Jacksonville Beach, Florida Police Department Liaison Officer Sergeant Tommy Crumley issued a press release yesterday intended to clarify “a great deal of misinformation circulating in the public” regarding the homicide of Black Pistons patch holder Zachariah Tipton outside Nippers Beach Grille last month.

Multiple attempts by The Aging Rebel to obtain a copy of the release from Crumley were ignored. This morning Crumley was not answering his phone and his voice mailbox was full. But published and televised accounts in Jacksonville suggest that Crumley really did issue a press release and apparently it was intended to discredit this page’s coverage of the case.

From WJXT

According to television station WJXT:

“Among the misinformation, police said the shooter is not and has never been a law enforcement officer.”

“‘To the best of our knowledge, no one directly involved in this incident is or ever was a law enforcement officer,’ Sgt. Thomas Crumley wrote in a news release. ‘This was a dispute between members and/or associates of two motorcycle clubs that ended in violence. The deceased was struck by one round and died as a result of that wound.’”

Really?

Crumley’s statement immediately raises more questions than it answers, the most obvious of which is who Crumley thinks the shooter might be. Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity – because although it should be obvious to everyone that what we report on around here is the motorcycle outlaw frontier not the House Committee on Roller Skating so some sources put themselves in legal or physical jeopardy by talking about what they know; that’s why the sources tend to be anonymous; but apparently that is not obvious – the Iron Order member or prospect who confessed to shooting Tipton in the head in “self defense” was not the actual shooter.

When this page asked Crumley last month whether the confessed shooter’s hands had been bagged and tested for gunshot residue the Liason Officer took the fifth and then delivered a rude lecture beginning with the words, “I don’t know how you do things in Los Angeles but down here….”

The second obvious question is what Crumley thinks the definition of “law enforcement officer” is. Sources have indicated to this page that they believe the shooter or the confessed shooter was a former local area cop. It is impossible to know whether Crumley thinks military policeman, uncover ATF agents, undercover ATF Tactical Field Officers and paid Confidential Informants, SOIs and other government agents provocateur are law enforcement officers. In fact, because Crumley communicates in a manner that is a kind of a cross between a Papal Bull and the Turing Test, it is impossible to judge whether he is even telling the truth at all. He is under no obligation to be truthful. Police routinely lie as a matter of investigative strategy and as a matter of “perception management.”

Crumley’s carefully worded statement that, “The deceased was struck by one round and died as a result of that wound” sounds sophistical. His statement may be very literally true. If Tipton was shot, say three times it is possible to truthfully say that he was struck by a bullet and that bullet strike as opposed to other bullet strikes was the fatal wound.

This page has been told and finds it reasonable to believe that four shots were fired, three or four of those shots struck Tipton in the face or head and one of those shots, the fatal shot was a shot to Tipton’s temple.

Times-Union

In the first, real, local journalism in the case so far, Derek Gilliam of the Florida Times-Union interviewed Zach Tipton’s mother. “Glynda Purdy said her son, Zach, was shot twice in the head,” Gilliam wrote. “She said a doctor told her that. Purdy said the gunshot wounds were behind his ear and another one to the temple. She’s angry and wants her son’s killer to face justice.”

Purdy’s account of the fight in which her son died was that: “The people left and came back and Zach was shot execution style. It doesn’t matter if they were policemen or not.”

You can read the Times-Union piece here.

The Iron Order

The Man who killed Zach Tipton was unquestionably affiliated with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club. The Iron Order was founded by a Secret Service agent as a law enforcement motorcycle club which should be obvious from the name. Most clubs, like the Iron Pigs – one of whose members shot a Hells Angel in the Loud American Roadhouse in Sturgis about six years ago – or the Iron Brotherhood – whose members beat-up a Moctezuma’s bar patron named Justin Stafford in Prescott about a year ago – are motorcycle clubs that exist for and admit police officers, prison guards, parole agents and bounty hunters.

The Iron Order loosened its membership requirements to include civilians in order to grow its membership as rapidly as possible. The Iron Order’s foundation myth states that it “was started by a few hardcore bikers in a garage on July 4, 2004.”

There are persistent rumors that the Iron Order includes ATF agents although The Aging Rebel hasn’t been able to verify that. It is a fact that the Iron Order now has about 3,800 members which is much larger than any other motorcycle club in the world with the possible exception of the Vietnam Vets/Legacy Vets MC.

The Iron Order has recruited heavily among active duty and recently discharged members of the military. It is attractive for men who want to “play biker” because compared to other three piece patch motorcycle clubs it is relatively easy to join. Consequently most clubs view the Iron Order as soft. A recent anecdote, which may be apocryphal, illustrates that: A patch holder in a one percenter club in one of the Gulf states took a club prospect to a gathering of about a hundred Iron Order members. The patch holder told the prospect to pick one and beat the hell out of him.

Joey666

However, as the club has grown it has become increasingly confrontative. A comment made on this page today, by an Iron Order supporter serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who identified himself as “Joey666” illustrates the careless and childish mindset of Iron Order supporters:

“Let me take a second to soak this BS in,” Joey666 begins. “A bunch of criminals and sheeple are upset because a certain MC doesn’t want to obey and follow rules created by a bunch of people who don’t follow societies rules and disrespect another man’s right to be free and do as he pleases? A lot of the 1%ers I meet are a bunch of pussies and won’t man up unless they are with their “brothers!” I’m active duty military who obeys the law of the land and I have plenty of friends who are cops, fire fighters, and veterans who are more of a man than most 1%ers. In my book there is no greater honor than to serve your community and I get pissed when people talk shit. Sure you will always have bad cops, but the majority are good guys who will look the other way for minor infractions and come to the aid to those in need. If you think snorting Meth or Coke, trafficking guns and drugs, robbing and stealing from people, and enjoy disrespecting and mistreating women then an Outlaw club is for you. I myself would have killed all four BPs without losing any sleep. He has grounds for self defense and sure shooting someone four times is excessive but let’s see how you feel when you get cheap shoted and then have 4 guys rushing you. The adrenaline is pumping and you have to protect yourself so in all reality he used pretty good restraint. Also BPMC is a well known support club for the Outlaws and proudly wear that “black diamond”. It’s like knowing you have a known murderer attacking you and you will do what it takes to protect yourself and your friends. You guys say man up and fight like a man but it takes four guys to beat up two people? How is this being a man? I am so sick of social rejects talking shit. How about for once you guys go make money the honest way and respect every man’s inherent right to exist and be free to do whatever he wishes as long as he isn’t violating anyone’s rights.”

The Biker Menace

What Joey666 and most Iron Order members and supporters seem not to care about, is that belonging to a motorcycle club like the Black Pistons is a way of being a man. Motorcycle clubs exemplify what the late Tim Hetherington called “Man Eden.” The social dynamics of outlaw clubs are most analogous to the social dynamics of men in combat. It is one of the few opportunities in modern life in which men may unabashedly love one another. The connection between combat veterans and motorcycle clubs explains why these clubs appeared after World War II, why new clubs formed and membership surged during and after Vietnam, and why club membership is growing now.

Brand name motorcycle clubs like the Hells Angels, the American Outlaws Association, the Warlocks and others have had to learn to mostly peacefully coexist since the Supreme Court’s Turkette decision in June 1981 – a new case law precedent that was first applied to prosecute Hells Angels in what at the time was a very hot and nasty biker war waged between the Angels and the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

“Life is hard,” one of George V. Higgins characters explains in The Friends of Eddie Coyle. “But it’s harder when you’re stupid.” The Iron Order, for reasons that are not yet entirely clear, deliberately tries to provoke members of other motorcycle clubs into doing something stupid.

The motorcycle club world follows a general protocol that arranges clubs into a hierarchy. Big, preeminent clubs make the rules for all the smaller clubs. One of the most basic of those rules is that each club shall wear distinct insignia, or as prosecutors call it, indicia. The Iron Order came out of the gate wearing black and white which brought them into immediate conflict with the American Outlaws Association whose members wore black and white long before there was an Iron Order. Outlaws hold their insignia with the same regard that patriots hold the American flag. Members of motorcycle clubs, as part of their code of honor, are compelled to fight for their insignia. The Iron Order has been contemptuous of the Outlaws’ sensitivities.

To join an outlaw motorcycle club is to cross a vast desert and find one’s own tribe. Joining a club doesn’t necessarily mean that the club comes to totally dominate one’s life but it is a life changing event. A member of a motorcycle club literally cannot refuse to defend his club’s insignia without losing all of the best friends of his life. The Iron Order is broadly seen as a mockery of that way of being a man.

Taunting

The Iron Order has gone out of its way to try bully other clubs by exploiting its close relationship with police forces around the country. There are numerous examples of Iron Order club officers writing to police departments to explain that their club is a “law abiding club.” Then after arbitrarily claiming the moral, or at least legal, high ground Iron Order members go out of their way to provoke conflicts with members of more established clubs in order to get their adversaries to commit a crime like assault which the Iron Order then vigorously prosecutes.

For example, within the last year an Iron Order club officer relentlessly taunted a member of a one percenter club, invited the outlaw to a particular place at a particular time, showed up, got punched to the ground and then clung to the outlaws’ leg and screamed “I’m lawfully detaining you for the police!”

Let’s Meet Cgar

The author of this weird, passive-aggressive style of settling differences seems to be the Iron Order’s current International Sergeant at Arms, 44-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Michael “Cgar” Crouse. Crouse is currently assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In tape recorded and written statements, Crouse comes across as a stupid bully. In one conversation to which The Aging Rebel gained access, Crouse stated “I know our club has the advantage. One percenters won’t call the cops. So what the fuck, destroy any fucker that confronts you. It’s a free ticket….”

Crouse is a former military policeman who hasn’t hesitated to use his privileged access to classified and confidential information to harass and intimidate people he sees as enemies of his motorcycle club. Crouse used his military position to identify an Army Reserve member who was the author of a Facebook page critical of the Iron Order.

“Hello Dan,” the Army officer told the Facebook author’s voice mail. “This is you buddy Cgar again. Nope, I didn’t waste no money looking for your phone number again. Not one bit. You used to be military, right? You used to be at Fort Benning, right? Correction. For Polk, right? Yeah. We got connections. Just tell me where you’re at, man.  (Unintelligible) will meet you. (Unintelligible.) Guess what, homey. You run a good mouth. Let’s see what you can do.”

“Hey Dan. This is Cgar again,” Crouse begins another message that is clearly intended to intimidate his club’s critic. “Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate you saying my asshole’s tight. That must mean you’re in love with me. That’s so cute of you. I’ll tell you what. You post on there (the Facebook page) where and when you want someone to meet you and I’ll arrange it for you. Missed you at the (unintelligible) event yesterday. There were a bunch of guys there looking for you. Looking for (unintelligible) and some other guys. It was cool. How about you tell me where you’re at and I’ll send somebody down there to meet you, too. In person and not over the phone.”

