Guardsmen to conduct urban training at Arcadia in April

Guardsmen to conduct urban training at Arcadia in April

By BUTCH HEMAN
Staff Writer

The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia.

ED Comment:  WHY??????  Isa Arcvadia expected to be under attack?  Did they run out of police???  Or is this more evidence of what we have referred to before??

The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company.

Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate.

Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.

The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.

Soldiers will knock only at households that have agreed to participate in the drill, Kots noted.

"Once credible intelligence has been gathered," said Kots, "portions of the town will be road-blocked and more in-depth searches of homes and vehicles will be conducted in accordance with the residents' wishes.

"One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him."

During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons.

The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs.

The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer.

Alpha Company will conduct a review of the drill on Sunday, April 5.

A meeting to give residents more information and accept volunteers will be held 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Arcadia American Legion hall.

Kots said the exercise will replace Alpha Company's weekend drill for April.

"We have a lot of extended drills this coming year," he added.

In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment.

"This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations."

The pre-drill work with residents is as important at the drill itself.

"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."

"We really want to get as much information out there as possible, because this operation could be pretty intrusive to the people of Arcadia."Add to Technorati Favorites

Jury set for Bandidos murder trial

Peter Edwards
Courts Bureau

LONDON, ONT. – A look of resignation passed across the face of Wayne (Weiner) Kellestine, 59, today as a courtroom heard the pony-tailed biker and five of his associates will finally stand trial in the largest mass murder in modern Ontario history.

A retired postal worker was chosen as the twelfth and final juror this morning, after a jury selection process that began Feb. 23.

Testimony is expected to begin later today.

Kellestine, Marcello Aravena, 32, of Winnipeg, and five other men are charged with killing eight Greater Toronto Area men connected with the Bandidos biker club in April 2006.

The bullet-riddled bodies were uncovered in abandoned vehicles found on a muddy roadside by a farmers field near the hamlet of Shedden, west of London, on the morning of April 8 that year.

The accused and the victims are all connected to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, the world's second largest motorcycle club, behind the Hells Angels.

The prolonged jury selection process before Mr. Justice Thomas Heeney of the Superior Court of Justice involved a massive pool of 2,000 prospective jurors, the largest jury pool in recent memory in Ontario.

The retired postal worker was the 1,513th member of the jury pool to be questioned. It took just two days for a jury to be selected in the mass murder trial of B.C. pig farmer Robert Pickton in December 2006, with 38 people actually being questioned.

By contrast, 114 potential jurors were rejected on one day alone in the Bandidos case.

Defence lawyer Tony Bryant, who represented Paul Bernardo in 1995, is representing Aravena.

There's a publication ban on any features identifying jury members.

There was also a publication ban on questions used to select the jury, as court officials didn't want prospective jurors studying up on answers that might exclude them from the panel.

During the jury selection process, no names of potential jurors were made public and each of them was referred to only by a number and a general job description.

There were so many prospective jurors that they were questioned in a separate courtroom from the one holding the accused.

Kellestine, Aravena and the other accused watched prospective jurors through a video hookup from their high-security, high-tech courtroom, where there are only a dozen or so seats for the public.

Kellestine furrowed his brow and watched intently during the jury selection process, looking almost like a lawyer himself. He sometimes communicated with his lawyers Clay Powell and Ken McMillan.

Would-be jurors were excused for a variety of reasons, ranging from health problems to fears of job loss.

Charged with first-degree murder for the Bandido biker murders are Kellestine, Aravena, Winnipeggers Brett (Beau) Gardiner, 24, Michael (Taz) Sandham, 39, and Dwight (Big D) Mushey; and Frank (Frankie) Mather, 35, of no fixed address.

They were each charged with eight counts of first-degree murder after discovery of the bodies of George (Pony) Jessome, 52; George (Crash) Kriarakis, 28; Luis Manny (Chopper, Porkchop) Raposo, 41; Frank (Bam Bam, Bammer) Salerno, 43, all of Toronto; John (Boxer) Muscedere, 48, of Chatham, Ont.; Paul (Big Paul) Sinopoli, 30, of Sutton; Jamie (Goldberg) Flanz, 37, of Keswick; and Michael (Little Mikey) Trotta, 31, of Mississauga.

