This story was pubished at 1 p.m. on August 20, 2014 and the accompanying photo was changed two hours later. The original photo accompanying this story was not Michael Brown but a bogus photo of a murder suspect named Jodah Cain posted on social media by Kansas City police officer Marc Catron who identified the subject as Brown. The Aging Rebel regrets the error.

Members of two, black, three piece patch motorcycle clubs, the Outcast and the Dominant Breed MCs, have joined the many ringed circus in Ferguson, Missouri. The two black clubs join civil rights advocates Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Attorney General Eric Holder, Amnesty International, the Black Panther Party, members of numerous black fraternities and sororities, parishioners of many St. Louis area churches, alleged outside agitators including the Ku Klux Klan and an army of journalists.

All of these as well as the President of the United States and many talking heads appear to be on the verge of actually recreating whole passages of Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities – a tale of greed, spin, racism and class in a world gone mad. Wolfe conceived his long book as a satire. Of course, satire is now an obsolete concept. For example, a local QuikTrip gas station and market that was looted and burned to the ground has now been rechristened “QT People’s Park” and it is hard to make up that kind of thing even if you are Tom Wolfe.

Ferguson has been boiling with riots, unrest and immoderate rhetoric since a local cop named Darren Wilson shot and killed a local 18-year-old named Michael Brown, who is pictured above. While Brown may not have been the likeliest of martyrs his death did provide a good excuse to riot. The actual causes of the riots and the rage that underlies them are much larger and more important than Brown and are unlikely to be meaningfully addressed anytime soon. Yet ironically, all this meaningless sound and fury is what makes Ferguson a wonderful news story with a gazillion angles. Look for it the next time you turn on your television.

Cue The Bikers

In its coverage of the Ferguson mess, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported: “Among those on the rainy streets of Ferguson late this morning was a motorcycle group of mostly African-American riders, many of them in law enforcement or with the military. Members of the Outcast and Dominant Breed motorcycle clubs said they were there to show support to the people of Ferguson and deter looters. One club member said there was no official plan to protect Ferguson. ‘But normally when they see our presence (troublemakers) don’t come around much,’ the rider said.”

The black biker angle on Ferguson has been particularly popular in Britain where it has been picked up by both the Guardian and the Daily Mail.

Previously, a black son of Ferguson named Ron Johnson who is a Captain in the Missouri State Highway Patrol addressed the discontented at QT People’s Park and tried to bring peace to the town. He was unsuccessful so the Governor of Missouri, a man named Jay Nixon, deployed the National Guard. That led to the New York Times running a story under the headline “National Guard Troops in Ferguson Fail to Quell Disorder.”

Mad Dog And Stink Eye

Possibly the Outcast and Dominant Breed will mad dog and stink eye the locals into calm. It wouldn’t be the first time this year that black bikers have tried to exert some moral authority over a predominantly black neighborhood.

Last May the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club in Wilmington, Delaware tried to convince local and state authorities that they were men who live by a code and that they could be part of the solution to many of the problems that plague black America. A local minister named Derrick Johnson told Wilmington officials, “The Nation of Islam has been received and respected all over the country because of their ability to go into the war zone and be effective. Well in Wilmington the Thunderguards are the ones who have that kind of credibility and ability and they do have a history of helping the community.”

The politicians insisted the Thunderguards were the problem and forced that club to shut its clubhouse doors.

So, it seems unlikely that the Outcast and Dominant Breed will bring calm to Ferguson. But they do lend an additional, colorful, zany element to a news story that only a couple of decades ago couldn’t have been true, that would have had to be fiction.

It has been eight weeks since a patched member of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club named Zachariah “Nas T” Tipton was shot and killed in a parking area outside Nippers Beach Grille in Jacksonville Beach, Florida by a member or prospect of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club.

Tipton was shot and killed at 5:15 p.m. Pacific Time on June 26 and The Aging Rebel became aware of the incident eight hours later at about 1:15 a.m. Pacific Time on June 27. The initial tip included a link to television station WJXT’s account of the shooting and stated:

“It’s been reported that a Black Piston is dead, shot four times in the face. The shooter is reported as an Iron Order douche. It was a fair fight and the IO decided to shoot the BP in the face four times. Just what our lifestyle (club, real clubs) doesn’t need is these fucking fools doing this shit. These muthafuckas need to fucking go!”

“Contact your sources, I’m sure they will verify those involved and the cowardly way the IO douche handled himself.”

First Accounts

WJXT and competing news outlets reported that Tipton had been shot four times and that the shooter had been taken into custody. The next morning on the phone, a police spokesman in Jacksonville Beach began what was to become an endless editing and revision of the first reports of the homicide. Jacksonville Beach Police Sergeant Tommy Crumley said there had been no arrests and that the apparent shooter had been released. Crumley declined to say whether the apparent shooter’s hands had been bagged and tested for gunshot residue.

A police bulletin issued by the Okaloosa County, Florida Sheriff’s Office about 24 hours after the shooting stated:

“Be aware as some members of law enforcement and the military are part of Iron order MC as indicated below. A ‘kill on sight’ order was issued by Outlaws/Black Pistons for members of IOMC. Be aware as MC traffic may increase due to upcoming funeral. The Iron Order M/C officers I met with wanted to get the message out that they are not a one percenter motorcycle club, nor do they aspire to become one or to be known as one. 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 law enforcement officers 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. So far, what they have on the shooting in Jacksonville is as follows: Sometime on the evening of 6/26/2014, two IOMC prospects were accosted by numerous members of the Black Pistons M/C at a gathering in Jacksonville. A member of the Black Pistons was shot and killed. The IOMC shooter has been released without being charged, as the shooting has been ruled ‘self defense.’ Obviously this does not sit well with the Black Pistons and/or their affiliates, The Outlaws MC per info received this evening, there has been a ‘kill on sight’ order issued by the Black Pistons/Outlaws for any member of the IOMC. We have a pretty big contingent of IOMC between Navarre, Crestview, Florala, and Andalusia, not including their sister club, The Iron Rockets. Also, we do have members of the Black Pistons residing in our area, as well as members of The Outlaws.”

Official Silence

These initial accounts of the homicide, including news accounts that were based on statements made by the first policemen on the scene are straightforward even if they are sometimes contradictory. The mystery then, is why hasn’t anyone yet been exonerated or charged?

Last week Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey excused her continued silence about the case like this:

“We understand the Tipton family’s desire to have information regarding the Nippers shooting  investigation. However, the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) has a duty to conduct a thorough  review of all facts and evidence. In our conversations with the family, the SAO has notified them that specific facts and evidence cannot be legally released until the investigation is  complete. We have also alerted the family that the review can take weeks or even months to  finish. The information being requested by the family and the media will be released at the appropriate time.”

Obviously the appropriate time is longer than two months. This is what is known about the case so far.

The Cop Club

The Iron Order Motorcycle Club was founded by dissident members of a police motorcycle club called the Blue Knights, by a Secret Service Agent and by a former Outlaws Motorcycle Club hang around named Ray “Izod” Lubesky. Lubesky is the current club president. Most of America, probably including State Attorney Corey, is unaware of the cop club phenomena because very little has been written about it.

A criminologist named Mitch Librett who has taken a scholarly look at clubs like the Iron Order notices “striking similarities in self-presentation” between cop clubs like the Iron Pigs and traditional outlaw clubs like the Hells Angels. He notices that “the colors, slogans, and monikers adopted by the members are often indistinguishable.”

That is certainly the case with the Iron Order. Lubesky has candidly written that the Blue Knights, which has donated more than $7 million in goods and cash to charities like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Toys for Tots and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, “conduct their clubs more like the Elks club with motorcycles.” Lubesky wanted to be part of something edgier, something whose members would be “similar in self-presentation.”

Lubesky and the other founders of the Iron Order wanted to create a club more like the Iron Brotherhood Motorcycle Club which made headlines last year in Prescott, Arizona. The Prescott chapter of that law enforcement club “assaulted patrons at a Prescott bar, and high-ranking officers tried to cover up the bikers’ involvement.”

Lubesky has written that he envisioned the Iron Order as one of those “law enforcement motorcycle clubs (where) there is a very fine line that separates them from the 1%er and other MCs. I consider these other law enforcement motorcycle clubs to be MCs because they follow the same traditions we do in the MC world. As Fat Man (an Iron Order founder) was describing this new club and its origins, I thought it was one of these hard core law enforcement motorcycle clubs. It sounded interesting to me.”

Law Abiding Motorcycle Club

The Iron Order’s “self-presentation” quickly brought the new club into conflict with the Outlaws and the Black Pistons. The Iron order has virtually been at war with the Outlaws since the club’s founding and the Iron Order and Lubesky have clearly embraced that conflict. In his book titled IOMC – Birth of a Motorcycle Club Lubesky gloats over numerous confrontations with the Outlaws. For example, in describing a fight with the Outlaws in January 2005 in which he personally participated, Lubesky writes:

“I was 4th in line to get to the fight…. Ice hit the first pile, jumping to the top of the heap to get the guy that still had the chair in his hands over his head ready to swing it into our guy’s head a second time. Ice stands 6’ 6” and weighs about 300 pounds of solid muscle.  Played college football and served 27 years protecting the President of the United States, highly trained in hand to hand fighting. Ice hit the guy holding the chair with one punch to the side of his head and he was out. I went for the second pile and started grabbing one guy at time by the back of the neck and seat of the pants to pull them off the pile. An Outlaw jumped on my back as I was bent over and grabbed me around the neck, choking me. I couldn’t spin him off my back so I threw him over my shoulder on to the concrete floor. I heard his head hit the floor and saw his eyes for brief second; he had a blank stare and was out of the fight. I gave him a boot to the face for good measure and I went back to pulling guys off the pile. I don’t know why they came off the pile and didn’t start swinging at me but that’s what they did. They got off the pile and moved to a line away from the fight. The rest of our guys lined up to go the next round across from the Outlaws that formed an opposing line. When I got to the bottom of the pile, Chief was there, bleeding from his head profusely. He was wild. His eyes were crazy and he got up to start fighting with me. He didn’t know who I was and thought I was an Outlaw. I grabbed him around the chest and screamed at him ‘It’s Izod, it’s me, I’m here to help!!!!’ He was still wild and ready to start swinging again. Chief’s scalp was split and began spreading apart. I squeezed his scalp together to close the wound. The Fat Man came up to both of us and I handed Chief over to him.  I turned to where I knew the Outlaws were lined up. Behind me was our club so I was in the middle of both lines in a sort of ‘no man’s land.’  I knew it was only the beginning and the fight was not over.

“The Outlaws started insulting us, giving us the bird and making puckered kisses to us, just egging us on. The Regional President of the Outlaws (Ed Morris who went on to serve 5 years in the federal penitentiary) stepped into the middle of both lines not far from me and yelled, ‘This is over now,’ and the Outlaw line began to break. It sure wasn’t over for us. We charged into them and they ran. It was almost a comical site right out of a Benny Hill comedy show if you weren’t in the middle of the mayhem. They ran out of every exit they could find and we followed. Ice cornered the Regional President of the Outlaws (Ed Morris who really never threw a punch), picked him up and shook him like a rag doll screaming 6 inches from his face, ‘This is how you want it you fucking moron? This is what you want? Then it’s on you fuck, it’s on!!!!’  Ed Morris stood 5’ 4” and weighed all of 120 pounds soaking wet. Then Ice joined in the chase for the rest of the Outlaws heading out the doors. We chased them into the streets; that’s how they fight. Hit and run. We didn’t run we chased them. We fought and chased the fuckers and that really confused the hell out of them.”

Although the Iron Order seems to have successfully branded itself as a “law abiding motorcycle club” that calls the police and prosecutes when it’s members get into a fight it simultaneously describes itself as aggressors. The Iron Order has a reputation for provoking confrontations and any investigation of Zach Tipton’s has to take that into account. It seems impossible that Angela Corey couldn’t know that.

Lubesky has explained the Iron Order’s penchant for confrontation like this:

“We have been asked many time by law enforcement, ‘What do you do this knowing you are going to have trouble with the 1% clubs and their support clubs?’ The answer to us is very simple. Ninety percent of our members took an oath at one time in their lives, either in the military or law enforcement, that said we would defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. We took that oath seriously.”

Not everybody believes that the Iron Order is self-presenting as an outlaw motorcycle club in order to defend the Constitution.

Yesterday, speaking for the record, Steve Cook who is President of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association said “members of the Iron Order seem to go out of their way in provoking members of other clubs and I think that doing so creates unnecessary problems.”

The Fight

Numerous sources have told The Aging Rebel that at least eight and possibly as many as 12 Iron Order members were at Nippers Beach Grille, that they demonstrably anticipated the arrival of Black Pistons at Nippers and that they were armed in anticipation of the Black Pistons’ arrival.

Sources have said that Tipton and an Iron Order member got into a fist fight after Tipton was taunted. A limited number of people actually witnessed the fight. According to multiple sources Tipton knocked down his opponent, backed away and as he was backing away he tripped and fell down. As Tipton fell the Iron Order member stood up and drew a pistol and after Tipton had risen the Iron Order member opened fire. Numerous accounts say that either five or six shots were fired. A volley of three or four shots were fired then, after a brief pause, two more shots were fired.

Although the details of the fight have been withheld from Tipton’s friends and survivors, Ray Lubesky claims to know exactly what happened.

“Rebel,” Lubesky wrote, “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 States 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 do not want to interfere or disrupt the investigation or the judicial process. We want justice to prevail just like you do.”

Lubesky also told Derek Kinner of Folio Weekly “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’s statement contradicts those of sources who were at Nippers that night and who have said that between six and eight Iron Order members did go outside to the scene of the fight before the gun shots. Lubesky told Kinner he had knowledge of the police investigation and that the police “are not hiding anything, they are not protecting anybody…. They want to make sure they get it right.”

Lubesky also told Kinner that if the shooter is charged the Iron Order “will fully support him in the courts, financially and morally.”

The issue of a motorcycle club’s financial support for a member charged with a crime, particularly murder, raises an interesting point of federal law. Doing exactly that has been charged as a predicate in federal racketeering cases against motorcycle clubs to demonstrate that those clubs are a coherent criminal enterprise.