“Hey Dan. No need to hang up on me. I know who you are. Got your phone number. Know where you work at. Listen, you want to meet with some Iron Order members? Answer the phone when I call you back and I’ll schedule a place where you can meet ‘em. That way you can talk big in front of ‘em rather than on a Facebook page. It might be a lot better for you and a lot better for us to do that in person. Instead of writin’ stuff on the internet bein’ an internet keyboard commando. I’ll be callin’ you back later on today again. And again tomorrow. And the next day. Okay? Maybe eventually you’ll answer the phone.”

The transcription of these harassing messages hardly does justice to Crouse’s mocking tone. But even the bare words suggests an explanation of how Zach Tipton happened to cross paths with the still anonymous Iron Order member who shot him in the head and killed him.

According to an article in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, will introduce a bill that will eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sensenbrenner is quoted in the article and it is reproduced on his official website.

The ATF is the federal police force tasked with ensuring that taxes are collected on alcohol and tobacco products and that firearm sales are regulated according to law. The ATF is also the fireworks police. In the last two decades, the ATF has engaged in numerous infiltrations of motorcycle clubs, militias and other nonconformists groups and has carried out numerous drug entrapments.

Last may, in discussing the federal case born of one of those entrapments, federal judge Manuel L. Real wrote:   “It is unclear why the ATF, which has no authority over illicit drugs, is trying to ensnare citizens in its fictitious stash house robberies. Further, the government has provided no evidence that there have been any stash house robberies in Southern California nor any evidence of the necessity of trolling poor neighborhoods to ensnare its poor citizens.”

In 2012, the ATF became the subject of adverse media and Congressional scrutiny when it was alleged that the Bureau was allowing firearms to be smuggled into Mexico.

GAO Study

A Government Accounting Office study released yesterday found that: “Beginning in 2010, ATF made criminal organization investigations one of its highest priorities, similar to firearms investigations, and deemphasized alcohol and tobacco investigations that do not involve violent crime. ATF data show that alcohol and tobacco investigations decreased by 85 percent (from 168 to 25 investigations opened) from fiscal years 2003 through 2013.” The GAO declared that the ATF was unable to “assess how effective its investigations are in addressing violent crime.”

The study also portrayed ATF agents as aging and overpaid. “ATF reported facing funding and hiring challenges. ATF’s number of special agents generally increased from fiscal years 2004 through 2010, but decreased by about 6 percent (from 2,562 to 2,399) through fiscal year 2013, which represents the lowest number of special agents in 8 years. According to ATF management officials, ATF was unable to hire agents because its funding did not keep pace with the cost of employee salaries and benefits. According to ATF data, the average salary and benefits costs for ATF employees increased by 55 percent from $100,000 in fiscal year 2003 to $155,000 in fiscal year 2013. Further, about a quarter of ATF’s on-board special agents were eligible to retire as of the end of fiscal year 2013, with an additional 20 percent becoming eligible to retire through fiscal year 2018.”

Sensenbrenner

Sensenbrenner told the Journal Sentinel, “By absorbing the ATF into existing law enforcement entities, we can preserve the areas where the ATF adds value for substantially less taxpayer money. While searching for its mission, the ATF has been plagued by decades of high-profile blunders….We cannot afford to ignore clear changes that will greatly enhance the government’s efficiency.”

Sensenbrenner is a political conservative but the Journal Sentinel found that support for eliminating the ATF is strong among liberals as well. The paper quoted Arkadi Gerney, a senior fellow at a “left-leaning” think tank called the Center for American Progress who believes the ATF should be absorbed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“The FBI already has a significant role in violent crimes,” Gerney said. “Firearms are not a foreign concept to them.”

Although the Iron Order Motorcycle Club continues to advertise itself as a “law abiding motorcycle club” the ATF is now categorizing it as an “outlaw motorcycle gang.” An unclassified report issued nine days ago by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information included the following “intelligence” about the Iron Order.

“In southern and central Maryland, the Iron Horsemen MC is furious that the Iron Order continues to don a three-piece patch. In the past 2 months, there have been several bloody confrontations between the two. On February 28, 2014, both were involved in a melee at a strip club in Baltimore. Iron Horsemen members were equipped with bats, knives, MagLite flashlights and hammers. Even though nobody was killed, both OMGs suffered major injuries. One week later, as three Iron Order members were idling at a red light in Prince George’s County, they were viciously attacked by several car loads of suspected Iron Horsemen members. Two of the three Iron Order members were severely beaten with bats, ax handles and crow bars. The assailants were not wearing colors or indicia that depicted they were Iron Horsemen members, supporters or associates.

“The Iron Order is one of the fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the United States. Members wear a traditional three-piece patch with a State bottom rocker. The fact that they wear the State bottom rocker has infuriated the HAMC, Outlaws, Iron Horsemen, Pagans and Bandidos. More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors.

“Over the past 4 years, the Iron Order has had several violent confrontations with each of the aforementioned OMGs. Per the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in 2013, an Iron Order member was run off the road by a Bandidos member. In Clarksville, Kentucky, the Iron Order and Outlaws have been involved in several violent altercations. On May 14, 2011, HAMC South Carolina Nomads member William Sosebee stabbed an Iron Order member outside a bar in South Carolina. Despite the violence, they continue to move into territory controlled by one of the Dominant Seven.”

In a 1967 film called Born Losers, the late actor Tom Laughlin introduced an action character named Billy Jack and immortalized the nastiest of stereotypes about the biker menace.

After returning home from Vietnam Billy Jack took refuge in the lonesome mountains of San Luis Obispo County on California’s Central Coast. In the inciting incident of the film, the moment that pushed the plot into motion, Billy Jack arrives in Morro Bay and witnesses a motorist being savagely beaten by the Born Losers Motorcycle Club. Billy Jack jumps in, saves the victim and is arrested for his good deed. Of course, unbeknownst to Billy Jack, the motorist started the fight by running into one of the bikers and then insulting him. Free of the impediment of Billy Jack’s mad martial arts skills, the Born Losers proceed to terrorize Morro Bay – or “Big Rock,” as it is called in the film – and rape four teenage girls.

Now, half a century later, life seems to be trying hard to imitate art in the lonely mountains near Westcliffe, Colorado.

Biker Gang Attacks Family

Writing in the Wet Mountain Tribune (“Published Every Thursday Since 1883”), under the headline “Biker gang attacks visiting family,” esteemed colleague in journalism J.E. Ward reports that “a man, woman and three-year-old boy” were attacked by members of the Valiants Motorcycle Club – a club born about seven years after Billy Jack faced his biker foes. The Valiants now has chapters in Denver, Windsor and Florence

Ward reports “Travis Harter, 25, and his girlfriend Nicole Mickeletto, 24, and their young son were surrounded by the motorcycle gang known as ‘Valiant.’”

“The attack began west of Wetmore on Highway 96.” “There were a dozen motorcycles and five SUVs that increased and decreased their speed around the family, and refused to let them pass.” “By the time the family had come onto Hardscrabble Road they had been rear-ended by one of the SUVs already.”

“The assault escalated at mile marker 18 when a motorcyclist rode beside the family, pointed a gun at Harter through the window and told him to pull over. ‘That is when a white SUV shoved them off the road,” Custer County Sheriff Fred Jobe told Ward. “While being forced off the highway, Harter hit one of the motorcyclists. ‘We don’t know if it was intentional or not,’ Sheriff Jobe said. Several of the alleged Valiant members hit Harter through the driver’s window. While he was being beaten, other members smashed the headlights, slashed the tires and stabbed the driver’s door with a knife. ‘Other members shouted and harassed Mickeletto and the three year old on the other side of the vehicle,’ Sheriff Jobe said. ‘They were not touched, though.’ By the time deputies arrived at the scene, the bikers were gone. Harter was taken by a Florence ambulance to Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo where he was later released the same day.” You can read the complete story here.

Today the Pueblo Chieftain ran a shorter version of Ward’s story under the headline “Gang assault under probe.”

The Valiants MC

The Valiants don’t make much news. On Christmas Eve 2011, the Canon City Daily Record reported “Valiants Motorcycle Club helps donate presents to the Family Crisis Services, Inc. shelter.” A year ago, the Billings Gazette reported that a club member named Todd Schisler “threw a four-pound metal bar at the driver’s side window of a vehicle on Interstate 90, smashing the glass and injuring two people.”

The victim of the metal bar incident, identified as “J.V., reported that the motorcyclists were driving ‘extremely aggressively’ on Highway 212, ‘passing in no-passing zones and driving in the oncoming lane as if playing chicken with other drivers.’”

“J.V. said the motorcyclists got on Interstate 90 toward Billings where he saw them ‘pass in between vehicles traveling parallel in both lanes, and raise their middle fingers to other drivers.’”

Now, a Sheriff in Southern Colorado is claiming the Valiants have struck again. The ghosts of the biker menace continue to haunt the West. And how you feel about that probably says more about you than it says about the Valiants.

For the last two weeks, members and apparent supporters of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club have been making pugnacious and inflammatory statements about the respect with which the Iron Order is regarded by more traditional clubs like the American Outlaws Association and the Black Pistons. This morning a commenter who is either an Iron Order supporter or a provocateur stated on this page, “Face it, IO has you all bluffed and is not taking any shit. You are all scared of them.”

That’s hardly the worst that has been said since the death of Black Piston Motorcycle Club member Zachariah Tipton. A couple of outspoken commenters on both this page and the website of Jacksonville television station WJXT  have made statements that suggests that they have direct and first hand knowledge of the events that led to Tipton being shot in the head.

The Aging Rebel reached out to these commenters in order to become better informed about the shooting. This page contacted Iron Order members Jason “Booyah” Turner of Barnesville, Georgia and Bobby “Fatboy” Miller of Middleburg, Florida.

Bobby Miller

Eleven days ago on the WJXT site Miller, a member of the Jacksonvile chapter of the Iron Order wrote:

“First of all the shooter was not LE. He was military. There are some whom (sic) feel that because the IO does have LE and Feds in it’s chapters that we are a 100 percent LE MC. We also allow African Americans. Does this make us a African American MC? We allow military to join. Does this make us a military MC? Second of all he was jumped by the BP’s. This was not a random act. He (Tipton) was actually following orders from the officers to “hit the IO on site.” (sic)  Now it is “kill on site.” (sic) If anyone on this thread knows anything about the true MC world (and I have read a few that do) they know I am correct. The dominate (sic) club in the area feels that unless other clubs bow down to them, pay them dues, join the COC, wear a support patch or “property of” patch and follow the protocol that they feel should be followed, then they shouldn’t exist. This is one of the main reasons for these type of altercations. Maybe Tipton just wanted to get his “Charlie” fast tracked and felt he could intimidate the IO prospect. The prospect was defending his right as an American to be able to join a club he wanted to and wear what he wanted to and not coward to a group whom feel it is wrong. So instead of trying to place blame on the shooter or the Stand Your Ground Law, maybe it’s time for the so called “dominate” (sic) club to wake up and realize that other clubs WILL exist. Other clubs will continue to utilize there (sic) rights as Americans and ride freely on the streets as they do. Never will they hear that the IO “owns” Florida. We don’t want there (sic) drug business, stolen bikes or however else they raise money. We want to ride, party and enjoy are God given rights as Americans. IOFFIO-MBBM”

Miller seemed to have inside information on the police investigation of the shooting. Thirteen days ago he wrote, “They won’t release the name of the shooter until everything is made crystal clear as they fear that he as well as his family will be retaliated against by the one percenter motorcycle clubs that Zac Tipton was a member of. The shooter was not a cop but in the military.”

