You recall HB easyrider from Sunday's riots in Huntington Beach from the horrific cell phone video of the jerk-off ramming a stop sign through the front window of the shop at Main and First streets, followed by another jerk-off stealing a bike and a third getting into an unsuccessful tug-of-war with the owner for a $5,000 two-wheeler on display. Because others rushed in to help easyrider owner Bert Etheredge by chasing off the second would-be smash-and-grabber, that moment is being marked as an example of selfless community support. Amen to that, brother. But if the shop is still there a quarter century from now, will whoever owns it then identify more with the heroes or the vandals?
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“Remember the 80's in Huntington Beach?” asks the description of the YouTube video below posted by HB easyrider. “Where were you during the 86 Op Pro riots? We were there and we're still here… Come check us out… HBeasyrider 328 Main St. HB, CA 92648.”
Is that tacit approval of the rioters back in the day or simply a declaration that the shop stood through that and remains unscathed up to Feb. 3, 2011, when the video was uploaded?
The videos images against the Circle Jerks' “Wild in the Streets” (running … running) play to me like sympathy for the mindset of the '86 rioters. Then again, 27 years later I still cannot afford $5,000 for a bike (let alone a car), so what the fuck do I know?
See also:
More Arrests Pending in U.S. Open of Surfing Riots as Police Identify Those Facing Charges
6 Possible Sparks to the Riots That Broke Out After the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing Ended
A Eulogy for the OC Weekly Rack Destroyed During the Huntington Beach Riots
Taiwanese Animators Ape Surf City's White Riot
Chase Scott Christman Faces 3 Years for Role in Surf City Riots; Cops Close in on Stop-Sign Dude
Multiple U.S. Open of Surfing slideshows
Michael John Lytle, Surf City Riot Suspect, in Danger of Losing Fullerton Firefighter Job
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.