In Country Vets, False Accusations, Unethical “Journalism” And The Aging Rebel

 In Country Vets, False Accusations, Unethical “Journalism” And The Aging Rebel

Despite zero substantiating fact, the Irresponsible Rebel crossed the lines of ethics and decency…

On May 17 four members of the In Country Motorcycle Club, formerly In Country Vets Motorcycle Club, were initially rounded-up and arrested along with 177 others in Waco, Texas. After being arrested all four of these individuals were detained for hours. Without explanation from their Waco captors, all four were then gathered together and told they were being released. They were driven to the Convention Center where the arrested were originally processed, given back their belongings, absent their legal weapons, driven to a near-by station and finally released.

Based on these circumstances, the Aging Rebel erroneously asserted that the reason these individuals would be arrested and released is because they were confidential informants working with the Waco authorities. Despite zero substantiating fact, the Irresponsible Rebel crossed the lines of ethics and decency by plastering the names of wives and children on a blog.

[Clarification: The Aging Rebel approved a comment from someone identified as LIBERTY on a post entitled “The Unarrested of Waco” on July 11, 2015 that listed the names of one of the ICMC members wife and child. All comments on the Aging Rebel must be approved before they are posted. Clarification posted 9/2/2015]

These accusations were irresponsible, unethical, disrespectful, and damaging at many levels. As a national spokesperson representing confederations and coalitions of motorcycle clubs coast-to-coast, it is important that irresponsible reporting be answered. Although the content of the article no longer posted, no explicit apology or retraction has yet to be offered.

Once something is posted it exists in some form forever. So are the names of family. Although an article was later posted about one of the ICMC members that was un-arrested and correctly stated that he was mistakenly arrested because of how he looked, that is not an apology.  It’s time to set the record straight.

[Correction: The content of the post “The Unarrested of Waco” (7/11/2015) was not removed.  This was incorrect. Rather, the names of family members were listed in an approved comment related to that post and their names are still online.  The article asserting that the unarrested ICMC members are confidential informants is still posted as well. See “What We Learned About Waco This Weekend” (7/12/2015). The Aging Rebel asserts:

1) “The five men set free were Rodney Nash, Terry Gott, Robert Douglas, Keith Rodgers and Gerald Lowery. Generally, in ATF biker roundups, confidential informants are arrested with other suspects and then turned loose when nobody is looking.” and;

2) “The Aging Rebel believes the men released on May 17 were part of an ongoing federal investigation that exploded into violence.” Correction posted 9/2/2015]

Initially, it is important to be familiar with the In Country Motorcycle Club and what they represent. The In Country are comprised of only actual in-country Vietnam veterans. The youngest member of this club is over the age of 65. The ICMC is a registered 501c19 nonprofit veterans organization. The ICMC is extremely dedicated to the motorcycle rights movement and the Confederation of Clubs. Their National President is a respected and active leader in the motorcycle club community.

When the last member passes, this club will exist only in memory. To potentially tarnish the image and reputation of an important veterans institution based on conjecture is highly disrespectful, particularly when those pointing fingers are part of the motorcycle community. These men made immense sacrifices for freedom and continue that fight in the motorcycle rights movement. If there is no proof, no “paperwork”, it is imperative that these rumors stop now and an explicit retraction be written apologizing for such grossly irresponsible reporting.

Many individuals were released from the scene that day because law enforcement determined that the club had no connection to the clubs that law enforcement alleges were part of the conflict.

Colors_271The ICMC were the only veterans organization arrested that day. Every other veterans club was released hours earlier. The ICMC were initially and incorrectly identified to be organizationally associated with one of the accused clubs. This may be because their patch says In Country and doesn’t have the word vets or veterans like all of the other military clubs present. Law enforcement’s assumption was initially incorrect and thankfully a few of the innocents were released and un-arrested.

Those released were not confined to veterans clubs. For example, members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club were released and even spoke to the media about their experience. There were nearly 200 people present and detained, so obviously many were released.

