Grayslake Police Department received information, late Friday afternoon that the guy above was heading in from Mianus Connecticut to the show. To stop the good people from going blind, Village officials revoked the permit for the show to take place.
In all seriousness, here is the press release from the Village of Grayslake web site on Friday at 4:40 PM:
Based upon law enforcement information obtained today, Grayslake officials have cancelled the permit for the Ironhorse Bike Show event that was to be held Sunday, May 4th at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Based upon the information obtained, the Grayslake Police Department became concerned about circumstances which threaten the health and public safety of those attending the event and the people of Grayslake. In light of this new information, Grayslake officials felt that adequate protection could not be maintained and the cancelling of the permit for the event was in the best interests of the health and safety of the public.
Being an organizer for the Round Lake Fest, the last several years, and also being a fellow "biker", I don't want to jump conclusions. I have read many comments in locals news feeds. I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions. Not that I am backing the Villages decisions to pull the plug but here are my points in no particular order:
- If the Village of Graylake really thought by having 20,000 plus riders (creating havoc) at the Fair Grounds, they never would have issued the permit.
-The local police knew well in advance what the plans were. Even the organizer of the event made that statement on his own site.
I was told by a source (reliable?) that the Hells Angels had some "issues" to deal with another rival biker club, the Outlaws. That the Hells Angles were on their way to the Show to be confrontational. I also read that in two different sites.
If you go back and read the press release, it states "Based upon law enforcement information obtained today.....". The last thing anyone Village Official wants to do is revoke a permit. I am glad I was not the one making the call but in the end, you need to keep the public, as well as the people in attendance at mind. Not that this is a family event but it is an all ages event. Do you really want your kids and family mixed in with 40,000 people (notice I didn't say bikers) when a potential riot may break out? Again, that last comment is all in speculation that the source may be true. I am sure the Police have a good explanation. I have a feeling this is not the end of the story.
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