The Aging Rebel has been told and believes that most of the Iron Order members “inside” and “outside” Nippers that night were never questioned by police. Sources have stated that Iron Order members left before they could be questioned. One source asked, “Why? I heard an awful lot of bikes going over the bridge that night.”

Police apparently detained almost everyone at Nippers that night who wasn’t part of the Iron Order and asked them if they had “seen” the shooting. No one seems to have asked the potential witnesses what they heard or what else they saw. While Lubesky claims to be in possession of “all the evidence” including “testimony and video” the police seem to have ignored basic leads.

For example, the police missed a repair to a motorcycle rim that sustained a bullet hole the night Tipton was shot

The Shooter

The name of the Iron Order member who shot Tipton has never been released. The police logic seems to mirror Jay Dobyns argument in his ongoing case against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: Which is to say that the shooter and his family would be in imminent danger of being harmed or murdered, his relatives might be firebombed, his female relatives and children might be raped by men with AIDs and the assaults videotaped and other darker horrors might ensue.

Two days after the murder, a source told this page, “the man who claimed he was the shooter was involved in the fight but was not the actual shooter. Probably because he is a former area PO he thinks he is more likely to get out of trouble…. Jacksonville is one of those southern cities run on the ‘good ol’ boy’ system. If this guy really was an ex cop in good standing he just might get off despite all the witnesses…” That lead proved fruitless.

Shortly after the shooting a commenter who identified himself as Iron Order member Bobby “Fatboy” Miller wrote on the WJXT web site, “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”

That comment led this page to try to interview an Iron Order member named Jay Church. The Aging Rebel believes Church is a member of the Marine Corps as well as the Iron Order. This page has never stated that Church is the shooter but it has asked Church if he was at Nippers that night. This page also believes that there is or until very recently was an Iron Order member named Jay “Popeye” Church who is also a member of the Ashland, Kentucky Police Department and who is related to the Jay Church in Florida.  The younger Church replied to a written request for an interview by saying, “Not sure what your talking about.”

But Lubesky apparently did. After reporting that this page believed Folio Weekly had asked State Attorney Corey if Church was the shooter Lubesky angrily wrote, “Jay Church is not the shooter. You involve an innocent man. The IOMC has no relationship with the police officer in Kentucky. Once again you drag an innocent man to the forefront.”

Zeno’s Paradox

There is an interesting, if nonsensical, notion in classical philosophy called “Zeno’s Paradox.” Briefly stated, in about 450 BC Zeno of Elea told the story of why Achilles could never defeat a tortoise in a foot race after Achilles graciously allowed the tortoise a head start.

Zeno argued that common sense didn’t matter. Only logic. Before Achilles could run to the tortoise’s starting point he had to run halfway there. And before he could get to that halfway point he had to get halfway there. And before he could get to the new halfway point he had to get to another halfway point. And before he could get there…well it is an endless, logical regression and the message is that the ultimate reality is that the world is logically frozen and so nothing can ever be accomplished.

Zeno’s Paradox seems to have become the model for the advancement of the Nippers’ shooting investigation. Somebody should ask Angela Corey if she has ever heard of Zeno. Maybe she would have something to say to Zach Tipton’s family about that.

Local, state and federal police forces in the West continue to harass members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club with marginal or unwarranted prosecutions.

The prosecutions, which have popped up over a wide geographic area ranging from California to Kansas, appear to be coordinated. They are obviously being brought as a form of defacto punishment for the non-crime of belonging to the wrong motorcycle club. The cases have not generally resulted in convictions but they have forced defendants to hire lawyers and defend themselves. Sometimes the prosecutions are unethical.

In the last month, a Las Vegas lawyer named Melanie Hill eviscerated a multi-state, multi-departmental undercover investigation called Operation Pure Luck. In Sacramento, the FBI announced it had brought charges after what seems to have been a years long investigation of Vagos there. And on August 15 a couple of Santa Maria, California lawyers named Mark Powers and Thomas Allen and a Los Angeles lawyer named Jeff Voll won the dismissal of charges against three Vagos in Santa Barbara. Those Vagos were among five people charged 17 months ago with possessing concealed firearms and participating in a criminal street gang while in possession of concealed firearms. Both of those charges carried gang enhancements.

The Santa Barbara Arrests

The arrests were well publicized and allowed news outlets that covered the story to report: “The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Attorney General’s Office have each named the Vagos Motorcycle Club an outlaw motorcycle gang;” and “the Vagos Motorcycle Club, which originated in San Bernardino County in the 1960s, has conducted criminal activity that has included distributing methamphetamine, money laundering, insurance fraud, witness intimidation, murder and extortion.”

On March 15, 2013 a small pack of Vagos from San Luis Obispo County was travelling on California Highway 154 when the riders were stopped by the California Highway Patrol and released. Highway 154 is a picturesque, mountain road that  connects San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County. The CHP alerted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office that the pack was headed south. The first Deputy Sheriff to spot the pack radioed his fellow Deputies “Here come the freaks.”

At the junction of Highway 154 and Highway 101, which in Southern California is often called the “Ventura Highway,” the last motorcyclist in the pack ran a red light. When he was stopped the rest of the pack including chase cars pulled over to the right shoulder and waited.

Cop Speak

In a press release issued two days later the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office described the stop like this:

“As a result of routine enforcement and investigation activities, members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Unit arrested five people who are allegedly associated with a local chapter of an outlaw motorcycle gang, based out of San Luis Obispo County. All five individuals were arrested for firearms related charges, in conjunction with criminal street gang enhancements.

“The arrests followed a traffic stop near the intersection of Highway 154 at Highway 101 around 8 p.m. Friday night. The five motorcycle riders were observed traveling together. Members of the Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Unit conducted a traffic enforcement stop upon observing two of the motorcycle riders fail to stop at a red light.

“During the traffic stop, the three additional motorcycle riders stopped in the middle of the highway, apparently to wait for the members of their group who were subject to the traffic enforcement stop by law enforcement.

“The riders were all wearing insignia related to the Vagos Motorcycle Club, a known Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.”

An Alternative Version

What actually happened was that Deputies searched a chase car, found a baseball bat and used that discovery as justification for searching everyone else who had stopped.

“During the course of the traffic enforcement stop, Detectives from the Gang Enforcement Unit found concealed semi-automatic handguns within the motorcycle saddlebags of the individuals who were contacted,” the Sheriff’s Office press release explained. The arrestees included the president of the Vagos San Luis Obispo chapter and his wife.

However the search was illegal because police had no probable cause to conduct it and none of the Vagos consented to be searched. The police lied about that. The entire stop was videotaped by four police cars. The video ran for 10 minutes and 26 seconds but police erased the 52 seconds that recorded the illegal search. The Deputy District Attorney assigned to the case knew the tape had been erased and that the search was illegal. But he didn’t drop his case until Powers, Allen and Voll confronted him about the tampered evidence.

The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed charges of armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping of a child younger than 13, unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated battery with a Taser, aggravated battery with a knife, aggravated battery with an ax handle and mob action against seven members of the Rockford charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club last week.

Charges were dropped against Richard Todd, Robert Bell, John Savalick, Dariusz Achramowicz, Tomas Lech, Jose Velma and Christopher Lawson. The men had been scheduled to stand trial starting today. Prosecutors dismissed the charges after a judge named Joe McGraw refused to delay the start of the trial so prosecutors could strengthen their case against the seven.

Deputy State’s Attorney Jim Brun told television station WIFR that the alleged victim in the case had refused to testify against the accused and implied that he had been intimidated. “As I indicated, the State’s Attorney’s responsibility is to provide a fair trial to all, so we’re certainly not going to rush a case to trail just to say everyone has their right to due process and everyone has their right to a fair trial and part of that is to protect our, all our witnesses so that is part of our decision making process that we deployed at this time,” Brun said.

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides that: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”

Three other defendants did begin trial today. Those men are Aloysius Balice, Dennis R. Juno and Donald J. Hess. Four defendants named Bradley Wilhelm, Earl Murray, Curt Lambert and Neal Resendez pled guilty to lesser charges last week.

The Case

Prosecutors brought the charges against fourteen defendants in July 2013.

The state alleged that on June 27, 2013 the defendants confined an unnamed Rockford man to the charter club house, hit him with an ax handle, punched him, struck him with brass knuckles and a hammer, Tasered him and stabbed him. Police claimed the men cooperated to steal the victim’s wallet, keys and truck and that they detained an 11-year-old girl while the victim was assaulted. There are no allegations that the child was harmed. The investigation started after the victim went to a hospital for treatment and a motive has never been specified. A usually informed source, speaking anonymously, identified the victim as a former charter officer who had been accused of stealing from the club.

At the time of the arrests, police also raided the clubhouse at 1109 Rock St. in Rockford, searched it and then condemned the building.

Rockford City Attorney Jennifer Cacciapaglia told the Rockford Register Star that the clubhouse chimney and plumbing were falling apart, that wiring was exposed, and that the building lacked smoke detectors and a fire escape. “It’s going to be a pretty extensive list,” Cacciapaglia told the paper. “There’s a portion of the roof that is in significant disrepair. I don’t know how soon they’ll be able to address each item.”

Although condemned, the clubhouse is still owned by the club and is currently listed for sale for $59,000.

August is the dog days of news and Sons of Anarchy won’t be back on the air for another 13 days. So it is not exactly shocking that a British national newspaper called The Daily Mail ran a story today headlined “Real-life Breaking Bad: The incredible story of how a ‘cool cat’ science professor led a double-life as a gun-toting, Harley-riding, biker gang meth dealer called Skinz.”

What grumpy editors call “the news in the story” hardly lives up to the headline. The news is that the Devils Professor case is still unresolved. The Daily Mail also reports that something called “Operation Devil’s Professor” “was launched in 2011 when a separate probe of another biker gang – the Mongols – stumbled upon the name ‘Skinz’.”

The Devils Professor

The tale of Stephen Kinzey, who was both the President of the Mountain Chapter of the Devils Diciples Motorcycle Club and an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at California State University San Bernardino, has always been too good not to blare over and over. The real surprise would be if somehow this case doesn’t become a big time book and a major motion picture.

Kinzey’s suburban home was raided three years ago yesterday, on August 26, 2011. Police allegedly recovered a pound of methamphetamine cut into one ounce packets and many colorful trophies including two Devils Diciples cuts, an Old Lady’s cut, two sets of brass knuckles, a derringer, a bullet proof vest, two rifles, a shotgun, a police club and a machine pistol lookalike called an AP-9.  Police artfully arranged the dope and the trophies on a table covered with a black banner featuring the twin lightening bolts insignia of the Nazi Schutzstaffel.

Police advised reporters that Kinzey, who has a doctorate, was “smarter than the average dealer.”

Police also accused Kinzey of being a fugitive. A detective named Jason Rosenbaum proclaimed that the professor did, “have the ability to flee the country because there are (Devils Diciples) chapters in other countries. He also has family out of state,” Rosenbaum added. It turned out Kinzey was only on vacation.

More Newz

Kinzey’s contract with Cal State San Bernardino was not renewed after it expired in August 2012. He is now charged with possession of a controlled substance for sale, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to distribute illegal narcotics, being in possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm, and participating in a criminal street gang. Kinzey, Jeremy Disney who police have accused of being Kinzey’s drug supplier and Holly Vandergrift Robinson who was living with Kinzey at the time of the arrests all remain free on bail.

The Daily Mail’s 1500 word story, which you can read here, also reports that Kinzey once sent a coded text message that read “Bring whatever cabbage u got for my soup cuz ingredients are low,” and that a pretrial, evidentiary hearing scheduled for today has been postponed.

A couple of recent articles indicate that motorcycling may be going the way of the buggy whip.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that a study by the Motorcycle Industry Council suggests that the “core audience” for motorcycling may soon “be too old to ride at all.” The subjects of the MIC study represent riders of all brands of motorcycles.

Meanwhile Forbes Magazine is describing Harley-Davidson’s sales as “tepid.”

California Bikers

The MIC study tracks the median age of California motorcycle owners from 33 years in 1990, to 38 in 1998, 41 in 2009 and 45 in 2012. About 40 percent of California motorcyclists are now 50 or older. In 1990 only ten percent of the state’s bikers were that old. In 2012, 14 percent of the state’s motorcyclists were retired.

Twenty-four years ago, 94 percent of California bikers were male. Now 88 percent of them are. Sixty-three percent are married. That figure was only 57 percent in 1990. More than half of all the state’s bikers went to college and 20 percent went to graduate school. The median income of the state’s motorcycle owners is $64,130 which is about double what it was in 1990. Twenty percent have an annual income of more than $100,000.

There are now more Californians with a motorcycle license than Californians who own motorcycles. The Times reports that more than half of those licensed to ride may not even own a bike.

Harley

Harley-Davidson has anticipated the enfeebling of its client base, not by getting into the golf cart business but rather by coining a ridiculous sound bite called the “Fatten The Tails Strategy.” John Olin, Harley’s Chief  Financial Officer defines that as “our balanced approach to investing in products across the customer spectrum of core riders, outreach and international.”

What “fatten the tails” actually describes is the two theoretical ends of a statistical function called a “Bell curve.” As in “Hey teacher, do you  grade on a curve?” In a classroom, a Bell curve dictates that most people will get Cs and about as many people will fail as get As. Harley sees it aging and inevitably dead core customers as the big average mass in the middle and wants to increase the customers at both ends – or tails – of the curve. Harley describes the two ends of the curve as the motor company’s “outreach” and “international” customers. International means India and China. Outreach means “young adults,” “women,” “Hispanics,” and “African-Americans.”

Forbes

Forbes likes Harley’s “outreach “ customer potential largely because: “The Hispanic population in the U.S. is expected to grow by 12% between 2015-2020 to form nearly 20% of the country’s net population, which is estimated to grow by only 4% during this period.” Te encuentras con la gente más agradable en una Harley!

But so far the new strategy isn’t actually working. The price of a share of Harley stock has fallen 14 percent since April.