Prior to this case, the biggest mass murder in Ontario history was in 1832, when a farmer was convicted of slaughtering his wife and seven children.

In 1984 there were seven people killed, including a 14-year-old bystander, during a gun battle at a Father's Day gathering in Sidney, Australia between the rival Bandidos and Commancheros clubs.

In 1985, five former Quebec Hells Angels were murdered and dumped in the St. Lawrence River. Fellow club members were convicted of that slaughter.

The slaughter of the Bandidos is the largest known biker massacre anywhere in the world.Add to Technorati Favorites

Canadian Outlaw MC PResident resigns

Peter Edwards
STAFF REPORTER

HAMILTON – Mario Parente kept his mouth shut when enemies tried to gouge out his eyes and shoot him dead, but the life-long outlaw biker says he finally has to speak out.

"I'm disgusted with everybody," said Parente, 60, in a three-hour interview with the Star, in which he announced his resignation as Canadian president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. "I wash my hands of them all."

The Outlaws are the world's third-largest motorcycle club, behind the Hells Angels and the Bandidos. Parente had been their top Canadian officer for nine years, in a tenure interrupted by an assortment of stints behind bars for offences that include manslaughter and drug trafficking.

By "everybody," Parente said he's disgusted with officials in the justice system and many of his former biker club mates alike.

Outlaw bikers don't generally air club grievances, but Parente repeatedly said he's not worried about repercussions.

His disgust with the court system is nothing new, although it's particularly heightened now.

Parente said he felt cheated earlier this month when Crown prosecutor Alex Smith suddenly withdrew 17 drug and criminal organization charges against him and nine charges against Luis Ferreira, 33, also of Hamilton, saying its prime witness no longer wanted to testify.

That abruptly ended a 6 1/2 year court battle, in which Parente and Ferreira fought charges that the Outlaws are a criminal organization.

Smith told the court there was no "reasonable prospect of conviction" without the witness's co-operation.

Parente said that's a lame excuse.

"If there was so much evidence, why didn't the Crown come forward with it?" he asked.

As Smith dropped the prosecution, he told Superior Court Justice Lynda Templeton that there had been no threats against the witness to scare him from testifying.

Parente said the witness, a paid police agent, shouldn't simply be allowed to bail out on the case after receiving thousands of dollars of government money.

Parente, who spent 30 months in custody before winning bail, said it's also unfair that the province hasn't returned $2,500 in cash, his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a truck and jewellery with the club skull logo, even though the charges have been thrown out.

Parente, who has been an outlaw biker since age 18, said he felt profoundly let down by many of his former club mates during the prolonged court battle.

He stressed that no criminal organization charges were proven in court against any of them, although 15 Outlaws pleaded guilty to criminal organization charges in exchange for freedom.

Parente said he sold everything he owned to fight the charges.

"They (other Outlaws) were out partying and didn't donate a dime to help out," he said. "I don't get a nickel of support from anybody to fight something that implicates everybody."

Parente shrugged as he acknowledged he and other Outlaws committed crimes but argued that doesn't make the entire club a criminal enterprise.

"I have to say I'm not a saint," he said. "I've made mistakes ... I'm not claiming that I'm goody two-shoes."

No one in the biker world can call him a rat either, he said. He noted he has always refused to co-operate with police, even after he was fired upon outside the Outlaws Hamilton clubhouse in 1984 and when a Quebec man tried to gouge his eyes out with a sharpened toothbrush in Hamilton's Barton Street Jail in 1996.

Parente's working now as a private contractor. He said he's happy with himself and Ferreira for not taking guilty pleas like other clubmates. And pleased with his girlfriend, for sticking by him. He said she has shown far more character than many of his former club mates.

"With brothers like that, who needs enemies?"Add to Technorati Favorites

Michigan based President of Devils Disciples arrested

FBI arrests president, members of motorcycle club

Associated Press
1:41 PM CDT, April 1, 2009

DETROIT - Federal authorities on Wednesday accused the Michigan-based president of a national motorcycle club of trafficking drugs and unlawfully possessing body armor.

