If you live in Boulder City or planning on visiting the city, don't plan on a nice quiet weekend. The Mongols motorcycle gang is coming to town for their annual meeting.
From the LVRJ: Some people smiled.
Others crossed their arms and frowned.
One woman in the front row chewed her fingernails.
More
than 50 people attended a special Boulder City town hall meeting on
Tuesday to air their concerns and get more information about the Mongols
Motorcycle Club's three-day national meeting rolling into town this
weekend.
The second-story city hall meeting room was crowded with
business owners, city officials, police officers, parents, and members
of the Mongols, who stood in the back wearing black leather vests.
"I
want to be clear," Boulder City Chief of Police Thomas Finn said. "I
want this to be an informational meeting, not a confrontational meeting.
This is a meeting of the minds between those who are coming here to
enjoy an event and those in the community who have concerns about what
they perceive might happen."
The dialogue that followed unfolded exactly that way.
Finn
explained how the weekend's additional law enforcement presence -
staffing that includes officers from the Metropolitan, Henderson, and
North Las Vegas police departments, and potentially representatives from
the FBI's Las Vegas field office - will cost Boulder City taxpayers
little because the outside agencies are volunteering their time. He also
addressed residents' concerns about potential problems caused by rivals
of the Mongols, most notably the Hells Angels. The two groups have a
history of conflict in Southern Nevada. A 2002 brawl at Harrah's casino
in Laughlin left two Hells Angels and one Mongol dead. Another fight
between the groups took place at a Las Vegas wedding chapel in 2008.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/mongols-convergence-in-boulder-city-raises-concerns-anticipation-159676505.html
Boulder City is right by the Hoover Dam and the city doesn't allow gambling in it's tiny town. The downtown area is almost like Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show. It also has some of the most spectacular views of Lake Mead you could imagine. Finally, it has a huge herd of Big Horn Sheep that you can get very close (10 feet or less). It has few bars in the city and the drivers in the Las Vegas are horrible and riding a motorcycle is like death wish.
So, why are the Mongols coming to Boulder City instead of the Las Vegas Strip or Fremont Street downtown? Maybe they want to stay out of trouble?
But it is what it is. So, will the Mongols treat Boulder City like their own playground and ride roughshod over the town? Or will the police over react and bust some heads, giving the Mongols some sympathy and perhaps a paycheck from a lawsuit. Finally, the worst case scenario would be if a rival motorcycle came to visit and they have a rumble like they have had in Laughlin and other places.
I know, living next to Hwy 95, in Henderson, I am going to hear them when the gang goes down the highway but I do wish them a nice visit and hope no harm comes to them or to Boulder City. Otherwise, we'll sick Andy Taylor on them.
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