Video of Cop Assaulting Cyclist at Critical Mass Ride

I have to respond to the three who have somehow find a way to defend this cops actions.

He did not say stop, or halt.He just body checked someone. If you cannot see that in the video, you are really, REALLY, REALLY blind.

It doesn't matter if they were rude, or yelled pig, or whatever. THe guy was just body checked with no warning, and the cop proved that he had not done so by lying in his report.

And to the guy that says "hey, it all worked out i the end."

WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN NO VIDEO!!! THIS GUYS LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN RUINED, FOR ASSAULT ON A COP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you post here without looking at all the facts.

This was just police brutality. Period. Don't defend it, or I will believe you a Bad Cop as well. (I am not attacking NYPD as a whole)



[edit on 29-7-2008 by jasonjnelson]

A officer has every right within his power to stop you in your tracks if you insult or assult a police officer. I do agree that if this officer is found guilty of assult himself that he should be stripped from his duty and prevented from every being any form of officer of the law; however, I really would request that you just brush up on what police are allowed and not allowed to do. They can do just about anything if they feel their own safety is at risk.

I would like to add that both officers in the video have their attention drawn to the bike rider. They both begin to walk over in the direction of said biker and the closer of the two took him out. I do not hear anything from the officer; however, i also cannot say with full assurance that he did not say anything. The audio quality is not good, it is loud, it does look like the officer opens his mouth.. but thats only speculation. If the officer did say "stop" and the biker did not listen, he has every right to use force to stop that person. As we all know, people on bikes must follow the same rules and regulations as does someone driving a car.. if there was an infraction off the camera these actions are within the law. Please also note that the streets are not closed off or shut down for a protest. In theory, they are all obstructing traffic.


[edit on 29-7-2008 by ThirtySecond]

[edit on 29-7-2008 by ThirtySecond]

reply to post by ThirtySecond

I do find that a majority of people in areas that i work, and even on this site, do nothing but bash the police for the things that are supposedly doing wrong but then as soon as something of the smallest nature happens in their life,,, run to the police like little lost puppies.

where you work - maybe. But not on this site. Definitely not on this site.


Forcibly stopping the biker and knocking him off his bike are two very different things.

No. The cop aimed only to knock the guy off of his bike. I agree he may have said something that was undetected by the camera. But his goal was to make knock that cyclist. Look at the cop's body language. If he wanted the cyclist to stop rather than wanting to knock the cyclist down, he owuld have stepped directly into the biker's path, and held out his hand in the stopping gesture or pointed at the guy. In either case he'd have bee nyelling like crazy so the cyclist would know clearly the cop wanted him to stop and if he didn't he'd be the one assulting the cop by running into him.

But that's not what happened. The cop waited, rushed at the guy, and knocked him down.

Even if the guy called the cop a pig, that is no reason to KNOCK HIM OFF OF HIS BIKE!

If the cyclist just murdered someone and was running away from the police, MAYBE knocking him would be justified. But again, that isn't what happened.

If you are a cop, please try and get your fellow cops to stop stuff like this. Once the general public sees cops as a threat, the results are not going to be pretty.

[edit on 7/29/2008 by Dark Realms]

i would also like to point out that I feel the police report is not files with total honesty. If the officer had no made contact with the rider, the rider would have passed by. So where it states the rider ran into the officer... that is false.

If the cyclist just murdered someone and was running away from the police, MAYBE knocking him would be justified. But again, that isn't what happened.

Dark realms - Are you serious? MAYBE a cop can knock down a murderer trying to escape? I'm hoping that you would feel different if it was a murderer running from your house, unless you are incapable of feelings.

I agree with what Slicely said. In Seattle, we just had an incident with these 'cyclo-fascists" (as we do annually) where the Critical Mass "protest" intentionally and illegally blocked (as is their goal) a motorist who bumped into one and was mobbed. The goal of these people is to disrupt the flow of normal people trying to go about their lives. Here's an article about it.

seattlepi.nwsource.com...

Even in this mindless, liberal state of Washington the people are tired of this uprising in the guise of a protest.

With that said, I do not excuse the actions of the police officer in the video. He should be dealt with appropriately. I'm just pointing out that this is likely what Critical Mass is trying to provoke - they themselves are just thugs on bikes.

WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN NO VIDEO!!! THIS GUYS LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN RUINED, FOR ASSAULT ON A COP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of you post here without looking at all the facts. This was just police brutality. Period. Don't defend it, or I will believe you a Bad Cop as well. (I am not attacking NYPD as a whole)

If you are responding to my post you obviously didn't read it in it's entirety, or you missed the point.

I am not defending the cop. I am saying the cyclist appears to have been breaking laws previous to coming on the screen. He was obviously doing something to draw attention to himself that the other cyclists were not.

Critical Mass is a funtion that infuriates people - while in principle it is not designed to do that, that is precisely what it does.

Again, if you have not been in the middle of one of these CM gatherings, or haven't done your research on it, I highly suggest you do. It will give you a better understanding of how provocative they are.

I am a cyclist myself, and Critical Mass gives us repectable cyclists a VERY bad name.

To repeat, I am not defending this cop's actions - he overreacted and he should be punished for it. But to me, it doesn't reflect police problems, especially as a whole because of what provoked it in the first place.

Please educate yourself on the whole story. Making blind assumptions is one of the reasons ATS is getting so deluded and making the real points harder to prove and harder to support.

reply to post by slicely


THats funny. You ignored my point. Nice edit there.

How about the fact that the cop did not call halt, or stop.
Hell, they had to give frosty that warning, why not the cyclist.

And notice that the charges you assume are not mentioned by that cop. ust bogus ones.

