1% Bikers Had Loaded Cannon in HQ

Lindsay Beyerstein October 17, 2012

Pre-dawn raids on the headquarters of three Brooklyn motorcycle gangs netted 8 suspects, a respectable arsenal, and plenty of heroin. But wait, there’s more:

[E]ach defendant was a 1% patched member of his respective motorcycle gang. The defendants wore the patch to identify themselves as “outlaws,” who reject main-stream society and live outside of the law.

You think the ALEC gang hates unionized public employees? They got nothing on the 1%:

Four of the Forbidden Ones defendants wore a “bangout patch,” depicting two crossing handguns, which signified that the member had assaulted or engaged in one or more confrontations with law enforcement.

The 1% take their Second Amendment rights very seriously, so seriously that their arsenal allegedly includes weapons that could have been used in the Revolutionary War. The Forbidden Ones had a functional cannon pointed at the door of their headquarters, according police. The Daily News says it was loaded.

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Lindsay Beyerstein is an award-winning investigative journalist and In These Times staff writer who writes the blog Duly Noted. Her stories have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. Her photographs have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ City Room. She also blogs at The Hillman Blog (http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillmanblog), a publication of the Sidney Hillman Foundation, a non-profit that honors journalism in the public interest.