CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Documentary film revisits 1980 Lincoln County Massacre

OFF THE WIRE
BY: Bill Lynch
Source: sundaygazettemail.com

Documentary film revisits 1980 Lincoln County Massacre

Gazette file photo

On Friday, the documentary "Lincoln County Massacre," about the 1980 altercation between the West Virginia State Police and a group of bikers, opens at the West Virginia Filmmakers Festival in Sutton. Donnie Hill was a member of the club who was seriously injured during the event. Madeline Virginia Miles was a friend of the club.

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion said she didn't set out to make a film that was against the West Virginia State Police, even if it might look that way.

By Bill Lynch

The Charleston Gazette

WANT TO GO?
"Lincoln County Massacre"
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30
WHERE: The Elk Theatre, 192 Main St., Sutton
TICKETS: $5
INFO:wvfilmmakers.wordpress.com
TRAILER:  http://vimeo.com/28646219
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Journalist and documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion said she didn't set out to make a film that was against the West Virginia State Police, even if it might look that way.
McMillion's film, "Lincoln County Massacre," tells the story of police action against a group of bikers in Lincoln County in 1980. The event resulted in the arrest of 15 bikers, the hospitalization of three and led to a federal lawsuit against the State Police.
"It's not a film against the State Police," she said. "It's a film about a time and place where certain things might have been acceptable that aren't acceptable now."
The film premieres Friday evening at the Elk Theatre in Sutton. It's part of the West Virginia Filmmakers Festival, which runs Thursday through Sunday in the town.
Not everyone has forgotten what happened in 1980 outside the White House Tavern in Lincoln
County, but McMillion thinks a lot of people have. On April 19 of that year, two motorcycle clubs, The Brotherhood of the Wheel and The Bootleggers, met at the White House Tavern.
The groups were largely charitable organizations, not outlaw clubs, and they'd brought along their families for the meet up. Originally, the two groups were going to camp inside the bar, but the turnout had been far greater than anticipated, and it was decided to camp outside behind the establishment.
The were a number of strangers in the area and a run-in occurred between a local homeowner and a pair of bikers not affiliated with the group. That, coupled with the loss of power caused by a tree the bikers felled outside the tavern for firewood, ratcheted up the tension for the whole area.
After midnight, when the majority of the bikers had dispersed, 25 State Police officers crept into the camp. According to police statements, the officers faced resistance from the group. According to the bikers, they didn't. In fact, they claimed most of them were sleeping when the officers approached.

WANT TO GO?
"Lincoln County Massacre"
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30
WHERE: The Elk Theatre, 192 Main St., Sutton
TICKETS: $5
INFO:wvfilmmakers.wordpress.com
TRAILER:  http://vimeo.com/28646219
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Journalist and documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion said she didn't set out to make a film that was against the West Virginia State Police, even if it might look that way. McMillion's film, "Lincoln County Massacre," tells the story of police action against a group of bikers in Lincoln County in 1980. The event resulted in the arrest of 15 bikers, the hospitalization of three and led to a federal lawsuit against the State Police.
"It's not a film against the State Police," she said. "It's a film about a time and place where certain things might have been acceptable that aren't acceptable now."
The film premieres Friday evening at the Elk Theatre in Sutton. It's part of the West Virginia Filmmakers Festival, which runs Thursday through Sunday in the town.
Not everyone has forgotten what happened in 1980 outside the White House Tavern in Lincoln County, but McMillion thinks a lot of people have. On April 19 of that year, two motorcycle clubs, The Brotherhood of the Wheel and The Bootleggers, met at the White House Tavern.
The groups were largely charitable organizations, not outlaw clubs, and they'd brought along their families for the meet up. Originally, the two groups were going to camp inside the bar, but the turnout had been far greater than anticipated, and it was decided to camp outside behind the establishment.
The were a number of strangers in the area and a run-in occurred between a local homeowner and a pair of bikers not affiliated with the group. That, coupled with the loss of power caused by a tree the bikers felled outside the tavern for firewood, ratcheted up the tension for the whole area.
After midnight, when the majority of the bikers had dispersed, 25 State Police officers crept into the camp. According to police statements, the officers faced resistance from the group. According to the bikers, they didn't. In fact, they claimed most of them were sleeping when the officers approached.
Either way, the men were brutally beaten in front of their families then hauled off to either jail or the hospital while their motorcycles were destroyed.
McMillion, who grew up in Elkview and graduated from WVU, never heard the story until a friend, Justin Gillespie, told her about it in 2009.
Gillespie, a fine art photographer, worked at the Harley Davidson shop in St. Albans, and some of his customers had spoken to him about what happened.
McMillion said, "I'd just finished an internship in The Washington Post's documentary video department. I'd really developed an interest in doing a documentary of my own, and I was looking for a story when Justin called me."
McMillion was hooked. Gillespie, who served as co-producer on the film, introduced her to Lying Bill Hoffman, a former member of the Bootleggers and one of the bikers involved in the incident.
McMillion spent months researching, making phone calls and trying to get people to talk to her on camera. It was slow going. Thirty years had passed. Some of the bikers had died. Others had moved away. Even among the people who remained, though, there was a certain reluctance to talk.
"It's such a tight-knit subculture," she said. "Everybody knows everybody, and there I was thrown into it: little ol' non-biker person me. People were very suspicious."

