Tensions between car community and police, group says they are not to blame

WINNIPEG (CityNews) – Some people call them criminals, others call them car enthusiasts, they call themselves Ruthless204.

It’s just after 11 p.m. on a Saturday night and you can hear Ruthless204 arrive before you see them. A large group of mostly stock cars rolling through Winnipeg with some members, like 17-year-old Zayd Kasem, not afraid to show off just how loud his recently safetied 1998 BMW 328 IS can be.

Many say it’s Ruthless and its members who are giving car enthusiasts across the city a bad name, and putting pressure on the relationship between police and those who live to be behind the wheel, and Kasem feels cars should be left alone.

“Bikes do have loud exhausts and it doesn’t matter, they don’t get any tickets or anything, but for us car enthusiasts, we always get tickets, it’s just a money grab,” explained Zayd Kasem, a Ruthless204 member.

However, the teenager says he hasn’t had too many run-ins with police, specifically the Vehicle Inspection Unit.

“I’ve never had any experience with it, mostly stock cars, that’s what I drive, I never modified a car yet, I want to. But it should be normal for us. That’s a stock car, and it’s just engine straight up, and they can’t give me a ticket for this, they can inspect it and it should be totally fine,” added Kasem.

Once gathered in a parking lot near the forks, the crowd of cars is relatively quiet, with no racing or drifting present, something Ruthless is infamous for, but for members of the group, which they say is like a tight-family, they’re ready to talk about their passion for cars and pushing them to the brink.

“That adrenaline you get from just pushing it to its limits is just unbeatable,” said Dillion Perron, another Ruthless204 member.

And while other car enthusiasts have stopped travelling into Winnipeg for Sunday Night Cruise and the like out of fear of being VIU’d, Perron, who travels into the city from St. Agathe, says he’s not concerned.

“As long as you stay stock, I mean, my car is all stock, so nothing is modified, so I’m all good, I’m not worried at all,” added Perron.

While Ruthless has a bad and rowdy reputation, there are those in the group who say some of it is a reputation they’re trying to leave in the rear-view mirror.

“We’re not as bad as a lot of people are saying, sure there’s a lot of bad apples, but in every hobby or community there’s bad apples, and we try and keep it calm. But if there’s people who show up and try to do crazy stuff, sometimes, there’s not much we can do, right?” asked Ruthless204 member Brennan Harrison.

The leader of the group itself says while he has never been targeted by VIU, he’s heard there has been a crackdown, noting one of the reasons the meet is currently closed, with the meet’s location disclosed day of to only the group of people, was to try and limit police presence. For him, he challenges the notion it was Ruthless responsible for raising tensions on Winnipeg roadways.

“This group used to be a lot more rowdy than it was now … I’ve talked to multiple people, either in other groups and in the police force as well, and I think that, especially in this last year, we’ve been a lot more tame. We’re doing our best to follow all the rules and we’re just trying to have a good time,” explained Evan Reimer, Ruthless204 leader.

Reimer invited those who feel Ruthless is at the root of the problem to attend one of the meets, arguing the perceptions many have are based on an earlier model of the group.

“I think the people who are doing that haven’t been to one of our meets in a very, very long time and probably don’t actually understand what our meets are about now, versus in the past, and I totally understand that, you see a couple of videos here and there from a ways back, and that’s what you’re going to roll with unless you know any better.”

Winnipeg police wouldn’t comment on Ruthless and the effect groups like these have on the dynamic in the city between police and the general car community as whole.

But for many at the Ruthless204 meet on Saturday, they say they’re not trying to be problematic, but instead want to gather and see what their vehicles are truly capable even if that means operating on the outside, and being ostracized, by the community as a whole.