WACO, Texas, June 8 (UPI) -- Hundreds of bikers took to the streets of downtown Waco, Texas, on Sunday to peacefully protest the incarceration of more than 100 bikers connected to last month's high-profile biker-gang shooting.
Protesters wanted to send the message that bikers are not criminals and to condemn the reaction of authorities to the May 17 shooting at the Twin Peaks restaurant, where nine people died and 18 were injured.
At least 500 bikers attended the event.
"The [Waco Police Department] and other agencies involved has slandered every biker in the state of Texas as gang members and criminals repeatedly," the Facebook page for the "All for 1 Rally & Protest" event states.
The event organizers suggested protesters carry signs saying phrases like "we are not criminals" and "leather is not a weapon."
A "Biker lives matter" sign was seen in the protest, in reference to the "Black lives matter" mantra popularized after the high-profile deaths of unarmed black men by police including Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
In the aftermath of the Twin Peaks biker gang shooting, more than 170 people were arrested. About 100 remain in jail on $1 million bond.
Protesters said many of them do not deserve to be imprisoned.
"I think we're here in solidarity to support innocent people who have gone to jail who were in the wrong spot at the wrong time," protester Skee Dodson told NBC News. "We're doctors, lawyers and brokers, but we're not gang members, and I just want to make sure nobody mistakes me for a gang member."
