For a few minutes on Sunday, May 17, 2015, chaos erupted at a suburban shopping center
in Waco, Texas.
The Washington Post reports that a biker brawl turned into an all-out gunfight at a Twin
Peaks franchise, just after the clock struck high noon.
Members of rival biker gangs used chains, clubs, brass knuckles, knives, pistols, and
even AK-47 assault rifles to go at each other's throats until the police were able to get
control of the situation.
Police were forced to fire their weapons.
When the fighting settled, nine bikers were dead and another 20 people were injured.
Police arrested 177 people, according to NPR.
Waco Police Sgt.
W. Patrick Swanton said of the situation,
"In 34 years of law enforcement, this is the worst crime scene, the most violent crime
scene I have ever been involved in."
"In reference to the shooting at Twin Peaks, which is a capital murder."
When you hear about a biker brawl, you might be quick to assume that it involved the most
notorious leather-bound baddies in society, the Hells Angels.
However, you'd be accused of unfair stereotyping, because bikers are also capable of doing nice
things like donating to food banks and helping out in their communities.
But when it comes to this particular tragedy, people are keen to find out who was responsible.
So let's take a look at who was really involved in the 2015 Waco biker shoot-out.
As police were aware before the shoot-out, the rivalry that boiled over into violence
in Waco that day involved several different biker gangs allied against each other.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the two main rivals that day were called the Cossacks
and the Bandidos, but a total of five different motorcycle clubs were involved in the parking
lot brawl that originated in a bathroom of the restaurant.
"The Bandidos are an international, organized crime syndicate."
The Cossacks and the Bandidos both identify as "one-percenters."
"One-percenters" is a biker term that stemmed from a statement made after a motorcycle rally
went sideways in Hollister California in 1947, with the event turning violent.
According to the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, a member of the American Motorcycle
Association said at the time,
"Ninety-nine percent of the motorcycling public are law-abiding; there are 1% who are not."
These one-percenters apparently consider themselves to be "the baddest of the bad."
One unidentified Waco law enforcement official said that members of both gangs wear "one
percent" patches on their vests to proudly display how they feel united in their lawlessness.
This also means that they are considered willing participants in organized criminal activity.
According to the Cossacks' website, their crew lost seven men that day, whom they refer
to as the "Waco 7."
The Cossacks vow on their site to,
"NEVER FORGIVE and NEVER FORGET!"
As for the Banditos, their memorial page doesn't specify how the 20 fallen brothers pictured
died, but their slogan is telling.
It says,
"We are the people our parents warned us about."
Though they weren't involved with this particular devastating event, the Hells Angels still
consider themselves to be one-percenters, and therefore, above the law.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are around 300 Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,
or OMGs, operating in the U.S. Out of these gangs, the Hells Angels, Bandidos, Mongols,
Outlaws, and Sons of Silence reportedly have the vastest criminal enterprises that are
heavily involved in drug trafficking and smuggling, both domestically and internationally.
With so many "one-percenters" out there, dedicated to competing causes who also have no scruples
about getting violent, biker gang clashes are bound to happen.
This was by no means Waco's first shoot-out or siege, and Waco Police Sgt.
W. Patrick Swanton said biker gang crime and violence is an issue that extends far beyond
his jurisdiction.
Swanton said, per the Los Angeles Times,
"This is not a Waco problem [...] this is a national problem."
In the end, in 2019 all of the charges and subsequent 155 grand jury indictments alleging
involvement in organized crimes were dropped.
No one was ever held accountable for the deaths, injuries, and violence outside of the Twin
Peaks that day in May 2015, according to NPR, which reported that it's believed four of
those killed were shot by police.
Still, none of the violence or killings was perpetrated by one of the most notorious motorcycle
gangs in the U.S., The Hells Angels.
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