Miller also wrote:

“The shooter was not a cop. He is in the Service. He was trained for hand to hand combat by the military and did what he was supposed to do in this situation. He was jumped by at least four members of a rival MC. The shooter was doing nothing wrong except wearing a vest that that other MC did not feel he had the right to. He was let out of jail because he acted in self defense. 230 witnesses and cell phone video proved this. If the other MCs would have backed off instead of trying to thump their chest and trying to prove a point, the man would still be alive. He is to blame for his own death. Shot four times? Not excessive if you feel your life is in danger. Maybe the other clubs will now understand how stupid they are.”

Dear Izod

The Aging Rebel attempted to contact multiple members of the Iron Order. Mostly those attempts at contact were ignored. However a member of the Iron Order named Craig “Playboy” Cabral did respond. “I have spoken with Izod,” Cabral wrote, “and he is more than willing to provide you with any facts you need.”

So this page emailed Ray “Izod” Lubesky, the International President of the Iron Order and asked:

“What don’t I know about the Zach Tipton homicide? What have I gotten wrong about the case so far? What do you know that I don’t know? How do you know? Was the shooter a member or prospect with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club? What is his name? Is Cgar Crouse still the International Sergeant at Arms with the Iron Order? Why? Have members of the Iron Order been told not to wear their colors? Why?”

Lubesky responded twice. The IO President responded to the questions within six hours and replied again about 11 hours after that. His responses are reproduced below and are mostly unedited. The sections in his first email that were written in 18 point red type are reproduced here in italics:

Email One

“First off, we are truly sorry for the family of Zachariah Tipton. They are the real innocent victims. He was a father of three kids, he was a husband and he was a son of a mother and father who are now without him forever. That is very sad and unfortunate.

“Secondly, we believe in our justice system. We believe the investigation will bring the absolute truth to light and whatever the decision, we will abide by it and follow the appropriate steps to defend our Prospect and our club legally and ethically in accordance with the law.

“Third, the Iron Order has never incited violence on any club. All violence we have been subjected to has been thrust upon us and we have had to defend ourselves.  We denounce violence at all levels for any reason. We believe differences can be worked out by talking like men.

“The answers to your questions are in red in your email below.”

What don’t I know about the Zach Tipton homicide?

From your reporting you don’t seem know anything.

What have I gotten wrong about the case so far?

Everything.

What do you know that I don’t know?

We know what happened.

How do you know?

We had brothers there.

Was the shooter a member or prospect with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club?

The shooter is a prospect for the IOMC.  He is not now nor has he ever been law enforcement.  Releasing his name is not possible at this time.  He shot Tipton once and he died from that one single shot to the head.

What is his name?

It is not possible to give his name at this time.

Is Cgar Crouse still the International Sergeant at Arms with the Iron Order? Why?

Our national officers are all listed on our website.

Have members of the Iron Order been told not to wear their colors? Why?

At no time was anyone in the Iron Order given a directive not to wear colors.  We gave out the directive to stay out of the way of the Outlaws, Black Pistons and their support clubs as they traveled to Jacksonville to mourn the loss of their brother.  We felt that was the respectful and right thing to do.

Second Email

In his second email, Lubesky said:

“Rebel, I will be very happy to send you a written statement of exactly what happened that night, minute by minute supported by all the evidence, testimony, and video but only after the State’s Attorney’s Office announces its intentions in this case.  Right now there is a whole lot of misinformation and lies out there. We can only ask that as a responsible journalist for the one percenter community that you say you are, that you please vet your sources, please try to confirm their statements with other sources, and wait for the real story to be released. Everything you have reported is wrong and it seems to get farther from the truth with every new version. We realize that you are bombarded with bullshit from the Facebook haters and it’s tempting to run with their stories like the bogus email they sent to you and said I sent it to the Laconia Police Department. So you know, one percenters attending Laconia went to the Laconia PD to see if it was true. The Laconia PD confirmed it to be a vicious hoax meant to start problems between the one percenters in Laconia and us. It was the one percenters who told the haters to pull that crap down and stop with that bullshit. Our club will remain silent on the events of that night and this incident until the appropriate time. We do not want to interfere or disrupt the investigation or the judicial process. We want justice to prevail just like you do.”

“Justice delayed,” the 19th Century British Prime Minister William Gladstone once remarked, “is justice denied.” Most people interpret Gladstone’s remark to mean that he thought justice is a good thing.

Meanwhile, in the new and improved America, a 30-year old named Michael McCloskey, whose friends used to call him “Biker Mike,” remains confined to a wheelchair and Thomas Caine White, the 32-year-old, former, part-time Ottawa Hills, Ohio cop who gunned McCloskey down like a mad dog during a routine traffic stop on May 23, 2009 is still free to jog, shop at Walmart and get drunk at his Fourth of July barbecue.

The Crime

McCloskey, who was then 25 and a friend named Aaron Snyder were riding their Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Ottawa Hills, near Toledo, about 2:15 a.m. White initially said he signaled the pair to stop for exceeding the 25-miles-per hour speed limit but would later say he believed the men were alcohol impaired.

White called for backup and a second Ottawa Hills cop named Christopher Sargent observed Snyder drive over a curb into grass and then back onto the street before stopping. Sargent took Snyder into custody on suspicion of drunk driving.

After McCloskey came to a stop White pulled up behind him. While White was still in the cruiser with his lights and sirens on, McCloskey looked over his right shoulder toward White’s vehicle and then looked toward the backup officer arresting the other rider. White got out of the cruiser and yelled something and when McCloskey turned again to glance over his right shoulder McCloskey shot him in the back. The entire traffic stop was recorded on a video camera in McCloskey’s cruiser and you can watch that raw video below.

McCloskey was instantly paralyzed from the waist down although he retained feeling in his lower extremities. His motorcycle fell on him exhaust side down and as his hot exhaust pipes burned through his leg McCloskey begged White and Sargent to pull the bike off him. After Snyder ran to help McCloskey he asked White and Sargent to help him get the 600 pound motorcycle off the 200 pound man. White replied, “He’s your friend. You get the bike off of him.” McCloskey’s burns caused nerve damage and he remains in constant pain.

The Defense

White was eventually charged with felonious assault with a firearm enhancement. He went to trial and his defense consisted of trying to convince jurors not to believe their own eyes. White testified at his trial a year after the shooting that he had ordered McCloskey to put his hands up and that McCloskey had made “a reaching movement” the led White to believe McCloskey was pulling a weapon.

The professional police establishment rallied to White’s defense. Several “expert” witnesses testified McCloskey was to blame for getting in the way of White’s bullet. A former FBI Agent named Urey Patrick testified “If McCloskey had turned off the bike and raised his hands on the handle bars this wouldn’t have happened.”

The Appeals

White was convicted and the month after his trial he was sentenced to ten years in prison. After his conviction, the former cop was allowed to remain free on $100,000 bond while he pursued his appeals.

White’s conviction was overturned by the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals in January 2013. White’s lawyers argued that the former cop was a public employee who had acted in good faith. The Appeals Court ruled that the firearm enhancement that guaranteed White would have to serve at least three years in prison could not be applied to cops, and ordered prosecutors to retry White without that enhancement. Prosecutors appealed that ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court which heard oral arguments on the case in early February. Both the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Inc. and The National Fraternal Order of Police filed amici curiae briefs on White’s behalf.

In oral argument Christina Corl, the attorney representing The National Fraternal Order of Police, told the court “You have to understand that a police officer acting and discharging his service weapon in the line of duty is just fundamentally different from the armed robber holding up a gas station.” In other words, the law applies differently to cops.

As of this morning, the Supreme Court of Ohio had not issued a ruling and White remains free.

The Iron Order Motorcycle Club continues to try to wash and spin dry the murder of Black Piston Zachariah “Nas T” Tipton outside Nippers Beach Grille in Jacksonville Beach, Florida on June 26.

In an interview, Derek Kinner of Folio Weekly asked Iron Order President Ray “Izod” Lubesky (photo above) if members of the Iron Order went to Nippers that night to “bait” members of the Black Pistons to fight.

Lubesky replied, “I can promise you no one went there to kill anybody. Nobody was looking for a fight. We had people inside and we had people outside. If we were looking for a fight, they would have been all together.” Lubesky does not deny that the Iron Order members have a history of provoking fights

Iron Order Threatened

Lubesky also continues to complain about this site’s coverage of the case and to claim to have secret, inside knowledge of the case that is not available to the general public. “We have not been directly threatened but it’s all over the internet,” the Iron Order President told Kinner. “It’s deplorable. I know what the rumors are, that we murdered this guy. It was an execution style killing with a bullet through the temple, there were two shooters who fired four times.” Kinner indirectly quotes Lubesky as saying “All of that is untrue.”

The Aging Rebel believes the police statement that Tipton was shot in the temple. This page has also been told by multiple sources that at least two Iron Order members were present, that multiple shots were fired and that Tipton was shot three or four times. The medical examiners report on Tipton has not been released. Members of Tipton’s immediate family have stated publically that they were not permitted to see his body.

The Iron Order and Jacksonville Beach Police spokesman Tom Crumley have both stated that the shooter was not a law enforcement officer. However Crumley seems to have been playing semantic games throughout this investigation. In attempting to learn the identity of the man who killed Zach Tipton this page has identified an Iron Order prospect who is the son of an Iron Order member who is also a police officer in Kentucky. When The Aging Rebel contacted the prospect about Tipton by email the prospect replied “Not sure what your talking about.”

Police Not Hiding Anything

Lubesky told Kinner the police “are not hiding anything, they are not protecting anybody…. They want to make sure they get it right.”

However Lubesky also told Folio his club will stick by the shooter whether he is indicted or not. Kinner reports that if the shooter is charged the Iron Order “will fully support him in the courts, financially and morally.”

You can read Kinner’s complete article here.

Police arrested a second man yesterday in connection with a shooting Sunday, July 6 at a Chevron on San Felipe Road in Hollister, California at the conclusion of Hollister’s annual motorcycle rally.

The shooting resulted from a confrontation between members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club and members of the Wino’s Crew Motorcycle Club. Three Boozefighters were shot during the incident. A fourth Boozefighter named Michael Richard Kich, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and posted bail. Kich and the three injured Boozefighters are all from Nevada.