When it was discovered that the ICMC were veterans and not affiliated with any other club, the process of release began. Officers had to ask for the names of ICMC members so they could be released. Basic logic dictates that if they were informants this would not have been necessary.

Importantly, if a source were truly familiar with the current motorcycle club world and the Confederation of Clubs, then reaching out to talk to all of these individuals to gather responsible research would have been extremely easy. In fact, I have contacted every one of them and gathered the story in their words.

21870883Responsible reporting, especially from those intending to help motorcyclists, requires thorough investigation. If an individual does not have the connections to the current motorcycle club world then the last thing that they should do is levy accusations based on conjecture and absolutely no fact. To go as far as naming individuals and their families, without conducting a proper journalistic investigation, is simply inexcusable.

I give these accusations absolutely no credibility. Animal, the ICMC National President, has many close relationships with motorcycle clubs nationwide. Considering this reality, these accusations are not deemed credible by those most active in the motorcycle rights movement because they are blatantly false.

What kind of sense does it make to assert that four Vietnam veterans all over the age of 65 were active informants in Waco?  None of them live in Waco and every one of them is highly involved in the rights movement and the struggle to fight law enforcement profiling and discrimination.

In fact, let me put it this way. These men have fought and risked their lives for all of our freedom their entire lives, from the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of America. The least that we can do is hear their side of events and conduct responsible research, so their sacrifices are not forgotten or taken for granted, tarnished by false accusations.

I know these men from their involvement in the motorcycle rights movement. I feel confident that these accusations are false. I am Chair of the Washington State Confederation of Clubs and US Defenders, National Liaison to the US Defenders, co-chair of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists Legislative Task Force, Spokesperson for the national Council of Clubs, director of the Motorcycle Profiling Project, and I am a member of ABATE and BOLT USA. I’d like to feel like I have a good sense of the community and the clubs involved in that community.

boycott-clipart-BoycottAbsent a retraction and sincere apology, I think every motorcyclist and motorcycle club member should boycott the The Irresponsible Rebel to send a clear message that this type of unethical reporting will not be tolerated or embraced by the motorcycling community. Nothing released by this source can be assumed to be accurate, thorough, or informed, based on this incident. The Irresponsible Rebel has thus far refused to apologize for this wrong. Ego and ignorance have no place in the fight for freedom against discrimination and profiling targeting motorcyclists nationwide. The Irresponsible Rebel should be considered nothing more than low standard tabloid journalism until the cannons of ethical journalism are embraced and false and damaging statements are retracted.

Persecuting in the media those that were innocent victims, arrested and detained for attending a political gathering in Waco, is disgusting, indefensible and must be isolated, excised and completely ignored.

IN THE WORDS OF THE ACCUSED MEMBERS OF THE ICMC

Please take the time to read the words of the falsely accused. It is very apparent, based on the content of these letters alone, that The Aging Rebel’s accusations are baseless.

Letter #1:

Good morning Mr Devereaux.

 Our ICMC National President, Animal, and our Tx State President, Cowboy, provided your email address and asked that we contact you.  We follow your communications about the Waco massacre and much appreciate all you’re doing for us in the Tx biker community.  That’s in addition to everything you’ve accomplished getting rid of rider profiling and standing up for motorcycle rights. 

 Four Tx ICMC Brothers were directly affected by the events of 17/18 May 15.  As you’ve read online the four of us were named as ‘snitches’ who cooperated with the WPD in making the incident happen.  That is a complete lie. 

 What information can we provide you to help refute this smear tactic?

 Sincerely

Gerry Lowrey

ICMC Rocketman

Letter #2

Good Morning Dave – This is what I experienced 17/18 May 15.  The sequence of events for each of us four IC members differs slightly regarding processing at the convention center and jail.  I’ve attended TCOC&I meetings for five years and have not seen problems.

