Motorcycle association speaks out against police linking bikers to drugs and violence

A motorcycle club association in the province is speaking out against the police for comments linking biker clubs to drug trafficking and a rise in violence.

Last week, Cpl. Mike Kerr — with the biker enforcement unit of the RCMP — said the strengthening of the Hells Angels in Nova Scotia once again has come with an increase in violent activity.

“The law enforcement tactics are no longer relying on facts and evidence, but on assumptions, opinions and stories from the past,” said a release from Stephen Wallace, chair of the Atlantic Confederation of Clubs and Independents.

“In recent news articles, the police are referring to an ‘increase in violence and drug trafficking,’ and they are linking these crimes to motorcycle clubs . . . This is yet another fearmongering tactic.”

The Angels were welcomed back to the province by affiliate clubs with a party in Musquodoboit Harbour last June, and The Gatekeepers and The Darksiders have kept a presence in the area since a 2002 sting sent the Angels out.

“We have seen instances where violence has been involved, and we can say it’s outlaw motorcycle gang-related,” said Kerr in a previous Chronicle Herald interview.

“It’s about drug-trafficking, territory and who’s controlling that territory now.”

“‘Investigations ongoing’ have been their excuse for the last number of years, and innocent law-abiding citizens are being profiled, targeted and harassed simply because they choose to be part of a lifestyle that they love and respect,” said the release.