Vendors and exhibitors decried the presence of firearms at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo and noted the rising tensions among some biker groups over the past few years Sunday after Denver officials canceled the final day of the popular event.
In the wake of Saturday’s violence that left one man dead and seven hospitalized, the expo closed its doors on the 38th annual edition at the National Western Complex. The event is billed as the industry’s largest indoor swap meet
“We do get gang fights in England, but they try not to do it in public,” said Robert Lee, a frequent visitor to the expo from overseas, as he loaded a pair of motorcycles he had sold into a trailer on Sunday. “It is just wrong to bring guns to an event like this.”
The expo’s website featured only a brief message apologizing to vendors and patrons for the inconvenience, while leadership of the complex declined to comment, citing the active criminal investigation.
In the immediate aftermath of the conflict between two rival biker clubs, the show continued Saturday in a scene that one vendor described as “surreal.” Attendees went about their business in a venue where patches of blood and evidence markers hinted at the melee that had flared only minutes earlier.
Later Saturday, however, officials shut down the expo, putting an abrupt end to the weekend event. The expo had advertised 800 booths, vintage motorcycles and a wide variety of activities.
Lee said he had left his booth to get a bowl of chili when the shooting erupted nearby. Upon his return, police had already cordoned off the area, effectively ending any more transactions.
The violence “killed business stone dead,” he said.
Seven-year vendor Donald Haverland, who was showing motorcycles at the event with his wife, said he had seen altercations between packs of bikers at earlier expos, although nothing as serious as Saturday’s brawl.
“But I have noticed a level of antagonism increasing over the years,” he said.
When the couple first began coming to the show, Haverland said, bikers from different clubs often interacted on what they seemed to consider neutral territory.
More recently, he noticed a change in attitude.
Groups of bikers who ran into each other at the event would stare down their rivals — a development that made Haverland uncomfortable.
“I haven’t wanted to come for the past five or six years because I could see an escalation,” he said, adding that he came this year only because his wife insisted.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee
