As I have frequently reminded, my norm for
determining a blog topic includes a window shopping view of topics of the day
that capture my interest. Usually there
are quite a few to ponder. I choose one,
and then endeavor to share the subject in a way that will appeal to at some of
the folks who regularly read my posts.
My initial inclination for todays post was to
write about President Obama joining the Twitterverse, after six years in
Office. What started as a purely
human-interest piece, framed around Mr. Obama’s late breaking decision to
formally enter the realm of Twitter by opening his own account. The tone and tenor of the conversation
changed almost immediately. Almost
quicker than one could say Abracadabra (not that there was anything magical
about what transpired), the commentary took on a vile and racially divisive
tone. No, it’s not prestidigitation;
it’s not even surprising. Seven weeks
ago (April 1st), I wrote a Post entitled, “President Obama Stumbles:
Haters Rue Missed Opportunity!” (http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/04/01/the-president-stumbles-haters-rue-missed-opportunity/). Check it out, if you’ve forgotten, or in the
event you never saw it. A few examples
of the Tweets are here for your interest, edification, and/or perhaps,
amusement.
Hello, Twitter! It's Barack.
Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.
@POTUS What do you call the first black
president of the United States?
>Nigger
Hello, Twitter! It's Barack.
Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.
@POTUS nice job with the banner, gotta
let everyone know that you're some kinda communist nigger right?
Hello, Twitter! It's Barack.
Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.
#arrestobama #treason we need "ROPE FOR CHANGE" we still hang for treason don't we? pic.twitter.com/YGOQDRan9u
Of course, as the Title belies, this post is
not about POTUS or his Twitter Account.
It’s about the deadly shootout Sunday in Waco, Texas, involving rival
biker gangs, and police officers.
Recently I have commented on the seemingly
steady stream of fracases in various communities across the American
landscape. Typically violence is
involved, often, but not always there is a racial component, and sooner or
later some element, agency, or department of law enforcement must be engaged.
Just three short weeks ago, Baltimore was front
and center. Three days ago, it was
Waco. According to Sgt. W. Patrick
Swanton, a police spokesperson, there were at least five gangs. He noted that bikers shot at each other, and
at officers, who returned fire. He added:
“In my 35 years of law enforcement experience, this is the most
violent and gruesome scene that I have dealt with.”
According to police, at least nine people died
as a result of the gunfire exchanges. Police report 170 bikers were booked
into the McLennan County Jail to be charged with Engaging in Organized Crime.
That number has decreased from 192, originally reported by police Monday. Each
was being held on $1 million bond. Other charges may be pending.
Sgt. Swanton expressed frustration and anger at
Twin Peaks management. He suggested that
the restaurant might have been able to do more to prevent the melee. For its part, corporate management at Twin
Peaks issued a statement acknowledging that it was reviewing the circumstances
of the shooting. In the release, they
added:
“We are thankful no employees, guests or police were injured in
this senseless violence outside the restaurant, and our sympathies are with the
families of those killed.”
The initial position of Waco Police was that they would continue to refrain from naming
the individual gangs, so as not to “give them publicity. However, earlier reports on the shooting
pinpointed at least two gangs at the center of the chaos: “the Bandidos and the
Cossacks.”
The Bandidos, with up to
2,500 members across 13 countries — 900 of them in the U.S. alone — are
considered one of the country’s largest outlaw motorcycle gangs and “a
growing criminal threat” by the Department
of Justice.
The Bandidos are involved in
the transportation and distribution of cocaine and marijuana as well as
methamphetamine, which they also produce. The gang is also actively expanding
its presence across Texas, where its membership is largely concentrated, and
throughout other parts of the country, starting new chapters and recruiting
members of allied clubs.
Less is known about the
Cossacks Motorcycle Club, a local Texas
gang reportedly founded just three years after the Bandidos, in
1969. But early expert analyses suggest rising territory-related tensions
between the two Texas groups may have been at the root of Sunday’s
shootout.
In 2013,
Jack Lewis, the president of the Bandidos chapter in Abilene, Texas, was
arrested in the nonfatal stabbings of two Cossacks members.
Steve Cook, executive
director of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association and a
Kansas City law enforcement officer who says he previously worked undercover in
the Bandidos, told both Vox
and the Washington
Post that the Cossacks may have been pursuing an alliance with the
Bandidos’ rivals the Hells Angels in an effort to challenge the larger gang’s
control of Texas.
"We knew the tensions
with the Cossacks were as high as they'd ever been," Cook told Vox.
"I don’t think anybody could have forecast it to the degree that it
happened."
That is enough about the gory details of this
incident. The real gist of the point I
wish to explore for just a moment is, what was absent. During the Baltimore and Ferguson imbroglios,
there was a palpable reaction; a visceral outrage about the thugs involved in committing
senseless acts of violence. So what is different
in Waco? Well, I’m glad you asked; here
are 10 things:
- · No National Guard/late night curfews
- · Recovered at least 100 weapons
- · Detainees were shown talking on their cell phones w/police nearby
- · 9 dead
- · 18 injured
- · Police officers engaged in exchange of gunfire
- · No reference of single-parent households
- · No signs of tear gas
- · No baton-wielding cops
- · No armored vehicles
No two of these scenarios is exactly
alike. However, just four weeks ago, I
penned a Post, entitled, “Dangerous Encounters With Police: The Flip Side!” (http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/04/22/dangerous-encounters-with-police-the-flip-side/). The point of that post was how differently an
individual may be treated by a police officer under duress. Today’s post reflects the same thought on a
communal level. Despite the violent acts
of nearly 200 bikers, the majority of whom were armed, and many of them firing
their weapons at each other and at police, they are considered more human, and
engender mote empathy than unarmed black men, or the protesters who support
them. If nothing else, that should be a
catalyst fro not only a national conversation, but also for the Change We Can
All Believe In. Don’t hold your breath
though. The question of the hour is…”Waco Biker Melee: Where Is the WASP
Outrage?”
I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking
the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.
To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner
of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail
address in the designated space, and click
on “Sign me up.” Subsequent
editions of “Break It Down” will
be mailed to your in-box.
Consult
the links below for more detailed
information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment