Bikes Outside Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, TX
One of the things I found quizzical (yeah, that might be the best word) was the complete lack of sympathy by the reliably anti-police media following the death of nine bikers at a biker brawl in Waco Texas.
And I'm not just talking about consistent goofballs like Sally Kohn and Melissa Harris-Perry, but ALL of the major media.
Right away, the police were seen as "right," by that same usually anti-cop media, and the criminals (in this case bikers) "wrong," apparently ONLY because the bikers were (mostly) white!
Waco police initially stated that all the gunshots came from within the Twin Peaks restaurant, which would suggest that all the shots came from the bikers.
Video evidence now proves that to be inaccurate, in fact, highly inaccurate. The available CC video suggests that Sunday’s deadly gunfight began outside the Twin Peaks restaurant, except for one round fired by a biker on the patio who then ran inside.
Accoring to the routinely reliable LAST REFUGE outlet, "On the patio, bikers ducked under tables and tried to get inside. At least three people were holding handguns. One biker was seen running with blood on his face, hands and torso.
"Before the shooting, the inside of the restaurant appears to be mostly empty. Bikers and other patrons can be seen walking to the windows facing the parking lot where most of the shooting happened.
"When gunfire begins at 12:24 p.m., most bikers, other patrons and staff immediately run away from the windows and into the restaurant’s interior...
"...Among those arrested was Theron Rhoten, who had just pulled into the parking lot on his vintage Harley chopper when the bullets started flying.
Rhoten showed up at the Twin Peaks restaurant for a regional motorcycle club meeting. But, according to his wife, he soon found himself in the middle of a deadly shootout involving scores of other bikers.
Katie Rhoten said her husband ran for cover and was later arrested, along with motorcycle-riding friends and other “nonviolent, noncriminal people.”
“He’s good to his family,” she said. “He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t do drugs. He doesn’t party. He’s just got a passion for motorcycles.”
The police reported that all those arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs, but ONLY TWO of the NINE PEOPLE KILLED HAD CRIMINAL HISTORIES.
Records for one of those with criminal records show that Wayne Lee Campbell was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2002 in Rowlett in Dallas County and sentenced to probation. In 2007, Campbell had also been charged with assault in Tarrant County and served 45 days in jail. The other member with a criminal history was Manuel Isaac Rodriguez, who was arrested in 2010 and served probation for unlawfully carrying a weapon at a bar in Lewisville. Not exactly the extensive criminal records you'd expect from hardcore gangbangers.
Recently Waco police have acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it is not clear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers.
Interestingly enough, the number of armed law enforcement officers on scene – PRIOR to the event has now increased to MORE than 22 including: 10 Members of SWAT, 1 Asst Police Chief, 2 Sargent’s and 1 rookie officer, from Waco PD; the rest from Waco County and Texas DPS.
It's also now been reported, but not yet confirmed, that ALL of the deceased WERE KILLED BY POLICE. Autopsy records show that all nine died of gunshot wounds, no stabbing wounds or “other”:
◾Jesus Delgado Rodriguez, 65, died of gunshot wounds of the head and trunk.
◾Jacob Lee Rhyne, 39, died of gunshot wounds to the neck.
◾Richard Vincent Kirshner, Jr., 47, died of gunshot wounds but the report did not specify where he was shot.
◾Richard Matthew Jordan, III, 31, died of gunshot wounds to the head.
◾Wayne Lee Campbell, 43, died of gunshot wounds to the head and trunk.
◾Daniel Raymond Boyett, 44, died of gunshot wounds to the head.
◾Matthew Mark Smith, 27, died of gunshot wounds to the trunk.
◾Manuel Issac Rodriguez, 40, died of gunshot wounds but the report did not specify where he was shot.
◾And Charles Wayne Russell, 46, died of gunshot wounds to the chest.
The point isn't merely about possible police overreaction here, as I tend to believe that police react differently (and for very good reason) when confronted by potentially dangerous situations. Bikers present a very real threat, or "dangerous situation," just as do black males who've committed 50% of all the murders nationwide in the USA since 1976 (SEE:http://blogs.channel4.com/…/factcheck-black-americans…/19439)....Sooooo, while police actions here probably SHOULD BE more closely scrutinized, the REAL issue here is how those in the national media (especially CNN & MSNBC) sought to push back against the narrative that many of the recently highlighted police killings were the fault of aggressive felons, like Mike Brown (who assaulted a cop and tried to take away his gun), Eric Garner (killed while actively resisting arrest) and others, by falsely insinuating that the issue is a racial one. Remember James Boyd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tpAZObNZfI) and Robert Earl Lawrence (http://theconservativetreehouse.com/…/death-for-kindness-m…/), despite the FACT that blacks commit far more violent crimes, more whites are killed by police each year.
In short, out of a narcissistic, defensiveness the national media engaged in some blatant racism...obvious and undeniable "disparate treatment," treating white suspects differently than it treated black suspects.
They've asked, "WHY haven't these bikers been called thugs" (they were)...and apparently wrongly, since only 2 of the 9 killed had relatively minor criminal records.
The media treated this incident EXACTLY the opposite from the way they treated the Michael Brown and Eric Garner killings.
And THAT is a major story...and a major disgrace.
Like I said....quizzical.
