There continues to be fallout from the deadly shooting at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo. Two motorcycle clubs—the Iron Order and the Mongols—were involved in a fight that sent several people to the hospital and left one biker dead. Now the venue for the yearly event is pulling out and cancelling the event.
Colorado Motorcycle Expo Cancelled
The Colorado Motorcycle Expo has been running since 1978, but the long history of the event still wasn’t enough to keep it in the National Western Complex (NWC). The President and CEO of the NWC announced in a news release on May 26th that the Expo would not return to the venue for 2017.
After months of research and discussions, the CEO says that growing concerns for public safety have forced the NWC’s management to cancel the expo, and it doesn’t come as a surprise to some. The Iron Order has already been banned from events organized by Pro Promotions Inc.—which sponsored the Expo and other motorcycle events all over south Colorado—and military commanders at several bases in Colorado have been discussing the possibility of banning soldiers from participating in the Iron Order—those bases already ban participation in Mongol events.
The Denver police are now claiming that a fight over a stairwell is what sparked the deadly events at the January convention, and because of past conflicts between “1-Percenters”, they cannot guarantee that future conflicts won’t happen. This means that the behavior of only a few riders has ruined opportunities for the majority of Colorado riders and motorcycle clubs. Most motorcycle clubs are charitable organizations helping the community in any way they can, but for now, they won’t be able to gather for the Colorado Motorcycle Expo. Or will they?
No one has ruled out a change of venue for the 2017 Colorado Motorcycle Expo, and even the organizers at the NWC say that they are open to review possible future shows. Do you think the Expo will move to a new venue? Do you think it will be safe? Tell the lawyers who ride what you think on our Facebook and Twitter pages.