OFF THE WIRE
THEY are supposedly at war with each other, fighting their battles at the end of a gun with little regard for the public caught in the crossfire.
But there was no sign of that animosity when the Hells Angels and Comanchero rode side by side through Kings Cross early yesterday, in a show of defiance to the police and state government trying to ban them.
Decked out in their outlaw motorcycle gxxg colours, about 30 bikies from six different clubs rode in from Liverpool and paraded through the red light strip. The bikies posed for photos with onlookers and mingled with each other before sitting down for a meal at one of the unlicensed premises from which they aren't banned while wearing colours.
United Motorcycle Clubs spokesman Wayne Baffsky said the ride was a "statement" to dispel any misconception that clubs are at war.
He said the bikies and their regalia were welcomed at the venue where they dined.
"They are allowed to be there, they were there and there were no problems," Mr Baffsky said.
Premier Barry O'Farrell introduced the legislation late last month, which bans members of bikie gxxgs from wearing their colours or anything that identified them as a gxxg member from licensed premises in the Cross.
The Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club spokesman Greg Hirst said the laws affect many people who have no involvement in crime.
"There has been a lot of hysteria over a number of incidents, which you need the police to react to, the issue is really how they do it," he said.
"And, I think by banning the regalia and so on, what that does is it doesn't actually address the crime or the violence they're trying to deal with. It actually attacks the culture, the way of life of people."
The crackdown, which was backed by Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, was announced as part of an effort to curb bikie-related crime on the back of dozens of recent drive-by shootings which have been linked to feuding gxxg members.
Mr Baffsky said outlaw clubs planned to test the legality of the ban in the coming weeks, and are also planning a series of protest rides in Kings Cross as bikies step up their fight against new legislation designed to disrupt and dismantle their clubs.
But it wasn't all calm in the Cross early yesterday, with a man suffering severe cuts to his face after a glassing at a pub on Darlinghurst Rd. Police were called to the venue about 1am.
Officers chased a man believed to be responsible for the attack and arrested him a short distance away.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/bikies-troop-their-colours-in-kings-cross-in-defiance-of-ban/story-e6freuy9-1226348319050