Lamar Guy Jones Copeland

According to a Hollister Police press release, “The investigation has led officers to identify the alleged shooter of the “Boozefighters” as Wino’s Crew member, Lamar Guy Jones Copeland (photo above), 27, of Sacramento. A warrant for his arrest was issued several days ago and police have been working with the Sacramento Police Department in an attempt to locate him. After many hours of investigation and surveillance, the Sacramento Police Criminal Intelligence Unit located Copeland in Sacramento” yesterday.

Yesterday morning, “Hollister Detectives drove to the Sacramento area to take custody of Copeland. He was transported back to Hollister and booked at the San Benito County Jail for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held with no bail.”

Bad Blood

Hollister police have already said the shooting was a continuation of a dispute that began outside Johnny’s Bar & Grill in Hollister on the evening of July 5. During that incident police arrested Wino’s Crew patch holder Kelly Eugene Rivas of Grass Valley, California for carrying a concealed knife. Police have said that fight was recorded by the newly installed video surveillance apparatus in downtown Hollister. No members of the Boozefighters MC are believed to be cooperating with the police investigation.

Wino’s Crew is an offshoot of the Boozefighters and it is named in honor of Boozefighters founder William “Wino Willie” Forkner who died in June 1997. Wino’s Crew was formed three months before Forkner’s death.

Wino’s Crew states, “We are a brotherhood formed around the traditions and memory of Wino Willie Forkner, founder of the Boozefighters MC. We are not a part of the BFMC nor are we a farm club. We were organized to defend Wino Willie, ‘JD’ John and the rest of the original Boozefighters from being dumped on by the new breed of Boozefighters in Texas.”

Operation Pure Luck, announced on June 27, 2013, was never anything other than a public relations opportunity for a handful of unscrupulous bureaucrats to brag about how they had taken on the outlaw biker menace in Las Vegas and triumphed.

The chicken hawks at the news conference were United States Attorney for the District of Nevada Daniel Bogden,  Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson and Joseph Riehl who is the Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in San Francisco. All three of them should probably be stripped and hung in steel cages suspended an easy stone’s throw over the Vegas Strip.

Responsible news outlets put on their miniskirts and strolled for Pure Luck. KSNV in Vegas used the headline tease, “Federal, state and local law enforcement indict more than 30 bikers in a sting they say targeted some of the most violent motorcycle gang members in the nation.” Then after calling Bogden, Wolfson, Reihl and a handful of local cops Daddy, KSNV stopped covering the case.

Nobody covered the case because there never really was a case and great pains were taken to conceal what there was. Pure Luck might have been just the one public relations opportunity but it became a score of overlapping federal and state criminal cases and this week it all began to fall apart.

Agostino Brancato

All there ever was, was a four-year-long undercover investigation that never really went anywhere because the principal undercover investigator, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy named Agostino Brancato, who moonlights as a Tactical Field Officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, could never really convince the Vagos, Mongols, Bandidos and others he met to actually commit crimes much more serious than speeding. So Brancato made stuff up.

The ATF always makes stuff up. ATF undercovers act out preplanned dramas for video cameras. The dramas are carefully contrived to portray the Bureau’s chosen victims in the worst possible light. The Bureau, in cooperation with the oxymoronic Department of Justice, alters and hides evidence in order to convict innocent, or almost innocent, men. The ATF Reports of Investigation are the worst. They are frequently, literally, manufactured evidence.

Sadistic State

Virtually all recent ATF entrapments of motorcycle club members and virtually all the subsequent prosecutions epitomize what Andrew Carlon, writing in the Virginia Law Review, called the “sadistic state.”

Carlon describes an investigative and legal process that has “short circuited…a state run amok. It is a state that has decided that, since its unique function is the power to punish, it must pursue punishment as an intrinsic good, independent of desert (or, indeed, of the other, more consequentialist aims of punishment), transforming itself into a ‘punishment machine.’ But as we have seen, punishment without desert reduces to sadism. We get the ‘sadistic state,’ which wields power, most fully realized through the infliction of pain, as an end in itself, the human beings in its power merely means to that awful end.”

“The sadistic state raises the specter of totalitarianism. As Professor Hannah Arendt writes, the totalitarian criminal justice system is marked by, among other things, the ‘replacement of the suspected offense by the possible crime.’“

Operation Pure Luck should become a case study for political science students interested in a state run amok. Bogden, Wolfson, Reihl and their fellow villains knew the case was dirty and mostly baseless from the start. That’s partly why the case was divided into many parts – to frustrate public scrutiny of what was really going on. Pure Luck was eerily similar to the equally dirty Operation Black Rain that culminated in the arrest of seventy-nine Mongols and the persecution by civil forfeiture of hundreds more.

Déjà Vu All Over Again

TFO Tino Brancato has a history. He was a bad actor in Black Rain in Vegas. His accomplices were a professional criminal and snitch who was born Steve Veltus but who was most recently rechristened Steven Maschari by the United States Marshals’ Witness Protection Program. Veltus/Maschari is still breaking the same laws other men are sent to prison for breaking and still defrauding people. He escaped justice and two law suits late last year in Wisconsin when the DOJ convinced a local judge that it was vital to law and order that Veltus not be punished for his crimes.

Brancato’s mentor in that investigation was a despicable ATF agent named John Carr who was also Veltus’ handler and, according to William Queen, was an OG in John Ciccone’s original anti-biker “gang.” Carr, who specializes in drug entrapments and who has won numerous awards for that, including a Federal Bar Association Medal of Valor Award, was recently rebuked by idiosyncratic Federal District Judge Manuel L. Real for an entrapment Carr created out of thin air.

“The government created the fictitious crime from whole cloth,” Real wrote. “Agent Carr was the only integral part of the conspiracy to rob his fictitious stash house from the beginning. Agent Carr invented the amount of cocaine present, making his planned robbery worth approximately $600,000. He invented the two old men guarding the fictitious stash house, that they were armed, and thus the need for the defendants to bring guns. Although Agent Carr may never have said the phrase ‘make sure you bring guns,’ he told the defendants that the two men guarding the stash house were armed and that he could not get the guns. When the defendants brought guns to the warehouse, they merely did so as part of Agent Carr’s plan. Agent Carr was to provide the getaway car and be at the fictitious stash house to let his coconspirators through the door. Despite the government’s argument that the defendants planned the crime, Agent Carr controlled all the details, communicating that the defendants would need to bring guns, detailing how they would enter the fictitious stash house, and how they would get away. Agent Carr insisted that he would be at the fictitious stash house during the robbery and that he would open the door for the defendants. When Agent Carr said he wanted to meet everyone at the warehouse to plan the robbery, Roberts said that there was no need and he would just show the others Agent Carr’s photograph, but Agent Carr insisted that he meet everyone to go exactly over the plan. Once at the warehouse, Agent Carr insisted on running through a script to ensure there was a conspiracy. Moreover, none of the defendants even knew of the location of the fictitious stash house. Without Agent Carr there could have been no agreement at all. The government’s crime is a lie and a falsehood. Agent Carr was lying to the defendants the whole time. Everything Agent Carr said was part of his fraud on the defendants. If Agent Carr was not acting on behalf of the government, he could be charged for fraud for his scheme. Agent Carr for all purposes planned the robbery and the conspiracy from beginning to end. The government argues he did not tell the defendants how to do their part, but their part was only agreeing to go along with Agent Carr. Agent Carr told them the details of the targeted fictitious stash house, that he would let them in, provide the vehicle, and told them of the obstacles they would encounter. The only thing Agent Carr did not provide them with was guns. However, Agent Carr and the ATF needed to have the arrests for guns, and it was not the defendants who asked about the need of guns. But the crime that the defendants were indicted for was conspiracy, which Agent Carr was most definitively an active conspirator, the ring leader, and orchestrator of the whole agreement. But despite Agent Carr’s integral part as the mastermind of the conspiracy who was in charge of all the details, the government did not indict him. Agent Carr encouraged all the defendants to agree to his fictitious plot; at the warehouse, Agent Carr’s carefully orchestrated script ensured he would get the defendants to agree. Thus the government’s role in creating, encouraging, and participating in this conspiracy was pervasive from beginning to end. Moreover, had the defendants actually robbed a real stash house, regardless of their aspirations, and there was only one kilogram of cocaine at the real stash house, they could only be charged with possession of that one kilogram of cocaine. That Agent Carr was able to lie about all the details of the crime – the 20–25 kilograms of cocaine, the necessity to bring guns – then use those fictitious details so that the government can indict the defendants for a crime with a much greater mandatory minimum sentence, is outrageous. It would be unconscionable for this court to condone and sanction the government’s fraud in this case.”

Melanie A. Hill

These sorts of entrapments are rarely exposed or even opposed by defense lawyers. As a rule, defense lawyers get paid to encourage their clients to plead guilty. Following Operation Black Rain, for example, one public defender told his provably innocent client, “Look. You’re in the Mongols motorcycle gang. What do you expect?”

The difference between Operation Black Rain and Operation Pure Luck was that one of the defendants was Jeremy “Maniak” Halgat and his lawyer was Melanie A. Hill. Hill has actually spent the last 13 months trying to prove Halgat innocent instead of trying to convince him to take the deal.

Halgat was a target because he was the Vagos Motorcycle Club’s Vegas Valley Vice President and the club’s Southern Nevada Regional Sergeant at Arms. Brancato patched into the Vagos, did his thing, and Halgat was subsequently indicted in two, separate federal cases called USA v. Halgat et al, and USA v. Wickham et al. Both cases allege basically the same things and both are built on Brancato’s accusations.

ATF SOP

Two years into Operation Pure Luck Brancato became the “Vagos Clark County Sergeant at Arms and initiated a series illegal drug and guns sales” including an alleged purchase of anabolic steroids. Despite numerous enticements, Halgat refused to deal drugs with Brancato. Brancato went to extraordinary ends to entice Halgat to do something illegal, even offering to tip Halgat $50 for introducing Brancato to a Mongols Motorcycle Club hang around who apparently did sell Brancato drugs. Halgat refused the $50, telling his club brother, “Don’t worry about it, you paid for my dinner and you can just get me on the back end.”

Later that evening, Brancato discussed with his ATF supervisors how he could implicate Halgat by lying.

“You know what,” Brancato thought out loud. “I may do this is what I’m thinking. Like as far as I’m concerned fucking Maniak sold me this fucking ounce, bro. I mean, really. Yeah. Well, that’s what I’m thinking. Well, this is what I’m thinking, bro is that on the QP, we do it the same way. Let Maniak…I give Maniac the money, he goes in there, brings it back to me,da, da, da. And then on the next one, I’m like hey, bro, can I just go to him direct and I’ll still give you the money and now I have a sale of QP with him. You know what I’m saying? With Udell, without him, so now, he owns one and then this guy and Maniak owns one. Well, alright, so we may need a little bit more. We maybe have to do a little bit more. That’s…which is perfect. Yup.”