“While Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle shipments in the U.S. rose 8.9% through June,” Forbes says, “retail sales in the country increased by only 1.1%. There is a difference between the retail sales and the unit shipments – retail sales represent the number of motorcycles sold by the dealers of Harley-Davidson, while unit shipments are the number of motorcycles shipped by Harley-Davidson to its dealers. Only a modest growth in retail sales reflects low demand for heavyweight motorcycles in the U.S.”

Three men named Larry McDaniel, Howard Brown and Sean King are scheduled to begin a North Korean style show trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on September 22.

McDaniel is a former Regional President of the American Outlaws Association in Georgia and Alabama; Brown is a former Georgia President of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club and King is an Outlaws patch holder. The men are accused of conspiring to avoid being entrapped. The case has been crawling along since August 15, 2012.

The case, like many racketeering cases, demonstrates a kind of absurd circular logic which begins and ends with a naked accusation. It epitomizes the sort of federal police bullying that contemns what Louis Brandeis called “the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men…. The right to be let alone.” The case invites a national debate and demands scrutiny by national media. Don’t hold your breath.

The case has evolved as Sally Quillian Yates, the United States Attorney for Northern Georgia, has sought ever more creative accusations that might be used to punish these men for their Constitutionally protected right to belong to a motorcycle club. In April 2013 Yates had the men indicted for the federal crime of “impeding a federal proceeding” which throughout the entire preceding 225 years of the history of our republic has always referred to proceedings like court sessions and Congressional hearings but now refers to a proceeding called domestic spying.

The men are specifically accused as follows.

The Indictment

Beginning in or about June 2012, and continuing until on or about August 16, 2012, in the Northern District of Georgia, the defendants, Larry McDaniel, a/k/a “Larry Mack,” Howard Brown, and Sean King, did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, agree, and have a tacit understanding with each other, to commit offenses against the United States, that is, (1) to violate Title l8, United states Code, Section 1512(c)(2), in that the defendants would corruptedly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, to wit: an investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in which
D.B.S. was acting as an undercover informant for the FBI and Michael Griffin, a/k/a “Griff” a law enforcement officer was acting in an undercover capacity, and (2) to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(c) (2), in that the defendants would corruptedly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, to wit: a federal grand jury investigation into criminal offenses investigated by the FBI, said FBI investigation involving D.B.S. acting as an undercover informant and Michael Griffin, a/k/a “Griff,” a law enforcement officer, acting in an undercover capacity.

“In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effect the objects and purposes there of, one or more of the following overt acts were committed:

“In about June 2012, an unknown co-conspirator advised defendant Larry McDaniel that D.B.S., a member of the Cleveland Georgia Chapter of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club was a “fed” or federal agent.

“On or about July 19, 2012, defendant McDaniel directed defendants Brown and King, and others not named as defendants herein, to travel to the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club clubhouse in Cleveland, Georgia.

“On or about July 19, 2012, defendant McDaniel directed defendants Brown and King, and others not named as defendants herein, to “shutdown” the clubhouse and collect all Black Pistons and Outlaw Motorcycle Club vests, known as “cuts,” patches, belts, rings, t-shirts, and other paraphernalia identified with the Black Pistons and outlaw Motorcycle Clubs from those present at the clubhouse.

“On or about July 19, 2012, defendants Brown and King, and others not named as defendants traveled to the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club clubhouse in Cleveland, Georgia.

“On or about July 19, 2012, defendants Brown and King, and others not named as defendants herein, closed the Black Pistons clubhouse and collected all Black Pistons and Outlaw Motorcycle Club vests, known as “cuts,” patches, belts, rings, t-shirts, and other paraphernalia identified with the Black Pistons and Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs. All in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 371.”

Wait There’s More

The mastermind behind this case is an FBI Special Agent named David Brown.  Brown will now testify as an “expert witness” and will try to convince jurors to misinterpret what actually happened. Brown has spent his entire career gathering intelligence about and trying to entrap Outlaws. There are police who do that because there are now so many police that it is increasingly hard to find real police work – like bullying harried mommies who make rolling stops – for all of them to do. Agent Brown, according to prosecutors for example, “is considered the OMC subject matter expert in Florida.”

But what is disturbingly North Korean about the guy is the sort of activities he will portray to jurors as sinister or borderline criminal. Like, for example, reading this page.

“Agent Brown will testify that the Outlaws Motorcycle Club routinely monitors court cases in which its members are charged with crimes,” an official document explains. “Associates of members attend trials and report to the OMC about who has testified and who is cooperating with law enforcement. Witnesses are debriefed by OMC members about their testimony. Jailed OMC members routinely make Freedom of Information Act requests as a means to gather information about law enforcement investigations and techniques, so that they can share that information with their brothers in the club.”

Someone should tell U.S. Attorney Yates and Special Agent Brown that Americans not only have a right to be let alone but they also have the basic right to know what their government is doing.

An interesting civil lawsuit that has lingered in federal court since last January and had lingered in Santa Cruz County Superior Court for two months before that, was refiled Monday in the Federal Northern District of California in San Jose.

A  South Lake Tahoe, Nevada paramedic named Kristopher Klay is suing the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, the Watsonville Police Department, the City of South Lake Tahoe and a “gang investigator” named Stefan Fish for the damage done to Klay’s life after he was stopped by members of the Santa Cruz County Gang Task Force for belonging to an Emergency Medical Technician’s club called the Guerillas Motorcycle Club.

The Suit

The lawsuit: “seeks to remedy the harm suffered by (Klay) when he was called, inter alia, (inter alia is lawyer’s Latin for ‘among other things’) a ‘Gang Member Firefighter,’ accused of gang activities and subsequently fired from his position as a firefighter at the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department. (“SLTFD”) The allegations arise as a result of Plaintiff’s unlawful stop and detention by law enforcement officers while he was riding motorcycles with a friend and fellow emergency medical technician colleague in Watsonville. Plaintiff was never charged with nor convicted of any crime but nevertheless Defendants took it upon themselves to reach out to Plaintiff’s employer, the SLTFD, and alerted them to the detention of Plaintiff and communicated defamatory statements claiming that Plaintiff participated in and was a member of a criminal street gang. Plaintiff’s employer then sought out, received and used the Watsonville Police Report detailing Plaintiff’s stop and detention to terminate Plaintiff from his position as a firefighter.”

“The allegations arose as a result of an unlawful stop and detention by Watsonville and Santa Cruz law enforcement officers of Plaintiff, on or about May 3, 2013…. He was traveling via motorcycle in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County with a fellow worker and friend. Plaintiff and his colleague were wearing vests with patches. Law enforcement officers pulled behind them and activated their emergency lights and sirens causing Plaintiff and his colleague to pull over. Law enforcement officers stated that the purpose of the stop was related to the registration of the colleague’s motorcycle. The motorcycle was properly registered. Plaintiff was thereafter detained, questioned about his employment and was required to submit to being photographed. Plaintiff was not arrested or charged with any crime. Despite this, Defendants reported the detention to Plaintiff’s employer referring to him as a member of a criminal street gang. Subsequently, Plaintiff was terminated from his position as a firefighter.”

Responses

In a response filed last January to Klay’s original complaint, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and gang investigator Fish list 18 separate defense including:

“Defendants did not act with malicious intent and did not deprive plaintiff of any right, privilege, or immunity guaranteed by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”

“Defendant Fish is entitled to qualified immunity, as he acted at all times herein relevant in good faith, with due care, within the scope of discretion, and pursuant to laws, regulations, rules, and practices reasonably believed to be in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the United States. There is no liability pursuant to the Federal Civil Rights Act where one acts in good faith and entertains an honest, reasonable belief that one’s actions are in accord with the clearly-established law.”

“The allegedly defamatory statements alleged in the complaint were made, if at all, in the proper discharge of an official duty in a judicial or other official proceeding authorized by law or in the initiation or in the course of a proceeding authorized by law and/or they are immunized under Civil Code section 47(c).”

And, “The statements alleged in the complaint were not false. To the contrary, they were substantially truthful, if made at all, and any statements which were not substantially truthful were made by others.”

Watsonville’s song and dance is:

“That at all times mentioned in the complaint, the Plaintiff (Klay) so carelessly, recklessly, and negligently conducted and maintained himself so as to cause and contribute in some degree to the alleged incident and to the damages and injuries, if any, alleged to have been sustained by said Plaintiffs and therefore said negligence completely bars any recovery or, in the alternative, it reduces the right of recovery by the amount of said negligence contributed to this incident as set forth under the doctrine of comparative negligence”

“If it should be found that the City is in any manner legally responsible for damages, if any, sustained by Plaintiffs, which the City specifically denies, then such damages were legally caused or contributed to by Plaintiffs or unnamed persons and parties; therefore, it is necessary that the proportionate and comparative degree of fault of each and every said person or entity be determined and prorated and that any judgment rendered against this defendant be reduced not only by that degree of fault found to exist as to other parties, but by the total of that degree of fault found to exist as to other persons or entities, including non-parties.

And finally, “The City is not liable for any act or omission resulting from the use of due care in the execution or enforcement of the law.”

The City of South Lake Tahoe has not yet responded to complaint filed Monday. All the defendants have until September to respond to the amended complaint and Klay will have a week to reply to those responses.

Police in Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta and federal police are investigating multiple, linked, violent confrontations between members of the Outcast and the Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Clubs.

Both clubs are traditional, black, three piece patch motorcycle clubs. According to public statements by police, the ill will between the clubs has resulted in three deaths in the last two weeks.

The Incidents

The dispute started to make headlines last Saturday, August 30, when two men were killed and two others wounded at a party in Birmingham attended by members of the Wheels of Soul and a sport bike club named Showstoppers. The dead Wheels of Soul patch holder is Stevens Hicks. The dead Showstopper is Wilbert Hawkins. Both men were in their late 40s.

According to multiple accounts, members of the Outcast Motorcycle Club surrounded the party and began shooting. An unnamed source told Carol Robinson of the Birmingham News, “They surrounded the place, like they were looking for somebody. They were inside and outside and then it was just shooting. We took off. I just ran. There was a lot of shooting.”

According to police, at least 40 shots were fired.

A second unnamed source told the News, “This stemmed from something that started in Atlanta two weeks ago.  Two other motorcycle clubs just happened to bump heads here, and they started shooting everywhere. That’s why so many innocent people were shot.”

Police have publically linked the shooting last Saturday in Birmingham to the murder of a rapper named Bobby Ray Stewart in a Columbus, Georgia nightclub called The Supper Club on August 23.  Police have also connected that shooting to the beating of a soldier from nearby Fort Benning in the same nightclub the same night.

This morning, Birmingham police announced that an Outcast Patch holder named James Armstrong was arrested yesterday in suburban Atlanta by the FBI and local police. Armstrong will be charged with murder in Birmingham and is being held in Georgia without bond.

The Clubs

Members of the Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club wear a one percenter diamond on their vests. The club’s mother chapter is in Philadelphia. According to the FBI, the club has 400 members in 25 states.

Eighteen members of the club were charged with racketeering and various predicate crimes in 2011 after an FBI investigation in St. Louis. The FBI investigation began in 2009. Four more members of the club were charged with racketeering in 2012 after an ATF investigation in Chicago. According to the St. Louis indictment, six members of the Wheels of Soul conspired to kill members of the Outcast MC in January 2011.

Fifteen of the accused men pled guilty to racketeering as part of plea and sentencing agreements. The remaining seven defendants stood trial in October and November 2012 and were found guilty after a jury deliberated for eight days.

The Outcast Motorcycle Club attracted national attention earlier this month when members of the St. Louis chapter rode to nearby Ferguson, Missouri to encourage rioting residents to behave peacefully.

Five days ago, affirming a racketeering conviction in Florida, Ed Carnes who is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit wrote an amazing sentence that would have been unimaginable six years ago. Carnes wrote: “In a case of life imitating art imitating life, Maynard Kenneth Godwin was inspired by the fictional motorcycle gang in Sons of Anarchy, itself modeled on the real life Hells Angels, to form his own band of brigands called the Guardians.”

“Under his leadership, the Guardians terrorized the citizens of Jacksonville, Florida, through a steady onslaught of home invasion robberies, armed bank robberies, and other crimes,” Carnes explains.

“As often seems to be the protocol with criminal gangs,” this wondrous document continues, “the members of the Guardians were given monikers befitting their roles. Godwin bestowed on himself the apt title “Boss.” Bill Harper and Billy Hesson were the Lieutenants; Andrew Wilkie was the Enforcer; Frank Godwin was the Road Captain; and Brock Skov, owing to his computer savvy, was called Tech. The members wore dog tags inscribed with the organization’s name, their nicknames, and their rank; some sported ‘Guardian’ tattoos; and several rode motorcycles, used steroids, and lifted weights. Although Godwin did not formally name and officially organize the group into the Guardians until early to mid-2009,2 its members were involved in criminal activities together before then. Godwin sold various drugs, principally cocaine and oxycodone, and fenced stolen merchandise from his home and later from his store, ‘Guardians of Jacksonville,’ which he opened in 2010. At Skov’s residence, Godwin stockpiled a cache of body armor and firearms for Guardian members and associates to use with his permission. Jonathan Hart and David Hicks were two such associates; Eric Ellis was a third. Like Guardian members, Ellis used steroids, lifted weights,
and spent time at Godwin’s house. He knew that the Guardians were a gang that did ‘goon stuff,’ were ‘heavy into drugs,’ and were led by Godwin. On one occasion in June or July of 2010, Ellis, Wilkie, and Harper convened at Godwin’s house bedecked in black and carrying backpacks. Godwin called Skov at home to tell him that he was sending the three men ‘over there to get something from you,’ and then turned and asked the men, ‘Do y’all want the one with the extended clip on it?,’ obviously referring to a firearm.

“Stockpiling guns, dealing drugs, and peddling purloined products were not the most serious of the Guardians’ illicit endeavors. In a span of only fifteen months, beginning in May 2009, Guardian members and associates committed a slew of violent crimes, including four armed home invasion robberies, two armed bank robberies, one attempted bank robbery, and a savage beating. On May 21, 2009, Ellis, Harper, and Wilkie, acting at Godwin’s command, thrashed Dillon Burkhalter to within an inch of his life, repeatedly hitting and kicking him in the face until he began choking on his own blood. Burkhalter, who rented a mobile home located next to one owned by Godwin, had been ‘messing up (his) trailer,’ owed back rent to the owner of the trailer park, and apparently owed money to Godwin as well. When he was transported to the hospital with multiple facial fractures and cranial bleeding, Burkhalter was barely breathing, barely conscious, and utterly unresponsive, eventually lapsing into a coma for a period of three weeks.”

