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The Twin Peaks Ambush: A True Story About The Press, The Police And The Last American Outlaws
A year after the fact, the brief, deadly, biker brawl in the parking lot of the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas on May 17, 2015 remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Nine people died and nineteen more were wounded. Numerous news outlets "explained" the event as a "real life Sons of Anarchy episode." Until now, that has been as insightful as writers for numerous national and international publications have dared to be. From the very beginning, local authorities in Texas have tightly controlled the narrative of what happened in Waco that Sunday in May in order to save themselves from embarrassment and criminal and civil liability. Almost two hundred people face long prison terms for conspiring to act criminally although so far local prosecutors have refused to state what each of those defendants actually did other than try to survive. The prosecutors' refusal to talk about the case has led to widespread and often wild speculation. Now, the shroud of propaganda and lies has finally been lifted. In the exhaustively researched The Twin Peaks Ambush: A True Story About The Press, The Police And The Last American Outlaws, Donald Charles Davis tells the true story of that tragic day to you. And what you read will surprise, touch and outrage you.
200 pages, Paperback
Published May 18, 2016
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13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 6, 2017
As with everything else I've read by Donald Charles Davis, I was left unsure of how to rate or review this book. On the one hand I personally found it intermittently entertaining, if not insightful...but I'm interested in factual information regarding outlaw bikers (I picked this up for research purposes) and a good many readers obviously will not be. Furthermore, Twin Peaks is way less interesting or cohesive than Out Bad or Twilight of the Outlaws, so I have to rate it less. In the end, I give it two stars.
For those who aren't aware, Twin Peaks is a dissection of the legal proceedings around the so-called "Waco Biker Shootout", a violent encounter between the Banditos MC and the Cossacks MC which resulted in nine deaths and nearly two hundred arrests. If you don't know what I'm talking about here (and I wouldn't be surprised, the incident vanished rather rapidly from the public consciousness), Google "Waco Biker Shootout" and you'll get the official explanations.
This book is an attempt at challenging said explanations, and it succeeds...sort of.
Twin Peaks has the same flaw that all of Davis' other books do; he rambles. A lot. Some of the ramblings are interesting, but only if one actually cares about the subject matter. Otherwise, a reader's eyes would definitely glaze over. Davis has a problem with staying on topic. One page, he's talking about court proceedings regarding the Waco incident. Six pages later we're hearing about the Rolling Stones' Altamont concert where a black guy got stabbed to death by a Hells Angel. It's all very interesting, but not very well organized.
Secondly, this book has a problem Davis' previous titles did not...he quotes too much. I would guess that over 40% of this book is quotes from court transcripts, news articles and other sources. While it is nice that he isn't distorting the words of others, the quotes and exchanges get tiresome to read through. In more than one case a citation and a summary would have served the narrative's overall purpose far better.
Where Twin Peaks truly shines is the same place all of Davis' works always do; his spot-on, unapologetic and (as far as I can tell) accurate explanations of the zeitgeist of the motorcycle outlaw. Unlike a great many writers on this particular subject Davis is a former MC member, and this (for better or for worse) comes through in his writing. If you are a person who wants to know how bikers actually look at the world, or you are a writer hoping to better capture them, pick this up and slog through it. You'll learn something if you pay attention.
In the end, I would recommend this book to any MC romance author looking to inject some realism into their work, or any amateur biker researchers who wish to look beyond Hunter S. Thompson and Sons of Anarchy. It's not the author's best work, but if the subject matter is your bag, it is worth checking out.
2.5 stars.
For those who aren't aware, Twin Peaks is a dissection of the legal proceedings around the so-called "Waco Biker Shootout", a violent encounter between the Banditos MC and the Cossacks MC which resulted in nine deaths and nearly two hundred arrests. If you don't know what I'm talking about here (and I wouldn't be surprised, the incident vanished rather rapidly from the public consciousness), Google "Waco Biker Shootout" and you'll get the official explanations.
This book is an attempt at challenging said explanations, and it succeeds...sort of.
Twin Peaks has the same flaw that all of Davis' other books do; he rambles. A lot. Some of the ramblings are interesting, but only if one actually cares about the subject matter. Otherwise, a reader's eyes would definitely glaze over. Davis has a problem with staying on topic. One page, he's talking about court proceedings regarding the Waco incident. Six pages later we're hearing about the Rolling Stones' Altamont concert where a black guy got stabbed to death by a Hells Angel. It's all very interesting, but not very well organized.
Secondly, this book has a problem Davis' previous titles did not...he quotes too much. I would guess that over 40% of this book is quotes from court transcripts, news articles and other sources. While it is nice that he isn't distorting the words of others, the quotes and exchanges get tiresome to read through. In more than one case a citation and a summary would have served the narrative's overall purpose far better.
Where Twin Peaks truly shines is the same place all of Davis' works always do; his spot-on, unapologetic and (as far as I can tell) accurate explanations of the zeitgeist of the motorcycle outlaw. Unlike a great many writers on this particular subject Davis is a former MC member, and this (for better or for worse) comes through in his writing. If you are a person who wants to know how bikers actually look at the world, or you are a writer hoping to better capture them, pick this up and slog through it. You'll learn something if you pay attention.
