The Cossacks Motorcycle Club or Cossacks MC are an American

outlaw motorcycle club An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture ...

. Said to be one of the largest outlaw biker groups in the state of Texas, they are best known for their conflicts with the rival

Bandidos Motorcycle Club The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is an outlaw motorcycle club with a worldwide membership. Formed in San Leon, Texas in 1966, the Bandidos MC is estimated to have between 2,000 and 2,500 members and 303 chapters, l ...

- most notably, the

2015 Waco shootout On May 17, 2015, in Waco, Texas, United States, a shootout erupted at a Twin Peaks restaurant where more than 200 persons, including members from motorcycle clubs that included the Bandidos, Cossacks, and allies, had gathered for a meeting abo ...

which left seven members of the group dead. They are said to be the second-largest biker club in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

History

The Cossacks Motorcycle Club was founded in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

in 1969 by a group of six bikers: Earl Swift, Charles Hanks, Butch Cheatham, Paul Henley, Tom Eliason and Carl Blair. The club was named after historical Cossack Horsemen of the Ukraine. Membership eventually grew in number, with many chapters being established across the state of Texas. Chapters of the club also exist in Ohio, Indiana and Virginia.

Criminal allegations and incidents

During November 2013, Bandidos MC Abilene Chapter President was arrested for the stabbing of two members of the Cossacks - one of which was the group's Mingus chapter President: Timothy Satterwhite. The incident occurred outside a

Logan's Roadhouse Logan's Roadhouse is a chain of casual dining restaurants based in Houston, Texas, United States, founded in 1991 in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. There are 135 Logan's Roadhouse locations throughout twenty-two states. The chain uses retro style ...

restaurant in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan stati ...

. Nearly two years later, on March 22, 2015, a total of ten Cossacks MC members forced a lone Bandidos MC member to pull off Interstate 35 near the town of Lorena (roughly 15 miles south of

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the List ...

). The members of the Cossacks then proceeded to beat the Bandidos biker with

melee weapon A melee weapon, hand weapon or close combat weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more impactful) extension of th ...

s including chains, metal pipes, and batons. Afterwards, those members of the Cossacks MC stole the motorbike that the Bandidos MC member had been riding. That same day, A group of either Bandidos or Bandidos-affiliated bikers (support club members), approached a single member of the Cossacks Motorcycle Club at a Palo Pinto County gas station (approximately 60 miles west of Fort Worth and request that the Cossack biker remove his 'Texas' bottom rocker. The biker responded with refusal, resulting in him being hit in the head with a hammer and his Cossacks MC vest being taken off his person. The

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

branch of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

was 'tipped off' by a confidential source on April 7, 2015 about a group of 100 Bandidos members expected to travel to

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

for the purpose of starting a gang war with the Cossacks MC. On April 7, 2015, the FBI's

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

headquarters were alerted to be on the lookout for potential conflicts between the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and Cossacks Motorcycle Club at the biker rallies held in the towns of

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Count ...

Hondo Hondo may refer to: Places * Rio Hondo (disambiguation), the name of several locations, derived from the Spanish word for "deep" Canada *Hondo, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Hondo, New Mexico, an unincorporated comm ...

, Midland and Odessa.

References

{{OutlawMotorcycleGroups Outlaw motorcycle clubs Gangs in Texas Motorcycle clubs in the United States 1969 establishments in Texas