Wait There’s More

Last January, a producer named Dan Abrams from a show on the Sundance Channel called The Writers’ Room asked me to help him find fans who were so moved by the television show that they got Sons of Anarchy tattoos.

“We need photos of real people who got real tattoos inspired by the show (with tattoos of the SOA logo or key characters from SOA). And, of course, we need those people comfortable signing ‘materials & appearance releases.’ We can’t just get a photo off Google. We gotta be in touch with the actual person and, or, tattoo artist.”

Abrams asked that I screen the photos and forward them to him. As it turned out the show never ran the photos but they have continued to trickle into me anyway. About three weeks ago, one of the show’s fans sent me five shots of  the Sons of Anarchy tattoo that covers his back. It features a top rocker and the Sons logo but no bottom rocker.

I knew I had at least one more Sons of Anarchy story to write so I asked the fan if I could run his photos. He replied: “Well if you ever have use for them or more let me know and we can discuss it then.”

Impressed though I was by his tattoo I thought I might still be able to run a story about the television show without illustrating it with his fine ink.

Kurt Sutter Informs Us All

To be a motorcycle outlaw, and to a slightly lesser extent to be a “biker,” is to subscribe to a common set of values, fears and ideals that define a way of being a man. “I don’t trust the government, I don’t trust no cops,” Whitey Ford raps. The strange tale of the Guardians and the curious subculture of people who decorate their bodies as if they belonged to a pretend motorcycle club only begin to hint at the ways Sons Of Anarchy has corrupted the most dramatic niche culture among men who dress in denim. During its six years on television, Sons of Anarchy has gone from being what Producer Kurt Sutter has called an “homage” to outlaw motorcycle clubs to being a cynical, shallow and remarkably stupid redefinition of the idea of motorcycle outlaws.

Beginning with the very first season, Sutter has insisted that naïve people should watch the show in order to gain an inside look at the motorcycle club world. The show has trumpeted its connections to members of the Hells Angels. Sonny Barger has appeared on the show, as a character called Lenny the Pimp. Several current and former cast members including Chuck Zito and Rusty Coones, have ties to the Angels. Sutter, his wife Katey Sagal and other cast members have gone to Phoenix to help Barger celebrate his club anniversary run.

One version of the show’s creation myth proclaims that SOA was born in producer John Linson’s imagination after he hung around with the Angels for some indefinite period of weeks, months or years. Sutter has described Linson as a “method producer.” During the first season, Linson performed his outlaw imitation at publicity events, which is to say he disguised himself as a passive aggressive thug who wore big, sharp rings and rarely deigned to speak.

An alternative creation myth says Sutter and FX stole the show from former New York Angel Zito who, unfortunately for Zito he did not have the advantage of being the heir of the royal Hollywood producer Art Linson.

Wherever Sons of Anarchy came from, I have always been candid about my reaction to it. For example after watching the show for the first time I wrote:

Season One

“There is not a moment of truth in the FX television networks new costume melodrama, Sons of Anarchy. Not a moment. Not a second. Not a breath.

“The show was proceeded by such an avalanche of hyperbole that even cynics hoped it might be better. A cogent show about bikers is theoretically possible. HBO’s series The Wire came close to telling the truth about the black ghetto for five years. Why not a show about scooter trash?

“The Wire even featured a biker played by the singer Steve Earle. But The Wire, because of the moral and artistic ideals of its producers was trying to tell the truth. Sons of Anarchy doesn’t need no stinking truth. Sons of Anarchy only needs its piece of the mega-billion dollar, Harley-Davidson aftermarket.

“The SOA don’t ride motorcycles so much as get on and off them. They prance around like pimps. Their cuts are their mink jackets. They rush to hospitals. They glower. They rarely laugh. They search their souls and ask themselves, “Why oh, why? How did our happy, hippie commune become a motorcycle club?” None of these outlaws has ever been shaken or stirred. None of them has calluses or scars.

“In the one distracting moment, halfway through a deadly hour, Charlie Hunnam busts a pool cue over a guy’s head and stabs him in the balls with the jagged end. That was almost amusing.

“But, mostly the SOA are shadows of cutouts of sketches of bikers. The show stinks and shines like dying grunion in the moonlight. And, it is made for the people Paddy Chayefsky called ‘humanoids,’ people who know the world only from watching it on TV.”

***

That first review, and literally every story here about the show since, has always provoked the same reaction from the mouth breathers: “Don’t you know this is a TV show? How can you be so fucking stupid as to not realize this is a TV show?!”

I’ve tried to answer that question dozens of times. Yeah, I realize it is a television show. It is a television show that attempts to define – not interpret or observe but define – the motorcycle club world. Sutter, who seems to be a genuinely bright and personally pleasant man, told me years ago that for him the show represented “vicarious badassary.” He was, he said, a fat, suburban kid from New Jersey who always wanted brothers who would stick up for him. And, he has succeeded in creating an interesting piece of art year after year that reflects his unusual mind.

The problem is that so many people over the last six years have taken the show as a guide book about how to be a motorcycle badass. Like for example the Guardians of Jacksonville.

Three years ago Jason Nark and William Bender of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “Authorities say that the soaring popularity of the Sons of Anarchy TV show – the most watched in FX’s history – could be contributing to a disturbing trend: Weekend warriors, no longer content to simply ride together, are forming small motorcycle clubs and dabbling in the outlaw lifestyle.”

Sutter, whose interpersonal style compels him to bully like bad weather on social media, replied to the article by saying, “people are going outlaw because of oppressive economic times not because of a fucking TV show. Don’t blame me for your inability to protect.”

Season Two

I didn’t like the show any better when the second season began. But I hadn’t yet taken it seriously in the way I should have taken it seriously – although all the signs were already there. Then I wrote:

“That ridiculous thing, Sons of Anarchy, begins its second season – of a proposed seven seasons – tonight, Tuesday, September 8th, at ten o’clock Eastern.

“And apparently, 5.4 million of you have had this day marked on your calendars for ten months.

“Three weeks ago, according to the Manteca Bulletin, a ‘mind-boggling’ number of the show’s fans waited in ‘the mid-day heat’ at a Lathrop, California Harley dealership to beg autographs from six members of the show’s cast. Some signature seekers actually waited in line for two hours before being turned away.

“Last month in Sturgis, publicists for the show built a pretend biker clubhouse at one end of Main Street. The interior featured mug shots of actors with jobs on the show; two sets of ‘club colors’ framed behind glass like a couple of Kobe jerseys; and plaques commemorating the 25th or 30th or 35th anniversaries of imaginary chapters in Sturgis, Laconia and Milwaukee. One of the cuts even sported a ‘Men of Mayhem’ tab. You know, like the ‘Filthy Few.’

“The Sturgis clubhouse gave away bandannas. I demanded and got two of those because my bike had rain spots and I wanted it to look nice and just one bandanna would not do. I was going to stick around and see what else I could demand. But then I saw grown men with tattoos, bellies and beards buying Sons of Anarchy tee-shirts. So, then I ran away because I was afraid.

“I still don’t get it. Personally, I would rather watch The Terror of Tiny Town, the musical western with the all midget cast that is usually considered to be the worst movie ever made. For that matter, I would probably prefer to watch the new Sandra Bullock stalker ‘hit’ All About Steve. Instead this weekend, before I started to write whatever this is going to turn out to be, I watched two episodes of Sons of Anarchy. It took me fifteen hours. I kept falling asleep.”

***

About six weeks later, after somebody pretending to be Sutter started harassing me, I wrote:

“I am riding up through the high desert into the Eastern Sierras a week or so ago. The ride is always plagued with bugs. And, I have never owned a motorcycle with a windshield or a fairing or any of that crap so I am very aware of the bugs. At ninety miles an hour they explode like kinetic weapons all over my sunglasses, inside my nose, inside my mustache, on my teeth, on my hands, on my leathers and clothes.

“I ignore them mostly. Because I am riding the bike. The bike doesn’t ride itself. And, every so often I make a silly, high-pitched noise. But, I can’t tell you whether I am cursing or praying when my face meets the bugs that might actually be small, hard birds.

“When I came home and stripped off my clothes I found a horsefly under my scrotum. It seems that one, determined bug had somehow survived the collision with my cowboy boot, crawled up the leg of my jeans, struggled into my underwear, curled up under my balls and died. My old lady laughed. And, then she went on to imagine out loud all the species of insects it could have been. I took a shower and after I got out I more or less forgot about that fly.

“I only remember it now because I am writing yet again about Sons of Anarchy, the brilliant, gritty, critically acclaimed, astounding work of sheer-fucking-genius currently running fifteen or twenty times a week on the FX Cable Network. The show’s creator and principal propagandist is the prosperous actor and scrivener Kurt Sutter.

“And, I have made the artistic choice of beginning this essay with a dull anecdote about a bug by way of explaining to you that, as a general rule, anything Kurt Sutter might say is to me as the buzzing of a fly. Not even a fly that would lose its life on account of me but just another fly.”

Season Three

Another year passed without me fully realizing the impact of the show. I had never heard of the Guardians, I had never heard of a little, family club in San Diego called the Laffing Devils and all I knew about the Iron Order was that it was a rude cop club that wore black and white. That year I wrote:

“The third season of the FX Network’s most successful show just debuted.

“It is called Sons of Anarchy and last year’s conclusion featured 4.3 million viewers rooting for an outlaw motorcycle club. Maybe that is the best thing about this show. Maybe there is more. I am still sort of glancing at the television out of the corner of my eye as I write this so not even I yet know.

“Hey! Is that Long Beach or San Pedro?

“The club in the show is poetically inspired by the Hells Angels who are, apparently, not yet famous enough. The Sons’ fiercest enemies are called the Mayans but when you hear Mayans you are supposed to think Mongols. Some of the motorcycle extras who work on the show are actually Vagos. I cannot begin to guess how many of those 4.3 million viewers know that Loki is the Norse god of mischief.

“I am pretty sure that most of the people who will read this do not give a damn about the Byzantine subtleties of the outlaw world. Most people will read this because they can’t get enough of the show. A month from now or a year from now they will surf around and eventually they will stumble upon this. Most of you – believe me I know – simply yearn to get your outlaw on and you call the show SAMCRO.

“The rest of you need to know that SAMCRO is the acronym for the “Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals” and that is the name of the mother charter for this club. It is the charter to which the lead actors all belong. The Sons of Anarchy call them “charters” in the manner of the Angels, not “chapters” like almost everybody else.

“Welcome SAMCRO visitors! Please wait patiently while the people who do not watch your show catch up.

“Sons of Anarchy is produced by an interesting man named Kurt Sutter and is based on an idea for a show by John Linson. Linson has great Hollywood connections and a deep admiration for the Angels. The show stars Ron Perlman as the Vietnam Vet, Charlie Hunnam as the sexy beast and Sutter’s wife, Katey Sagal, as the GILF with a heart of stone.

“SOA is a soap opera, heavily marbled with poignant musical interludes, but it is sold as an inside look at what it is really like to be an outlaw biker. The show hit the air less than two months after Dave Burgess was framed on a child porn charge; the same summer John McCain showed up at the Buffalo Chip to campaign and pledged to carry Sarah Palin to Washington on the back of his bike; the summer of the celebrity of Doc Cavazos; about the time Mark Papa Guardado died in a street fight in San Francisco; and, a month before Manual Vincent Hitman Martin was assassinated on the Glendale Freeway at the conclusion of Operation Black Rain. So naturally, the first season of SOA chose to shoehorn its characters into a reworking of Hamlet.

“That reimagining of Hamlet seemed grandiose then. Two years later, a week after Mama Sarah Palin explained her mispronunciation of repudiate as “refudiate” by comparing herself to Hamlet’s original author – that Shakespeare guy – Sutter’s artistic choice seems almost reasonable.”

Season Four

The next year, I was still pretty clueless about the impact the show was having on the little slice of Americana I write about. It was all right in front of my eyes but I refused to see it. I wrote:

“That incredibly marvelous, wonderful and important television show Sons of Anarchy debuts tonight. Again.

“I know. I still can’t see how important this “Shakespearian inspired drama” is but I am starting to catch on. I am trying. My ‘problem’ may be, as casual readers who love the show frequently tell me, that I am too stupid and crazy to understand the difference between reality and a television show.

“And look, I have absolutely no intention of arguing with them because sometime I might want to use that as my legal defense.

“But, consider these recent, true events related to this Fox Television phenomenon. Reader Discretion Is Advised:

“On August 11, a 27-year-old Chandler, Arizona man named Joshua Seto accidently shot a hole through his penis while carrying his girlfriend’s pink pistol in his waistband. After perforating his penis the bullet lodged in Seto’s thigh.

“‘The movies and TV shows, like Sons of Anarchy, that show tough guys with guns shoved into their jeans are not realistic,’ The Arizona Republic quoted Chandler Police Detective Seth Tyler as saying after the incident. The detective went on to explain that no matter how Jax does it, would be outlaws should always use ‘a holster.’

“A few days later, The San Jose Mercury-News reported that cops there were harassing members of The Henchmen Motorcycle Club. ‘If the Henchman have nothing to hide, then why should they be concerned to be legitimately stopped by police?’ the Hayward Police Chief , a woman who is not a Constitutional scholar but who is named Diane Urban, said.

“ ‘If they were not involved in criminal activity, no one would give them a second look,’ a man named Jorge Gil-Blanco, who the Mercury-News identified as an ‘expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs,’ explained.

“In defense of the Henchmen, patch holder and founder Ed ‘Big Ed’ Aki said, ‘We’re not choir boys but we’re not the Sons of Anarchy, either.’

“Meanwhile in Laconia, New Hampshire, the Talons Motorcycle Club has been having its own problems with police harassment. Local authorities accuse the Talons of ‘having ties with’ the Hells Angels.