In the end, I would recommend this book to any MC romance author looking to inject some realism into their work, or any amateur biker researchers who wish to look beyond Hunter S. Thompson and Sons of Anarchy. It's not the author's best work, but if the subject matter is your bag, it is worth checking out.
2.5 stars.
August 22, 2017
An interesting breakdown of the events leading up to, occurring at, and after the shooting at the Twin Peaks.
Highlighted for me a glaring concern of the militarization of police, the separation between depiction and reality of bikers in America, and the lack of interest in breaking established narratives.
Highlighted for me a glaring concern of the militarization of police, the separation between depiction and reality of bikers in America, and the lack of interest in breaking established narratives.
May 4, 2022
good read
This is the authors best book . I look forward to reading the second edition . The Appellate Courts have decided that the falsely arrested and accused can proceed with their civil rights lawsuits. Against the city of Waco , their constabulary and the Reyna the DA .
This is the authors best book . I look forward to reading the second edition . The Appellate Courts have decided that the falsely arrested and accused can proceed with their civil rights lawsuits. Against the city of Waco , their constabulary and the Reyna the DA .
November 2, 2016
A couple weeks after Biketoberfest, a gathering of bikers from around the country here in Daytona Beach, I was driving down US 1 and was passed by a guy on a Harley wearing a Pagan's (sic) MC cut. Although there are loads of bikers here, that was the first time that I'd seen a 1% and I was curious as to what clubs were here.
Long story short, after some reading online, I found the author's website, The Aging Rebel and after looking around, decided to pick up this book for my Kindle. It is the "real" story of the Twin Peaks Massacre, a 2015 fight in Waco, TX. If you've heard about it, most likely what little you remember is that it was a battle between two "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs," over drugs or territory or something. Well, the truth is... not so much.
Unlike mainstream media coverage of this event, which seemed to exclusively use sources that are biased against the bikers, Donald Charles Davis looks at it from the other angle, using biker testimony and court records and uncovers some very disturbing facts. The meeting at Twin Peaks that day, presented as a "rumble" by law enforcement, was actually a pre-planned, regular, meeting of many different motorcycle clubs and independents (riders not associated with a club.) The club presented as the victims by LE (the Cossacks) weren't supposed to be there, but showed up early and were waiting for the "villains," the Bandidos to arrive. During the fight, many of the victims (9 died, 18 were injured) were shot by police, who were at the restaurant in force because of rumors (which later turned out to be from confidential informants within the two MCs.) Over 170 people were arrested, some of whom weren't even there when the fight was on, and all were assigned $1,000,000 bail, which kept them in jail until the media spotlight turned elsewhere.
And it goes on from there. Davis speculates, with some solid evidence, that the shootout was spurred on by Waco police and that Waco law enforcement conspired with the District Attorney and numerous Federal and state organizations to deny 170 people their basic rights. After reading the book, I think that there is sufficient evidence of it to necessitate an independent investigation -- can you imagine showing up for what was presented to you as a "Sunday Funrun," and, because you had a patch on your jacket that said "I support the Fat Mexican," you find yourself under arrest, thrown in jail under a $1,000,000 bail and left there for weeks or months until someone decided to reduce the bail to a reasonable amount, and then find yourself indicted for murder and "participating in a criminal enterprise," despite zero evidence, apart from that patch?
Disturbing, to say the least. Are all of these bikers innocent? Of course not. Are some of them? Absolutely! Will they get a fair trial in Waco, TX? Davis presents enough evidence to seriously call that into question.
Okay, so why the three star review of a book that I enjoyed and consider reveals a controversial incident that bears further investigation? Two reasons.
First, Davis is, admittedly, not a professional journalist, so he lacks the polish one normally expects in a book of this nature. He desperately needs a copy editor, at least -- there are sentences that are a grammatical nightmare, some that border on nonsensical, the result of someone who relies on a spell checker in their word processor, but who subsequently has no one actually read it until after it's published. Unchecked Autocorrect is a bad thing, and Davis falls victim to it all too often.
Secondly, while I understand that Davis is writing for a casual audience and is using a blogger style, he editorializes so much that it eventually becomes off putting. He often proceeds or follows important statements of evidence with colorful remarks of this own. For example:
"Then Reyna sang his song and danced his dance. 'Judge, there's... there is somewhat of an issue with respect to DPS. Early on we were informed... I say 'early on.' we were informed that early on, DPS may have been a part of that. Not here locally, but out of town, may have been a part of that initial investigation with respect to the Bandido organization."
That's an important admission by Waco LE that speaks to the issue of what they knew of the real issues between the Cossacks and the Bandidos, but Davis taints it with his preface about song and dance. Present the facts, let the reader cast judgement on them.
In summary, this is an important story of an ongoing series of events, and I encourage others to dig past the "bikers shooting up a family restaurant in a fight over who can wear a 'Texas' rocker" and see that there is more to the story... on some levels, this is about basic rights that we take for granted and don't seem to mind denying to others that we've been taught are "bad guys." Bad guys or not, they still deserve the same protections that we do.
