One of Australia's largest outlaw motorcycle gangs has turned its recent Canberra memorial ride event into high production membership promotional exercise, with some carefully disguised "crime" thrown in for good measure.
A five-minute YouTube video - an undisguised recruitment tool - has been produced of the Comanchero national event, which was held to "commemorate" the 40th anniversary of Australia's most violent and bloody bikie gang confrontations, the so-called "Milperra Massacre".
Canberra was chosen for the memorial ride because the ACT government has rejected the introduction of the anti-consorting laws, which apply in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
Police in the ACT, including the organised crime team, monitored the gang members' movements as soon as they began crossing the border on Friday afternoon, September 5.
The NSW Raptor South team, formed to disrupt organised crime and bikie gangs in the NSW southern region, had been deployed at all major highway connections into the ACT.
The latest Comanchero video was filmed by a Sydney production team which pre-shot some scenes beforehand, then mixed in some steadi-cam and go-pro video from the weekend's events in the ACT.
The video seeks to promote all the trappings and "personal benefits" of bikie gang membership, such as gold chains, private jets, and a "brotherhood" which gathered in number in the industrial suburb of Mitchell before riding in number, in club colours - as they are only permitted to do in the ACT - around the territory.
There's a special appearance in Canberra, too, of controversial national president Alan Meehan, shown delivering what appears to be a rousing address to the members.
Not captured on the video however, was the significant hassles that all the OMCG members underwent from police on their way to the ACT.
As a mandatory requirement, all those participating in the ride were directed down Heffernan Street in Mitchell, which was blocked off and turned into a single lane drive-through, with around 60 police in attendance.
All bike gang members' names and details were recorded, videos taken, and their bikes scrutinised for defects.
Police from all over Australia - including the Northern Territory - came to Canberra and intelligence gathered on those gang members who attended - from "chapters" around the country - can be expected to be shared nationally.
However, the visiting bikies still managed to break at least one Commonwealth law and escape unscathed: after gathering for the group scene at Russell - presumably because The Eagle monument is a symbol shared by the gang - the video producers sent a video drone up into the skies over the high security defence buildings.
For anyone else, this breach would have incurred a minimum $1650 fine from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
At the Milperra Massacre, on Fathers Day 1984, members of the Comancheros and Bandidos came together in a bloody shootout in a carpark at the Viking Tavern. Seven people were shot dead and 27 injured in an event which was seen as the trigger for laws which specifically targeted OMCG members.
The Comanchero event is the second national bikie gathering in the ACT in the past six months after the Rebels came to Canberra in late March and held a major rally at the greyhound racing track in Symonston.
