192 held as 9 die in Texas biker gang brawl
Print Edition
Nearly 200 people were under arrest yesterday following a brawl between rival motorcycle gang members that left nine people dead in Waco, Texas, police said.
The fight broke out in a restroom at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill, and spilled into a parking lot as members of as many as five gangs fought each other with knives, chains and guns in front of terrified bystanders.
“One hundred ninety two individuals are being arrested and processed this morning in reference to the Twin Peaks shooting,” the Waco Police Department said in a statement.
“They will all face ‘engaging in organized crime’ charges,” police said on the department’s Facebook site.
“They are being booked and processed at this time,” the statement said, adding that the restaurant has been ordered to close for at least seven days.
Nine gang members were killed in the mayhem, and local news outlets reported that as many as 18 people were wounded, most from gunshots and stabbings.
“In 34 years of law enforcement this is the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in. There is blood everywhere,” Sergeant Patrick Swanton told the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Police fired their weapons to quell the melee. They said more than 100 weapons were collected from the chaotic and bloody scene.
The Twin Peaks is located in a popular Waco shopping and dining center known as the Central Texas Marketplace.
Police had been aware of a planned biker gathering and officers intervened quickly, but not before the bathroom fist fight spun out of control.
Swanton said police had made their concerns known beforehand to Twin Peaks, but the bar — part of a so-called “breastaurant” chain known for its scantily clad waitresses — had not been cooperative.
Among those arrested were bikers wearing the insignias of the Cossacks, the Scimitars and the Bandidos.
So-called biker clubs sprang out of an American counterculture movement in the second half of the 20th century, and some now have global affiliations.
Recognizable by their leather jackets bearing gang insignia, at base the groups are clubs for like-minded individuals who share a love for motorcycles and a disrespect for authority.
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