While he may not care, I would encourage Davis to cut back on the editorializing and get someone to carefully read his manuscript before publishing -- with those two minor efforts, this would have been a five star review.
Long story short, after some reading online, I found the author's website, The Aging Rebel and after looking around, decided to pick up this book for my Kindle. It is the "real" story of the Twin Peaks Massacre, a 2015 fight in Waco, TX. If you've heard about it, most likely what little you remember is that it was a battle between two "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs," over drugs or territory or something. Well, the truth is... not so much.
Unlike mainstream media coverage of this event, which seemed to exclusively use sources that are biased against the bikers, Donald Charles Davis looks at it from the other angle, using biker testimony and court records and uncovers some very disturbing facts. The meeting at Twin Peaks that day, presented as a "rumble" by law enforcement, was actually a pre-planned, regular, meeting of many different motorcycle clubs and independents (riders not associated with a club.) The club presented as the victims by LE (the Cossacks) weren't supposed to be there, but showed up early and were waiting for the "villains," the Bandidos to arrive. During the fight, many of the victims (9 died, 18 were injured) were shot by police, who were at the restaurant in force because of rumors (which later turned out to be from confidential informants within the two MCs.) Over 170 people were arrested, some of whom weren't even there when the fight was on, and all were assigned $1,000,000 bail, which kept them in jail until the media spotlight turned elsewhere.
And it goes on from there. Davis speculates, with some solid evidence, that the shootout was spurred on by Waco police and that Waco law enforcement conspired with the District Attorney and numerous Federal and state organizations to deny 170 people their basic rights. After reading the book, I think that there is sufficient evidence of it to necessitate an independent investigation -- can you imagine showing up for what was presented to you as a "Sunday Funrun," and, because you had a patch on your jacket that said "I support the Fat Mexican," you find yourself under arrest, thrown in jail under a $1,000,000 bail and left there for weeks or months until someone decided to reduce the bail to a reasonable amount, and then find yourself indicted for murder and "participating in a criminal enterprise," despite zero evidence, apart from that patch?
Disturbing, to say the least. Are all of these bikers innocent? Of course not. Are some of them? Absolutely! Will they get a fair trial in Waco, TX? Davis presents enough evidence to seriously call that into question.
Okay, so why the three star review of a book that I enjoyed and consider reveals a controversial incident that bears further investigation? Two reasons.
First, Davis is, admittedly, not a professional journalist, so he lacks the polish one normally expects in a book of this nature. He desperately needs a copy editor, at least -- there are sentences that are a grammatical nightmare, some that border on nonsensical, the result of someone who relies on a spell checker in their word processor, but who subsequently has no one actually read it until after it's published. Unchecked Autocorrect is a bad thing, and Davis falls victim to it all too often.
Secondly, while I understand that Davis is writing for a casual audience and is using a blogger style, he editorializes so much that it eventually becomes off putting. He often proceeds or follows important statements of evidence with colorful remarks of this own. For example:
"Then Reyna sang his song and danced his dance. 'Judge, there's... there is somewhat of an issue with respect to DPS. Early on we were informed... I say 'early on.' we were informed that early on, DPS may have been a part of that. Not here locally, but out of town, may have been a part of that initial investigation with respect to the Bandido organization."
That's an important admission by Waco LE that speaks to the issue of what they knew of the real issues between the Cossacks and the Bandidos, but Davis taints it with his preface about song and dance. Present the facts, let the reader cast judgement on them.
In summary, this is an important story of an ongoing series of events, and I encourage others to dig past the "bikers shooting up a family restaurant in a fight over who can wear a 'Texas' rocker" and see that there is more to the story... on some levels, this is about basic rights that we take for granted and don't seem to mind denying to others that we've been taught are "bad guys." Bad guys or not, they still deserve the same protections that we do.
While he may not care, I would encourage Davis to cut back on the editorializing and get someone to carefully read his manuscript before publishing -- with those two minor efforts, this would have been a five star review.
January 15, 2017
Probably the best picture we will ever have of what happened.
The narrative is tangled because the facts are tangled. The real story here is less who shot first than the travesty of justice this has become. Dozens of innocent people held for the supposed crime of attending a meeting, who did nothing criminal. Every American should see what our criminal justice system has become.
The narrative is tangled because the facts are tangled. The real story here is less who shot first than the travesty of justice this has become. Dozens of innocent people held for the supposed crime of attending a meeting, who did nothing criminal. Every American should see what our criminal justice system has become.
December 6, 2016
Cconfusing
It's an "ok" accounting of the events. The writer can be difficult to follow and in many instances, I felt his work was not proofed before publication. This made it difficult to connect events in a chronological order, much less make sense of a complicated event.
It's an "ok" accounting of the events. The writer can be difficult to follow and in many instances, I felt his work was not proofed before publication. This made it difficult to connect events in a chronological order, much less make sense of a complicated event.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews