By James ‘Hollywood” Macecari

In order to answer the question of what it means to be a biker.One must first learn it’s past.The present-day biker was formed on the battlefields of Vietnam. Those men forged a bond in battle that no one other than those that were there will ever know. Honor, Loyalty and Trust. Those three words were  born on the battlefields of Khe Sahn, Ia Drang , the Tet Offensive  and so many more. It was these brave men who gave us the culture we enjoy today.

These men didn’t come home to a heroes welcome. No, they came home to a nations scorn. They bonded together in brotherhood and conceived the ideas and ideology most of the biker scene has today. We here at Insane Throttle Biker News and Biker Angle Salute our Veterans of the Vietnam War and give thanks to the values passed on.

Where did Motorcycle Club Protocol Come From and Why?

Often times we hear many people nowadays bitch and moan about some of the protocols in the biker community. Especially in the Motorcycle club scene. Many today go around saying ” We are bikers so why should we listen to anyone trying to tell us what to do? We are supposed to be rebels and live without rules.” Sometimes it’s difficult to explain it to those just coming up. Especially those who are from the Sons of Anarchy era. The current generation sees no value in the history of not only the biker lifestyle; but American history in general. 

Since the newer generation has a hard time understanding many things we’ve decided to make it easier for them to understand with a video.

For those who are say 35 and up. Many of us recognize the reasons why protocol was established. Men coming back from the Vietnam War came home to nothing but a country in chaos. The soldiers of Vietnam didn’t receive a heroes welcome like soldiers serving today. No, the Vietnam Soldier came home to hostility, Anti-American sediment and people despising them for serving their country.

Coming home to an environment like that . Soldiers of the war started banding together just like they did on the battlefield. They started many of the great M/C’s of the 60’s and 70’s and established an honor code among themselves. They also established protocols because it was significant for them to make sure they were not confused with another club. One that might be out there causing problems in the community. Many people do not appreciate this. Clubs are good at policing themselves. This essentially means they keep rogue clubs from going out there and raising hell and bringing heat down on everyone else.

Many New Bikers don’t comprehend what a true biker is all about.

We older ones see it all the time. New guy goes out and buys a bike and next thing you know they want to rush out and join a motorcycle club. They believe they need a patch to be a biker. What’s worse. When they figured out what type of commitment is involved with an M/C they skip the membership process and try starting their own. Thus the reason we’ve seen so many clubs forming in the last 8 years. 

Here’s a new flash for all you new jacks running out there trying to start their own clubs. You do not need a patch or belong to a motorcycle club to be a biker. You merely need the love of the wind, truth in your heart and most importantly a motorcycle lol. That’s it. Nothing complicated. Do not make it harder on yourself because you possess some false vision in your head. 

Take 5 minutes if you could and read the below article on the Sonora Police Department response to the video posted online of them harassing a bunch of bikers. 

We are asking you to post a response on their Facebook Page or call and let them know this is unacceptable. If we do not keep up the outrage than this incident will just be forgotten like the many others.

Don’t forget to go over and “Like” Insane Throttles Facebook Page if you haven’t already done so.

Off the Press from the Modesto Bee

BY ROSALIO AHUMADA

A video posted on YouTube last week shows members of the Jus Brothers motorcycle club criticizing a Police sergeant who photographed the license plates on their parked motorcycles.

The motorcycle club members in the video, which had more than 14,700 views on Wednesday morning, say they were doing nothing wrong when the Sonora police sergeant started harassing them. They say police unlawfully profiled the club members as a motorcycle gang.

“Taking pictures of their license plates for no reason,” said Nate Smith, who shot the video and posted it on YouTube. “We get this kind of hassle from Sonora PD all the time.”
Smith is a member of the club’s Mother Lode chapter and a Tuolumne County resident.

The Sonora Police Department on Tuesday issued a news release, responding to the allegations of profiling local bikers. Department officials wanted to remind the public that just because an online video gets a large number of views doesn’t mean the allegations have any validity.

