Video shot from the balcony of One Eyed Jack's, Wednesday night (Aug. 10th) of a fight in downtown Sturgis. The witness who shot this video said he was talking on his cell phone watching the Hells Angels Sturgis headquarters when all hell broke loose!
"I heard popping noises and looked down. Probably 20 Hells Angels and Mongols were going at it, fighting, etc. Within a minute, the Sturgis Police were at the scene, guns drawn and taking control. Notice the women in the clubhouse coming out with their hands over their heads. We had noticed the Mongols eating outside at the restaurant while walking in. Wonder if it was a turf deal since the restaurant is directly adjacent to the Hells Angels clubhouse?"A member from both groups was stabbed during the downtown Sturgis gang fight between the Mongols and Hells Angels on Aug. 10 , which may also have been a contributing factor to smaller crowds at the 71st Sturgis Rally, Sheriff's Chief Deputy Tom Wilts told the rapidcityjournal
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally by tradition is considered "neutral territory."
Following the 70th anniversary rally, it seemed likely the 71st Sturgis Rally, Aug. 4th to 14th would draw fewer rally fans. But many who were at this year's rally said every campground had vancancy signs and the crowd was 30 to 40 percent smaller than the estimated half a million crowd that attended Sturgis 2010.
According to traffic counts in and out of the rally, released to the Associated Press by the State Department of Transportation, attendance was down nearly 12 percent from last year's estimated 466,769 that was up from 442,163 in 2009. The 60th rally in 2000 drew the biggest crowd so far, an estimated 633,000.
The City of Sturgis issued 719 vendor licenses for the 2011 Sturgis Rally, down 5.5 percent from the 761 issued for the 70th anniversary rally. Sturgis is also "aging out" as a rally, according to a recent survey: 61% of the Sturgis crowd is age 41-65, including 38% that are ages 41-53.
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