Representative Lopez-Cantera is reported as making the following statement:
HELLOOOOO? Anybody catch the the following:
Taxpayer time and money spent on committee hearings, bringing folk to the capital to testify, making folk in the capital take time away from other pressing issues, for nothing more than persuing a personal agenda called, "GET BACK".
DUDE, we contacted your office last year and asked if you were interested in addressing the issues of motorcycle safety that would have more impact. And the response from your office, NO!
Uh huh, you got it, you got it........
Florida investigators show up on Blogger "BullFrogs" doorsteps because he makes some joking jibe about eating you (Yeah YOU Carlos) yet you not only threw the first punch but used it as a "declaration of a personal war" while hiding behind the skirts of office proving that you are no more than any other politician that uses the power of office to oppress the rights of others in the name of "public service".
Might I suggest you continue to enlist the aid of Riechenbach who not long ago learned the diffeence (um if he has) between the term sportbike and crotch rocket. That is of course when he is not trying to figure out where his kickstand is.
So now you have options Cantera, avoid being a hypocrite and take the same stand for "Bikers" who are threatened daily by those who would threaten them, as you would take for you and your wife (and pray you don't have a child that grows up to ride an MC and gets taken out by a distracted driver).
or
Send State investigators to my door to shut me up. Cause we don't subscribe to the same kiss the ass of politicians philosophy that Reichenbach and lemmings. We kinda believe in preserving rights, not destroying them through abuses of power!
or
Hell just introduce a bill to shut down the internet and the "cowboys" that ride it.Add to Technorati Favorites
In the story , "Florida Law Targets Sport Bikers who Create Havoc on the Highway" published on SunSentinal.com here. OR cut and paste:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbsportbikes1121sbnov21,0,6688494.story
Florida Representative Lopez-Cantera is reported as making the following statement:
"We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.
"Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."
HELLOOOOO? Anybody catch the the following:
said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.In other words, along comes this new representative who, to the best of my knowledge and we welcome any other knowledge, has not previously demonstrated any interest in motorcycle safety who has a brush with some sportbikers and "BANG" it's on!
Taxpayer time and money spent on committee hearings, bringing folk to the capital to testify, making folk in the capital take time away from other pressing issues, for nothing more than persuing a personal agenda called, "GET BACK".
DUDE, we contacted your office last year and asked if you were interested in addressing the issues of motorcycle safety that would have more impact. And the response from your office, NO!
Uh huh, you got it, you got it........
Florida investigators show up on Blogger "BullFrogs" doorsteps because he makes some joking jibe about eating you (Yeah YOU Carlos) yet you not only threw the first punch but used it as a "declaration of a personal war" while hiding behind the skirts of office proving that you are no more than any other politician that uses the power of office to oppress the rights of others in the name of "public service".
Might I suggest you continue to enlist the aid of Riechenbach who not long ago learned the diffeence (um if he has) between the term sportbike and crotch rocket. That is of course when he is not trying to figure out where his kickstand is.
So now you have options Cantera, avoid being a hypocrite and take the same stand for "Bikers" who are threatened daily by those who would threaten them, as you would take for you and your wife (and pray you don't have a child that grows up to ride an MC and gets taken out by a distracted driver).
or
Send State investigators to my door to shut me up. Cause we don't subscribe to the same kiss the ass of politicians philosophy that Reichenbach and lemmings. We kinda believe in preserving rights, not destroying them through abuses of power!
or
Hell just introduce a bill to shut down the internet and the "cowboys" that ride it.Add to Technorati Favorites
Florida Biker or Not-Email Cantera and ask him to take the challenge
Unlike some who claim to speak for "all Florida Bikers", there are some Florida Bikers that will accept help from where ever it comes. We don't care if you ride in Florida, the United States, England, Australia, Japan or any other country that has a road a motorcycle can travel or make. Different, states or counties. Different makes of Bikes. Different philosophies of life. Most who ride do so for one reason,
If it is live's you are concerned with saving as opposed to making a name for yourself,
If lives are more important to you than political capital,
If you have the courage to stand up to the majority to protect the minority,
If it is taking a stand that is non-discriminatory and does not involve compromise with those that would sell out the "Biker Community" in a heart beat,
If you truly are concerned about the "killing fields" that pass as Florida's roadways,
Then as you have contacted us before, contact us again, we have a few things we would like to discuss, such as:
Meaningful (note the word) Stiffer Penalties
Distracted drivers
Motorcycle training programs that have no provable value.