During the same recorded telephone conversation “stated that he would fabricate the portion of his Report of Investigation regarding the operation’s debriefing: Alright, bro. I’m just putting it in the mailbox right now. All right, and then there’s $300 and everything else in there…. Bro, I’m just going to say I’m not going to tell them how. I just did it like last time. I just transferred, yeah. I’m not going to put the whole mailbox thing bro. Fuck it. They don’t need to (know), I mean that’s irrelevant. I just gained…I met you at a disclosed fucking location and gave you the evidence during the debriefing. Fuck it. Just that would muddy the waters up so.”

Dismissal

Because Brancato’s entrapments were so undeniably corrupt, Tuesday a federal Magistrate Judge named Cam Ferenbach dismissed the indictment against Halgat in USA v. Wickham et al.

Hill has also moved for a dismissal of USA v. Halgat. In that motion she wrote:

“The government’s conduct in this case and Mr. Halgat’s related case was so outrageous that the indictment against Mr. Halgat must be dismissed. Rather than infiltrating an existing drug conspiracy or criminal organization engaged in ongoing criminal activity, the government created, invented, and imagined up crimes for the defendants to be induced and entrapped into committing for the purpose of charging members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club with drug and gun crimes. The government agents, Task Force Officers, and undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives deputized TFO Agostino Brancato induced the defendants to participate in a fictitious crime involving drugs provided by the government flown to an airstrip, arranged by the government, in a Cessna airplane arranged for and flown by the government, when the defendants were not suspected (or even identified) of being involved in conspiring to distribute drugs and then recorded themselves discussing falsifying a Report of Investigation and thereafter falsified a ROI and property report. The same undercover agent, TFO Brancato, that recorded himself discussing what actually occurred during a recorded transaction and what he would say occurred, is the same UC that ‘engineered and directed the criminal enterprise from start to finish’ in this case with the assistance of ATF agents, TFOs, and other government agents.”

“Over the last 40 years, courts have discussed outrageous government conduct in numerous contexts, but this theme runs through all outrageous government conduct cases determining what law enforcement conduct also becomes constitutionally unacceptable: The Government cannot engineer and direct a criminal scheme from start to finish or create a new crime merely for the sake of prosecuting a defendant.”

Games Prosecutors Play

A little further into the motion, Hill describes the games federal prosecutors play.

“The Government chose to indict Mr. Halgat in two separate indictments. The Government did not set up Mr. Halgat or charge Mr. Halgat in two separate cases by happenstance. It was a concerted and calculated effort to attempt to charge Mr. Halgat with a small conspiracy to distribute cocaine case in an attempt to argue that he was predisposed to distribute cocaine to allow the Government to attempt to argue that Mr. Halgat (who had no criminal record whatsoever) is unable to assert an entrapment defense as a matter of law. It was also charged this way so that Mr. Halgat would be unable to move to sever the counts and therefore prevent the Government from using one case in the other and vice versa and instead move to use one case in the other by arguing that the cases are inextricably intertwined. This is exactly what the Government did in this case by filing a motion in limine to preclude Mr. Halgat and his co-defendants from asserting an entrapment defense and by filing a response to Mr. Halgat’s motion for 404(b) notice arguing that the cases are inextricably intertwined. The motion in limine was denied without prejudice to allow the Government to raise the motion again during trial. These tactics are routinely used in reverse sting operations to prevent an  entrapment defense and the Court should not condone these tactics by allowing the Government to benefit from its strategic decision to charge the alleged drug transactions in two separate cases.”

Fabrications

“TFO Brancato created a fictitious criminal distribution of cocaine conspiracy, planned the entire fake crime,15 and induced Mr. Halgat with pleas based on friendship and brotherhood as well as his need for money to support himself to convince Mr. Halgat to introduce him to Mr. Wickham so that he could purchase cocaine from Mr. Wickham,” Hill continues. “TFO Brancato and the ATF set up this undercover reverse sting operation for the sole purpose of ensnaring the defendants and charging them with crimes to justify the ATF’s infiltration of the Vagos.”

“Here, the crime was fabricated entirely by the ATF and TFO Brancato to secure Mr. Halgat’s conviction and Mr. Halgat had no criminal behavior to protect the public from because he was not engaging in the trafficking of cocaine when the ATF infiltrated the Vagos until the ATF started to invent crimes a year and a half after the infiltration.”

“Mr. Halgat was under surveillance for 18 months and neither ATF nor the CI observed him committing any distribution of cocaine or gun offenses despite trying to get Mr. Halgat to engage in an illegal gun offense. Unsatisfied with this result, and to justify the large amount of money invested into the operation, TFO Brancato decided to take measures into his own hands and began soliciting Mr. Halgat to induce him to commit a crime.”

There is more. There is much more. Alone among defenders in these sorts of cases, Hill seems to comprehend the realities of the war on motorcycle clubs and the sort of strategies “Ciccone’s gang” have been using for the last 15 years. It is debatable what impact Judge Ferenbach’s ruling will have long term.

Short term it looks like the long slide of the United States of America into a sadistic state has at least been slowed. “The ramifications for the government are serious,” Hill said yesterday. Anyone who cares about justice can only hope she is right.

Members and supporters of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club have been flaming this site for the last two weeks.

It isn’t the first time this has happened. The Aging Rebel’s coverage of the murders of John Lindeman and Brad Lutzow in Phoenix in February 2009 infuriated members of the Sober Riders Motorcycle Club as well. Although the tenor of the Iron Order complaints this time around has made the Sober Riders look like a convention of professional diplomats.

Many of the Iron Order comments have trashed Zach Tipton’s memory. One particularly memorable argument was that Tipton should have brought more than his fists to a gunfight. Over and over commenters have protested this page’s description of the homicide as a “murder.” The Iron Order supporters have replied that Tipton was shot by the still unidentified Iron Order prospect in the side of the head in “self-defense.” Multiple commenters have editorialized that the members of the American Outlaws Association will do nothing about Tipton’s murder beause there is nothing they can do. There have been numerous attacks on the quality of the journalism displayed here. The Iron Order as a group seems to think this page is written by an amateur ape who for some inexplicable reason has decided to attack their club.

Member Directory

All this trash talk abruptly stopped yesterday when, apparently, the Iron Order leadership became the last people in the world to know that an Iron Order “Member Directory” has been circulating for about two weeks. The roster lists the name, road name, chapter, address, phone number, email address and region of virtually all 3,816 Iron Order members and prospects from “Beer” Robinson to “ZZ Top” Carwhile. This page has used a copy of the directory to identify commenters.

Curiously, the member directory also notices which of its members are authorized to carry a firearm. For example, Ray “Izod” Lubesky, an International Officer of the club who lives in Valrico, Florida is authorized to carry. It strikes this page that this is a curious thing for a “law abiding motorcycle club” to catalog. Especially a law abiding club that actively provokes conflicts with all the “criminal” clubs. At the least, that suggests premeditated self defense. Which tortures the concept of self defense as Bill Clinton once tortured the concept of “is.”

The Iron Order Is An OMG

A lot of the Iron Order membership’s ire directed at this page has swirled around this page’s reporting of a fairly brief passage from an ATF report dated July 1, 2014.  The lede to that story read, “Although the Iron Order Motorcycle Club continues to advertise itself as a ‘law abiding motorcycle club’ the ATF is now categorizing it as an ‘outlaw motorcycle gang.’”

The exact passage quoted in the report follows:

“In southern and central Maryland, the Iron Horsemen MC is furious that the Iron Order continues to don a three-piece patch. In the past 2 months, there have been several bloody confrontations between the two. On February 28, 2014, both were involved in a melee at a strip club in Baltimore. Iron Horsemen members were equipped with bats, knives, MagLite flashlights and hammers. Even though nobody was killed, both OMGs suffered major injuries. One week later, as three Iron Order members were idling at a red light in Prince George’s County, they were viciously attacked by several car loads of suspected Iron Horsemen members. Two of the three Iron Order members were severely beaten with bats, ax handles and crow bars. The assailants were not wearing colors or indicia that depicted they were Iron Horsemen members, supporters or associates.

“The Iron Order is one of the fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the United States. Members wear a traditional three-piece patch with a State bottom rocker. The fact that they wear the State bottom rocker has infuriated the HAMC, Outlaws, Iron Horsemen, Pagans and Bandidos. More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors.

“Over the past 4 years, the Iron Order has had several violent confrontations with each of the aforementioned OMGs. Per the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in 2013, an Iron Order member was run off the road by a Bandidos member. In Clarksville, Kentucky, the Iron Order and Outlaws have been involved in several violent altercations. On May 14, 2011, HAMC South Carolina Nomads member William Sosebee stabbed an Iron Order member outside a bar in South Carolina. Despite the violence, they continue to move into territory controlled by one of the Dominant Seven.”

The passage was quoted accurately and the sentences that substantiate the lede are:

“Even though nobody was killed, both OMGs suffered major injuries.”

And:

“More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors.”

Belt Drive Betty

Mostly, the criticism of this page has demanded that The Aging Rebel prove that the Iron Order is an OMG or outlaw motorcycle gang. Which is how a biker blogger (photo above) named “Belt Drive Betty” entered this information war yesterday.

Betty had previously written an undated Valentine to the Iron Order. You can read that blog entry here.

Yesterday, Betty published an entry titled “Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs & OMGs, attempting to get at the truth” in which she remarks, “The Iron Order MC has been on the receiving end of much wrath on the Aging Rebel blog.”

The Aging Rebel thinks Betty should at least identify this site correctly. Belt Drive Betty writes a blog on a blog site called “blogspot.com.” The Aging Rebel is a news site published from two independent servers.

Betty sniffs, “There have been articles written by the Aging Rebel (sic) that make claims that this situation was somehow a murder.”

Belt Drive Betty and others should also note that the indefinite article “The” is part of the name of this site. It is The Aging Rebel, like it is The Associated Press.

Betty then attacks the journalism on this page as follows:

“Because of one of his recent articles Feds Talk About The Iron Order, where in the Aging Rebel claims that the Iron Order are (sic) now labeled (sic) an OMG by the ATF, I made a number of calls to the ATF and finally got through to a representative at the Public Affairs Office to have the referenced report verified.

“The gentleman I spoke to spent several days looking into this report and the veracity of the information on the Aging Rebel Blog (sic) with regards to this report.

“Here is what this spokesperson told me: The report that the Aging Rebel refers to and quotes from is a 40 page unclassified report.

“The spokesperson is not sure how the Aging Rebel came to be in possession of an emailed report that is meant for law enforcement personnel only. It is not meant for public consumption.

“The spokesperson also told me that the snippet that appeared on the Aging Rebel Blog was taken out of context in terms of the greater report and that the writer of the report made a small mistake in how the 2 groups were designated in his description of an altercation between an OMG and the OMC.

“He also expressed that the ATF does not designate who is an OMG and who is not, they simply deal with the violence that erupts as a result of the presence of any gang be they motorcycle related or street.

“He verified with other agencies that the Iron Order MC is NOT deemed to be an OMG.

“If you want to verify what I am writing here, you can do exactly as I did, call the Office of Public Affairs for the ATF  at (202) 648-8500.”

