Veterans in Motorcycle Clubs Targeted for Harassment

 Veterans in Motorcycle Clubs Targeted for Harassment

Law enforcement assertions that motorcycle clubs recruit military and ex-military personnel because of war-fighting skills and access to weaponry is purely unsubstantiated propaganda intended to promote fear, not fact. More than that, these assertions are disrespectful to those that have fought and sacrificed serving this country and society.

 

Brotherhood and the sense of freedom offered by motorcycling are the true motivations that draw those with military backgrounds to motorcycle clubs.  There is a solution. Laws addressing motorcycle profiling and discrimination provide a historically effective and virtually cost-free solution to an issue impacting a community heavily populated with veterans.

law enforcement is targeting veterans including this Marine.

 

A recent example of discriminatory propaganda titled “OMGs and the Military 2014”, a 40 page dossier prepared by federal law enforcement authorities, has been leaked and widely distributed on the Internet and by the media, particularly since the tragedy in Waco.

 

This document is sited to further sensationalize any incident involving members of motorcycle clubs. This document asserts that there are over 100 members of what the government labels outlaw motorcycle gangs in sensitive government positions throughout the military and government. The report further asserts that motorcycle clubs recruit those in the military because of fighting skills and access to weaponry.

 

Of course, there is ZERO substantiation for any claims in terms of criminal activity.

 

These claims are false and ridiculous.

 

Individuals with military backgrounds are attracted to motorcycle club culture for a sense of brotherhood and
the sense of freedom one gets when riding motorcycles.

 

Law_Enforcement_Targeting_Veterans_WashingtonMotorcycle club brotherhoods fulfill an important social gap for veterans returning from war. A sense of duty and honor to something bigger than oneself. And then there’s the motorcycle. Fast, exciting, and the sense of freedom is a release from stress and pressure.

 

Implicating an entire class of people based on stereotyping and conjecture is reprehensible considering that veterans have fought, many injured or killed, to defend the essential freedoms that represent America.

 

The 1st Amendment to the Bill of Rights is a critical piece of that freedom. The right to freely associate and express those associations is essential to a free society and the ability to resist government abuse and discrimination.

 

To describe those dedicated to the pursuit and protection of freedom as threats to society because they choose to associate with motorcycle clubs is un-American and deplorable.

 

Most veterans involved in the motorcycle club community are dedicated to the grassroots movement to combat motorcycle profiling and discrimination.  It makes no sense to have fought for freedom only to be denied at home.

 

Fortunately, many legislators are beginning to understand the issue as the mobilized movement continues to gain momentum.  Respect for veterans and their sacrifices demands legislative relief in the form of laws to condemn and prevent motorcycle profiling and discrimination.

 

So when you see a member of a motorcycle club riding past, proudly exercising the right to express their association, see past the propaganda. There is a good chance that you are looking at a veteran that was willing to sacrifice all so others would have the freedom to speak their minds and associate with others freely.

 

Watch this Prime of Example of Law Enforcement Targeting Members of the Military.

Double D is the Spokesperson for the Washington State Council of Clubs, Founder of the Motorcycle Profiling Project, and works with motorcyclists at the national level.

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