By Daria Laycock
The Waco biker shooting has been all over the news but with so many different accounts of events it is hard to know what is fact and what is fiction. 24Flix has synthesized the news reports and stripped it down to five things you need to know about Waco.
1.) Bandito V.S. Cossacks
The Banditos are the oldest biker gang in Texas. Fifty years after the origination of The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang the group boasts a membership of more than 2,500 members in 16 countries worldwide, second only to the Hell’s Angels. The Banditos own Texas, it is their turf.
Enter the Cossacks a group so infinitesimal, until now; they rarely registered on the police’s radar.
2.) $100 per Month per Chapter
That is how much the Banditos charge other gangs to wear the Texas state patch on the bottom middle of their vests. The Cossacks have a growing following in the lone star state, and consequently members of Texas chapters have started wearing the states signature patch, the Texas Rocker. The Banditos feel disrespected by the Cossacks use of the patch without their permission and their failure to pay them royalties.
3.) It was all a set-up
The President of the Cossack North Texas chapter claims that the Bandidos invited the Cossacks to Twin Peaks. An East Texas Bandido leader extended the invitation in response to multiple violent altercations between the two groups. It seemed as though the Bandidos were attempting to make peace. The Bandido-Cossack peace talks were scheduled for the same night as a meeting of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents a coalition the Bandidos headed, allies surrounded the Bandidos. It is believed the Bandidos requested reinforcements from out of state in preparation for the rumble.
4.) It was instantaneous
It happened in slow motion an eyewitness says. A chapter president of the Bandidos rolled into the Twin Peaks lot and hit a Cossack with his bike claiming the man was standing in his parking spot. After an angry exchange of words a Cossack punched a Bandido who punched back. The Bandido Sergeant-at-Arms drew a gun and shot a man, identified as Richard Matthew Jordan II, at point blank range. Instantly the crowd erupted into a sea of chains, pipes, guns, and blood.
5.) It is not over yet
Authorities in Waco, Texas arrested a total 170 bikers, each held on 1 million dollars bail, in relation to the Twin Peaks shootout. The death toll includes six Cossacks, one Cossack ally, and two Bandidos. Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton has stated that Waco police are expecting more outbursts of violence from the gangs. Police will continue to investigate the incident in attempts to reach the source of the hostility between the groups and to deter further episodes.
