Shoot-out a new low

THE biker gang shoot-out that left nine people dead in Waco on Sunday marks a new low in lawlessness. The fact that rival bikers were welcomed to gather at a location in a Mafia-style sit-down meeting suggests their hosts also have much to answer for.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission is correct in forcing a seven-day closure of the Twin Peaks restaurant. The groups involved in the shootout weren’t just weekend bikers, but members of known criminal gangs.

Restaurant officials dispute the assessment, but Sergeant Patrick Swanton said efforts had been under way to help the restaurant deny service to gang members, and contends the restaurant’s management balked.

The two groups involved in the shoot-out – the Bandidos and Cossacks – were among five gangs who had gathered at Twin Peaks to divide up territorial boundaries. An FBI report in 2013 listed outlaw motorcycle gang members as posing a threat.

The restaurant denies that it refused to co-operate, but police had been on alert for such a gathering, and officers were outside the restaurant on Sunday. It is particularly troublesome to learn that officers were made to feel unwelcome inside while gang members were welcomed.

The Twin Peaks chain owners, Front Burner Restaurants, said it was revoking the Waco restaurant’s franchise rights. It’s not enough though because this restaurant could keep operating under a different name. All business operators who turn a blind eye to nefarious activity on their premises should be forewarned – it’s not just criminals who must be held accountable.