You can read Belt Drive Betty’s most recent blog entry here. 

The Aging Rebel stands by its coverage of the Tipton murder.

The most compelling story in July continues to be the murder of Zachariah Tipton, a member of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club, which is frequently categorized as an “outlaw motorcycle club” by a (presumed) prospect with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club which is generally categorized as a “law abiding motorcycle club.”

Today, the frequently asked questions section of the Iron Order website explains that you can join the Iron Order if: “You are male, 18 years of age, law abiding, have a cruiser style motorcycle more than 650cc not necessarily a Harley or American made, and a strong desire to do something good for your community while at the same time helping build a true international brotherhood of like minded individuals…then you MIGHT be IOMC material…. If you believe in what the morons who post on sites like Aging Rebel, Facebook or Topix write about us then don’t come around us.”

There are many empty words written about the law-abiding Iron Order, both on their site and elsewhere. In one of the darker regions of the great cyber swamp one can read, “to become a member of an IO chapter you must provide them with a background check and have had no felony convictions, and even some arrests will prohibit you from becoming a member convicted or not.” That isn’t true of course, but it is something that policemen seem to believe about the club which may explain why the prospect who gunned down Zach Tipton has been protected by them.

Robert Fernandes

The Kingman, Arizona Daily Miner pointed out the error in that last preconception this morning in a story by Scott Schulte headlined “Groups unite to transform Kingman home.” It is a human interest story about the local Iron Order chapter pitching in to help an elderly couple make some much needed repairs to their home. It is the sort of thing motorcycle clubs do all the time. Of course if, say, the Black Pistons were to do it some biker authority, maybe Steve Cook, would argue that club was merely doing public relations and cynically trying to camouflage its criminality.

One of the prominently featured good guys in the story is an Iron Order member named Robert Fernandes. Fernandes told Schulte, “When I got out of jail I got involved with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club. I needed that camaraderie.” You can read the complete Daily Miner story here.

Fernandes, who is the good citizen pictured at the top of this story, has paid his debt to society. He was convicted of armed robbery and did five years. He had previous convictions for theft and trafficking in stolen property. When he got out of prison he joined a motorcycle club and apparently turned his life around. But the issue of whether Fernandes is a good man or not isn’t the compelling story this month.

The compelling story this month is the story the police tell. And that story assumes that there is a discernible, black and white line between the Iron Order Motorcycle Club which has a reputation for provoking fights and then calling the police and the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club which has a reputation for fighting when provoked and then not talking to police.

The line the police see is actually fuzzier and grayer than they realize.

In 1972, the German director Werner Herzog released a film called Aguirre, the Wrath of God. The film starred the young and edgy Klaus Kinski as the Spanish conquistador Lope de Aguirre who, in the film at least, floated his soldiers down the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers with the promise they would find El Dorado.

Naturally, they all go crazy and die. The fun of the film is watching them all go crazy and die.

Near the end of the film, as Aguirre and his few, sick, remaining companions float down a last stream on a last raft, they begin to die from arrows shot by Indians hidden in the dense jungle on both sides of the stream. One broken soldier looks up and sees a wrecked ship in a tree. “That is no ship. That is no forest,” he declares. An arrow impales the man’s leg. “That is no arrow,” the conquistador tells himself. “We just imagine the arrows because we fear them.”

Arrows Of Bad News

This old, forgotten film is pertinent now because the Iron Order Motorcycle Club is starting to look like yet another example of life imitating art.

The news about the Iron Order as reported here for the last month has been almost entirely bad. Judging by the reader comments that have followed each of those stories, most Iron Order members do not take bad news well. Over and over, members of the Iron Order have written to complain that this page is just making up bad news to discredit or embarrass the club.

The bad news yesterday was that a man named Robert Fernandes was publically identified as a member or associate of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club in an article by a reporter named Scott Schulte in the Kingman, Arizona Daily Miner. Fernandes is an ex-offender who is quoted by Schulte as saying, “When I got out of jail I got involved with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club, I needed that camaraderie.” Schulte’s story and Fernandes’ quote are what journalists call “news” because the Iron Order has repeatedly presented itself as a “law abiding motorcycle club” that shuns ex-offenders. The Aging Rebel included a link to the Daily Miner story in the article which was titled “The Law Abiding Motorcycle Club.”

Izod Wants A Correction

This morning, Iron Order International President Ray “Izod” Lubesky wrote to complain that Schulte got it wrong and Fernandes has it wrong and The Aging Rebel should do something about that. In the body of an email with the subject heading “Correction” Lubesky wrote:

“Please correct your article regarding the IOMC being an OMG. Robert Fernandes is not now nor has he ever been a member of the IOMC. We don’t even know who he is. Also, we have not now nor have we ever been designated an OMG by anyone with the exception of you. One more thing, no one from this club is lambasting you or your website publicly. We only wish you could get your facts straight, your stories accurate, your sources vetted properly, your research done professionally, and you give some attempt at being fair and balanced.”

Tha Aging Rebel Replies

The content of the Daily Miner story was quoted accurately. It does not appear that the Kingman paper has yet corrected its story. When this page becomes aware that the Daily Miner has corrected yesterday’s story The Aging Rebel will report that.

The Iron Order Motorcycle Club has been identified as an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, or OMG, by an anonymous analyst in an official publication of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives dated July 1, 2014 and titled OMGs And The Military 2014. The passage quoted by this page occurs at the bottom of page 28 and the top of page 29 of this report and is accompanied by side by side photographs of the indicia of the Iron Order and the Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Clubs. This page reported this fact accurately and believes that it is reasonable to conclude from the context of the comments pertinent to the Iron Order and the accompanying illustration that the ATF analyst wrote what he meant to write. This page also believes the direct quote “More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors” in a report about connections between military personnel and “OMGs” is unambiguous

Members of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club have gone out of their way to try to discredit this page and influence its reporting. The Iron Order gives the impression that it wants this page to act as a good news propaganda conduit on behalf of the Iron Order.

The Aging Rebel stands by its continuing coverage of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club.

Today the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake in California issued a memorandum to the sailors and Marines under his command that called the Iron Order Motorcycle Club a “gang.” The memorandum has been slightly edited for clarity. The pertinent passage is in paragraph three.

The memorandum read:

1. Open and visible association with supremacist, extremist, or criminal gangs by individuals onboard Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWSCL) poses a criminal and security threat, inhibits the mission of NAWSCL, and interferes with the loyalty, morale, good order and discipline of NAWSCL personnel, and discredits the reputation of the installation and the United States Naval Service. Therefore, pursuant to and in accordance with references… the wearing or displaying of supremacist, extremist, or criminal gang colors by any person onboard NAWSCL is hereby prohibited.

2. The wearing or displaying of gang colors is defined as the visible showing on one’s person, vehicle, or personal belongings of any clothing, symbol, insignia, tattoos, paraphernalia, or photographs that are associated with a known supremacist, extremist, or criminal gang.

3. Known supremacist, extremist, or criminal gangs include, but are not limited to: Aryan Nation, Earth Liberation Front, Mexican Mafia, Mongols, Killer Latino Thugs, BMG, and Iron Order.

4. This prohibition also applies to the wearing or displaying of colors of any club, association, group, or gang that is associated with any supremacist, extremist, or criminal activity or otherwise interferes with the mission or loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of personnel onboard NAWSCL.

5. Any persons wearing or displaying gang colors attempting to enter NAWSCL will be denied access, until such items, accessories, or displays are removed. Any persons found onboard NAWSCL wearing or displaying gang colors will be asked to remove such items, accessories, or displays. Failure to comply with this request will result in the immediate removal from base.
Additionally, any violation of this order may result in administrative or punitive action.

6. This order applies to all persons onboard NAWS China Lake, to include: military personnel, DOD civilian personnel, contractors, vendors, community pass holders, and any other customers, guests, or visitors.

There is a new Facebook page, titled “Liar Aging Rebel,” that provides an alternative to what you can read here.

This page’s coverage of the murder of Zachariah Tipton has aroused so much excitement among the leadership of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club that they have created a Facebook page, the only content of which is a series of crude accusations that this page lies. It is obviously, one of a series of dirty and effeminate tricks that the Iron Order as a club hopes to deploy, along with the threat of frivolous lawsuits, to intimidate this page into abandoning its coverage of Tipton’s murder

The page went up a week before Ray “Izod” Lubesky, the International President of the Iron Order wrote The Aging Rebel yesterday and said, “No one from this club is lambasting you or your website publically.” Which may say something about Lubesky’s credibility and his masculine virtue.

No News

There really is no news about Tipton’s murder. The Jacksonville Beach police have apparently concluded that the fight that led to Tipton’s death was between a good guy and a bad guy and the good guy shot the bad guy in the head. What this page had hoped to cover today was the cancellation of Big Ed Begley’s attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. Maybe later.

Instead, the Iron Order Motorcycle Club, like a pack of three-year-olds with a limitless supply of sugar and methamphetmine, insists that this page cover nothing except them. “Look at us! Look at Us! Watch us now! Pay attention to us! Me! Us! Me!”

Very well. There probably is some news to this story. The news is, it was probably just like this with Zach Tipton. Multiple Iron Order children probably harassed Tipton as the Iron Order harasses us all here. Except Tipton was standing right there. And when he finally punched one of them in the nose whichever Iron Order good guy it was had the excuse he wanted and Cgar wanted and Izod wanted to shoot Zach Tipton in the head.

So the Iron Order sets the agenda again today. This, unedited, is exactly what the Iron Order Motorcycle Club wants you to read. The words betray who they are as men.

Belt Drive Betty

Liar Aging Rebel shared a link via NetworkedBlogs.

Read this thread, it shows the difference between a journalist who just try’s to get the truth and an agenda toting bike slut with visions of grandeur (ill show you what that means if you’d like Amy) Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs & OMG’s, attempting to get at the truth Belt Drive Betty’s Blog I wrote an article on my time with the Iron Order MC in Edmonton recently and a lot of the people who decided to…

And then there follows a link to Belt Drive Betty’s blog.

Cum-Dumpster

Liar Aging Rebel

The Liar rebel just will not learn his lesson, this tool takes information from everyday people and posts it on his 3rd grade blog, you would have thought he learned his lesson when he had to admit the supposed letter from IOMC President Ray “Izod” Lubesky was “probably” a fraud…. Now Ancient Liar is posting a fraudulently altered report on street gangs listing IOMC as now a street gang…. I guess after belt drive Betty actually did some investigating into his (the liars) claims the IOMC was classified as an OMG and proved him To be the little wanna be 1% cum-dumpster liar that he is, he has decided to change modes and now claim the IOMC is a street gang!! Lol. To Liar, you are COMICAL, you have zero credibility!!!!