The U.S. attorney's office in Detroit announced the indictment of Jeff G. "Fat Dog" Smith, 54, of Mount Clemens on a charge of possessing two body armor vests. The Devil's Disciples president previously was convicted of a violent felony, making the body armor possession a violation of federal law, officials said.

Smith and 16 other members in Michigan also were charged with using a telephone for drug trafficking. Another man was charged with making false statements.

Phone and e-mail messages were left Wednesday afternoon with Smith's attorney Andrew Wise.
The charges came after federal agents searched two Devil's Disciples properties, a Port Huron chapter and the national headquarters in Macomb County's Clinton Township.

The defendants were appearing in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Federal authorities say they seized 42 firearms, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, three bullet-proof vests, $12,000 in U.S. currency and 15 casino-style slot machines. Also taken were 1,000 Vicodin and OxyContin pills, 1{ pounds of methamphetamine and 55 pounds of marijuana.

The government's forfeiture complaint filed Wednesday against the Port Huron property said agents found a sign that read, "Feds are After Us, Be Sharp."

Possessing body armor as a violent felon is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Using a telephone for drug trafficking is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.Add to Technorati Favorites

Where does Tallahassee News media stand on Motorcyclists?

Well if your a cop riding in the Annual Law Enforcement Rodeo, you get coverage.

IF your a cop riding as part of a motorcycle tour for the Sgt. Chris Reyka Memorial Foundation.
you get coverage.

If you are riding for one of the many charities that take your money yet give nothing back. You sometimes get coverage.

If you are a sport biker that does wheelies down Monroe. You can get coverage.

If you are considered a "bad Biker" you can get coverage.

And of course if you manage to seriously injure or kill yourself in a crash or get taken out by a negligent driver you will get coverage. If nowhere else but in the obituaries.

However if you happen to be a bikers mother or a biker at the Capital fighting to reduce the carnage on the killing fields we call Florida Roads. Whoops, no coverage.

Prior the meeting with the criminal Justice committee yesterday all three local TV Stations and the Tallahassee Democrat were notified that Tina McKlenny would be testifying about her sons death on a motorcycle in order to keep the committee from gutting the "Stiffer Penalties" bill SB 968. Hmmmmm where was the news media?

So apparently Local Media's respect for motorcyclists is limited to if your a cop, if your giving your money away, or your dead!

They were however able to to utilize their valuable resources to let us know that:
A. It's raining, and
B. Rain doesn't keep FSU of the football field (I would link to the story, but hell you might click on it)

Then again, life is about priorities isn't it?Add to Technorati Favorites

When will the lobbyist of ABATE of Florida learn. The back story on SB968

It is no secret to anyone who has read this site that we are not a fan of ABATE of Florida's President, Lobbyist, and Office Manager James D. Reichenbach.

We are however advocates for motorcycle rights (and by extension individual rights) and motorcycle safety. To us that means that no matter what our feelings regarding the ABATE President/Lobbyist, we believe two things:

1. Giving Credit where credit is due, and
2. Presenting a United Front on issues that we can agree threatens motorcycle rights and safety.

In such instances the Arabian proverb, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Is not only applicable but at time a necessity. This should have been true in our posting here:

http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/04/motorcycle-safety-and-fight-over-fl-sb.html

Sad to say it wasn't. During my turn to speak at the committee meeting (prior to The ABATE lobbyist) I acknowledged ABATE of Florida's hard work over the years in attempting to get stiffer penalties bills passed for those who "negligently" injure or kill a motorcyclist. After all defeating the proposed amendment, I thought, was the common goal.

So when "Doc" in front of the committee, accuses those who are there to support "his" bill" (why is it I keep forgetting he is an "employee" ABATE of Florida. Could it be because he rarely mentioned ABATE preferring to use the word "I"?)as being late to the party or jumping on the train at the end what is he trying to accomplish (despite the fact he was wrong). Is he trying to alienate people who are supporting his own cause and why?

Why is it he needs to, until he begins to sound like a parrot, repeat over and over again he wrote the bill when nobody was saying he didn't and we were all there to support it?