“Producers and others affiliated with the Sons of Anarchy television show have stated numerous times that the club in the show is meant to represent the Angels. And, I have personally seen series show runner Kurt Sutter and lead actress Katey Sagal at Hells Angels sponsored events.

“And after the club was accused of ‘having ties’ a Talon patch holder named Jim Maimone tried to explain to the Portsmouth Herald, ‘We’re not the Sons of Anarchy.’”

The Growing Iron Order

This summer I asked a member of the Iron Order what effect he thought Sutter’s show had had on the growth of his motorcycle club. He said:

“I don’t think the Iron Order could have flourished the way it did without the show. I know the club itself formed before the show started but it hit its major stride on growth about 2008 or 2009 and the show was growing in popularity then.” That growing popularity was certainly coincidental to the growth of several new and non-traditional motorcycle clubs.

The Iron Order member talked about how he joined his club. “I was new to the biker life and I knew some things but was largely in the dark. I knew that approaching a club out of the blue was generally frowned upon and that there was a process to interactions but I live in something of a dead zone for MC’s and did not know how to get my foot in the door with any of them. When I looked at the Iron Order they welcomed inquiries so I figured why the hell not and sent them a message. I did not hear back at that time and let it go for awhile. Then I started thinking about forming my own club, and in doing some of the leg work I decided that joining an established club would be a better way to go. I turned back to the Iron Order and sent them a message asking about forming a chapter. I received a response immediately. I found out I did not have the number of members they wanted me to have. But a nomad (Iron Order nomads act as recruiters for the club) put me in contact with the nearest chapter. I met with the chapter president and two members from the other state chapters. I had a sit down with them for a few hours. I was offered two options. I could join an established chapter and prospect and learn the ins and outs and work on getting a chapter started nearby. Or I could work on getting a new start-up chapter going.”

The realities of joining a motorcycle club are often harsher than Sons of Anarchy viewers anticipate. The Iron Order member said, “I recall seeing far too many times where people patched in and then left when shit got real. A good example is a Florida chapter that folded overnight last summer when they got on 23’s (the Warlocks) radar and bad side and they quit instead of standing up because the said that they didn’t think it would be that way.”

Incidents like that seem to be regular occurrences with the Iron Order. Joining and belonging to a motorcycle club often requires a life changing commitment. Joining the Iron Order is more like changing channels or changing clothes. The club has about 4,000 members and may be the largest motorcycle club in the world. About half of those members are sworn police officers and a quarter are active duty military personnel up to the rank, according to club president Ray Lubesky, of full Colonel. Sometimes these members act like police. Sometimes they call the police.

Last week in New Port Richey, Florida, where Lubesky is said to maintain a residence, a group of Iron Order members in full costume staked out a table in the Winghouse on Highway 19. When a group of Black Pistons, who were not wearing colors, showed up the Iron Order called 911. Six police responded to the emergency call and stood guard as the Iron Order members warmed up their bikes and rode away to safety.

Sutter’s Thunder

It has often seemed to me that the most polite men I have ever met are motorcycle outlaws. Real motorcycle outlaws often moderate their words because they know their insults, or perceived insults, will be replied to with violence – a punch in the nose or something worse.

One of the lessons Sons of Anarchy has taught its fans is that fights are won, rather than started, with insults. During the short-lived lawsuit between Zito and FX, Sutter wrote a blog post titled “Douchebaggery Is The Greatest Form of Flattery” in which he called Zito a “half-talent” and called his lawsuit “bogus.”

“Here’s the problem with his plan,” Sutter wrote. “When it comes to parting with cash, there’s one badass outlaw that makes Zito look like a pussy – his name is Rupert, and Rupe don’t sway. Trust me, Chucky could firebomb our lot and Fox wouldn’t fork over a fucking dime to this guy. That’s why I love them…my parent company is as stubborn and aggressive as I am.

“So here’s my bi-monthly reminder to every delusional bitch who thinks that they’ve come up with the idea for SOA –

“HAVING THE FUCKING IDEA IS NOT THE SHOW. THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE TV DRAMAS PITCHED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS. NONE OF THEM HAS MADE IT TO SERIES, EXCEPT SOA. BECAUSE THEY SUCKED. The same way there were dozens of mob family pitches before the Sopranos and crime scene pitches before CSI.”

“I guarantee you, the only similarity between Zito’s pitch and SOA is that they wear cuts, do illegal things and ride Harleys.”

Enter The Laffing Devils

Sutter’s delusion that Rupert Murdoch is “one badass outlaw” because the media mogul is greedy, selfish and very rich seems genuine and indicates the depth of Sutter’s insight into the outlaw code. There is certainly nothing wrong with Sutter confusing Simon Legree with Jesse James. The problem is that Sutter has apparently taught a whole generation of neo-bikers to rant like maquereaux.

When The Devils Ride, another show that promised to give viewers the vicarious experience of being a motorcycle outlaw debuted, Sutter tweeted: “watched DEVIL’S RIDE. probably get in trouble for saying this, but I’m pretty sure my SOA actors could kick the shit out of this ‘real’ MC.”

True to form, one of the Devils tweeted back, “I am concerned that Kurt’s creative mind is stuck in make-believe land with his recent comment on Twitter. Here’s a reality check for ya Kurt…. I am sending a personal invitation to your pretty-faced Kurt Cobain look-alike star Jax (portrayed by Charlie Hunnam) to come down to San Diego and prove your point. And tell him to wear those shiny white kicks too. I hope he’s a size 11, I could use some new shoes.”

“The reality is that Hunnam is probably the toughest fucking dude on my set,” Sutter replied to a perfect stranger. “Newcastle street kid. He’s the last guy I’d ever pick to fight.”

Sutter, who by then seemed to think he had invented motorcycle clubs, accused the new show of “exploiting” his television show. “I know devil’s ride has exploited SOA and is now using me for more exposure,” he tweeted. Which was followed by, “LACTATING DEVILS, fake MC is now threatening actors. wow, they are so fucking BADASS. gigiddy. TMZ you complete me.”

Sutter explained in a YouTube post that his argument was really with the Discovery Channel rather than the motorcycle club. “No one at the network (Discovery) ever mentioned this outlaw motorcycle project they had in development,” Sutter complained. “not to me, not to my producing partners at Studio Lambert, nobody. Nothing was ever said. And I didn’t hear about it honestly until somebody started tweeting about it and I guess some of the trailers had already come out.

“And suddenly I’m watching the promos for this show and I’m seeing scenes that were taken directly from, you know, the Sons of Anarchy pilot. You know, a guy in a barbershop watching bikes go by. And, suddenly it all felt a little covert and quite honestly a little duplicitous. And, I just felt like, you know, when suddenly the network is billing this show the, you know, real life Sons of Anarchy and stealing the concept in terms of…uh…not stealing the concept but going after clearly the audience that watches Sons.

“And because I was associated with the network (Discovery) because I had this project going on the obvious assumption, and I think it makes sense, is that people would assume that either that was my show or I had something to do with that show. And, I just felt like the network had to be aware of that and perhaps that’s why they never mentioned it. And it was just, you know, it just felt like kind of a shitty thing to do. And you know, obviously that’s what happened and people assumed I had something to do with that show and I didn’t. And, now I feel like, well, did they only get in business with me on Outlaw Empires because they knew they were doing that and it was somehow, some way of doing this…you know… branding thing so…and tapping into the Sons audience.

“So, suddenly I just felt like, I don’t know, I just felt like duped, quite honestly. And, pissed off you know? So, then I felt like that’s, that I need to, uh, I need to distance myself from that. You know, that’s not a show I’m associated with. It’s not a show I want to be associated with. I don’t do that kind of reality TV. Outlaw Empires is a documentary series based on the lives of real people. So I just felt it was important for me to distance myself and I do that by how I usually do on Twitter by making some sort of snarky, absurd comments.

“And then what happened, as usual, is that comment got fed back to the guys that were doing that reality show. And they said some things about me and that got spun out in a certain way that I’m sure wasn’t the truth either because it was fucking TMZ so it is what it is. And of course these guys are gonna respond in a big way when they have some fucking douche bag with a camera calling them out in front of their friends. So, it just went ugly which is fine if the blowback is only on me. But, then they started harassing Charlie (Hunnum) and emailing him. And then, once again, I’m always taught the hard lesson of that when it comes to Sons of Anarchy it’s not me, man. I’m not the show. The show’s this bigger entity that impacts the lives of hundreds of other people.”

“So that’s what went down. I don’t know those dudes (the Laffing Devils). I don’t want to know those dudes. And I know they are a support club for a bigger club and I guess inroads have been made to clean things up so everyone feels like they’re being heard and respected and that’s fine. That should all be done. And I support that and will do whatever I need to do to make that happen. So that’s what went down. And for me the biggest culprit in all this is Discovery. I hate to be the guy that goes, ‘Oh the evil empire network did it.’ But, you know, I don’t know what else to say.”

Sutter may not have invented motorcycle clubs but he certainly invented the notion that any accountant could go out and start his own motorcycle club and that the way to earn respect was with insulting rhetoric. It is a lesson the Iron Order has certainly embraced. Anybody who has read even a portion of the comments that Iron Order members have posted on The Aging Rebel can see that with their own eyes.

Season Six

By last season I had decided that Sons Of Anarchy was a chick show that hardly offended me at all. Last year I wrote:

“Whatever you do, don’t forget to watch the sixth season premier of that life-changing and important wonder, Sons of Anarchy tonight at ten on FX.

“Charlie Hunnam is in it. This is Charlie Hunnam’s world so it is now pretty much Charlie’s show. It was recently announced that he will star in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. The Guardian reported just yesterday that ‘the upcoming adaptation of EL James’ bestselling ‘mommy porn’ literary sensation, in which he will star as kinky billionaire Christian opposite Dakota Johnson’s blushing virgin Ana, would be a walk in the park when compared to shoots for (the) Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk 14 years ago.’

“Harvey Levin of TMZ reports that Hunnam is about ‘to be such a big star!’

“It is also impossible not to know from television that Hunnam rides his motorcycle all the time and that he sometimes rides wearing flip flops. Miraculously, that doesn’t make the top of his left foot hurt. Maybe he just keeps it in first. Maybe Hunnam doesn’t have to use his engine at all, let alone his transmission. Maybe adoring fans carry him and his motorcycle aloft.

“Hunnam has also said that real bikers ride in sneakers and guys who wear cowboy boots are ‘dentists.’ See you around Charlie. Small world. What do you think of guys who wear cowboy boots and knives?”

Understanding SOA’s Popularity

I spent many words in 2012 and 2013 on the legal woes of friend and former Hells Angel George Christie. So, I wrote:

“It is common now, in biker racketeering cases, for prospective jurors to be interrogated about the basic cable soap opera Sons of Anarchy. ‘Do you now, or have you ever watched the television show Sons of Anarchy? Do you understand it is fiction? Do you understand the difference between fantasy and reality?’

“The juror questions are ironic because the television show bears little likeness to even the most corrupt chapters of any of the brand name motorcycle clubs. The club in the show is an unabashed crime syndicate that derives its money and status through the shared commerce of guns, drugs and women. The characters, presumably, are all zillionaires. They only dress down. None of them even tries to hide his criminality – although it might be a more interesting show if one of them, now and then, did. But none of them ever do, so defense attorneys must go through the motions of trying to convince jurors that the show is written in the sky in smoke like an expensive and fleeting Valentine.

“Jurors always believe what the show’s creators claim over and over – which happens to be exactly what prospective jurors wish was true – which is that Sons of Anarchy is an artistic vision, not the commercial hallucination of liars and fools

“The federal trial of George Christie early this year got as far as the second day of voir dire – and the questions about the television show – before Christie agreed to plead guilty. In the last five years the show has prejudiced jury pools all over the country. And, that is ironic because the show knows nothing about and has nothing to say about the motorcycle club world. The show seems to have evolved into something that doesn’t even need motorcycles. All it needs now is Charlie Hunnam, a dozen or so beautiful and crazy women and some bang-bang. Hunnam could play an IRS agent who moonlights as an accountant for whores and the show would still be a hit.

“In the beginning, SOA was the recollections of some adventures that producer John Linson had with the Hells Angels and it was obviously conceived to appeal to disaffected men – the kind of men who wish they were Hells Angels or who like to daydream about being motorcycle outlaws. It is hardly news, except maybe in Hollywood and Washington, that American masculinity is in crisis and that outlaw motorcycle clubs suggest a cure.

“Outlaw clubs are outposts of what the late Tim Hetherington called ‘Man Eden.’ James Brabazon, who collaborated with Hetherington and Sebastian Junger on the documentary Restrepo thinks, ‘War is the only opportunity that men have in society to love each other unconditionally and it’s understanding the depth of emotion of men at war that Tim was fascinated with.’ Motorcycle clubs simulate the emotions and values of men at war. They manifest what William James called ‘The Moral Equivalent of War.’

“During its first couple of seasons SOA seemed to pander to the emotions of otherwise competent and proud men who could no longer survive, let alone raise a family, by selling only their labor. Modern men are compelled to feminize themselves to either earn a living or secure the credentials that now symbolize an education. And, some percentage of American men and boys, probably around 20 percent, simply find that feminization to be too humiliating to endure. For whatever reasons of class or psychology or macroeconomics that big fraction of all men long to be what James called ‘hunting men, and to hunt a neighboring tribe, kill the males, loot the village and possess the females, was the most profitable, as well as the most exciting, way of living.’ In the same brief essay, written in response to the horrors of the Russo-Japanese War, James went on to describe the virtues all motorcycle outlaws embrace today: ‘Martial virtues…intrepidity, contempt of softness, surrender of private interest, obedience to command….’

Carnes Was Wrong

Five days ago Ed Carnes, the Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit wrote that the Guardians case exemplified “life imitating art imitating life” but Carnes was wrong by two words. Much of what would otherwise be unexplainable in the motorcycle club world in the last six years can be described as “life imitating art.” The art is Sons of Anarchy which is not based so much on life as it is founded in whatever demons drive Kurt Sutter to create and have guided him to success.

The show has never interpreted what motorcycle clubs are. It has always reflected what Kurt Sutter thinks motorcycle clubs should be.