Putting Drivers Education back into the schools
To name a few.
There is more than one Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, one plays, the other doesn't!
You have our e-mail, URL and phone number we humbly await hearing from you. Silence will be considered and answer. Just as the silence we encountered over the optiion we presented you aide for decriminalizing vertical license tags.
Advocate for "Real" safety Cantera? Or just another politician?
"THEY CHERISH THE RIGHT TO RIDE THEIR OWN RIDE!"
So we ask that you take a moment to e-mail (the sponsor of HB-137) Florida Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera here: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4357&SessionId=53
and cut and paste the following into the field:
TAKE THE CHALLENGE, posted here:
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2008/11/is-this-first-shot-in-limiting_21.html
Is this the first shot in limiting motorcycle horsepower in Florida? Open Challenge to Lopez-Cantera
The challenge is reprinted here if you have not read the post:
Open Challenge to Representative Lopez-Cantera
If it is live's you are concerned with saving as opposed to making a name for yourself,
If lives are more important to you than political capital,
If you have the courage to stand up to the majority to protect the minority,
If it is taking a stand that is non-discriminatory and does not involve compromise with those that would sell out the "Biker Community" in a heart beat,
If you truly are concerned about the "killing fields" that pass as Florida's roadways,
Then as you have contacted us before, contact us again, we have a few things we would like to discuss, such as:
Meaningful (note the word) Stiffer Penalties
Distracted drivers
Motorcycle training programs that have no provable value.
Putting Drivers Education back into the schools
To name a few.
Are you for real Representative? Or in your battle against "speeding sportbikers" have you inadvertently taken the focus off the real threats to lives and in doing so put more lives at risk?
There is more than one Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, one plays, the other doesn't!
You have our e-mail, URL and phone number we humbly await hearing from you. Silence will be considered and answer. Just as the silence we encountered over the optiion we presented you aide for decriminalizing vertical license tags.
Advocate for "Real" safety Cantera? Or just another politician?
rc
B.O.L.T. (Bikers of Lessor Tolerance)
Publishing:
Big Bend Bikers For Freedom
"Let Freedom Reign"Add to Technorati Favorites
Is this the first shot in limiting motorcycle horsepower in Florida? Open Challange to Lopez-Cantera
This is Florida Remember. The first thought that ran through my head when running across this article was the flurry of similiar articles popping up throughout the state last November. Prior to the Passage of HB137!!! Am I paranoid? Possibly. Do I trust the Florida legislature? I'll answer that one when I quit laughing.
Note Lopez-Cantera's (the sponsor of HB137) statement,
Is that a chest puffed up with pride I hear jumping off the printed page. How does that coincide with his remarks left here on this site?
The biking community has my word that I will re-visit the motorcycle tag language this upcoming legislative session. I will personally file legislation to lower the penalties for placement of tags from the $1,000, $2,500, $5,00. it is at now.
CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA
State Representative
Florida
305-442-6877
That can be found here: Helmets, law, ABATE of Florida's President remains delusional Friend or foe?
If it is lives you are concerned with saving as opposed to making a name for yourself,
If lives are more important to you than political capital,
If you have the courage to stand up to the majority to protect the minority,
If it is taking a stand that is non-discriminatory and does not involve compromise with those that would sell out the "Biker Community" in a heart beat,
If you truly are concerned about the "killing fields" that pass as Florida's roadways,
Then as you have contacted us before, contact us again, we have a few things we would like to discuss, such as:
Meaningful (note the word) Stiffer Penalties
Distracted drivers
Motorcycle training programs that have no provable value.
Putting Drivers Education back into the schools
To name a few.
There is more than one Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, one plays, the other doesn't!
You have our e-mail, URL and phone number we humbly await hearing from you. Silence will be considered and answer. Just as the silence we encountered over the optiion we presented you aide for decriminalizing vertical license tags.
Advocate for "Real" safety Cantera? Or just another politician?
Lopez-Cantera's email.
The article referred to:
Florida law targets sport bike riders who create havoc on the highway
By Sallie James |South Florida Sun-Sentinel
9:47 AM EST, November 21, 2008
They weave through traffic on South Florida's highways sometimes at speeds approaching 180 mph, sleek, aerodynamic motorcycles that sometimes pop wheelies as they vanish into the distance with a high-pitched whine.
