A McLennan County, Texas, grand jury took just nine hours to indict all 106 Twin Peaks biker cases presented to them during their session with prosecutors. The 106 bikers have been indicted for the crime of engaging in organized criminal activity.
The grand jury has not yet considered the evidence against 80 other bikers.
The indictments stem from a shootout at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, on May 17. Nine bikers were killed and 24 were injured. Over 175 bikers at the restaurant were swept up in a mass arrest and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, police characterized the afternoon gathering at the Waco Twin Peaks restaurant as a gathering of criminal biker gangs with violent intent. The bikers say the meeting was a legitimate, organized gathering of motorcycle riders to discuss political and other issues.
The bikers urge that they were at the restaurant to attend a regular gathering of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents (CoC&I). Like many of these meetings they say, it was for the purpose of discussing biker safety issues, proposed legislation, and other motorcycle issues, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
The Waco Tribune Herald reports that the grand jury will return on November 18th but that McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna has declined to say whether the 80 remaining cases will be considered on that day.
The hometown newspaper reported that all of the indictments are identical and allege the same facts.
The affidavits upon which the probable cause for their arrests were based were also identical.
As reported by the Tribune Herald, the indictments charge that the bikers engaged in organized criminal activity by intentionally or knowingly causing the death of an individual. The indictments charge that the method of death was by “shooting and/or stabbing and/or cutting and/or striking” the victims. All nine bikers killed are named.
The indictments are reported to allege that the bikers used or exhibited a deadly weapon, namely “a firearm and/or a knife or a sharp object and/or a club and/or an asp and/or a whip and/or brass knuckles and/or a chain.”
The offenses committed were “as a member of a criminal street gang.”
As it relates to the 24 bikers who were injured, the indictments are reported to allege the bikers did so by shooting, stabbing, or striking their victims.
Section 71.02 of the Texas Penal Code provides that engaging in organized criminal activity for these crimes is a first-degree felony. The possible sentence is up to life in prison or from 15 to 99 years in prison.
District Attorney Reyna was reported to have said, “We are not done. We still have a lot of work to do. We will continue to do that.”
He added, “My office is dedicated, as is the team, to seeing that justice is done in all those cases.”
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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