Turd

Liar Aging Rebel

The biggest liar on the Internet is at it again!!!! He posts an article about some charity work being done by the IOMC and he talks about a “member” Robert Fernandes, and claims that the IOMC lies when they say they do not accept convicted felons (imagine this turd calling someone a liar??) because Mr. Fernandes is a convicted felon…. Only one problem with this, Mr Fernandes is not nor has he ever been a member of IOMC… I swear, this Aging Liar is akin to the propagandist from Iraq that while the city was falling he was on Iraqi television static the Iraqi armed forces was defeating the US at every turn!!! He claims to be a journalist, lol even in the loosest definition he is not a journalist!! He is a fool with a keyboard, nothing more

Hack

Liar Aging Rebel

It would seem that the aging idiot is a it again. Today’s lie “the Iron Order who has a reputation for provoking fights and the Black Pistons who have a reputation for only fighting when provoked” Mr Davis (I’m done calling this liar, douchebag, hack “Rebel”). Who believes this? Certainly NOT the public at large, certainly NOT law enforcement, You show what FEAR of a certain group or groups will portray itself as in a (cough, cough) “journalist” you are no more a journalist that a 3 year old with crayons is Van Gough

Hack Liar

Liar Aging Rebel

It is nice to see liar Angel cannot even create an original idea, the rebel is basically using the same lies and verbiage in the Florida shooting Ida BPMC patch holder as he did when a Seattle police officer and member of the Iron Pigs motorcycle club shot a HAMC member in a bar. Liar. Err Rebel has the man convicted, had multiple different variations of his story (by now you must know not a truthful story) the officer was ultimately cleared. Did Rebel go back nd look at the facts and write a truthful article of what actually happened by using real evidence? Of course not, why would he?

More Belt Drive Betty

Liar Aging Rebel

Everyone should read “belt drive Betty” she has A fair presentation on whether IOMC is or isn’t classified as an OMG by any of the alphabet soup agencies. Unlike the rebel this lady actually goes to a source, not merely interpret 1 sentence in a report

You can read more of “Liar Aging Rebel’s” responsible opposing viewpoint here.

Relatives and friends of Zachariah James “Nas T” Tipton peacefully demonstrated outside the office of the State Attorney in Jacksonville yesterday.

Zach Tipton was shot and killed by a man widely identified as a prospect with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club on June 26 outside Nippers Beach Grille in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

The State Attorney, a woman named Angela B. Corey is, as yet after a month, undecided about whether to charge Tipton’s unnamed killer with anything: involuntary manslaughter, assault, battery, invitation to affray, making false statements to police, disorderly conduct, littering, public urination, anything.

Corey was elected in 2008, two years after she was fired from her job as an Assistant State Attorney. She was appointed as Special Prosecutor after local police failed to charge George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Corey filed a charge of second degree murder against Zimmerman on April 11, 2012. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of the charge in July 2013.

Protesters Want Answers

One of the demonstrators yesterday was Zachariah Tipton’s sister Tina. She said, “Right now, we want the truth about what happened that night to come out. We want somebody to be arrested. We want justice to be served.”

Tina Tipton told CBS affiliate WTEV, “We feel like we don’t know anything more than the general public at this point and that’s upsetting.”

Another demonstrator named Holly Gravengaard told WTEV, “They (the family) are asking very simple questions and I don’t understand why they’re not giving up the name. Why they’re protecting him and his family and why they’re not concerned about this family.”

Tipton’s father, Jimmy Carter, told the television station that he thinks prosecutors are “going to give nobody no answers until this is over. Maybe an outpouring of support, people, will get the attention of the state’s attorney and at least give us the answers we need to have, you know.”

No Charges

The State Attorney’s reluctance to charge the anonymous shooter with anything at all is curious. This is hardly the first fight between members of the Iron Order and members of traditional motorcycle clubs. For example, a brawl between members of the Wayne County, Georgia chapter of the Iron Order and members of the Long County chapter of the Wingmen Motorcycle Club in a bar in Jesup, Georgia on August 12, 2010 resulted in the arrest of eight members of the Iron Order two weeks later. The Iron Order members were Donald Crouch, James Smith, Ronald Spear, Joseph Savard, Anthony MacIntire, Billy James Armstrong, Charles Caldwell and Glenn Pond.

Crouch, a Hinesville, Georgia firefighter was charged with affray, a misdemeanor, and a Georgia felony called “unlawful acts of criminal street gangs.”

A single shot, which hit nobody, was fired in that altercation. According to multiple sources speaking  on conditions of anonymity, multiple shots were fired during Tipton’s murder. So far, Jacksonville Beach police spokesman Tom Crumley has only said that Tipton died from a single shot to the head. He hasn’t yet divulged whether police believe multiple shots were fired or whether Tipton suffered additional, non-fatal wounds.

Idée Fixe

The fact that the man who killed Zach Tipton has gotten a pass so far may result from the Iron Order’s deliberate efforts to brand itself as a “law abiding motorcycle club.” The Iron Order counts numerous sworn law enforcement personnel in its ranks and its reach extends even into prison.

In a memorandum to all Iron Order members, club president Ray “Izod” Lubesky wrote, “Our brothers in the Shiprock, New Mexico chapter are all prison guards. They tell us the first thing that happens to 1%ers when they get to prison is they get their asses beat just to let them know they ain’t shit in prison.”

A Safety Bulletin issued by Okaloosa County, Florida Sheriff Larry R. Ashley immediately after Tipton’s murder illustrates the fixed idea the Iron Order’s calculated branding seems to implant in the minds of Northern Florida cops.

“The Iron Order M/C officers I met with wanted to get the message out that they ARE NOT a 1% motorcycle club, nor do they aspire to become one or to be known as one,” Ashley wrote the day after Tipton died. “Normally, at least in my experience and interaction with the club, they are LEO friendly and most wear a Maltese Cross as an indicator they are armed. Of the club officers I met with this evening, all are former LEOs with the exception of one – and he is an Active Duty First Sergeant affiliated with Security Forces. So. the information I received today came from a VERY RELIABLE source.”

The presumption underlying this investigation seems to be that the Iron Order is “a very reliable source.”

Fox Television has backed out of a proposed deal to fund and televise a motorcycle jump of Snake River Canyon in Southern Idaho.

Daredevil Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel tried to jump the canyon on a rocket powered motorcycle on September 8, 1974. He didn’t make it.

Knievel had originally hoped ABC Sports would broadcast the jump but they backed out. So he made a deal with boxing promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank Productions. Arum broadcast the failed jump on closed circuit television. Everybody lost money on the deal. One of the investors, Vince McMahon, Jr., declared bankruptcy and afterwards dedicated himself to making professional wrestling the wonderful and lucrative spectacle it has grown to be.

Money

Fox had agreed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that colossal failure this September 14 by televising not one but two attempts of the canyon. A Hollywood stuntman named Eddie Braun was to leap the canyon on steam powered, rocket motorcycle. Motorcycle daredevil “Big” Ed Beckley was going to jump the canyon on some other kind of rocket motorcycle. About a month ago Fox announced that the network was pushing the jumps back into October.

Then ten days ago Fox announced that two veteran executives named Gary Newman and Dana Walden had been named co-bosses of bosses at the Fox Television Group. Their immediate task was to stop Fox from bleeding money, which is what happened shortly after viewers got bored with American Idol. Apparently, someone told them what happened the last time somebody tried to cash in on a Snake River Canyon jump.

Big Ed

Big Ed (photo above), a dreamer who goes about 285 and who promotes himself as the “Worlds Largest Motorcycle Jumper,” issued the following statement on, where else, his Facebook page.

“We received the final word the new bosses at FOX TV have backed away from the Snake River Canyon Jump.  It was not in their new budget for us to make the jump. We will not sacrifice safety, our integrity, and our just reward for attempting a real motorcycle jump over the Canyon. We are now seeking other media partners and we are undaunted by this development because it is in God’s hands. We have followed his lead from the start and whatever he has in store for us, whatever it may be we are along for the ride.

“A special thanks go to those who are closest to this whole deal – my friend, my cheerleader, the one that never gave up thru all this is Cheryl Williamson. Her support has been a lifesaver throughout this whole ordeal. Of course there is my friend and attorney Jon Simmons as well as Rod Woodruff and his crew from the Buffalo Chip. These are the ones closest to the whole project and have been with me thru the beginning. There are many others too like Chad Coppess, Gene Sullivan, my  Team Jesus, my office girls, and more and they all are respected and appreciated for always being there for me.  Also to my back up rider and builder Paul Stender and his beautiful wife Thanks for all you have done and tried to do for this project.

“Thanks to you all – for your support and believing in me. I hope you understand there will be no replies to your questions – nor radio or TV interviews about this subject until we know more – we will move forward. I am not through with this jump or others we have been working on. There is much more to do with this restart of my career. Remember – I have always been the one that when people said he couldn’t – I showed them I could and I have the LORD on my side – everything is possible with him.”

Braun

Braun, who also has a Facebook page, is concentrating on his participation in “Evel Knievel Days 2014” in Butte, Montana and has made no comment on the Fox cancellation.

Fair warning. Rebel is going to be on television again. The show is called Greatest Mysteries: Sturgis. It will air August 8 at 8 p.m. Pacific on the Travel Channel. And, just like you, I am clueless about what I will say.

I filmed my segment at Kiwi Indian in Riverside, California last October. At the time Bill Hayes was also appearing on the show although the producers filmed his segment separately. I suspect there have been some edits and revisions in the last ten months. Originally it was titled Death on the Way to Sturgis. The producers wanted to make a show about the death of a Hells Angel named James Bailey who was “mysteriously” murdered on his way to the Black Hills Rally.

Lamentably, I tend to be a nightmare for television producers. Like in this case, I told the producers that Bailey was murdered after Sturgis was already over and I thought the FBI did it. In my defense, I have to say I felt awful about telling the producers that. I felt like I had just told a little kid the awful truth about the Easter Bunny: About how Easter and Mrs. Bunny got divorced after one of their kittens – baby bunnies are called kittens – came out black.

James Bailey

James Bailey was killed on Thursday, August 14, 1975. He was a Vietnam era Navy veteran and the treasurer of the Cleveland charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. The Cleveland charter was formed in December 1967 when the Red and White patched over two other Cleveland clubs. Bailey was on his way to the Angels National Run in Yankton, South Dakota with two other members of his charter.

Sturgis had ended the previous Sunday. Seventy-five was the first year Sturgis was a seven day event and the rally still hadn’t started licensing vendors.

The two other Angels were Richard Vesey and a guy who has been identified as “Chip” and as “Paul Philemon.” There are reports that “Chip” was killed during Bailey’s funeral because he was suspected of collaborating with the American Outlaws Association. There may have been two other Angels following the three bikes in a van. If there were, I wasn’t able to learn their names or locate them.

Iowa BCI

The bikes were on Interstate 80 near Colfax, Iowa when Bailey was killed. Bailey had just passed under the Highway 117 overpass. He was shot once in the neck as he rode away from the overpass with a round fired from a .357 Magnum pistol or, I think, a .357 lever action carbine. Bailey fell off his bike and skidded down the road. His bike ran straight and true until it drove itself into a ditch. Almost simultaneously, Vessey was hit by shotgun pellets. Vesey told police that before he was shot he saw flashes from the top of the overpass and the only way that would have been possible is if Bailey was riding well ahead of Vessey when the shooting occurred because Bailey was shot from behind and Vessey, if he was telling the truth, was facing whoever shot him.