Connie and James Chesney know first hand about the danger posed by some riders of these sport bikes.
While driving north on Interstate 95 after a concert last May, several of the bikes traveling in a fast-moving pack slammed into the Singer Island couple's sedan. The impact sent their 2007 Toyota spinning near Commercial Boulevard.
"We hit the concrete barrier and then we got hit by the second bike. It was one right after another, bam, bam, bam, like bombs going off. Never in my life have I experienced anything so horrifying," Connie Chesney said.
When it was over, a 31-year-old rider was dead and another critically injured.
Such tragedies have clouded the reputation of riders of these sport bikes, which some have nicknamed "crotch rockets." The accidents also led to a state law that took effect Oct. 1 levying fines of $1,000 and up for motorcyclists and drivers caught going 50 mph over the speed limit.
"We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.
"Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."
The colorful Kawasakis, Suzukis, Hondas and Yamahas are the choice of the next generation of bikers. The average quality sport bike starts around $8,000 and goes up to about $13,000 for top-of-the-line models.
But their speed carries risks that can be deadly.
Just this morning, a motorcyclist on a sport bike traveling at a high rate of speed on Interstate 595 was killed.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Matthew David Peterman, 21, of Sunrise, slammed into the rear of a dump truck with such force that his bike split in two.
A review of five years of motorcycle fatalities in Broward and Palm Beach counties shows a steady increase in deaths.
Although a breakdown of the type of bike involved in each crash was not available from the state, police say the increasing popularity of sport bikes, coupled with young, inexperienced riders, is behind the rise.
"They think they are invincible, that they can do this and get away with it," said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky. Riders can't navigate turns or take evasive action if they are going too fast, he said.
"It's like a street-legal race bike," said Tony Montenegro, general sales manager for Motorsports of Delray Beach. "They have production sport bikes that out of the box can approach 200 mph. It's not just the price. It's a sporting bike and it attracts a much younger clientele."
Such concerns have spurred some sport bike riders to organize clubs to improve their image and rein in riders.
Members wear colors and ride in packs like other motorcycle clubs, but they put an emphasis on safety.
"These young guys get on a bike and all they know how to do is turn on the bike and hit the throttle," said Ed "Big Ed" Youssef, 34, national president of the Outsiders Motorcycle Club and founder of the South Florida Sportbike Council.
To date, about 15 sport bike clubs from Port St. Lucie to Homestead have organized.
"They've toned it down a lot on the highways here," said Jim "Beacon" McConnell, president of the Keltics MC, and a member of the South Florida Presidents Council, an umbrella group for traditional motorcycle clubs and organizations that has been working with the sport bike riders for about two years. "But there's still a lot of kids who come of the box doing 180 mph."
Sport bike club members say it's usually independent riders whose weaving through traffic and wheelie-popping tarnish their image.
"It's two or three that can give us a bad rap," said Marlon "Cannon" Pass, president of the West Palm Beach-based One Fist Ryderz MC.
But motorists who have felt assaulted in traffic by the speeding bikes aren't so sure.
"I don't have anything against any of these motorcycles, but they don't need to be on the road
Miami resident Jovani "Kuku" Fiallo, 28, vice president of the Outsiders, said he used to be a speed demon himself when he first got his bike. But joining the club and seeing several friends die changed his view.
"The name of the game when you first get a sport bike is speed," Kuku said. "Now with that comes seven different funerals of sport bike riders."
Sallie James can be reached at Sjames@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2019. endangering my life," said James Chesney, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider whose Toyota was totaled in the crash with sport bikes.
"Some of these motorcycles have 100 horsepower and are designed to go 160 mph, and trust me, these people do it," Chesney said.Add to Technorati Favorites
Note Lopez-Cantera's (the sponsor of HB137) statement,
"We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.
"Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."
Is that a chest puffed up with pride I hear jumping off the printed page. How does that coincide with his remarks left here on this site?
The biking community has my word that I will re-visit the motorcycle tag language this upcoming legislative session. I will personally file legislation to lower the penalties for placement of tags from the $1,000, $2,500, $5,00. it is at now.
CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA
State Representative
Florida
305-442-6877
That can be found here: Helmets, law, ABATE of Florida's President remains delusional Friend or foe?