Why is it when he was storming out of the committee room and a Senator asked "whats the problem" he pointed at us muttering as he slammed out the door?

But then we have to remember this is the same person who has claimed to have written the American Motorcycle Association to stay out of Florida's business (despite the AMA's large membership in Florida) and has reportedly turned down an attempt to have an a Motorcycle Riders Foundation representative in the state.

So again we have to ask, "what is the game"? Would it not be in ABATE of Florida's best interest, not to mention their obligation, as in their words, "the only Motorcycle Rights Organization in the state" to disseminate information to the public as quickly as possible and to let the public know what is happening regularly. Especially when you consider the claim made in yesterday committee meeting as collected a half a million dollars from the state on more than one occasion and led people to believe still receives state money?

Besides thinking that Senator Evers proposed bill that lobbyist must take an oath prior to testifying before committee is a good thing, we can't help but wonder why a person who claims to represent "all the bikers in Florida" seems more interested in representing himself? Maybe it's "little man syndrome" or something. Whatever it is, it is sure not conducive to wining battles for freedom, rights and motorcycle safety.Add to Technorati Favorites

Motorcycle Safety: Next chance to hear Florida sb968 and make a difference

Next chance at making a difference: 

2009 Regular Session
The Florida Senate
COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Senator Dockery, Chair  Senator Wilson, Vice Chair MEETING DATE: Monday, April 6, 2009 TIME:
4:00—6:00 p.m.  PLACE: 37 Senate Office Building  AMENDMENT DEADLINE:
The amendment deadline for this meeting, including proposed committee substitutes and delete everything amendments, is Friday, April 3, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. All amendments must be in final form and barcoded when filed.

MEMBERS:
Senator Dockery, Chair; Senator Wilson, Vice Chair; Senators Crist, Dean, Deutch, King, Siplin, and Villalobos

SB 968 by Garcia—Motorcycles/Injuries or Death to RidersAdd to Technorati Favorites [SPSC]

Motorcycle Safety and the Fight over FL SB 968 continues- a minor victory maybe

Probably no way to keep this short as it was an event filled Senate Justice Committee Meeting, on our issue, SB 968. There were eight people who showed up to support 968 and attempt to defend it from the amendment that would remove the parts that would be most effective.

Unfortunately some of who showed we won't be able to mention as they took job risks to be there. Needless to say much thanks goes to all that showed. In this neck of the woods that was a strong showing for a committee meeting addressing motorcycle related issues, in my experience anyway.

There were representatives from Big Bend Bikers For Freedom, Chrome Divas, Panhandle Bikers and of course Tina McElleny from "Mothers Making Changes" who did an outstanding job telling the committee of the loss of her son in a motorcycle accident. I'm convinced that it was her testimony that had the most impact on the committee.

I believe it was her testimony that led the Committee chairman to direct two member of the committee to get with Senators Villalobos and King to meet with representative of our little band for 30 mins. to see if we could come up with a solution.

Ms. McElleny and I met with Senator Villalobos while ABATE lobbyist Reichenbach met with Senator King. We can't report on Doc Reichenbachs progress as he stormed out of the meeting chambers obviously angry. He was invited by Senator Villalobos to offer input but appeared to decline as he left stating on numerous occasions, "I wrote this bill"

It appeared that a major problem with the original bill was that it was written in such a way as to make the jail provisions such that they would not stand up in court.

We were able to agree on the addition of Revocation of license, Stiffer Fines, community service and attendance at a driving school. There was difference of opinion as to the feasibility of adding jail time. The fear appeared to the inability to add it in such a way as to get the bill passed and subsequently enforced. These are times when one wishes one had a better understanding of law.

The time allocated to us ran out so the bill was tp'ed until Monday April 6, 4:00pm
at Rm 37 in the senate building. Senator Villalobos has agreed to rewrite the bill to add our concerns, which Senator Garcia will have to agree to before it can be introduce.

For our part we want to thank Senator Villalobos, Senator King, the chair of the Criminal Justice Committee, and the the other committee members for their patience in allowing the opportunity to work this out when they did not have to. It is not often we are accorded such respect.

And once again, Tina---you Rock!Add to Technorati Favorites