The show’s final season begins tomorrow night at ten o’clock on FX. It will be one hour and forty-five minutes long and at least ten million people will watch it. The entire season that follows will feature plot lines that appeal to women realized by a multi-racial cast it will all be punctuated by cartoonish cruelty. Last season, for example, the character played by Sutter’s wife, Katey Sagal, executed her grandchildren’s mother by stabbing the woman over and over in the head with a fork. This season the son will murder his mother. Hunnum’s character, Jax, will survive until almost the very end before dying in the final episode.

Kurt Sutter’s utter lack of compassion for his characters may be his most notable quality as a writer. The final episodes will feature lots more of that sort of violence as Sutter murders off his characters one by one. A couple of weeks ago, in a glowing tribute to the show, the Los Angeles Times enthused that, “Relentless scenes of over-the-top mayhem and maiming have placed the series in the top ranks of TV’s most violent dramas.”

The Times also reported that Sutter seems to think of his television show as a brotherhood like a motorcycle club. “He has choked up at premieres when praising Hunnam,” the paper said, “calling him a true brother: ‘We’re at a place where we’d take a bullet for each other.’”

It is a curious hyperbole. It begs the questions of whether Sutter has ever been shot, has ever seen anyone shot or has ever known anyone who was shot.

It also recalls a murder this past summer in a parking lot in Jacksonville Beach. A Black Piston named Zach Tipton was shot in the head by a man following his own vision of what a motorcycle club should be. The shooter has not yet been named lest he be harmed by friends of the victim. Apparently he is being protected in exactly the same way his club brothers were protected last week in New Port Richey.

It seems likely that the shooter talked to Tipton in about the same way that Sutter talked to Zito and that Tipton reacted by punching his insulter in the nose. Then acting in great fear for his life the shooter fired at least five bullets from a pistol at least one of which killed Tipton. By many accounts the shooter was in the military and a drama about the motorcycle club world might consider and dramatize whether his actions epitomized what James called the “Martial virtues…intrepidity, contempt of softness, surrender of private interest, obedience to command….”

None of that would be worthy of Sons of Anarchy. It is doubtful that Tipton’s murder was sufficiently dramatic to appear in an episode of Sons of Anarchy. It is hard to imagine that either Sutter or Hunnum would have ever voluntarily put themselves in the parking lot where Tipton and his killer found their fates. It is impossible to imagine that Sutter would feel any responsibility for what happened to Tipton. And that sums up Sons of Anarchy.

Trial is underway for Caius Veiovis, the most self-dramatizing of the defendants in the sordid, triple murder of three Pittsfield, Massachusetts men in 2011. The defendant pronounces his unique name KYE-us VAY-oh-veese.

The local paper, the Berkshire Eagle, has been calling the case the “Hells Angels Triple Murder.” The prosecutor in Veiovis trial has continued to beat that oil can – presumably because without invoking the name of the Hells Angels a self-described vampire and Satan worshipping lunatic with 666 tattooed on his face and six implanted devil’s horns is just not scary enough.

Veiovis was born Roy C. Gutfinski Jr. He changed his name while incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren following a probation violation. The defendant allegedly slashed a 16-year-old girl’s back in Augusta, Maine in 1999 and drank her blood.

Veiovis was charged in 2006 with kidnapping after he allegedly held two strippers employed by the Foxy Lady South Coast in New Bedford, Massachusetts against their will in his motel room while he took off his clothes and snorted cocaine. The kidnapping charge was dropped by local police but Veiovis was charged with the probation violation after Maine officials learned that marijuana had been found in the motel room. Veiovis has undergone at least one court ordered mental evaluation and been found sane.

The Murders

Adam Lee Hall, a former Sergeant at Arms for the Berkshire County Charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and David Chalue have previously been convicted of murdering David R. Glasser, Glasser’s roommate, Edward Frampton, and their friend Robert Chadwell in August 2011. Capeless has accused Veiovis of participating in the murders and the subsequent dismemberment of the three men. Hall and Chalue are both serving life terms in prison without possibility of parole.

Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless’ theory of Veiovis participation in the triple murder is that the final defendant was motivated by his desire to join the Berkshire County charter. He has said that he will introduce testimony that Hall referred to Veiovis as an Angels prospect. Veiovis did not own a motorcycle.

A fourth man, a backhoe operator named David Casey, is charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder for helping the three other suspects bury the dismembered bodies. Casey is also charged with being and accessory after the fact of intimidation of a witness. Casey testified against Hall and Chalue and is expected to testify against Veiovis. Casey has said he was “intimidated by Hells Angels” when he participated in the burial.

Hall

Hall was the only one of the three defendants with actual ties to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Prosecutors allege he killed Glasser to prevent the man from testifying against him in an imminent trial. Frampton and Chadwell were killed because they were with Glasser when Hall came to kill him.

Hall has also been accused of forcing three women into prostitution and acting as their pimp. At the time he was charged with Glasser’s murder, Hall was in jail on a charge of possession of child pornography

In 2009, according to prosecutors, Hall unsuccessfully tried to frame Glasser for a robbery in upstate New York. In 2010, Hall met twice with FBI agents and offered to “take down” multiple East Coast charters of the Hells Angels including Berkshire County. Hall volunteered to wear a wire and demanded that the pending charges against him be reduced. The FBI turned him down. After Hall was indicted for trying to frame Glasser in 2011, the Berkshire County Charter mortgaged its clubhouse to make his $250,000 bail.

The numbers are in for the motorcycle rallies in Sturgis, South Dakota and Atlantic Beach, South Carolina. Guess who won.

You, and you know who you are, dropped a collective total of $18,822,304 with 954 temporary vendors on things like tee- shirts and collapsible batons at the Black Hills Rally. The figures do not include costs of lodging, fuel or refreshments at permanent restaurants. There were eleven fewer vendors this year than last.

Total tax revenue during the rally that has been reported so far is $1,361,924. Last year’s tax revenue was about $40,000 less.

The South Dakota Department of Revenue divides rally sales and tax statistics between the Northern Hills and the Southern Hills regions. The Northern Hills includes Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish and Belle Fourche. The Southern Hills includes Rapid City and the campgrounds south of that in places like Custer.

The towns in the Northern Hills will realize $1,081,846 from sales and tourism taxes collected during the rally from $15,083,795 in vendor sales there. South Dakota collects a four percent tax on all sales. The state imposes an additional 2.5 percent tourism tax on just about anything you can buy during the rally. The city of Sturgis has its own two percent sales tax.

City Of Sturgis

This year the city of Sturgis had a budget of $7.044,422 and the city anticipated spending $310,000 for rally costs. The largest line item in the city budget is $1,789,519 to pay for cops.

The city anticipated it would make $380,000 from selling “transient merchant” licenses, $100,000 from “franchise fees,” $280,000 from rally rentals, $270,000 from rally sponsorship, $6,500 from rally information booths (because, you know, knowledge is not free), $5,500 from rally parking, $65,000 from a couple of sponsored rides, $17,000 from the photo towers at either end of Main Street and $10,000 in rally website sales.

So Sturgis, South Dakota probably made about $1.6 million from this year’s rally which was almost enough to fund the police.

As the rally sprawls so does the income. This year there were 181 vendors in the Southern Hills and they had gross sales of  $3,738,544 which was up about ten percent from last year. Total tax revenues amounted to $280,078.

Black Bike Week

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, the controversial Atlantic Beach Bike Fest rally in South Carolina only generated about $99,000 in income this year.

The rally, which is popularly known as Black Bike Week, made national headlines last May when eight people were shot in multiple incidents that left three people dead. After the rally, Governor Nikki Haley called for the annual event’s cancellation. Mayor Jake Evans has promised that Black Bike Week will continue.

Part of the Atlantic Beach rally’s appeal is the money it injects into the city. This year Atlantic Beach made $80,000 from vendor fees and almost another $20,000 from rentals and other sources. But the city incurred about $48,000 in expenses connected to the rally including $13,000 for cleanup and $10,000 for portable toilets.

Today is the 78th day since a Black Piston named Zachariah “Nas T” Tipton was shot by a still unnamed member of the Iron Order Motorcycle Club outside Nippers Beach Grille in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. There have been widely disparate accounts of the moments that bracketed the murder.

Numerous Iron Order members, including club president Ray “Izod” Lubesky, have insisted that the shooter acted in self-defense. In the most popular variation, an Iron Order prospect and an Iron Order patch holder, or two prospects, were set upon without provocation by six Black Pistons. A brawl ensued. One prospect was knocked to the ground, drew a gun as he arose and fired either five or six shots. It is unclear how many were warning shots. Tipton was shot in the side of the head with a shot that went completely through or he may have been shot on both sides of his head.

Other versions of the encounter do not matter to the police or Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey. They have been stonewalling Tipton’s family and the general public for the last eleven weeks. The shooter, by consensus, was an “active duty military” and so he is entitled to hero immunity. The Iron Order, according to statements made by the club’s officers, is comprised of about 50 percent police and about 25 percent military so in all confrontations with other motorcycle clubs the Iron Order gets the benefit of the doubt from the police. A police bulletin issued in North Florida the day after Tipton was murdered noted that Iron Order members’ accounts of the homicide were “very reliable” because the Iron Order spokesmen were cops.

Double Standard

The problem with the Iron Order’s credibility with police, and apparently states’ attorneys, is that it flaunts a double standard of justice.

The Iron Order, as opposed to most motorcycle clubs, is comparatively transparent. Loyal members yap like little dogs whenever anybody disagrees with them. Iron Order members were yapping the night Tipton died in a number of accounts. It is at least plausible, to believe that Iron Order members were at Nippers looking for trouble, that they provoked a fist fight by insulting Tipton and his companions and that the fist fight gave the Iron Order shooter an excuse to kill a man.

The Iron Order is also transparent because the club, at just ten years old with more than 4,000 members, has grown too large too fast to function as a coherent and closed society. Consequently, there are competing Iron Orders. The club has an election coming up and some dissatisfied members seek listeners both within and without the club.

Words, Words, Words

Club members have been particularly gossipy in the last few weeks. Lubesky and his loyalists seem to think that this page and the Facebook pages that exist to vilify the IOMC simply make things up. When he allows himself the grace to be merely condescending, Lubesky seems to think that what he calls the “hater pages” invent lies which I then, in my stupidity and journalistic naiveté, repeat. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that the “hater pages” and I sometimes share sources and that those sources are members of his own club.

Recently, for example, Lubesky and I had the following exchange:

“Dear Izod,

“I have been told that Michael Crouse, International Sergeant at Arms for the IOMC, is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Army CID in connection with the homicide of Zach Tipton in Jacksonville in late June. I believe, if I have been told about it, that if there were such an investigation both you and Crouse would know about it. Can you please deny that Crouse is under investigation for me? Is there anything else you want me to know?”

To which Lubesky replied:

“There is no investigation by any federal or military law enforcement agency regarding Michael Crouse or the Zach Tipton homicide. I believe you have another Facebook hater sending you false information. You are correct, we would definitely know if there were any such investigation. Michael Crouse has absolutely nothing to do with what happened in Jacksonville. We have a thousand or more active duty military at all levels including colonels. None of them is under ‘investigation’ by CID nor is the IOMC.”

Midnight And Ray

The problem is that a federal or military criminal investigation is a plausible explanation for the Jacksonville State Attorney’s silence. She could have simply whitewashed Tipton’s death a month ago. The real question is why she is stalling and the simplest answers are a federal or state grand jury or an ongoing military or federal investigation. And, a document that emerged from the murky depths of the great cyber swamp yesterday supports the argument that the Iron Order Motorcycle Club can be seen as a criminal enterprise. If other motorcycle clubs are criminal enterprises then why isn’t the Iron Order a criminal enterprise?

The document is titled, “My Brothers – The future of our club depends on you!” It is dated yesterday and it is putatively from the keyboard of Bob “Midnight” Cabral. Cabral is President of the New Bedford, Massachusetts chapter of the Iron Order. The Aging Rebel has not confirmed Cabral’s authorship. But, if the document is what it appears to be it should make its way into a grand jury room. The document contains long statements from, presumably, both Cabral and Lubesky. Grammatical, syntactical and spelling errors in some of the passages quoted below have been edited for clarity.

In one passage, discussing whether club members should or shouldn’t wear their colors at all times when on their bikes, Cabral writes:

“Oh yeah. The renegades aren’t wearing there colors! You know what? Fuck off. Worry about something else! I told my guys if you’re going to be in a hot area or your just out with your wife you don’t have to wear them. For the guys that know us you also know where some us live! I don’t see you riding by yourself with me thru New Bedford or Fall River!”

Lubesky responds:

“On our FAQ page it clearly says we don’t follow ‘no fly zones’ and in my response to (The) Aging Rebel I went on record to say no such order was given to an IOMC brother. I hope you made your statement to your chapter as your recommendation and not a directive. There are way too many brothers including me who take offense that anyone would even think of this action and we’re
in Florida and many brothers in Jacksonville, Vero, Merrit Island, Daytona, Tampa, New Port Richey. With four black skulls hanging on my vest I can tell you it sure doesn’t sit well with me.

Gimme An R-I-C-O

Lubesky’s reference to “black skulls” is particularly incriminating. Multiple sources have told this page that the shooter who killed Tipton was trying to “earn his black skull.” The Iron Order’s black skulls are comparable to other awards in the motorcycle club world.

For example the indictment that led to the racketeering case United States versus Cavazos et al. reads in part:

“The objects of the conspiracy were to be accomplished in substance as follows:

“233. On October 7, 2007, in Palm Springs, California, defendants Cavazos, Munz, and Wilson issued a ‘Respect Few Fear None’ patch and a ‘Black Heart’ patch to a Mongols member as a reward for that member having engaged in a confrontation with a rival gang member on behalf of the Mongols in Indianapolis, Indiana.”

Why is it a federal crime for a Mongol to be awarded a “black heart” but irrelevant when Lubesky boasts of wearing “four black skulls?”

Both Cabral and Lubesky make reference to Iron Order members who left Lubesky’s club, formed an Outlaws support club then returned to the Iron Order. This raises the question of whether those dissident members could switch from being good citizens to outlaws then back to good citizens again simply by switching patches. Cabral argues that the dissidents quit the support club before it became a support club. But it would be interesting to know what an Assistant United States Attorney would make of this.