 -Because of rain I drove from Georgetown TX to a meetup near Belton TX with Rod Nash, Terry Gott, and Bob Douglas.  They also drove and I followed them from Belton to the Twin Peaks in Waco.  The Reg 1 TCOC&I meeting had been publicly scheduled for 1300 and we anticipated driving home by 1400.  Waco is 70+ miles from my home.

 -Arrived in Waco a little before 1200 and parked on the west side of the Twin Peaks in the shopping mall common parking area.

 -We said hello to some bikers in the parking lot, went into Twin Peaks to use the restroom, and walked outside to the east side of the café.

 -We stood in the parking lot near the I-35 frontage road and talked amongst ourselves.  About 1215 we heard shots to the west of us.

 -I was facing south when I heard the shots, looked over my right shoulder to the west, and saw a group of bikers between Twin Peaks and Don Carlos starting to run.

 -I turned to the left, went over the berm near the frontage road, and laid down on the ground so as to not get hit by bullets.

 -The shooting stopped after a very few minutes.  I couldn’t see what was occurring on the west side of Twin Peaks.

 -Very soon there were cops on the frontage road behind us.  A cop took my legal gun, knives, driver’s license, and cell phone and put them on the pavement.

 -We were kept on the ground near the frontage road until approximately 1700.  We were allowed to piss behind a garbage container shortly before 1700.

 -About 1700 my hands were tightly plasti-cuffed behind my back and I was put into a cop van.  After an hour in the van I was taken into the Waco convention center and placed into a large room with other bikers.  All were similarly cuffed.

 -During the time in the center I was interviewed by a cop who asked for personal information and took pictures.  Later during the night I was interviewed by a nurse and other personnel related to being jailed.  I told them two or three times that ICMC is a 501c19 non-profit veterans club that does not support any other club or organization.  I did not discuss other clubs or speculate upon recent events.

 -Approximately 0500 18 May 15 I was taken by van to the jail.  At the jail I waited with others to be processed.  When it was my turn they cut off my plasti-cuffs so I could help inventory my possessions.

 -Before the inventory process was complete a cop came up to me, put on steel handcuffs, and asked the processor to give me a check for the money they had taken.  I was given my bag of possessions and taken to a driveway area.  In the area was Nash and Gott.

 -We were put into a van and taken back to the convention center.  At the center we were allowed to put on our belts, socks, shoes, wallets, keys, etc.

 -The four of us and another man were driven to the Lacy Lakeview police station north of Waco and permitted to call for transportation.  Gott’s wife came to Waco and drove the four of us back to the meetup location in Belton.  Other vehicles had been left there because we expected to be back by 1500 Sunday.  Gott got his vehicle and drove me to Georgetown.

 -Approximately 10 days later I was allowed to get my vehicle from the WPD impound lot.  A few days later I received my driver’s license in the mail.  At this time I do not have my cell phone, gun, and knives.  Part of my right thumb remains numb from too many hours in tight plastic cuffs.

 -I have never been arrested or detained by LE.  My last traffic ticket was approximately 1978.  I have grad credits beyond my MS.  I retired from the USAF with 21+ years of honorable service, including volunteer time in Vietnam and Thailand.  I retired from Boeing Aerospace Houston after working 13 years on the space station program.  My final job was as the Manager of Quality Engineering and Inspection.  I started riding in 1963 and ICMC is the only club of which I’ve been a member.

 Sincerely

Gerry Lowrey

Letter #3

Mr. Devereaux my name is Terry Gott,  one of the four un-arrested at Waco, this idiot Aging Rebel has even posted my wife and son’s names in his bullshit blog, he states that in his opinion that because we were un-arrested, therefore we must be C.I.s.  He has no right placing people’s well being and families in jeopardy simply on his warped opinion. I don’t Facebook and I don’t twitter, tweet or respond to drama shopping such as this lying Rebel shit.

