Posted: Jun 22, 2015 6:33 PM CDT
Updated: Jun 22, 2015 6:36 PM CDT
WACO -- Stephen Stubbs, the attorney for the Bandidos Motorcycle club, released the following statement regarding the Twin Peaks Shooting investigation:
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club (hereafter, “Bandidos”) is saddened by the incident that took place at the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas on May 17, 2015. The violence was senseless, completely unnecessary, and wrong.
From the beginning, the Waco Police Department has freely spoken to the press and said many things that have since been proven untrue. This false narrative is damaging to everyone involved. Still, the Waco Police department continues to feed false information to the public, and at the same time is refusing to disclose important information/evidence (such as video evidence and autopsy reports) that would independently prove what really occurred. The Waco Police Department refuses to speak beyond their planned narrative, claiming that they do not want to “influence a potential jury pool” or “interfere with the investigation”. However, this is nonsense as nothing in the video and/or autopsy reports will alter or change any part of their investigation. The release of the video and/or autopsy reports would simply clear up rampant misinformation. If the Waco Police Department didn't want to interfere with the investigation or influence a potential jury pool, it should not have released its false narrative in the first place and instead should have stayed silent during the entirety of the investigation. They did not, and now, after the false information has been widely reported, the Waco Police Department is content to feed the false narrative and allow the public to believe falsehoods. Therefore, the Bandidos demand that all video evidence and autopsy reports be released immediately to clear up the damaging misinformation that is running wild.
The following is true and correct:
1) The Bandidos were at the Twin Peaks restaurant to attend an organized political meeting and nothing else. A regional meeting for the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents (a bona fide political organization centered on Constitutional rights) was scheduled, and a prominent member of the Bandidos was the key-note speaker at the meeting. This Bandido key-note speaker was to report on the National Coalition of Motorcyclist event that occurred weeks earlier. Because COCI members from across the state were expected to attend this special meeting, it was purposefully scheduled in Waco, TX, a central city between Austin and Dallas.
2) The Bandidos have no knowledge of any other meeting. The Bandidos are aware that members of other motorcycle clubs are claiming that there were plans to meet with the Bandidos in Waco, TX on May 17, 2015. This claim is not true.
3) All weapons in possession of members the Bandidos were legally owned and carried.
4) Members of the Bandidos were not aggressors, did not start the altercation, did not strike first, were not the first to pull weapons, and were not the first to use weapons. The majority of the Bandidos took cover, and all involvement in the altercation by members of the Bandidos was in self-defense. Texas law allows people to defend themselves with the same amount of force that is exerted against them, and a few members of the Bandidos acted in accordance with these laws. In fact, members of the Bandidos involved in the incident did not even have time or opportunity to get off of their motorcycles before police came in.
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