They shot a 65 year old Viet-Nam veteran with a Purple Heart... And then lied about what they were doing... Riding a Harley is not really an excuse for the police to shoot you, even in America.
seems they fecked up, now trying to cover their tracks,still doesn't bring the dead back. id be worried if i lived in usa, the police seem to be a little out of control recently.
I get the impression they are always out of control, just that it's been in the media recently. If I'm not mistaken, there are 1'000'000 people locked up in the US. That is quite a lot of people. Are Americans really that bad, or have they got a strange legal system?
The weird thing is the way that it's been reported, especially in the UK. Lots of "nine people shot dead at biker riot" type headlines. Not "nine, probably innocent, people gunned down by over zealous police for reasons not yet explained". Now, once again feel free to call me cynical, it seems that the police are deliberately pushing out misinformation and making all sort of totally erroneous claims about "outlaws" so that they can justify clamping down on bikers.
A lot of assholez in america, like anywhere. The cops are aggressive. They will give you a chance to move on, if not, zero tolerance. Apparently the prison system is the biggest goods manufacturing company. I imagine it will come here
I wouldn't read too much into the Christian bikers club being there, some of the most aggressive far right groups in the US identify themselves as Christian.
US cops have always had a down on bikers, particularly since the Hells Angels / Outlaws christened themselves 'The One-percenters'..........This is said to refer to a comment by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying the last one percent were outlaws.
I don't have a lot of time for outlaw bike gangs of whatever stripe. If you want to go around in a gang, and deliberately look intimidating, you are going to attract unwelcome attention - but that seems to be part of the point. And I bet they do deal drugs and get up to other stuff. Let's face it, the law wouldn't have been gathered for a Mormon choir stakeout. But that doesn't mean you deserve to die or be summarily shot. US law enforcement doesn't seem to get the idea of proportionality.
Many US police departments regard acts such as answering back or running away as a justification for lethal shooting. The federal justice department is trying to get to grips with this, but has an enormous task on its hands.
Steve - I agree about not having to worry about gunfights breaking out : but there was a police armed response at the first Cornwall Bike Night of the year ( purely by coincidence, I'm sure ). And how often do the police bang up speed cameras around any organised bike event ? The level may be different in the UK to that in America, but the intent is still the same. The fact also remains that this was a CoC event - not everyone there, by a long way, was a "back-patch biker". Yes, I am glad that (most of the time) our police don't behave like the American ones do - but that has a lot to do with the fact that the majority of them aren't armed. Best thing we can do is try to make sure it stays that way !
Ah....the land of the free. You are free to agree with the government who are free to agree with lobbyists from large corporations. And that quote about giving up freedom for security.
You are free to disagree with the government who are free to shoot you. Pretty much what happened during Vietnam War demonstrations at Kent State.
