Motorcycle club featured in Pikes Pub viral video has a complicated history
James Fuller | For The Journal Gazette Aug 1, 2025
https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/motorcycle-club-featured-in-pikes-pub-viral-video-has-a-complicated-history/article_ffa3e21d-c6a4-4df5-a487-3f671e6e2922.html
The six individuals arrested on charges of beating a man at Pikes Pub – and scheduled to have a court hearing this month – appear to be tied to an organization founded 90 years ago in a Chicago suburb, 170 miles from Fort Wayne.
The Outlaws MC, also known as the American Outlaws Association, was identified as “the dominant (outlaw motorcycle gang) in the Great Lakes region” in a 2021 report. The club expanded throughout the 1960s, growing to more than 1,700 members worldwide at the time of the report, including 700 members spread across 20 U.S. states.
When Allen County prosecutors decided to seek criminal gang charges against the six suspects accused in the beating at Pikes Pub in May, it signaled that law enforcement viewed the case as something more sinister than bar patrons involved in a disagreement.
The Rev. Carlton Lynch is a cousin of James Simmons, the man on the receiving end of the beating. Lynch said Simmons lives near the pub and had been a regular there for the seven months preceding the incident.
Simmons, Lynch said, was at the pub that day to have a gathering for his birthday. The boyfriend of the pub’s owner didn’t seem to want such a gathering at the pub, sparking a disagreement that led to the calling of the alleged Outlaws Motorcycle Club members to beat Simmons, Lynch said.
“This was a setup attack,” Lynch said in an interview. “I’ve never heard of the Outlaws until this incident, but my understanding of the group now is that this is nothing new. They bully. They attack. They do whatever they can to bring about violence. This club is no different from any other gang in Fort Wayne.”
If the pub itself is directly linked to the Outlaws, and the Outlaws are shown to be operating as a gang in Fort Wayne, Lynch said the pub should be shut down. The status of the motorcycle club as a criminal gang is a key focus of the prosecution.
The pending gang charges stem from the Outlaws Motorcycle Club gear worn by the men involved in the alleged felony battery. The Outlaws MC has a history of members being prosecuted for various violent federal crimes in Indiana, throughout the region, and on a global stage via its international chapters.
Criminal activity by some Outlaws MC members has included arson, assault, extortion, homicide, prostitution, drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the current threat level posed by the Outlaws MC in Fort Wayne, citing the pending case.
The prosecution of that case may be the most high-profile legal crackdown against the Outlaws in Indiana since a 2012 federal indictment charged 51 Outlaws MC members, including two Fort Wayne chapter members, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act. The Fort Wayne members pleaded guilty and received sentences of 70 and 87 months in federal prison. That case also linked a Mexican drug cartel to the Outlaws MC.
Authorities also seized the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne clubhouses of the Outlaws, gutting the club’s Indiana presence – at least for a while.
Karen Richards was the Allen County prosecuting attorney at the time federal officials seized the West Main Street clubhouse. She said the location housed frequent, felony-level criminal activity.
“That clubhouse was the source of a lot of issues, and the neighborhood was not real happy about that place being there,” Richards said. “The Outlaws did not do the West Main Street area any favors when they were there.”
Richards also said the pursuit of criminal gang changes against the Pikes Pub suspects is remarkable in that it is an enhancement that, if substantiated, would lead to substantially higher penalties or prison time. Richards served as Allen County prosecutor from 2003 to 2023.
Richards said she can’t recall ever pursuing that particular criminal charge enhancement during those 20 years.
An element so far missing from the prosecution, in the eyes of Lynch, is accountability for the role race played in the beating. Lynch said the use of slurs by the men beating Simmons shown in widely circulating video of the incident shows race played a “high role in what transpired.”
“The wording was almost more terrifying than the actions,” Lynch said, referring to a derogatory reference used. Lynch said the offensive language “had more pain for me than to watch the actual attack. We are living in a bad time, and James is the victim. He took a beating for Black America that day.”
The Allen County Sheriff and Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center did not respond to interview requests regarding the current threat level of the Outlaws MC in Indiana. The Indianapolis Regional Office of the FBI issued the following statement.
“The only thing unique to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club versus other Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs is how they formed and how they view themselves as the ‘one percenters,’ which comes from a politician stating that 99% of OMGs are non-criminals. So the Outlaws Club dubbed themselves the 1% who are criminals.”
The Outlaws MC organization did not respond to interview requests sent through their official website and social media channels. A 2018 post on the club’s website argues the term “one percenter” has been misrepresented by law enforcement.
“The 1%er definition, as we see it, is one that explains our commitment to biking and brotherhood,” the post reads. “We work, have families and do all the things that our neighbors do. To say that 1%ers are criminals or people of a lesser moral code than the rest of society is a tainted opinion. The Outlaws Motorcycle Club is not a criminal organization. It is a motorcycle club. We have learned from the mistakes in our past and have worked quite hard to make our club a leader in the efforts of many clubs and bikers to ensure that the 1%er lifestyle will continue to grow.”
John E. Bunch II, known in the motorcycle club world as “Black Dragon” is the author of multiple books on the motorcycle club lifestyle and hosts Black Dragon TV, a popular YouTube channel and podcast about the culture. In recent weeks, his show and social media channels have featured multiple discussions of the Pikes Pub incident.
In an interview, Bunch called the fight an “assault” that was just as “brutal” as it was unsurprising in terms of its scale.
“This is normal in motorcycle culture,” Bunch explained. “When one fights, we all fight. That’s what’s going to happen to you.”
Despite that element of gang culture, Bunch said motorcycle clubs are not gangs and shouldn’t be collectively blamed or labeled by the behavior of individual club members.
“None of us call ourselves gangs,” Bunch explained. “The individuals involved must be held responsible. Putting that on the whole club and saying, ‘Oh, that’s a gang,’ I don’t think that’s fair. The club hasn’t broken the law; maybe some people did.”
Nearby residents have called for a review of Pikes Pub’s permits and licenses following the beating. The pub’s owner, Kelley Ruse, did not respond to interview requests.
Bunch said Fort Wayne residents shouldn’t judge the pub or the culture on this one incident.
“I’m not going to say motorcycle clubs don’t have bad boys in them that do bad (things) that absolutely need to go to prison. Motorcycle clubs have that, just like every neighborhood in every city in the world,” he said
.
“One of the biggest common misconceptions is that these guys are all bogeymen out to get the public. The community is going to have to make up their minds as to whether or not they want to frequent (Pikes Pub). The community might not like the kind of people in there,” Bunch said, “but does that rise to illegality because a tough motorcycle club is in there? I don’t think so.”
The six suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 11 for a hearing and to enter their pleas.
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