News & Media 
Not Enraptured by Raptor
en·rap·tured: adjective. Full of joy, ecstatic, rapturous, rhapsodic. Feeling great rapture or delight.
rap·tor: noun. A bird of prey. Any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animals (Latin, one who seizes, from rapere, to seize)
My name is Dave and I am a Life Member of God’s Squad CMC. I have been riding bikes for 33 years, and I am privileged that over half of those have been as a patch member of God’s Squad.
I have loved bikes all my life; my first bike was a Suzuki TS 125 that Dad bought for me when I was in Primary School. I used to ride that bike every day after school, up in the State Forest near our home in the Hunter Valley. I used to pretend that I was the Fonz on Happy Days, riding his wild Triumph, being cool and chasing ‘chicks’. Fast forward. My current bike is a Harley-Davidson T-Sport, I am a father of 3 and my children constantly remind me that I am uncool - and I have been married for 17 years to the same chick....
In God’s Squad we have a saying that you may hear and see around a fair bit. It has almost become our club motto: Stand for Something or Fall for Anything. This means standing up for what you believe is right, no matter the cost. If you don’t do that then you can be blown or tossed about by whatever comes along. On a more personal level as a practicing Catholic, it also means responding to God’s call to love and serve Him, to show a preference for the poor, powerless & outcast and to fight for justice. It is about trying to let your light shine and to see God’s Kingdom come.
This is why we support the United Motorcycle Council, NSW in its key goals of promoting peace, dialogue and consultation between clubs, and mobilising the public against unjust, ill conceived and politically motivated laws.
Making a Stand: Prospect Hotel
As a representative of God’s Squad CMC, I attended the inaugural UMC NSW Meeting at the Prospect Hotel in April 2009. As was widely reported by Police Media and the Press generally, this meeting (effectively a Peace and Civil Rights Summit also attended by a prominent Barrister & QC and independent lawyer ) was broken up by Police from Strike Force Raptor very shortly after it started.
As was also widely reported, on the day all exits from the Hotel were subsequently blocked and all attendees’ cars were searched.
Now as it happens, our family is pretty passionate about playing sport, so on any day my car resembles a mobile Rebel Sports store. The range of sporting equipment in my car on this particular day included multiple baseball bats, balls, gloves and a cricket bat; but from this selection Police seized on a martial arts baton used in self-defence training ( I should also say that I am a qualified Black Belt Instructor in Okinawan Goju-Ryu, a traditional style of Karate-Do).
At this point I was charged with “have custody of an offensive implement in a public place”. This is a criminal offence under section 11B of the Summary Offences Act 1988, and an offence carrying potential imprisonment.
I had no previous criminal record, and was quite disturbed by these events. I made up my mind to fight what I believed was an extremely unjust charge. Following two listings and pleas of Not Guilty, at the final hearing at Blacktown Courthouse in October 2009 the entire charge was dismissed. The Magistrate ruled that the actions of the NSW Police Force in stopping and searching my car were illegal; in effect an abuse of their powers. He then ruled that the evidence against me resulting from this illegal search was inadmissible.
There is no doubt in my mind that this charge was a direct result of (at best) badly misguided intentions and a seriously prejudiced ‘guilty by association’ mentality. In any society this is a very concerning phenomenon.
However, this is precisely what is underpinning the patently unjust and procedurally unfair so-called “anti-bikie” laws. In reality these laws say nothing about bike clubs and could be applied to almost any organisation or group of people.
Whatever way you cut it, these laws are very troubling. These laws represent a serious diminution of the rights of all Australians from a Natural Law perspective. They compromise many of the precious precedents and processes established through the Common Law. They also breach many key articles of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights - a document which was formulated in the aftermath of World War II and is widely recognised as a high point in the history of Human Rights.
Conclusion
Jesus said “Do not judge by appearances, but according to what is right” (Gospel of St John 7:24).
Taking Jesus’ words a step further and based on my personal experience it could also be said that:
o A criminal record does not make you a criminal 24/7 for life.
o Being in a bike club does not make you a criminal.
o Associating with someone in a bike club does not make you a criminal.
We are very blessed to live in this great country. My hope is that the UMC NSW and other similarly-minded organisations will continue their good work: bringing people together in peace; providing a forum for reconciliation and constructive debate; and offering a voice of reason on the current human rights issues facing all Australians.
Patron Saints of Bikers
X Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal – Pray for Us X
X St Crispin – Pray for Us X
