BIKER NEWS: Sounding Off: Collin County readers discuss whether Waco bikers were treated fairly

BN- Only a few of the people arrested in the May biker shooting outside a Waco restaurant remain under ankle-monitoring, and none are still in jail. Of the 135 people originally ordered to wear GPS ankle monitors, all but 22 have been allowed to remove them, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported Oct. 4. Should prosecutors have removed those ankle monitors? Should investigators release information on who shot whom?

Deborah Kilgore, McKinney: It appears that the prosecutors are doing their job by zeroing in on those people they have reason to believe were involved with the shootings. Many people were witnesses to the gathering in Waco, but it was always unlikely that the majority of the 135 arrested had any role in the violence. Removing the ankle monitors is a positive for our justice system. We are still innocent until proven guilty.

Ronald Paris, McKinney: I think this has all been mishandled. First of all, there should have been proactive procedures to stop this. You had rival bikers that hated each other and many people were put in harm’s way. The prosecutors need to give the public all the information they have. Hopefully, everyone has learned a valuable lesson.

Jon Taylor, Fairview: It seems that we are now reverting back to sagas of the Old West. The old shootout at the OK Corral or the song, “I Shot the Sheriff,” come to mind. I imagine that we’ll never know the full extent of everyone’s involvement in this guns-blazing, who’s-in-charge episode of “I Want To Be A Tough Guy.”

I speculate that the prosecutors are attempting to protect some in the over-eager law enforcement crowd from being labeled trigger-happy and the biker crowd as “we’ll shoot anyone who’s not one of us.” There could have been more public defender rounds fired than public rejecters rounds.

It all comes back to the restaurant. If the management had not allowed the first gatherings of the biker contingent to get a foothold, the confrontation may have been avoided. I think this latest action is an attempt at face saving by all the parties.

Don Webb, Allen: I believe it was correct to arrest and put into custody most of the bikers, however, they should not have held them in custody as suspects or persons of interest for so long with no bail hearing or show cause hearings. Under the Constitution, you’re entitled to a speedy trial. How can any of these suspects or persons of interest get this when no one has been charged yet?

The public would like to know how many bikers or innocent people were killed and by whom (biker gangs, police, people with concealed weapon permits acting in self defense, etc).

And I would like to know why some or most of the bikers might have just been there to eat lunch or watch, and not a member of either gang. They just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I was 21, I had a small motorcycle, and if my friends told me that there might be a gathering of motorcyclists at this restaurant, we might have attended and may have been swept up by the police too.

Charge those who you believe are guilty, and either let the others go or offer them plea deals.

Was it proper for the Waco police and prosecutors to let them go on ankle monitoring and/or bail? Yes, but if you see that they only have 22 of the original 135 people required to wear them, and I believe it weakens their cases against these ll3 suspects or people of interest as they probably were not active participants in the shootout.

A.J. Chilson, Princeton: If the investigators were to release the names of shooters who were behind the deaths of several bikers in Waco earlier this year, it could reignite what bad blood there was between rival biker groups. I say let the justice system prevail in this case.

Carl Gundlach, McKinney: The decision to remove the GPS ankle monitors from the 113 individuals is within the purview of the court and the Waco prosecutors. We don’t get a vote. Furthermore, the investigation is incomplete. Since there have been no charges filed for the actual shootings, it would be premature and reckless for the prosecution to release any specific shooter-victim information. There’s little doubt that the majority of the people caught up in the original police arrests are innocent. The Waco authorities are just as responsible for protecting those people’s rights as they are for identifying and prosecuting the people responsible for the shootings.

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/collin-county/headlines/20151009-sounding-off-collin-county-readers-discuss-whether-waco-bikers-were-treated-fairly.ece