Ruminations in Korea

The Hells Angels have left Cody. The city is still standing. Who deserves the credit for saving this small Western town?

First, the Angels deserve the credit. They obeyed the law. The behaved themselves. Of the 800 Angels (by their count) in town, only 6 were arrested. Crimes included driving with a suspended license, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, bumping someone arm (’assault”), immigration violation, misdemeanor meth possession, and one single felony for possession of meth. Six arrests over five days. That is good behavior. Much better than others, it would seem because there were 21 non-angel arrests the first two days of the run.

The Angels say that they got along very well with the locals. Some Angles claim that they and the Cody locals are kindred spirits:

It’s a lifestyle that’s becoming a thing of the past. We’re men of our word. We do what we say and try to respect other people’s rights. People here will talk to a stranger and help a stranger. You don’t see that in many places any more…Cody is one of my favorite places - I think the attitude of the townspeople is great.

Second, the locals and tourists deserve the credit. The biggest danger posed by the locals and tourists is that they get liquored up and try to prove how tough they are to an Angel, which invariably ends in that person getting stomped by as many Angels as can stand around his fallen body. However, it appears that the locals and tourists at least tolerated the Angels and at best welcomed them with open arms. It seems that there were no problems between the locals, tourists and the Angels. The locals and tourists also had the guts to stand up to the law enforcement agencies and call them out for being overbearing, oppressive and too heavy-handed.

The law enforcement officers get very little credit from me. I previously listed the numerous agencies and equipment brought in to save the town of Cody, but it appears that I left Interpol and two Kiowa helicopters off the list. The cops eventually had to scale down their presence because of complaints. Even after cutting the police presence by 50% nothing happened. The officers could only very grudgingly give credit to the Angels for not causing problems (as if they intended to cause any), but the officer now attempt to justify their ridiculously overbearing presence.

Using the “If we had not been there, who knows what might have happened” card an officer said:

“Would it have been this quiet if we hadn’t called in the extra help? There’s no way of knowing.”

The law enforcers go on to say that they needed to be that aggressive and overwhelming because of the horrible things that the Angels were doing that nobody knew about. What were these terrible things the Angels were doing? The police say:

1. Hells Angels members wearing club colors were stationed outside the homes of local officers late at night
2. A Hells Angels member wearing his club colors visited the Cody Recreation Center and spoke with [Park County Sheriff] Steward’s 9-year-old daughter.”You’re the sheriff’s daughter, aren’t you?” Steward said the member asked. “I didn’t consider it a threat,…” Steward said. His daughter was not bothered by the incident,… but his wife was.
3. Bikers had sentries posted at gas stations and other spots at entrances to the city, collecting information about law enforcement efforts
4. At times early in the event, bikers engaged in “posturing” in an effort to challenge police

So basically, the cops justified Interpol, CIA, FBI, Homeland security, swat teams from several states, a blackhawk helicopter, etc., because the Angels were watching police watching them, because one Angel asked a nine-year-od girl a question, and because the Angles were looking at the police. Great job officers.

The event is over. The Angels were well received by the locals, the Angels got along with the locals, and the police made life miserable for everyone.