Midnight Cabral accuses Iron Order Nomad Craig “Playboy” Cabral of negotiating with a member of the Sidewinders Motorcycle Club, a club with chapters in New Bedford and Fall River, Massachusetts who some law enforcement officials have accused of having ties to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, which at some times in some places disagrees with the Outlaws, with whom the Iron Order has long been at war, which can be connected to the confrontation that led to Zach Tipton’s death because Tipton’s club, the Black Pistons, is widely viewed as a support club for the Outlaws. It seems that the Iron Order plays the same politics in the same motorcycle club world as everybody else.

Izod Declares War

The most incriminating passage in Midnight Cabral’s email reads:

“While you were busting my balls about that, let’s see if you remember we had a meeting with Izod on the phone when we were in the Fall River club house and declared war on the Sidewinders. Bet not too many know about that one. And I said I was going to take a roll call to see who was in. What did you say? Oh I can’t go! I have a Barry Manilow concert to go to! This from a Nomad? Really! After the International President just declared war?

“The only one at that time from your Liberty chapter that was all in was Freon! (Bob “Freon” Souza is an Iron Order Nomad from Fall River.) He’s always in! I had zero members from there! And let me see. I also remember one time after that when Izod came to Massachusetts and was at the Liberty crew club house. I sat down with him and came right out and asked him why I had no members from Liberty and how Playboy couldn’t go.

Putting The Work In

“You can check with Brewski about it. (Brewski Palumbo is an Iron Order member from Swansea, Massachusetts.) He was right there when I asked. You know what I got for an answer? Nothing! Then it was, “Gee not sure why.” Really? It seems that when we’re doing the dirty work were okay but when we question people or don’t just follow then the shit talk starts.

“Izod I can understand if something doesn’t sit well with you but some times I don’t think you get all the information. As far as the black beads you stood up for it and I commend you for it! But I can tell you there are a few that sat in cars and never even got out that have them. Oh yeah, you Playboy also stated you always ride with your cut on. Hope so. But the facts are you pretty much don’t ride unless you have four or more. And let’s face it, you work in the country and who the hell sees you? The squirrels? Also you’re always posting pictures at bike things going on in Florida and I never see a cut on? Why is that? Hmm. I can recall some one else that does the same thing just within the last three months. Also why is it if you post your opinion about something or who your going to back for the vote you get phone calls and shit talk starts! And you get harassed about it. What the fuck is up with that? How do you think that helps anybody? You can always tell when Playboy’s on a mission because he will post something on the forum and like two minutes later Izod will post something. Now what are the chances that both of you are on the forum at the same time? Or, you get the phone calls! Now maybe both of you can explain to me when we just went to one of the bigger bike events in Boston and I want to guess we probably had 80 of us when we got to the event. Ask Cuddles. He had a good idea on how many of us were there. Then the run takes off and we had decided to skip the run and go to the end. So when we did there were about 20 of us and that includes maidens! We where out numbered at least four to one with outlaws and all their support clubs! Where were you and everybody else? The thing is this it’s not your club. It’s our club. It takes all the members to be a great club and we are a great club. But we need to make it better. This bullshit has to stop! This personal agenda crap and back door bullshit has to stop! Everyone needs to work together! I shouldn’t have to defend myself for following the bylaws and doing things the right way!! But it seems that I have to! Well this is dear to my heart! I hope that this great nation can understand and see what I am talking about. The crews that know the renegade crew know we don’t fuck around and we tell it like it is and if we are wrong we take it also! This is my own opinion and facts stated are from me and not my crew. Like I stated before I put my patch on the line for my crew and what’s done to them!”

The Iron Order, very many club veterans are now muttering, has security problems.

How many more of these sorts of things are going to have to surface, one wonders, before the Iron Order has legal problems, too.

Usually we don’t bring this up for another month or so, until the rutting begins, but the Harvest Moon is waning and the motorcycle hunting season appears to be off to an early start. At least that’s what the deer call it.

Last Saturday near Archer, Iowa Michael Otten of Hurley, South Dakota struck a deer on county road B40, dropped his bike, slid down the road and earned a free ambulance ride to Baum Harmon Mercy Hospital in Primghar, Iowa. His bike sustained an estimated $3,500 in damages.

Later that night, near Raymond, Washington, Leland Tarver and his passenger Karen Spurgeon tried to avoid a deer that jumped into the road. They crossed the centerline and crashed down an embankment. Both were hospitalized.

The next morning about seven local time near Abercrombie, North Dakota, Kevin Bernier tried to avoid a deer, lost control of his motorcycle and crashed. He took an ambulance to a hospital in Fargo.

More Bad News

About noon last Sunday, Timothy Dobson tried to avoid a deer on Highway 97 in Klamath County, Oregon. He swerved left, hit the deer near the centerline, dropped the bike and slid into the weeds where the bike rolled at least twice. Dobson was airlifted to the St. Charles Medical Center in Bend where his condition is listed as fair.

Two hours later near Poygan in Northern Wisconsin, a motorcycle carrying two people hit a deer. The rider survived. The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

Early Sunday evening, Micah Russell of Medford, Oregon hit a fawn on Highway 42 and crashed. Police accuse him of drinking. He was treated for serious injuries at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg.

Two days ago on Route 395 in California, south of Carson City, Moises Cornejo hit a deer that leapt into the road. He dropped the bike and was seriously injured.

Our Annual Message

Two percent of automobile-deer collisions result in human injuries. Seventy-five percent of motorcycle-deer collisions result in injuries. Ten thousand people are hurt in deer collisions annually.

The peak months for deer collisions are October and November, as the days grow short, during rutting season, during what is hunting season in most of the country, around the time the wild berries have all fermented. Picture drunken, horny deer panicked by hunters in the gloaming. Half of all deer collisions happen in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, Indiana and South Carolina.

Nag, Nag, Nag

Don’t bother to honk. Deer whistles and loud pipes won’t protect you. Deer have evolved to avoid wolves, not motorcycles.

Deer react when you invade their fight or flight space which encompasses a radius of about 60 feet. When deer react, they usually jump straight ahead then zig and zag. Don’t try to predict what the deer will do. Forget what they told you at the advanced rider training course. Never swerve. Slow down in deer country. Look for deer in the tree line. Don’t try to beat a deer to a spot. At 65 miles per hour you are going 100 feet per second so if you are lucky you will have about a half second to react. Your best chance of survival is to hit both brakes hard and go straight. If you have the time and the presence of mind to down shift do that, too. If you are very good aim for the ribs. Rib bones are more flexible than hip bones and will absorb the impact better than the hips.

As always, remember that if you do hit a deer you get to eat it. Whether you have a hunting license or not it is a legal kill. The meat, the antlers and the skin are yours.

Be careful. Practice braking. If the worst happens enjoy your venison. Stay alive so you can come back next year and read a slightly different version of this story then.

Jury selection began today in the trial of Paul Wayne “Dog” Smith at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford, Florida. About 80 prospective jurors were present when the court session began. Judge Jessica Recksiedler is presiding over the case. Smith is accused of second degree murder in the deaths of three members of another motorcycle club.

He is the fourth and final defendant to stand trial in the case. David “Tin Man” Maloney was acquitted on two counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted murder on April 11. The jury in his trial deadlocked on a second count of attempted murder and a mistrial was declared. Maloney remains free and has not been retried.

Robert William “Willy” Eckert was judged guilty of two counts of manslaughter with possession of a firearm, one count of attempted second-degree murder with possession and discharge of a firearm and one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter. Eckert was sentenced to serve 27 years in prison on May 1.

Victor Manuel “Pancho” Amaro was sentenced to life in prison last May 29 for two counts of second degree murder.

The Shootout

The shootings occurred as five members of one Warlocks Motorcycle Club rode into the parking lot of a VFW post in Winter Springs, Florida to attend a poker run sponsored by another and distinct Warlocks Motorcycle Club on September 30,  2012. The accused men are members of a Warlocks Motorcycle Club that was founded in Philadelphia in 1967. Members of that club wear a patch that portrays a mythical creature called a harpy. The victims were all members of a club founded in 1967 that has its mother chapter in Orlando. Members of the victims’ club wear a patch that portrays a phoenix. Two of the accused, Maloney and Smith, are former members of the Orlando based Warlocks.

Harold “Lil Dave” Liddle, Peter “Hormone” Schlette and Dave “Dresser” Jakiela died. None of them were carrying firearms. They were carrying an $800 donation. Two other men, Brad Dyess and Ronnie “Whiteboy” Mitchell, were carrying firearms and were wounded during the incident.

Self Defense

All of the accused men have said they acted in self defense. At his trial, Maloney testified: “I figured they were there to kill me…all of us…. They’ve told us numerous times they wanted us dead. They told me I had to leave the state of Florida. Shutting us down meant they were going to kill us…. My office was about a mile from my house. So, whenever I would leave my house, I would never leave in the same direction. I would never come home the same way. I never went to work the same time. I varied my routes all the time.”

Prosecutors described the shooting as an “ambush.”

During court testimony in previous trials, witnesses have testified that Smith began the minute-long gunfight when he shot Schlette in the arm. Witnesses testified that Schlette’s last words were, “Motherfucker you just shot me.” Smith then shot Schlette in the eye.

Smith told police that he had been badly beaten on February 5, 2011 after he ran for national president of the Orlando-based Phoenix Warlocks and lost the election to John Boudreau.

In a video-recorded interview Smith said: “Basically, we had already had the Intel that they was coming to shut us down. They have a lot of animosity toward me. I was in that club for ten years. I was the boss of the Florence (South Carolina) club. And, when they rolled up I came inside and told some of those people. I came outside and when they rolled…I had to walk out close to the road…and (when) they drove past me I told them, ‘Y’all leave ‘cause you’re not welcome.’ Hormone, Pete, he turned his motorcycle toward me, to run toward me, and after that…I thought…I felt threatened. When they came toward me his bike cut. When he whipped around to come towards me, he was on tall of me. He came off towards me. I warned him…you know…to stay back.”

Blaming the victim is a venerable, if risky, strategy in criminal defense. It sometimes works because juries tend to include a disproportionate number of people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty. It is the strategy that accused killer Paul Wayne “Dog” Smith’s defender, Debra Ferwerda, chose to present to the jury during opening arguments this morning. So Smith probably has at least a puncher’s chance of going free.

Ferwerda also plans to invoke Florida’s holy “stand your ground” law, which is increasingly reminiscent of the bygone days when a cop could get away with executing the driver of any slow moving car by simply jumping in front of the car, emptying his pistol and then claiming self-defense accomplished while “in great fear for his life.”

Dog And Old Pillow

Smith is a former Florida Warlock from Florence, South Carolina who joined a faction of what should simply be called the Philly Warlocks. He is one of four Philly Warlocks accused of killing three Florida Warlocks and wounding two others as they rode into the parking lot of a VFW post in Winter Springs, Florida on September 30,  2012. The lot was the starting point for a poker run that had been advertised as a fund raiser for wounded veterans. The five Florida Warlocks were carrying an $800 contribution.

From the beginning the case has been bizarre and cinematic. The Philly Warlocks are split into factions and the shooters were all affiliated with a faction centered on the Chester, Pennsylvania chapter of the club. Some of those involved were Philly Warlocks who moved to Florida and became Florida Warlocks but then they left that club and became Philly Warlocks again. The victims all traveled to Winter Springs from the Florida Warlocks Orlando clubhouse. At the time that chapter was the subject of a reality television series called Warlocks Rising. When that show finally aired months later it credited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for its cooperation. The VFW parking lot was surveilled by two undercover police cars but in an amazing coincidence both cars drove away just before the shooting started. The Florida Warlock who was president of the Orlando chapter testified in a previous trial that he had told the five men who went to the poker run not to do it. Various Philly Warlocks, including Smith, have said publically and privately that they had “Intel” that the Florida Warlocks intended to attack them. The wife of the Orlando chapter president was said to have been spying on the Philly Warlocks at the run and phoning in reports. There are another four or five hundred of these remarkable and possibly even pertinent details. So, the narrative of the case mostly resembles what a dog can do to an old feather pillow.

The Bodies

Three Florida Warlocks died within seconds of entering the parking lot. They were Harold “Lil Dave” Liddle, Peter “Hormone” Schlette and Dave “Dresser” Jakiela. Two more Florida Warlocks, Brad Dyess and Ronnie “Whiteboy” Mitchell were wounded in the exchange of gunfire that followed. Four Philly Warlocks were charged with murder and attempted murder. Former Florida Warlock David “Tin Man” Maloney was acquitted on three of four counts in April and my be retried on a mistried count of attempted murder.  Robert William “Willy” Eckert, who fired three shots that didn’t hit anybody, was found guilty of multiple counts and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Victor Manuel “Pancho” Amaro who killed Liddle and Jakiela was sentenced to life in prison.

Smith shot and killed Schlette and this morning Ferwerda called it an unavoidable act of self defense. Smith ran toward Schlette, told him to leave then shot him in the arm with a .40 caliber pistol round. Schelette and his motorcycle fell. Schlette rose, profanely complained that Smith had just shot him and Smith shot the wounded man in the eye. Prosecutors have categorized the incident as an “ambush.” This morning Ferwerda told the jury that after Smith fired the first, non-lethal shot he felt “something” hit him in the face “and not knowing if half of his face is blown off” he managed to squeeze off another round as he stumbled.

Ferwerda also told jurors that Smith was the victim of an “ambush” by the Florida Warlocks. Although none of the dead men were carrying firearms, she described their deaths as “a gunfight from the wild, wild west” and “justified self defense.” She said Smith was still traumatized from an incident a decade ago when Schlette threatened to rape his wife and steal his bike. She said her client had been badly beaten on February 5, 2011 after he lost a club wide election. And she told the jury “September 30, 2012 was just one page in a long book of threats and violence.”

Maybe the jury believed her. The trial is expected to last through the week.

Jay Dobyns lawsuit against his former employer, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is finally resolved.