The murder was investigated by six members of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Iowa BCI issued a press release that said two gunmen were involved. One of the shooters was on top of the overpass and the other shooter was under it. BCI recovered two shotgun shells from the top of the overpass but the area under the overpass was so littered with shell casings that the spent .357 cartridge that fired the bullet that killed Bailey was never recovered.

And, this was six years after Easy Rider was released. That film ends with a couple of yokels shooting Captain America off his bike.

Butch Crouch

According to a cocaine fiend and snitch named Clarence “Butch” Crouch, Bailey was killed by someone else in the Hells Angels because Bailey was carrying receipts with him that proved somebody in the Cleveland charter was stealing from the club. According to Crouch, Bailey wanted to show the receipts to somebody at the national Run.

Butch Crouch became an ATF asset in 1981 and he later testified against members of the club in three trials. He also claimed to have information about numerous bombings and murders.

Crouch, is a story in and of himself. He went into witness protection and became Paul Allen Dome. He died in Avinger, Texas on July 8, 2013, about two months before I started looking at the case. Crouch was cremated and no woman wept for him. I have always thought the definition of an evil man was a man who had no woman to weep for him when he died.

The Bailey case went cold until 2009 when the Iowa BCI formed a cold case unit and took another look at it. They got nowhere. Iowa BCI shut down its cold case squad two years later and the mystery of the murder of James Bailey once again went cold.

Bailey is buried in Mentor, Ohio.

Tune in to watch me solve this stone cold whodunit, or whatever it is that I said and did.

The Alabama Fusion Center in Montgomery issued the following bulletin, which seems to describe the Panopticon State’s worst biker menace nightmare, on July 11. This is what your tax dollars buy. This is what homeland security means.

“On 10 July, 2014 a Lee County Alabama Law Enforcement Official received an anonymous phone call in reference to the Hells Angels MC and other 1% MCs bonding together to target Law Enforcement MCs. The caller stated she overheard a biker conversation stating that they were going to make Law Enforcement MCs remove their three piece patches. The bikers stated that if Law Enforcement MCs resisted, that they would be shot on sight. The caller stated that this would occur within the next week and that the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) are planning a ride that will begin in Jacksonville, Florida and proceed into Alabama and Georgia. The source also stated that the OMGs would not be targeting the Blue Knights MC as they do not wear a three piece patch. (Note: Some chapters of the Blue Knights wear a three piece patch,)

“The caller advised that this threat is retaliation for an off duty police officer (Iron Order MC member) killing a Black Pistons MC member at Nippers Bar in Jacksonville, Florida on 28 June, 2014.

“Be advised that this is a single source reporting from an individual who has not yet been vetted whose reliability is unknown.

“Anyone with additional information regarding similar activity within your area of responsibility is asked to contact Alabama Fusion Center, 334-517-2660.”

The bulletin was distributed nationally.

It is going to be a long, hot summer.

There was a shooting between members of two motorcycle clubs at the Kangaroo Express gas station and minimart on Decatur Pike near Interstate 75 in Athens, Tennessee early Saturday morning, shortly after midnight. Athens is small town of 13,500 people sixty miles northeast of Chattanooga.

Multiple sources have told The Aging Rebel that the attackers at the Kangaroo were members of the Heathens Motorcycle Club. The Heathens have a chapter in Rome, Georgia which is about 70 miles south of Chattanooga and 130 miles south of Athens. According to sources, the Heathens maintain cordial relations with a prominent one percenter club in Florida. The Aging Rebel does not know if the Heathens have established a chapter in Tennessee. The Heathens are not members of the Tennessee Confederation of Clubs.

Sources and most published reports say that the men who were attacked at the gas station were members of the American Outlaws Association. Some news accounts have identified the victims as “members of the Widowmakers/Outlaw Biker Club.” The Widowmakers Motorcycle Club has a chapter in Athens and its members maintain cordial relations with the AOA. Both the Outlaws and the Widowmakers are members of the Tennessee Confederation of Clubs.

The Shooting

By all accounts, the dispute began Friday evening when a group of Heathens eating in an Applebee’s on Decatur Pike, less than half a mile from the shooting scene, were approached by members of the AOA and a fight ensued. According to published reports guns were drawn and combatants assaulted each other with chairs. Police responded but no charges were filed. According to one report, Heathens Jarod Grant, Robert Wood and Patrick Petty told police they “would handle the situation their own way and did not wish to have any police assistance in prosecution of the incident.”

According to local police, surveillance video shows the Outlaws had stopped to refuel at the Kangaroo Express when a Chevrolet Tahoe pulled in behind them and its occupants began shooting. At least one of the Outlaws returned fire.

Two men were wounded. They were Petty and an Outlaw named Steven Kirkland. Both men were treated at the Starr Regional Medical Center and then transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Petty and four other Heathens, Grant, Wood, Thomas Ingle, Jr. and Jerry Henry were arrested and charged with attempted first degree murder. Grant, Wood, Ingle and Henry are being held at the McMinn County Justice Center. No bail has yet been set.

From the vantage of Los Angeles, the Heathens Motorcycle Club seemed to appear out of thin air last Saturday when they fought with members of the Widowmakers Motorcycle Club in an Applebee’s in Athens, Tennessee and then opened fire on a member of the American Outlaws Association named Steven Kirkland at a Kangaroo Express gas station just down the street from the Applebee’s.

It wasn’t the first time the Heathens, their patch is pictured above, have been involved in a public fight this year. The first time Heathens and Outlaws fought was at the Easyriders Bike Show in Nashville on February 1. There are various, invective laden accounts of that fight. Most accounts say the fight was between a large group of bikers versus two men. A source this site considers reliable says one Outlaw had his ear bitten off in the altercation.

The most reliable account is probably a legally obtained “Music City Center Incident Report: Internal Document” which states that at 2:45 p.m. local time that Saturday, “roving security was called by Nick Fleming to head over to the exhibit hall B/C. The radio call came out as a fight going on during the easyriders show/event. All security personal (sic), including the posted metro police reported to the location too. There was a fight in the hall near the stage area with two guys and a gang of bikers. Metro PD (officer Smallwood) took the report on this incident and two people were hurt. Mrs. Lanette Bevel was also caught up in this broil. She reported that someone had taken her black leather pocket book (during the fight). No pocket book was found.”

Five weeks later a putative Heathen left this message on the forum site Topix.com. “Heathens MC is a true brotherhood…we stand together and will not be bullied or fold in the face of adversity. We all have jobs, homes and families. We are about freedom…we do not care what patch you wear or what you choose to support. We give respect where it is due…show respect you get respect… we will defend ourselves and our right to fly. Yes we do have members who were part of other clubs. We chose to step away from the trash and begin again as repectable (sic) 1%ers…we dont (sic) disrespect our women, the biker community and believe in our brothers. The man makes the patch…talk to a Heathen and you will understand. Family 1st, Job 2nd, club 3rd…that is the Heathen way. Strong brothers can balance a job and family …otherwise they are not really men. The Easy Rider show was fun…lets do it again soon…I am still wearing the tshirt (sic) punks. 10 on 2 still coildn’t (sic) get it done. HFFH”

Sawgrass Decker

Multiple sources believe the Heathens were formed by a former member of the AOA named Dannie Leroy “Sawgrass” Decker. Decker was arrested during a raid on the Chattanooga chapter clubhouse in Cleveland, Tennessee in 2010 and he pled guilty to being a felon in “unlawful possession of a handgun.” He had previously been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony battery. It was a spurious charge. Public accounts describe Decker’s crime as “basically accepting a firearm from a friend, taking a look at it and then passing it back.” The firearm was a .22 caliber derringer. Decker got 46 months.

He was voted out of his motorcycle club in bad standing, informed sources speaking on conditions of anonymity say, because the plea agreement he signed on May 13, 2010 contained the following provisions:

“The defendant further agrees to cooperate fully, completely, and truthfully with any and all law enforcement agents and personnel of the United States Attorney’s Office. This cooperation includes, but is not limited to, meeting with and being interviewed by such law enforcement agents or personnel of the United States Attorney’s Office whenever requested. The defendant further agrees not to protect anyone who was truly involved and not to falsely implicate anyone who was not truly involved in the commission of criminal offenses. The defendant further agrees to testify completely and truthfully before a federal grand jury, at any trial, or at any other proceeding if called upon by the United States to do so. Upon request by the United States, the defendant must furnish all documents, objects and other evidence in the defendant’s possession, custody, or control that are relevant to the United States’ inquiries. The defendant and defense counsel also knowingly, voluntarily, and intentionally waive the defendant’s right (where applicable) to have defense counsel present during the course of cooperation, including questioning or court appearances.”

“To ensure the defendant’s truthful cooperation, the United States agrees, except as provided below, not to use any self-incriminating information provided by the defendant pursuant to this written plea agreement against the defendant. However, nothing in this plea agreement shall restrict the use of any information, (1) known to the United States prior to entering into this written plea agreement; (2) obtained from any other source; or (3) concerning the defendant’s prior criminal record. Should any of the following occur (1) the defendant provides false or misleading information during the course of the defendant’s cooperation; (2) the defendant moves to withdraw the defendant’s guilty plea; or (3) the defendant breaches any other of the terms of this plea agreement; then the United States may make use of any information provided by the defendant to law enforcement authorities at any time (including any information provided during formal or informal proffer sessions prior to signing this plea agreement, and any information provided after signing this plea agreement) for any purpose in any subsequent proceeding, including grand jury, trial, and sentencing phases of this case or in any other prosecutions or proceedings against the defendant or others. Moreover, if the United States determines at any time (before or after sentencing) that the defendant has failed to cooperate fully, completely, and truthfully, or otherwise violated any of the terms of this plea agreement, it will be free to withdraw any favorable sentencing motion filed by the United States.”

Apparently, Decker debriefed for seven months before he was sentenced in January 2011.

Forming The Heathens And Therapy

An informed source believes Decker began organizing the Heathens in late 2012 or early 2013.

There is some indication that Decker may now suffer from a mental condition that effects his judgment and may influence decisions he makes on behalf of his new motorcycle club.

His formal judgment on January 3, 2011 imposes “Special Conditions of Supervision” after his release. Decker “shall participate in a program of mental health treatment, as directed by the probation officer, until such time as the defendant is released from the program by the probation officer. The defendant shall waive all rights to confidentiality regarding mental health treatment in order to allow release of information to the supervising United States Probation Officer and to authorize open communication between the probation officer and the mental health treatment provider.”

Decker’s case seems to exemplify the essential corruption and fruitlessness of American justice. The end result of a federal prosecution in 2010 is that four apparent followers of Decker are now charged with attempted murder.