Thousands of Bikers Pay Tribute in Funeral Procession to Boy Who Loved Motorcycles
The procession lasted for over 8 minutes.
— -- Over a thousand bikers drove in a funeral procession this weekend for a 5-year-old boy who loved motorcycles. Hunter Weiss’s life was commemorated by the entire community of Magna, Utah, and beyond with the surprising turnout.
The idea came from Hunter’s father, who asked some of his friends in his motorcycle club to ride in the funeral procession to honor Hunter’s love of motorcycles, Hunter’s aunt, Kara Foil, told ABC News today.
Word of the procession quickly spread on social media and on Saturday morning, thousands of bikers showed up.
“We expected maybe 100, 200 bikes,” Foil said. “Over 2,000 bikes came.”
The Greater Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority also attended the procession, flashing its truck lights and hanging an American Flag on the fire truck ladder over the procession of motorcycles.
One video shows Foil and her husband leading the procession with their motorcycle club, followed by Hunter’s father, who rode with Hunter’s miniature motorcycle and helmet attached. Hunter’s family followed behind, and then came a stream of motorcycles that drove down the road for over 8 minutes. The motorcyclists followed the procession to the burial grounds, where they paid their respects at the casket, Foil said.
“The amount of bandannas that were on his casket was amazing,” she said.
Hunter died on March 7 after a truck accident at his grandparent’s home, according to Greater Salt Lake Unified Police Detective Chuck Malm. Hunter was playing outside while his grandfather was getting ready to leave and told Hunter to put on his coat, Malm said. The grandfather did not see Hunter behind the vehicle, due to the visibility being "difficult for him to see," and began backing up his pickup truck, unintentionally running over the boy, Malm explained.
“We appreciate all the respects and condolences we’ve gotten,” Foil said.
She added that the tribute was “pretty emotional. It was amazing,” she said. “I don’t know how to describe it. Unreal.”