The bad news is that Jay Dobyns is now officially a hero. A Federal District Judge named Francis M. Allegra seems to think so. The good news is that Dobyns isn’t much richer than he was before he sued the ATF almost six years ago. So now he is left with merely the income from his book, the movie deal, the endlessly recurring television appearances, the lucrative speaking engagements, the ceaseless adoration by Fox News, the hacienda in Tucson, the vacation home in Baja, the Christmases in Bruges and the $200,000 a year salary.

In an opinion originally filed under seal on August 25 and refiled today, Federal District Judge Francis M. Allegra found that Agent Jay was mistreated by the ATF and that he did not owe the Bureau anything.

Dobyns had originally sought $1.6 million for his and his family’s pain and suffering, $1.85 million for lost wages, and $200,000 for attorney’s fees. By the time the case went to trial last summer, Dobyns was demanding $7.2 million for pain, suffering and emotional distress and an additional $10 million for “economic damages.” Meanwhile, the ATF sued Dobyns for all income from his book No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey To The Inner Circle Of The Hells Angels. The trial was held in camera in the summer of 2013 in two sessions in Tucson and Washington, DC.

The ruling made public today offers the first public glimpse of the case in years. The government hadn’t objected to a public trial. The trial was made secret at Dobyns insistence.

Black Biscuit

Judge Allegra comprehended Dobyns harrowing undercover journey as follows:

“Agent Dobyns became an ATF agent in 1987. From early 2001 to July 2003, he participated in an investigation known as Operation Black Biscuit, which targeted members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Hells Angels). For nearly two years, Agent Dobyns posed undercover as a member of the Tijuana-based Solo Angeles, as part of a task force that included other ATF agents. As part of this operation, Agent Dobyns and others staged the fake murder of a member of the rival Mongols Motorcycle Club. The staged murder impressed the Hells Angels leadership, causing the club to vote Agent Dobyns as a full ‘patched’ member.

“During this time, Agent Dobyns was stationed in one of ATF’s Tucson Field Offices and lived with his family in the Tucson area. In 2003, Operation Black Biscuit and parallel raids ended with the indictment of 36 people (16 as a direct result of the undercover operation), including 16 Hells Angels. The individuals were indicted on racketeering and murder charges. However, a number of setbacks involving the prosecution of these individuals eventually led to some of the defendants receiving reduced sentences and others having their charges dismissed.

“The disclosure of Agent Dobyns’ identity in court led to threats of death and violence directed at him and his family.”

The fact of the matter is that the staged murder alarmed the Skull Valley charter of the Angels more than it is impressed them. Dobyns was never voted into the club which is why the original title of his book was Almost An Angel. The investigation was mortifyingly corrupt and largely unsuccessful. And, the threats against Dobyns were mostly imaginary and exaggerated by him and a couple of biographers for dramatic effect.

Pain And Suffering

A large portion of last year’s secret trial seems to have been devoted to measuring just how mentally “distressed” Dobyns is.

“Between December 28, 2005, and January 8, 2011,” Allegra writes, “Agent Dobyns met thirty-eight times with Dr. Linaman, a psychologist licensed in Arizona. At least some of these sessions focused on problems experienced by Agent Dobyns with his family, but the record makes it impossible to determine which sessions focused primarily or exclusively on these family problems, as opposed to problems Agent Dobyns was experiencing with ATF. Between August 2008, the month of the arson at his home, and January 2011, Agent Dobyns reported consistent symptoms of anxiety, depression, and uncertainty relating to his conflict with ATF. At trial, Dr. Linaman further testified that Agent Dobyns’ primary care physician prescribed Lexapro and Trazodone, both drugs used to treat anxiety and depression. While it is unclear, from the record, that Agent Dobyns met the formal criteria for a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there is little doubt that he experienced symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Allegra clearly thinks the ATF gave Dobyns a hard time. He wrote: “What happened here is more reminiscent of a Franz Kafka novel, The Trial. There, Kafka depicts a totalitarian state in which the government suppressed freedom via a deluge of circuitous and irrational process. One of the techniques employed was the ‘non-final acquittal.’ Kafka describes these acquittals thusly: ‘That is to say, when (the accused) is acquitted in this fashion the charge is lifted from (his) shoulders for the time being, but it continues to hover above (him) and can, as soon as an order comes from on high, be laid upon  (him) again.” Experiences like these unfortunately bring to mind those that Agent Dobyns experienced in the years following the execution of the Settlement Agreement – a time that should have been one of healing and reconciliation, but that instead gave certain ATF officials and agents the opportunity to harm Agent Dobyns further. In the court’s view, the actions of these ATF employees indisputably breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. That breach caused Agent Dobyns to suffer mental distress, as well as pain and suffering, which, in turn, entitles him to the damages awarded below. Hopefully, this will bring this Kafkaesque story to an end.”

“Based on the foregoing,” Allegra finally concludes his turgid, 54-page decision, “the court finds that defendant did not breach the Settlement Agreement, but did breach the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Based on the breach of the covenant, the court finds that plaintiff is entitled to damages in the amount of $173,000. The court further finds that defendant (the ATF) is not entitled to recover anything with respect to its counter claim.”

The Iron Order Motorcycle Club has a national election coming up this weekend and the sources are singing like birds.

The Aging Rebel believes that at only ten-years-old with more than 4,000 members, the IOMC is too large, immature and factionalized to survive. This page also believes that there is a high probability that the Iron Order and its officers will soon have to respond to a federal lawsuit. And, that there is some slight possibility that the attorney who will file that suit has not yet seen the latest phantom to rise from the great cyber swamp.

Four separate sources sent The Aging Rebel copies of a document titled “2014 IOMC Election Preview: There is Much About Izod That You Don’t Know!” This page believes the document originated with an Iron Order Motorcycle Club patch holder and that it represents the point of view of a significant number of club members.

Here are some excerpts.

Rebel, Intensive Care And RICO

“Just about everything he discusses lately involves Aging Rebel. Izod sounds like he is the one with the problem not just Rebel. Izod continues to send updates to Rebel adding more fuel to the fire.”

“Go get educated on all of the shit going on in Massachusetts like I just did. This is a result of Brothers getting a Green Light from Izod to go and put a HATER in the ICU. Then send them flowers. Go ask Lambo too. He did the same thing last year on Izod’s orders. Why the fuck do we care about these haters and why do we continue to respond to them?”

“In Izod’s recent announcement he mentions that Midnight could possibly be the cause of a RICO charge against the IOMC.  The truth is that a RICO charge could happen but because of Izod’s actions and doings not because Midnight sent out an email. If there is a RICO action against this club it would be because of Izod or Cgar or some of the Nomads. Not because of the majority of the Brotherhood. These two have repeatedly sent out emails and orders to go get this guy or that guy for some really shallow offences.”

The Tipton Murder

“We have a prospect in Florida who is waiting on the results of the prosecutors office and the only reason that he isn’t in jail is the fact that the Iron Order is law abiding.  We all were told to not talk about it but its ok to post our condolences on our website or to talk to Aging Rebel about the incident or have some of his Bromads on Facebook fueling the social media fire.”

“When we are Green Lighted to go put a Facebook Hater in the ICU we are no longer law abiding. That is something that the 1% world does. We have fallen away from who we are and that needs to be brought back to the IOMC. The next one may not be so lucky and it may be YOU sitting in jail fighting a murder charge or dead. Not because you did anything wrong because the IOMC now has the reputation of starting shit. Look at how many Brothers have had to choose between their LEO career and the IOMC lately.”

“Just so everyone is aware Ref is most likely going to get jail time over this. It’s just a matter of time. But rather than punishing the person who admittedly touched her inappropriately he was named to Izod’s Army and given a promotion. To make matters worse we have another Maiden who witnessed the whole thing. She did the right and law abiding thing by testifying what she saw. She could have lied and saved her own ass but she did not. For that she was BANNED from the Maidens and all IO events. forever. What if all of the witnesses in Florida decided the right thing to do was to lie or not give a statement about the truth? Izod you can’t wear a black and white hat. You are either a good guy or a bad guy.”

“We can spend over $300k on a party but we put limits on helping our own Brothers? We have 2 Brothers this year alone who lost their homes for less than $10000 each. Was Three Dog Night really worth that? I’m not saying the party wasn’t amazing but who makes those decisions? Where the fuck is Brotherhood any more?”

The trial of Paul Wayne “Dog” Smith is an example of what Yogi Berra called ‘‘déjà vu all over again.” He is the fourth defendant to be tried for the same alleged crime – the murder of three men who rode with the Warlocks Motorcycle Club and the attempted murder of two more.

The men who died were Harold “Lil Dave” Liddle, Peter “Hormone” Schlette and Dave “Dresser” Jakiela. The men Smith is accused of trying to kill are Brad Dyess and Ronnie “Whiteboy” Mitchell.

The other three men who have been tried are David “Tin Man” Maloney, Robert William “Willy” Eckert and Victor Manuel “Pancho” Amaro. Maloney, who didn’t actually shoot anybody, was acquitted of most of the charges against him. Prosecutors may or may not punish the public with a sixth trial to try to convict Maloney of something. Eckert didn’t shoot anybody either but he was found guilty of multiple charges and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Amaro killed Liddle and Jakiela, was tried twice and is now serving life in prison. There is absolutely no question that Smith killed Schlette. He shot Schlette in the arm while the dead man sat on his motorcycle and knocked him down. Schlette rose, said something to the effect of “Motherfucker! You just shot me!” Then Smith shot Schlette in the eye.

Witnesses

Mitchell took the stand today, as he has in previous trials, to testify against Smith. John  Boudreau, who was national President of the larger and more important of America’s two Warlocks Motorcycle Clubs at the time of the murder, testified today that he was aware that the poker run at which five of his club brothers were killed or wounded was sponsored by the smaller and less important of America’s two Warlocks Motorcycle Clubs. “Don’t take anyone. Don’t send anyone. Don’t go. It’s a bad idea,” Boudreau swore he said.

America’s two Warlocks Motorcycle Clubs, headquartered in Orlando and in Philadelphia, managed to coexist for about 40 decades but a few years into the new millennium some Philly Warlocks began to say things like “those poseurs in Florida stole our name in 1967.” Smith, like Maloney and then Philly Warlocks Southeastern States Boss Ed “Nightmare” Glowitz, were all former members of the Florida Warlocks with grudges against their former club. After the shooting, Glowitz commented on Schlette’s death “He was a Poseur. Now he’s worm dirt.” It isn’t yet clear whether Glowitz, who also answers to “Chester Freddie,” will testify in this trial or what he will say.

Former Orlando chapter president Thomas “Contender” McGarry, who was in the Orlando clubhouse at the time of the shooting, testified that he had instructed all his club brothers there not to go. McGarry told the jury he had yelled, “‘We ain’t going, man. Just sit tight.’ The ones who went up there, they just went up there when, why, I don’t know,” McGarry explained. “Not everybody listens.”

Unique Lawyer

Despite the warnings, the five men rode over to the poker run carrying an $800 contribution anyway – inexplicably and tragically. They seem to have arrived mere moments after the police surveilling the event inexplicably and tragically drove away. This is the fifth jury to hear this story.

The novelty in this trial is Smith’s lawyer, a confident and shameless blonde named Debra Ferwerda, who seems to have previously specialized in divorce cases and who in this case has relentlessly blamed the victims. Yesterday she told the jury Schlette had threatened to rape Smith’s wife. Today she described him as “a scary, violent, crazy guy” who approached her client demonstrating “tough guy” body language. Borrowing a page from the Sons of Anarchy story bible, Ferwerda told the jury Schlette already had a blood alcohol level of 0.075 at 10:45 a.m. and that his lifeless body had also tested positive for marijuana. The implication was that Schlette, like Gemma Morrow, was in the throws of homicidal reefer madness.

Ferwerda has also suggested several times that someone shot at Smith and grazed his face after he shot Schlette the first time. So the shot to Schlette’s eye was really a desperate act of self defense by a man who thought he was about to die.

The Mongols Nation Case has been continued yet again.

A jury trial to determine whether the Mongols Motorcycle Club is guilty of racketeering and conspiracy to racketeer was most recently scheduled to begin in about two weeks on September 30. The trial had previously been scheduled to begin on September 24, 2013 and March 25, 2014. Now the trial is scheduled to begin March 24, 2015.

Federal District Judge Otis D. Wright will preside. The Mongols lawyer, Joseph A. Yanny, had tried to have Wright removed from the case because Wright is practically the prosecution’s head coach, but this summer a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals told the Mongols to raise the issue again on direct appeal if they lose at trial.

Seizing The Patch

A federal grand jury accused the Mongols of being racketeers in February 2013. The case is actually a do-over of the patch forfeiture part of the 2008 case US v. Cavazos et al. What the Department of Justice wants is the power to outlaw motorcycle clubs, and other collective membership associations, by seizing those associations’ names and insignia. The theory is that motorcycle club patches, rather than the men who wear them, scare people. Consequently, the theory continues, if the government can simply outlaw the wearing of patches, witnesses will no longer be intimidated, assaults will no longer occur and the scourge of illegal drugs will vanish.

Or, as Judge Wright put it, “…you are saying that it is no different than them having perhaps having been Lutheran and they are of doing all these criminal things and it is just coincidental that some of them were Lutheran; right? It is not the same thing, is it? They are operating under the banner of the Mongols. It is that name, that reputation, that intimidation factor which enables them to do what they do, isn’t it?”

The Australian State of Queensland recently criminalized wearing motorcycle club patches in bars and other public places and forbid more than two people wearing patches from standing next to each other but in the United States there are constitutional protections against totalitarianism.

Prosecution As Punishment

Even though the Mongols, just like the Iron Order, don’t need anybody’s permission to wear a sign on their back, it only takes one stupid and arrogant judge to abrogate the Constitution. Wright doesn’t seem to be a wise, learned or thoughtful man, so there is a good chance that a jury will rule against the Mongols whenever this case is finally tried. And the government will absolutely lose on appeal. Nobody is going to permanently take the Mongols patch away until the Constitution is amended to allow that.

But the point here has never been a disagreement about the law. The point is to punish the Mongols by making the club defend itself over and over. And the club is going to have to continue to do that at least through next spring.