Readers React: A racial double standard on gang shootings?
A McLennan County deputy stands guard near a group of bikers outside a restaurant in Waco, Texas, on May 17 after a shootout that involved two motorcycle gangs.
To the editor: I was struck how relaxed and casual the gang members fresh from a shootout, which involved more than 100 people and left nine dead, looked. Some were using their cellphones and schmoozing in small groups, a handful even with knives still on their belts. (“9 killed, at least 170 arrested after Waco biker gang shootout,” May 18)
Had these been gangs made up primarily of people of color, the standard operating procedure would probably have been for them to be on the ground, handcuffed, with helicopters and armored vehicles present. Police would be in riot gear, and tear gas would be in the air.
But boys will be boys — but only if they are white.
Isaac Hirschbein, La Mesa
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To the editor: The devastation of the motorcycle gang shootout was no doubt increased by the fact that 825,000 people in Texas are licensed to carry concealed handguns.
Guns don’t kill people; statistics do.
Kevin H. Park, Encino
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To the editor: Texans got it right: They are being attacked. They just got the wrong army.
Lorraine Knopf, Santa Monica
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