 We, as you already know, were the only ones arrested and then un-arrested with no explanation etc. I would speculate after realizing we are a Veteran MC and individual background check?  We as everyone else were detained and kept barefoot and zipped tied behind the back for attending a COC meeting in Waco. Times not exact, but between 3:00 am & 4:00 am on 18th May, Nash, Lowry & I transported from Convention Center to Waco jail for in-processing, booking etc. Lowry was entered into jail, Nash into pre-processing cell and I 1st out in bus for next vacancy, several mins. later I was told to exit bus & told to face up against the building, few mins. later I was joined by Nash & Lowry. After bus was emptied, we three were told to re-enter bus and returned to Convention Center and told we were being released, no other explanation giving.

 We are a Vietnam MC of ages 65+ that put all our efforts toward helping vets. This bullshit that this guy is drooling is just that, BULLSHIT !

 Not a Brother in this MC would put their loved ones or family in jeopardy by being a damned C.I. or snitch, what this lying Rebel is doing is just wrong, period.

Letter #4

Good afternoon Mr Devereaux.

 My National President and my State President, provided me with your email and asked if I would contact you. We’ve been following your communications about the Waco massacre. I am one of the four In Country MC that got arrested that day. We were the only veterans motorcycle club that did get arrested. All the other veterans clubs got released hours before us. We were the only Veterans Club that made it to jail. I guess that’s why we were unarrested. I guess the Waco police don’t really know that much about motorcycle clubs. I think we didn’t get released we got arrested and then un-arrested because our cuts did not have Veteran on the backside. I don’t think the Waco police new What IN  COUNTRY stood for. There is no way in hell any of our organization is CI,s for Waco police, FBI, or the ATF.

My hat goes off to Amy Irene White for her story on us. As the other storyteller writing articles he’s so full of s*** his eyes are brown. I think is pretty well covers most everything if you need any more information you can contact me.

Letter #5

Good afternoon Mr Devereaux.

 I guess this is going to be a continuation of my email to you from yesterday. I’m going to try and give you a time line from 17 May to 18 May.

We arrived at Twin peaks in Waco at 12 p.m. As we arrived we were met by another Veterans Club telling us that there was a hundred and ten Cossacks around the corner. We walked right by them and into the bathroom of Twin Peaks.

We departed the restaurant and stood out front of Twin Peaks in the far left front corner, stood there and talked to other clubs…. Soon as [the fight started] the Waco police jumped out of their vehicles and started shooting into the crowd….

We stayed there until we got the all clear and the Waco police rounded us up and made us sit there and look at the dead people for 5 hours. While they had me spread eagle on the highway they started searching our bodies for weapons.

At that time they took my weapon (my automatic pistol) and my CHL license. After five hours they handcuffed all of us and loaded us into vans for port to the Convention Center.  

At that time they took our wallets and anything that was in our pockets including our shoes and socks, all while in handcuffs….We stayed in the convention center till about 4 in the morning.

Then we when to the County Jail. I guess at this time we were arrested or we wouldn’t been going to the county jail. Around 5 o’clock I was in a cell block with three other individuals. A Waco police officer walked in and said you with the in country vets come with me.

I followed him out of this cell then he told me to go over to the left side wall and put my hands on the wall in there. There I met one more in country member and the officer asked me if there was any more in country members in jail I told him yes there was one more and I gave him his name. at that time when all three of us were together the officer told us that we were going to be released.

they took us back to the convention center and started to give us our purpose no properties back less my phone my knife and my gun. Oh yes they also took my vehicle. I know I’ll never get my knife back it took 9 days to get my vehicle back. it took 5 weeks to get my phone back and my last contact with the Waco PD which has the serial number and registration to my gun said I might get my gun back by Christmas but first they have to run ballistics on it see if I shot anybody.

 Hot Rod, President, IVCORP TX, ICMC

 

*Questioning the honor and integrity of any of these men, men willing to identify themselves and openly tell there story, men with established track records and a history of dedication to freedom and motorcycle rights, without conducting any research or factual validation, is abhorrent and will only serve to divide a community that requires unity for survival.

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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