“The police sergeant in the video was simply engaging in intelligence gathering on a public street,” according to the police news release. “These actions do not fall under the category of profiling as it is defined in California, and there were no detentions made during this contact.”

Smith said Jus Brothers members from its Mother Lode and Stanislaus County chapters were waiting for a club event to begin at the nearby Intake Grill restaurant and sports bar. He said the monthly event is geared toward sharing information about motorcycle legislation and is open to the public.

“I’m a business owner, an IT consulting company,” Smith said Wednesday during an interview with The Bee. “We’re not a bunch of thugs or criminals. But the video shows our frustration; we were at our breaking point.”

The Jus Brothers Mother Lode chapter was started a few years ago, and Smith said they do frequent the downtown Sonora area. He said their confrontations with Sonora police began several months ago.

“It’s happened several times,” Smith told The Bee. “I think they’re just trying to keep us out of downtown. They come around taking pictures of our bikes, nitpicking to see what they can find.”

Sonora police Sgt. Glenn Roberts said the incident captured in the video occurred about 7:30 p.m. on May 8 in the 100 block of South Washington Street in downtown Sonora. Roberts was not the sergeant in the video.

Roberts said the Sonora Police sergeant was conducting ongoing intelligence gathering, but he declined to discuss the police operation any further. He said the Jus Brothers claims of profiling are false.

“We treat all citizens equal. We don’t target one group or the other,” Roberts said Wednesday. “We were just doing our basic police work. I can’t say anything more than that.”

The club members in the video tell the police sergeant that they plan on posting the video online with the department’s phone number, so callers can tell officials what they think of it.

“That way America can see what it’s like to live in a police state,” Smith told the police sergeant in the video.

The police sergeant responds to the Jus Brothers members that it’s a public street, there has to be proof that the parked motorcycles are registered, and that he’s just doing his job.

“We have an obligation to remain vigilant to all circumstances that may affect the safety and well-being of our community,” police officials said in the news release.

Another Jus Brothers member in the video asks the sergeant if police will do the same to the other vehicles parked along the street. The sergeant seems to indicate they’re only doing this to “outlaw motorcycle gangs.”

Roberts said he could not comment on what the sergeant said in the video or what the Jus Brothers members might have done earlier that day to raise suspicions of police. He did say the Jus Brothers motorcycle club is allied with a group known to law enforcement as an outlaw motorcycle gang.

The FBI identifies outlaw motorcycle gangs in its 2015 National Gang Report as a group that’s involved in a pattern of criminal conduct, in which members are required to possess and operate a motorcycle to maintain membership.

Smith said that police allegations that Jus Brothers associates with motorcycle gangs is false.

“The Jus Brothers clubs is autonomous,” Smith told The Bee. “It’s an individual motorcycle club, and we’re not a representation of any other club.”

Jus Brothers was founded in 1990 with chapters throughout Northern California, including Stanislaus County, Stockton, Tracy and San Jose. The Stanislaus group on its Facebook pageasked other bikers to call Sonora police and tell them profiling will not be tolerated.

Sonora police officials said they will not be dissuaded and will continue to do their work with professionalism and fairness.

“The act of encouraging callers across the nation to flood our call center and post negative comments on our social media is what we believe to be a tactic intended to discourage our community safety efforts,” police said in the news release.

Officials attached to the police news release an online link to the YouTube video. The Police Department cautioned its Facebook audience that the video contained profanity and threats of physical harm to the police sergeant and an officer involved in last week’s confrontation.

In the video, the Jus Brothers members tell the police sergeant a recently approved state law makes police profiling motorcycle clubs unlawful. But the bill the members are speaking of, state Assembly Bill 2972, has not been enacted.

The bill, if approved, would prohibit peace officers from engaging in “motorcycle profiling.” Police would not be allowed to consider a person riding a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle or motorcycle club-related clothing as a factor in enforcement decisions.

AB 2972 was introduced on Feb. 16 by state Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas). The bill passed in an April 10 Public Safety Committee with a vote of 5-2, but it failed in an April 19 Assembly Floor vote of 28-21.