A Mongol leader promised a police officer that there would be no more trouble that night. At about 11: 30 pm, the Mongols finally left the Golden Nugget to return to Harrah's. Īt about 9:30 pm on 26 April 2002, a group of Mongols went into the Golden Nugget casino to surround a Hells Angel motorcycle on display in the front lobby to prevent anyone from seeing it. Detective Tom Allen of the Vegas police told Sher and Marsden: 'It was basically useless we caught a lot of stuff, but we missed a lot of stuff'. The Las Vegas police normally had 5 to 7 officers to monitor the River Run, but in 2002 owing to budget cutbacks the Vegas police had only 2 officers assigned to the River Run. And the Hells Angels were just biting their lips because they were trying to keep this clean image'. And every time the HAs didn't respond, that made the Mongols in everybody's eyes look like they were the 'badder' group. John Ciccone, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was present told the Canadian journalists Julian Sher and William Marsden: 'They just stood there and eye-fucked everybody. Prelude to the brawl Īt the Flamingo Hilton casino, a group of Mongols stormed in to stare at the Hells Angels.

The Hells Angels stayed at the Flamingo Hilton while the Mongols stayed at Harrah's. On 25 April 2002, Sonny Barger, the Hells Angel leader arrived in Laughlin for the River Run. 5 Hells Angels chapters in southern California. In 2002, the Mongols had 39 chapters in southern California vs. The Mongols had been expanding in southern California. The Mongols tended to be younger and many did not know how to ride motorcycles while the Hells Angels tended to be middle-aged and usually did know to ride motorcycles. The Mongols were 90% Hispanic while the Hells Angels were all white. The Mongols were the only outlaw biker gang allowed to wear California on their patches after winning a biker war with the Hells Angels over the issue in the 1970s-1980s, which caused much ill-will. Amongst the bikers who arrived in Laughlin were the members of the Hells Angels and Mongols. Every April about 100, 000 people arrive in Laughlin for the River Run. Laughlin is a town just 80 miles south of Las Vegas that in 2002 had 9 casinos and 8, 000 people.

The River Run riot was a violent confrontation between the Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs that occurred on April 27, 2002, in Laughlin, Nevada during the Laughlin River Run.

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