ALL CLUBS DESERVE TO BE TREATED FAIRLY... Biker Club Allowed At Fiesta

OFF THE WIRE
 A lawyer for members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club went to court Friday to get a judge’s assurance that Bandidos can go to the Santa Fe Plaza during next week’s Fiesta celebration while wearing their iconic biker insignia.
City Attorney Geno Zamora said District Judge Sarah Singleton approved what was essentially a preliminary injunction under which the city won’t prohibit participation in public activities based on attire like the Bandidos’ colors.
“The city will respect the judge’s order,” Zamora said Friday night.
On Thursday, a group of Bandidos filed a court complaint maintaining they have been barred from the Plaza during “certain community activities, especially Fiesta de Santa Fe.” Members of the biker club had served formal notice to the city late last year that they intended to sue over the issue.
The Bandidos “have been asked to leave the Plaza or remove their club insignia when walking through the Plaza after the Sunday Fiesta Parade for two consecutive years,” the Thursday court filing states, “… without any reasonable justification.”
The city’s actions were a violation of the Bandidos’ “constitutional rights under the First Amendment to freedom of expression,” says the complaint filed for the bikers by Española attorney Yvonne Quintana.
In an interview Friday afternoon, Police Chief Ray Rael said he sees no problem with the Bandidos wearing their famous emblem of a pistol- and machete-wielding character in a sombrero. “I don’t believe the wearing of colors is adequate grounds to bar anyone from a public location,” Rael said.
In November, after the Bandidos filed a tort claim notice threatening litigation, a police captain said the police have in fact been cracking down on gang or “outlaw” group activities during Fiesta and don’t tolerate the flashing of gang signs or obvious gang attire at major events.
“Outlaw motorcycle attire is certainly, without a doubt, advertising gxxg attire,” Capt. Tom Wiggins said. “And we don’t discriminate, and there are several groups we address.”
On Friday, Rael – who became police chief earlier this year – said he couldn’t speak to what’s happened in the past but reiterated he doesn’t believe “a symbol is necessarily enough to bar someone from a public area.”
“If someone engages in any violations of the laws or ordinances, that becomes a different matter,” he said.
The Bandidos’ insignia also includes a “1%” patch. That reportedly stems from an American Motorcyclist Association’s contention that 99 percent of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens, implying that the other 1 percent are outlaws.
The Bandidos’ court complaint maintained Santa Fe police have “improperly claimed a right or public interest in excluding” members from the Plaza while other groups or organizations don’t have to conceal their affiliations.
The Bandidos have been the target of law enforcement off and on for years. The club has been dubbed by the U.S. Department of Justice as an “Outlaw Motorcycle Gang,” one “whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises.”

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/09/03/north/biker-club-allowed-at-fiesta.html