A deadly shooting that occurred at Mulligan's Chopped Hog bar on George Dieter Drive in El Paso, Texas, has brought to light a violent conflict between the long-established Bandidos Motorcycle Club and an upstart biker club named the Kinfolk MC. The incident, which resulted in multiple injuries and one death, has raised concerns about escalating violence between the two groups.
The Incident at Mulligan's Chopped Hog
On July 30, a gunman opened fire inside Mulligan's Chopped Hog bar during a brawl, leaving four people injured, including Juan Martinez Jr., the 61-year-old president of an El Paso chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club. Martinez later died from his injuries.
Arrests and Charges
El Paso police arrested Javier Gonzalez, 34, identified as a member of the Kinfolk Motorcycle Club, on charges of engaging in organized crime-murder and aggravated assault charges. In addition, Manuel Gallegos, 58, linked to the Kinfolk MC, was arrested on an assault charge for his role in the fight that resulted in the shooting.
The Kinfolk MC Rivalry
The animosity between the Kinfolk and the Bandidos began with the founding of the Kinfolk MC, Katz said. The Kinfolk was created as recently as last year, by bikers who used to be Bandidos, Katz said. "In the biker gang world if you leave a club and start another club, it’s a no-no. It’s being a traitor," Katz said. Katz said the Kinfolk were formed following the indictment of Bandidos national President Jeffrey Fay Pike on federal racketeering charges in 2015. "The president of the Kinfolk was a Bandido and he thought that when Jeff Pike was indicted that he should be made president," Katz said. "He took other disaffected members of the Bandidos with him." The Kinfolk logo is a cowboy holding a gun behind his back, similar to the poster of the 1992 Clint Eastwood Western "Unforgiven." Membership estimates for the Kinfolk MC were not available.
The Bandidos' Perspective
The Bandidos "consider Texas their state. Not only do they have guys leaving them but they are leaving them in Texas, which is a greater insult," Katz said.
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Like the Bandidos, the Kinfolk MC is a "1 percenter" club and displays the diamond-shaped 1 percent patch used by what law enforcement term outlaw motorcycle gangs. The term "1 percenter" originated after a biker riot in Hollister, California, in 1947 when the American Motorcyclist Association declared that 99 percent of motorcyclists were good, law-abiding citizens. "Groups that wear a '1 percent' patch are advertising straight up that they live outside the law. ‘I’m an outlaw,’ they are telling people," Katz said.
Escalating Tensions and Potential for Continued Violence
According to Terry Katz, spokesman for the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association, the El Paso shooting is part of a larger conflict between the two groups. The association helps train law enforcement and prosecutors about biker gangs. Katz explained that the El Paso shooting follows the slaying of a reported member of the Kinfolk Motorcycle Club in March near Abilene. A man with ties to the Bandidos was charged in that killing.
"It’s pretty safe to say that the violence will continue until law enforcement intervenes," Katz said. "It’s like any other group of gang members, it’s tit for tat. You kill one guy of mine and I kill one of yours," Katz said. "Most of the violence isn’t in the public view. It’s at locations that are bike gang friendly and locations where folks will not call police."
The Bandidos in El Paso: A Long History
The Bandidos have been in El Paso since 1972, Bandidos Nntional President Clifton "Dozer" Roberts said at a recent news conference in El Paso. "We want to make sure no one misconstrues that the Bandidos Motorcycle Club is here to harm the city," said Roberts, who is from Houston. "El Paso’s been our home," Roberts said. "These guys have raised families. They work here, lived here for many, many years. By no means are we planning on turning this into a war zone."
The history of the Bandidos in El Paso dates back more than 40 years. The founder of the Bandidos, Donald Eugene Chambers, used to live in El Paso, where he died in 1999. Chambers, known as "Mother," was a Marine who formed the biker club after his return from Vietnam. The Bandidos use the red and gold colors of the Marine Corps. The Bandidos Motorcycle Club was founded in 1966 in Houston. He was buried in Houston.
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In the following decades, the Bandidos became a more of a familiar sight at local charity motorcycle runs than crime news stories. But in recent years, some Bandidos members have been charged with assaults of members of other biker clubs in El Paso. Martinez, who was buried Saturday, was set to go to trial in October on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity in connection with an assault on Aug. 3, 2016. Martinez, two other Bandidos and a member of the Brass Knuckle associate club were accused of beating and trying to take the vests of two members of a rival biker club outside Hot Chicks Wing House on Zaragoza Road. Friends of Martinez described him a goodhearted businessman always willing to help the less fortunate. He was owner of J. Martinez and Associates, a firm that assists clients with Social Security benefits.
Law Enforcement's Perspective
The Texas Department of Public Safety ranks the Bandidos as a Tier 2 gang along with the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, Barrio Azteca, Bloods and Crips. Like other major biker clubs, the Bandidos have several smaller support clubs that usually pay them monthly "donations" to stay in good standing, according to the Texas Gang Threat Assessment report released by DPS last month. The smaller clubs receive protection from the bigger club and serve as a "farm clubs" for the selection of prospective members.
The Bandidos biker club "conducts its illegal activities as covertly as possible and generally tries to avoid high profile activities," the DPS gang report stated. "However, members are not covert about making their presence known, frequently wearing their gang colors, insignia, and riding in large groups," the report added. "They seek to turn public sentiment in their favor by organizing frequent charity runs." Law enforcement has accused the Bandidos of being involved in violence, drug dealing, weapons trafficking and intimidation.
Despite targeting by law enforcement, outlaw biker gangs have survived over decades even after their original members are long gone. "What people always ask is ‘motorcycle gangs, are they still around?’ To them they are from the 1950s," Katz said. "There is always somebody that wants to go into that lifestyle," he said. "When I was undercover, they were treated like rock stars. Women would flock to them. They were treated to drinks, treated to deals - legal and illegal.
The Aftermath and Legal Proceedings
Javier Gonzalez is facing three charges including organized crime and murder.
Read also: Explore the significance of 2100 George Dieter Drive.
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) - A jury found Kinfolk MC biker Javier Gonzalez guilty of murder on Wednesday.
Gonzalez was sentenced to 56 years on Thursday for murder, 30 years for engaging in organized criminal activity and 15 years for engaging in organized criminal activity with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The sentence will run concurrent.
Gonzalez killed a Bandidos leader and was found guilty of organized crime.
The trial began on Jan.
The Broader Context of Biker Gang Rivalries
It's not unusual to have two 1 percenter biker clubs in a city but it can lead to trouble, Katz said. "There is going to be conflict because each one wants to be the top dog," Katz said. "The Kinfolk are the new guys in the block. They are challenging the establishment." The Bandidos in recent years have been in violent confrontations with other rivals. The most high-profile case was a shootout with the Cossacks biker gang resulting in nine deaths at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, in 2015.
A federal indictment accused the Bandidos of declaring "war" in 2013 on the Cossacks, who were using a "Texas" bottom rocker on their biker vests without permission from the Bandidos. "It’s a very violent existence being in a motorcycle gang," Katz said.
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