ThomsonTalks

They rode singly or in pairs on state roads, county roads, and back roads that were latticed throughout the southern Appalachians of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. A few traveled east from small communities in Alabama. Most had departed their respective homes prior to midnight. Their ultimate destination was Atlanta.

They traveled light. None carried weapons. All licenses were in order in case they were stopped by police. There were 45 men and 3 women total. Their occupations varied. One was a middle-aged photographer, one sold cars, and others included a doctor, white collar workers, small business entrepreneurs, several farmers, and at least one person who operated a motorcycle repair shop. He was the leader and communicated with 4 team leaders by cell phone who in turn communicated with 3 squads of 4 motorcyclists each. Each squad had pre-assigned points to enter Interstate 285, the major loop circling Atlanta. Truck traffic was moderate along the 285 at 4 o’clock in the morning. The truckers on the loop were tired. Being tired was an occupational hazard associated with truckers.

Synchronizing times, the widely spaced cyclists awaited instruction. It came in one word. “Go.” Revving their engines they passed and scooted ahead of trucks in their respective lanes, then simultaneously did a strange thing. They all pulled to the shoulder and turned around facing the truck traffic. All carried what looked like flashlights. They weren’t flashlights, however… They were off the shelf handheld combat strobes that emitted blinding white light at the push of a button. A citizen could purchase these special flashlights for $185 by ordering on the internet. To avoid being traced, two cases of these special lights were stolen direct from the warehouse. It was always good to have a few UPS drivers on the payroll.

The tactic was simple. A cyclist traveling in northbound, southbound, eastbound, and westbound lanes of traffic turned around and rushed a truck or better yet, a pair of trucks riding parallel with each other. Having a motorcycle charging at you was distracting enough, but to be blinded by the white light of a strobe was disastrous.

Fifteen minutes from the start of the operation at least 250 trucks were jackknifed or overturned along the 285. Other trucks traveling at an average speed of 65 miles per hour or higher, slammed into the disabled trucks along with motorists trying to get an early start on the traffic. 75 drivers were killed and at least 300 were critically injured.  The 48 cyclists were on their way home before the first police cruiser or ambulance arrived on the scene of the widespread vehicular mayhem.

I-285 was clogged for a week. No one could estimate how many strobe wielding cyclists were involved. Commerce in Atlanta and several southern cities supplied by Atlanta was seriously disrupted for at least a week. Some truckers swore that the attacking cyclists looked like Muslims. Consequently Homeland Security checked the DMV records of all motorcycle owners having names like Mohammed or Hussein. Cyclists were pulled off the street and hassled by police and highway patrolmen. Within three days politicians had begun the “blame” game. There were calls for the mayor and police chief to resign. “The Great Georgia Truck Wreck” became an issue in the fall elections. “Law and order” candidates won the day. More than a few of the new office holders were clandestine members of the Magnolia Society.

As for the identities of the “cycle terrorists,” well, the FBI solved the case. After several combat strobe flashlights – curiously devoid of fingerprints – were found in a dumpster adjacent to an apartment house occupied by the Latin street gang MS 13, arrests were quickly made on the gang members for a variety of charges. Curiously none of the charges came as result of the “The Great Georgia Truck Wreck.”

Several months later at a private lodge located near the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia, fifteen members of the Magnolia Society worked on tactics for a general plan entitled simply, The Disruption Strategy.

Further north in Robbinsville, North Carolina, Curtis Lee Caughorn was opening a brand new Harley store with his silent partner, Dr. Thomas Shields, M.D.