But one interview led to another led to another. Bikers and witnesses opened up about the events leading up to what happened that night. McMillion spoke with former Charleston Gazette crime reporter Gary Harki and columnist Rick Steelhammer, who wrote about the police action for the paper in 1980.
In all, McMillion interviewed 20 people, but none of them were with the State Police.
"I tried to get the State Police on record," she said. "I called everybody. I called the Governor's Office. I got laughed at."
The few people with the state she could even get to take her calls wanted nothing to do with her documentary.
"The vibe I got was that they thought this was silly and it didn't matter."
McMillion said she regrets that the State Police had no interest in talking to her openly about what happened. She hopes that maybe after her film is seen, it might encourage a few of them to come forward.
"But I'm more concerned about how I portrayed the people who trusted me to tell their story," she said. 

Either way, the men were brutally beaten in front of their families then hauled off to either jail or the hospital while their motorcycles were destroyed.
McMillion, who grew up in Elkview and graduated from WVU, never heard the story until a friend, Justin Gillespie, told her about it in 2009.
Gillespie, a fine art photographer, worked at the Harley Davidson shop in St. Albans, and some of his customers had spoken to him about what happened.
McMillion said, "I'd just finished an internship in The Washington Post's documentary video department. I'd really developed an interest in doing a documentary of my own, and I was looking for a story when Justin called me."
McMillion was hooked. Gillespie, who served as co-producer on the film, introduced her to Lying Bill Hoffman, a former member of the Bootleggers and one of the bikers involved in the incident.
McMillion spent months researching, making phone calls and trying to get people to talk to her on camera. It was slow going. Thirty years had passed. Some of the bikers had died. Others had moved away. Even among the people who remained, though, there was a certain reluctance to talk.
"It's such a tight-knit subculture," she said. "Everybody knows everybody, and there I was thrown into it: little ol' non-biker person me. People were very suspicious."
But one interview led to another led to another. Bikers and witnesses opened up about the events leading up to what happened that night. McMillion spoke with former Charleston Gazette crime reporter Gary Harki and columnist Rick Steelhammer, who wrote about the police action for the paper in 1980.
In all, McMillion interviewed 20 people, but none of them were with the State Police.
"I tried to get the State Police on record," she said. "I called everybody. I called the Governor's Office. I got laughed at."
The few people with the state she could even get to take her calls wanted nothing to do with her documentary.
"The vibe I got was that they thought this was silly and it didn't matter."
McMillion said she regrets that the State Police had no interest in talking to her openly about what happened. She hopes that maybe after her film is seen, it might encourage a few of them to come forward.
"But I'm more concerned about how I portrayed the people who trusted me to tell their story," she said. 
Reach Bill Lynch at http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/contact/ylapu+jitnmrggr+pbz+return=/News/201109282638?page=2 or 304-348-5195.