Open Challenge to Representative Lopez-Cantera
If it is lives you are concerned with saving as opposed to making a name for yourself,
If lives are more important to you than political capital,
If you have the courage to stand up to the majority to protect the minority,
If it is taking a stand that is non-discriminatory and does not involve compromise with those that would sell out the "Biker Community" in a heart beat,
If you truly are concerned about the "killing fields" that pass as Florida's roadways,
Then as you have contacted us before, contact us again, we have a few things we would like to discuss, such as:
Meaningful (note the word) Stiffer Penalties
Distracted drivers
Motorcycle training programs that have no provable value.
Putting Drivers Education back into the schools
To name a few.
Are you for real Representative? Or in your battle against "speeding sportbikers" have you inadvertently taken the focus off the real threats to lives and in doing so put more lives at risk?
There is more than one Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, one plays, the other doesn't!
You have our e-mail, URL and phone number we humbly await hearing from you. Silence will be considered and answer. Just as the silence we encountered over the optiion we presented you aide for decriminalizing vertical license tags.
Advocate for "Real" safety Cantera? Or just another politician?
"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor." -Aristotle
Lopez-Cantera's email.
The article referred to:
Florida law targets sport bike riders who create havoc on the highway
By Sallie James |South Florida Sun-Sentinel
9:47 AM EST, November 21, 2008
They weave through traffic on South Florida's highways sometimes at speeds approaching 180 mph, sleek, aerodynamic motorcycles that sometimes pop wheelies as they vanish into the distance with a high-pitched whine.
Connie and James Chesney know first hand about the danger posed by some riders of these sport bikes.
While driving north on Interstate 95 after a concert last May, several of the bikes traveling in a fast-moving pack slammed into the Singer Island couple's sedan. The impact sent their 2007 Toyota spinning near Commercial Boulevard.
"We hit the concrete barrier and then we got hit by the second bike. It was one right after another, bam, bam, bam, like bombs going off. Never in my life have I experienced anything so horrifying," Connie Chesney said.
When it was over, a 31-year-old rider was dead and another critically injured.
Such tragedies have clouded the reputation of riders of these sport bikes, which some have nicknamed "crotch rockets." The accidents also led to a state law that took effect Oct. 1 levying fines of $1,000 and up for motorcyclists and drivers caught going 50 mph over the speed limit.
"We have created a new threshhold for excessive speed," said state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, who drafted the speeding law after he and his wife almost had an accident with sport bikes.
"Do [the bikers] hate me? Yes, they do."
The colorful Kawasakis, Suzukis, Hondas and Yamahas are the choice of the next generation of bikers. The average quality sport bike starts around $8,000 and goes up to about $13,000 for top-of-the-line models.
But their speed carries risks that can be deadly.
Just this morning, a motorcyclist on a sport bike traveling at a high rate of speed on Interstate 595 was killed.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Matthew David Peterman, 21, of Sunrise, slammed into the rear of a dump truck with such force that his bike split in two.
A review of five years of motorcycle fatalities in Broward and Palm Beach counties shows a steady increase in deaths.
Although a breakdown of the type of bike involved in each crash was not available from the state, police say the increasing popularity of sport bikes, coupled with young, inexperienced riders, is behind the rise.
"They think they are invincible, that they can do this and get away with it," said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky. Riders can't navigate turns or take evasive action if they are going too fast, he said.
"It's like a street-legal race bike," said Tony Montenegro, general sales manager for Motorsports of Delray Beach. "They have production sport bikes that out of the box can approach 200 mph. It's not just the price. It's a sporting bike and it attracts a much younger clientele."
Such concerns have spurred some sport bike riders to organize clubs to improve their image and rein in riders.
Members wear colors and ride in packs like other motorcycle clubs, but they put an emphasis on safety.
"These young guys get on a bike and all they know how to do is turn on the bike and hit the throttle," said Ed "Big Ed" Youssef, 34, national president of the Outsiders Motorcycle Club and founder of the South Florida Sportbike Council.
To date, about 15 sport bike clubs from Port St. Lucie to Homestead have organized.
"They've toned it down a lot on the highways here," said Jim "Beacon" McConnell, president of the Keltics MC, and a member of the South Florida Presidents Council, an umbrella group for traditional motorcycle clubs and organizations that has been working with the sport bike riders for about two years. "But there's still a lot of kids who come of the box doing 180 mph."
Sport bike club members say it's usually independent riders whose weaving through traffic and wheelie-popping tarnish their image.
