London - Sex? no. Criminal bikers? Sure LONDON MOTORCYCLE SHOW: Hells Angels members were allowed to display their choppers

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London:  http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/02/16/19389921.html
Sex? no. Criminal bikers? Sure LONDON MOTORCYCLE SHOW: Hells Angels members were allowed to display their choppers


By RANDY RICHMOND, The London Free Press
Last Updated: February 16, 2012 11:09pm

.On the one side, the Supreme Court of Canada and police services across the country.
On the other, two gleaming, mean-looking modified motorcycles, choppers, sporting the Hells Angels' death's head logo.
In the middle, London's venerable Western Fair District, a bike show organizer and other ordinary Canadians.
Besides more leather than a cattle ranch and a lot of motorcycles, the recent bike show at the Western Fair District showcased a couple of uneasy truths:
One: No one knows what to do about the Hells Angels and their official status as a criminal organization.
Two: People in London at least get more upset about sex than crime.
The first truth arises from the Supreme Court decision of 2010 that upheld lower court decisions saying the Hells Angels are a criminal organization.
"What we've got is a ruling that puts the onus on ordinary mom and pop stores and small businesses to deny access to the Hells Angels," says Yves Lavigne, an author and an expert on organized crime and outlaw bikers.
And that's just wrong, Lavigne insists.
"The onus can't be put on private citizens to enforce the law. If the cops don't have the balls to stick it to the Hells Angels, they shouldn't ask mom and pop to do it."
At the World of Expos Motorcycle Show in London on the weekend, one roped-off section contained two choppers.
According to the signs at the display, the choppers belong to two full patch members of the London Hells Angels, former president Bill Miller and Hammer, whose real name is Dave MacDonald.
The two won second and third prizes in the show's "radical custom" competition. One chopper displayed the club's logo, the death's head, on its tank. The other displayed the same logo in intricate metal sculpture by the foot pegs. A sign at the display announced the Hells Angels London chapter, also showing the club's logo.
It looked like a Hells Angels booth at the publicly funded, family friendly Western Fair District.
This despite a 2010 Supreme Court ruling saying the Hells Angels are a criminal organization, constant police warnings about the same, and a recent outburst of violence in London -- including firebombings and two shootings -- because of a drug war involving the Hells Angels.
London police officers were there, but did not arrest any members of the criminal organization or see it fit to ask Western Fair District to remove the Hells Angels sign.
"It's an event run by the Western Fair. At the end of the day it is their decision," Const. Dennis Rivest says.
No one called to complain about the Hells Angels at the show, he says.
Nor did the Western Fair District administration or bike show operators hear any complaints.
But the Fair's chief executive, Hugh Mitchell, says he's troubled by any connection to an outlaw motorcycle gang.
"This is not what the Western Fair is all about. I think what we'll do is sit down and do a post-mortem. It certainly causes me concern if there is signage that signifies a criminal alliance of any kind."
Show director Derek Botten defends the display, saying bike show organizers always have to use some common sense to avoid unnecessary confrontations with outlaw bikers.
In the past, he's persuaded the Hells Angels to keep a lower profile at the show, such as removing a banner announcing their presence.
"It wasn't a booth," Botten says of the chopper display. "It was signage around a bike or two they entered into the competition. We don't rent space to outlaw motorcycle groups."
The bike show can't start checking who owns bikes or what garages they come from and decide some people can come in and some can't, he suggests.
Western Fair District asked him to ban colours this year, but Botten says he decided against it.
"If they're going to keep the peace, they're welcome."
There's another reality at play here as well. Compare the muted reaction to the presence of the Hells Angels at Western Fair District to the outrage at a sex show at the same place.
Last year, the Everything to do with Sex show was kicked out of the fair after three years because of complaints the show promoted pornography.
At the time, Mitchell said a sex show didn't fit in with Western Fair District's rebranding as a key entertainment and cultural area of the city.
Still steaming about that decision, sex show organizer Mikey Singer says this week he wasn't surprised to learn Western Fair District allows a criminal organization in at one show, while banning his for sex.
"You look at television. There's a ton of violence but every time you want to talk about sex, people get their backs up," Singer says.