BRAINLESS TARGETING OF BIKERS

Response of the California Vagos Motorcycle Club to the ATF raids on them:

The culmination of a three-year investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and supporting law enforcement agencies from five counties led to the execution of raids upon the homes of officers of the Vagos Motorcycle Club. These raids required over seven hundred law enforcement personnel and resulted in only twenty-two arrests. This was one of the largest operations of this kind in the history of California. This resulted in the confiscation of property from these homes. The ATF cited the confiscation of illegal firearms, drugs and Vago paraphernalia such as vests, patches, T-shirts, jewelry, pictures, etc.

Out of the alleged illegal weapons seized, over ninety guns, a large percentage of those weapons were in fact legally registered to Vagos members with no criminal history whatsoever. One member asked an ATF agent why he was taking guns that were legally registered to him and the agent replied,were not finding much and we need these for the news, you'll get them back in a couple of days.. In many of the homes raided, the methods used were grossly out of proportion with the stated intentions of the warrants. The intentions of the warrants were to seize club records, meetings minutes, and financial records. The execution of these raids is a prime illustration of the ATF's usage of unnecessary force. For example, at one Riverside home the agents broke down the door, ran through the house wearing gas masks and threw smoke grenades in to the bedrooms. This occurred at six o'clock in the morning when everyone in the household was asleep and unaware of the invasion. The agents were aware that there were three small children in the home, that the residents of the home were all clean and sober and that the owner of the home is a successful business owner. Most importantly it was known to the agents that no one in the home had any warrants or even a criminal arrest record.

The government has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to infiltrate this club and the result of a three-year investigation, was twenty-two arrests and a bunch of media hype filled with gross exaggerations and hyperbole. If they were to tell the truth to the public and admit that they manufactured more than half of these charges, taxpayers might ask was it really worth it, three years and millions of dollars spent to arrest a handful of men on largely trumped up charges?

No matter what kind of organization it is, it is going to attract a few predators. The police department, the California Bar Association, the Fortune 500 companies and even the Church have all unwittingly allowed the infiltration of members whose motives have not been in keeping with the ideals of the group. We are not immune to these individuals. In the last ten years, we have made the necessary precautions for these individuals, but we are not perfect, but we are aware. We have included in our rules of conduct that there is a zero tolerance policy for any type of criminal activity. We have a zero tolerance drug policy. The consequence of any illegal activity or drug usage is immediate expulsion from the club.

We are citizens, whom the government has unjustifiably targeted and labeled as terrorists for political motives and media grandstanding.

What is the government really up to? Could it be that they wish to set a precedent using a group that could be wrongly portrayed as anti-American with some media manipulation to enable our government to pass laws that violate our constitutional rights of privacy, lawful assembly, the right to keep and bear arms and the freedom of speech? Who will be next on the list of anti-American targets? Pro-freedom activists of any kind will be the next on the government's list. From the American Civil Liberties Union, to anti-abortion activists, to any organization that defies our current government's reign of control in any way.

The ATF and local District Attorneys are doing everything in their power to issue in a new era of McCarthyism, which allows them to violate our civil rights to justify their witch-hunts on law-abiding citizens. The raids on our club we executed on the day that President Bush signed the renewal of the Patriot Act. Was the timing of the raids a coincidence? We don't think so.

We are being used as a high profile example to allow more unconstitutional government control. The abuse of the Patriot Act allows local law enforcement agencies to run ramped, invade homes, destroy and confiscate property. They seize personal money, and terrorized families, all under the false pretenses that we are terrorists and a criminal street gang. Who are the real terrorists? Who are the real gang? The Vagos are the victims, not the assailants.

The Patriot Act was created for national security and to protect Americans, the American way of life, and the ideals and freedoms that we share as Americans, from terrorists and anti-American organizations conspiring with terrorists. We are a group motorcycle riding, patriotic, hard working, tax-paying citizens. We are being singled out by a few power hungry District Attorneys, ATF Agents and Sheriffs because they don't like what we stand for; brotherhood, loyalty, honesty and freedom. District Attorney Michael Ramos and ATF Special Agent John Torres have a political agenda and have purposely misrepresented the Vagos to the media and to the public in order to make themselves crime heroes and perpetrate that we are something that we are not. We challenge Michael Ramos and John Torres to review each of the alleged illegal firearms with us, in front of the media, to prove that almost all the firearms were legally registered to the rightful owners and illegal.

We are not a terrorist organization posing a treat to the United States. If the ATF 's accusations were true they would have uncovered arsenals of explosives, grenades and rockets. They would of found sophisticated anti-surveillance equipment, military training compounds and anti-American? The closest representation is that the found was a couple of package of firecrackers left over from an Independence Day celebration.

We are not involved in the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. The culmination of the law enforcement agencies did not uncover methamphetamine labs, huge quantities of drugs, large amounts of cash and intricate drug distribution networks. We are a group of men who have families, careers, and homes. We work hard and pay taxes. We love to ride motorcycles and have a fellowship with others of our kind. We are entrepreneurs, coaches, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, ironworkers, drug counselors, and the list goes on. Among us are many military veterans, some of whom have served in combat defending or country's position, right or wrong, without question. We are Purple Heart recipients, which have been awarded for putting our lives in jeopardy for our country. It is an insult to have the same government that we fought for, refer to us as terrorists. We need to come together as free Americans to stop this era of government control that a few are trying to force into law. This is a ploy to undermine all the freedom and rights that our country was built on. Vagos are not the first to be targeted and we won't be the last.

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