"It's two or three that can give us a bad rap," said Marlon "Cannon" Pass, president of the West Palm Beach-based One Fist Ryderz MC.
But motorists who have felt assaulted in traffic by the speeding bikes aren't so sure.
"I don't have anything against any of these motorcycles, but they don't need to be on the road
Miami resident Jovani "Kuku" Fiallo, 28, vice president of the Outsiders, said he used to be a speed demon himself when he first got his bike. But joining the club and seeing several friends die changed his view.
"The name of the game when you first get a sport bike is speed," Kuku said. "Now with that comes seven different funerals of sport bike riders."
Sallie James can be reached at Sjames@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2019. endangering my life," said James Chesney, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider whose Toyota was totaled in the crash with sport bikes.
"Some of these motorcycles have 100 horsepower and are designed to go 160 mph, and trust me, these people do it," Chesney said.Add to Technorati Favorites
2 found not guilty in motorcycle gang trial
By Josh Verges and Jeff Martin, USA TODAYSIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A two-week trial that put the spotlight on violence among rival motorcycle gangs ended here Thursday as two men involved with the Hells Angels were found not guilty of attempted murder.
The case stemmed from an August 2006 shootout in which three members of the rival motorcycle gang Outlaws and two others riding with them were injured.
As many as two dozen leather-clad Hells Angels members were in court as spectators at various times during the trial of Chad Wilson, 33, formerly of Lynnwood, Wash., who now lives in San Diego, and John Midmore, 35, of Valparaiso, Ind. Wilson was described in the state indictment as a Hells Angels member, and Midmore was described in the indictment as a "prospect."
The two bikers still face possible conspiracy-to-commit-murder charges, which were not part of the jury's verdict. Prosecutors said Thursday they were undecided whether they would seek to try the men on those charges.
The gunbattle, where Hells Angels and Outlaws began shooting at each other during a confrontation in a parking lot in western South Dakota, was part of a long-running, bloody feud, according to Steve Cook, president of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association.
Violence between the two groups dates to the 1970s, Cook says. The South Dakota shooting, he said, "wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last time."
Custer County, S.D., State's Attorney Tracy Kelley argued that the two men affiliated with the Hells Angels pulled up in a pickup, and one of them got out and began shooting at a group of Outlaws and their acquaintances, injuring five of them.
Danny Neace, one of the Outlaws, testified that he was shot in the back and the leg, paralyzing him from the waist down. But defense lawyer David Kenner told jurors it was the Outlaws who fired first, and the outnumbered Wilson returned fire in self-defense.
Five rows on the defense's half of the courtroom were filled with Hells Angels last week. Their jackets, which a judge ordered them not to wear in the courtroom, indicated that they came from as far as California, British Columbia and Luxembourg. Only a few people attended in support of the Outlaws.
After the verdicts were announced, a dozen bikers streamed out of the courthouse. A few cut loose with shouts of celebration, and one man grabbed another in a bear hug.
The ongoing war between the Hells Angels and the Outlaws was a key part of the defense Kenner presented. Among the list of incidents he cited from federal court documents were:
• A July 2007 indictment in Boston. U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan issued a statement mentioning the rivalry as his office announced the indictment of 15 members and associates of the Outlaws on drug and firearm charges. The Outlaws "have been engaged in a gang war with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club that has resulted in numerous shootings and fatalities," the statement said.
• A July 2006 incident in which law officers met with Hells Angels leaders attending a bike rally in Cody, Wyo., and warned them of possible attacks by the Outlaws.
• An April 2006 incident during a swap meet in Indiana. Six members or associates of the Outlaws attacked Hells Angels with a hammer and motorcycle parts, according to an August 2007 indictment in Detroit, part of a federal racketeering case against the Outlaws which is ongoing.
(Note: Paragraph listing membership numbers has been deleted. It is highly doubtful that, that like motorcycle safety statistics, the feds our reporters can get these numbers correct)
Law enforcement officials who study biker gangs said last week that no outcome would stop the violence.
"They're like oil and water somewhat," said Sheriff Ron Merwin of Meade County, S.D., who deals with the influx of motorcycle clubs during the annual Sturgis, S.D., rally each August. "They're always going to be at odds."
Verges and Martin report for the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D. Contributing: Peter Harriman, Matthew Gruchow, Argus Leader.Add to Technorati Favorites
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