OFF THE WIRE
Press Release: Confederation of Clubs of Washington State
Controversy surrounding motorcycle profiling bill signing on April 13, 2011.
In the days following Governor Gregoire signing ESB 5242, a bill addressing motorcycle profiling, there has been controversy surrounding the fact that the Governor took a picture of the signing with a ʻcop killerʼ. The Confederation of Clubs serves as the official voice of motorcycle club members present at the bill signing and would like to address this controversy.
Describing Robert Christopher as a ʻcop killerʼ instead of a victim of the most notorious law enforcement scandal in the history of Portland is biased and unjust.
On the night of December 12, 1979, members of the Portland police department and narcotics squad illegally raided the Outsiders Motorcycle Club clubhouse in Portland and officer David Crowther was shot and killed by Robert Christopher.
Officers were knowingly attempting to serve an illegal warrant obtained through perjured statements about a nonexistent informant. Narcotics officers Scott Deppe and Neil Gearhart, both present during the raid, corroborated this indisputable fact and furthermore revealed that the narcotics squad officers had come with drugs ready to plant in and around the clubhouse. In fact, it was discovered that police had planted amphetamine tablets during the raid. Narcotics officers also admitted that drugs were removed from David Crowtherʼs pockets at the hospital after he was shot.
These are the incontrovertible facts. The entire basis for law enforcementʼs presence at the Outsiders clubhouse that night was to serve an illegal warrant and plant drugs.
