ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A group of Albuquerque motorcyclists who serve as advocates for victims of child abuse claim deputies are forcing them to remove their vests with patches at District Court.
“We go through security like everybody else,” Frank Montano said. “At one time, we did not have these issues.”
Montano, the president of the Rio Grande Chapter of biker group Guardians of the Children, said it started about two years ago.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” he said.
Recently, Montano said, the local members of the GOC have entered District Court and been told by BCSO security deputies to remove the one thing that helps kids recognize who they are.
“All of a sudden we walk in and we’re told ‘You cannot wear your vests anymore, you need to wear them inside out,’” he said.
“Several of the officers have been rude to the group, especially the women,” Annette Torrez, chair of the New Mexico Motorcyclists Rights Organization.
Torrez said what these bikers are running into is against the law.
“It is our constitutional right, first amendment, to wear these emblems and patches in court,” she said.
KRQE News 13 reached out BCSO for comment and was told that there is no dress code or policy at District Court, but that in the past, security specialists were told by some judges to not allow this kind of clothing.
The GOC calls this profiling, lumping these bikers into a category of criminal biker gangs, something they’re far from.
“It doesn’t matter who wears what patch, if they’re good people, they’re good people,” Montano said.
BCSO said it does support the First Amendment rights of these bikers, but that they also have to uphold the requests of judges.
The GOC said it met with Sheriff Manny Gonzales last week, and that he was receptive to the group’s concerns. They were told the Sheriff would work with deputies on the issue.
