One of the nine bikers killed outside the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas served in Vietnam, and was a Purple Heart recipient. Although some news accounts have claimed all nine of the slain bikers belonged to criminal gangs, he was not even a member of a motorcycle club, and had no criminal record.
According to an Associated Press review of Texas Department of Public Safety records, and Texas court documents, Jesus Delgado Rodriguez of New Braunfels, Texas, had no criminal record.
“They’re putting a bad name with Jessie, that he was a Bandido and a gangster. But he is a good-hearted guy, a lovable father and grandfather, and a good friend,” Rodriguez’ friend Carlos Castillo told a KSAT reporter. “He didn’t carry a weapon. He wasn’t a violent person.”
The Purple Heart recipient was 65 years old at the time of this death.
According to Military Times, Waco police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton told the AP on Wednesday that all those killed during the Twin Peaks shooting on Sunday were members of two rival motorcycle gangs, the Bandidos and the Cossacks.
Rodriguez served in active duty as a Marine from 1969 to 1973, and received the medal given to those wounded or killed in action – the Purple Heart. He also received other awards, including a Navy commendation medal.
The man’s son-in-law, Amado Garces, told the San Antonio Express-News that his father-in-law would never have gone to the restaurant if he knew that violence would occur there.
His family also said that although Rodriguez had been a member of two motorcycle clubs that are now defunct, he was not a violent man.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2