If you own a business: tattoo shop, bar, restaurant, motel, etc. where
bikers frequent and the police come and threaten to revoke your liquor
license or shutdown your business if you service people or groups they
don't like, make use you capture it on video and get a copy to your
local motorcycle rights organization.
As for no-colors policies, removing a jacket or vest will not change who a person is or their intent.
ORANGE, Va. (WVIR) -
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control (ABC) is trying to put the brakes on biker bars in central
Virginia. The ABC is warning restaurants and bars they could lose their
licenses by becoming a hangout for outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The ABC says this crackdown comes in response to concerns from law enforcement in Greene County, Louisa, and Orange.
John Nagro, the owner of CJ’s at Byrd Street in the town of Orange, is trying to shake off that reputation for his bar.
“The
windows aren't black, there's nobody undressed in here dancing. It's
not a biker bar,” Nagro explained. “Don't just say because you have a
motorcycle patch on there that you're a bad guy, because it's not true.”
Nagro
believes police and the ABC are targeting bikers after a dust-up
between a member of a motorcycle club and another customer
“You
know, they all like to play dress up with their jackets and who they
are, what they are,” Nagro said. “They're good guys, they don't bother
me. They don't bother anyone in this town.”
Nagro got a
letter calling his restaurant a rendezvous for an outlaw motorcycle gang.
“Next
thing I know, the big boys from ABC came in and basically threatened me
that I was going to lose my license,” Nagro explained.
ABC agents
are handing out the letter to 30 bars and restaurants around Central
Virginia, including in the town of Louisa. It describes an increase of
outlaw motorcycle gang activity, but these aren't just your weekend
riders.
Police describe the group as the "one-percenters".
“Those
one-percenters, the ones that create the problems for us in law
enforcement and the criminal activity, is the area we need to focus on,”
said Chief Ronnie Roberts with the town of Louisa police.
The ABC warns it can revoke the license of a business that becomes a meeting place or rendezvous for outlaw motorcycle gangs.
A pub in Louisa posted the letter and a sign warning bikers not to wear their colors or cuts.
“What
we've done is try to make sure everybody is on the same page and not
leaving anyone out, so everyone knows what the regulatory issues are,”
said Roberts.
Nagro says he's losing business in this battle over rights.
“If
the ABC wants to take my license, I guess they can take my license.
There's nothing I can do about it, but I do believe that Constitutional
rights are being violated here every day,” Nagro said.
Members of motorcycle clubs and their supporters are sending
letters to the governor and members of the General Assembly about this issue with the ABC.
The letter calls the department's actions "intimidation" and an "infringement of freedom of speech."
Statement from Virginia ABC:
Virginia
ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement Region 9 distributed a letter addressed
to Region 9 on premise licensees advising them of an increase in outlaw
motorcycle gang activity in on premise ABC licensed establishments. This
letter was created in response to information received from four local
law enforcement agencies within the Charlottesville region. The letter
was provided as an educational resource for licensees and was
hand-delivered to approximately 30 licensees in the region during
inspections and day to day interactions. Special agents are continuing
to distribute the letters.
The letter includes applicable sections
of Virginia Code and states that all Virginia ABC licensees should take
reasonable measures to prevent their establishments from becoming a
meeting place or rendezvous for members of a criminal street gang or
from becoming a place where patrons of the establishment commit criminal
violations. The letter also advises licensees of potential penalties
that could be incurred in the event of a violation. It does not state
that licensees should decline service to certain individuals and does
not require any specific actions on the part of the licensee.
At
their request, Virginia ABC is working with the following local law
enforcement agencies on this effort: Town of Orange Police Department;
Town of Louisa Police Department; Louisa County Sheriff’s Office; and
the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