Now what do you have?

reply to post by ThirtySecond


PLease tell me what town you are a cop in.

I like to learn where to avoid cops like you.

The fact is, there is NO excuse for taking down a guy that way. Of all the possibilities, why the one that would cause the most bodily harm?

I can't be insulted and do the same. I am not allowed to "protect" myself in the same manner... You and the two others are full of it...

This is why I continue to lack any respect for law enforcement and/or authority. What's worse is this pig of a cop actually had the audacity to turn the tables. Now not all pigs are the same but it is becoming increasingly difficult to side with them given the media coverage. Most likely just had his hair cut too short and had something to prove to his other pig peers. Putz.

brill

What I see in the video is an officer of the law going out of his way to stop a cyclist. Did he use excessive force? It looks like it. Did he actually say "stop"? We can't hear it to know.

What we do not see is if the cyclist did anything illegal prior to coming into the view of the camera. He could have mugged an old lady. He might have crashed into somebody or someone's vehicle. He might have knocked someone over.

This video just doesn't bring enough facts to light.

Originally posted by titorite
This is commonplace.


Commonplace.

This is common.

This is not an isolated event. Things like this happen everyday.

This sort of stuff happens everyday all across the USA.

Not out of the ordinary.

Are you disgusted yet?

Arent you ready to fight back yet?

THIS HAPPENES EVERYDAY!!! THIS HAS BECOME COMMONPLACE!!! THIS IS THE NORM!!!! IS IT OK WITH YOU THAT THIS HAS BECOME THE NORM!!!!!

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Commonplace policestate.

this is to true i have to agree, its so common.. if u look at any inner city u see this sort of thing all the time, ALL inner citys, and whats funny is the cops come out to the sticks. we got a local that was in the city did something similar, then he gets "caught" getting a blow job off a 15 yr old girl cause she was "underage" drinking, he gets "reduced" to part-time,transferd stations, last i heard he got demoted to "prisonguard"
they get as crooked as they come and still get to wear a so called "badge"
and if he readz this hahahahahaha. everyone in this area noes, but its to "inside" heh lame... real lame

Originally posted by ThirtySecond
We do not know what happened before this tape. I personally do not see any reason for the officer's action; however, what we do not see or what we do not hear may open up a new understanding within the subject matter. Maybe he did something up the block and the officer saw it.

Well, from what I gather from the articles, a judge ruled the "Critical Mass" bicycle rides were allowed, but the police don't like them!

Video of Cop Assaulting Cyclist at Critical Mass Ride

Another Critical Mass ride, another stunning display of police brutality. Watch as one of New York's finest violently shoves a cyclist off his bicycle, launching him through the air to the curb at 46th street and Seventh Avenue during Friday night's monthly Critical Mass ride.

Although a judge ruled in 2006 that the monthly Critical Mass bicycle rides could proceed without a permit, the NYPD's stance remains somewhat adversarial. Though the city has not been enforcing the controversial parade permit law when it comes to Critical Mass, police have been ticketing cyclists during the ride for such infractions as not having the required lights.

A representative for TIMES UP! tells us that the cyclist in this video was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest. One other cyclist was ticketed Friday night for riding outside the bike lane, which is not actually illegal and often necessary, considering how popular bike lanes are for double parking.

What it all seems to boil down to is that the NYPD just doesn't like the Critical Masss bike rides through THEIR city!

[edit on 7/29/2008 by Keyhole]

reply to post by ThirtySecond

They can do just about anything if they feel their own safety is at risk.

ME TOO!
(fingers pounding the keyboard)

Bust a move coppers....

I don't understand why the pig didn't draw down and fire a couple of warning shots into the guys head.

Fire the pig. Pigs aka Cops think they have the right to assault citizens in what ever fashion they so chose.

This is a post responding to illegal pig actions with insult meant only to bad pigs and not the good officers who know how to respond responsibly to citizens.

This pig shows absolute disregard to citizens rights to be there. So what if the biker drove over a line. Dose that call for brute force by pigs inc.

Originally posted by danj3ris
What we do not see is if the cyclist did anything illegal prior to coming into the view of the camera. He could have mugged an old lady. He might have crashed into somebody or someone's vehicle. He might have knocked someone over.

But, what we DO see is that none of these things are stated in the police report. Only bogus charges that he tried to run over said cop. Now, if the cyclist was a nuescence or did something illegal, wouldn't you think that would be stated as the reason for arrest rather than the bogus charge?

This video just doesn't bring enough facts to light.

But, the police report does. It shows us the "suspect" did nothing illegal except the bogus charge of trying to assault the officer with his bike. Which we can clearly see in the video did NOT happen.

I hate lying pigs. That's all the bad ones are to me and they do NOT deserve my respect until they show me that they do. I have had run-ins with cops, but once the officer and myself showed each other respect (even if I got a fine), I had no problem with said officer. It's the ones who think they are above the law and abuse their power that I have a problem with. Which, in my experience, is about 40% of the time. Not that I've had many run-ins but some.

Originally posted by Peepers
This pig shows absolute disregard to citizens rights to be there. So what if the biker drove over a line. Dose that call for brute force by pigs inc.

That was another bicyclist that they were talking about in the article crossing the bike lane white line.

The article said that that rider just got a ticket, and says nothing about the NYPD being violent or "brutalizing" him.

It sure would be fun to tackle that pig faced patrol boy off of a moving bike and see just how much fun he thinks it is.

Besides....Bikes have the right of way.....

Originally posted by Griff

But, the police report does. It shows us the "suspect" did nothing illegal except the bogus charge of trying to assault the officer with his bike. Which we can clearly see in the video did NOT happen.

I hate lying pigs. That's all the bad ones are to me and they do NOT deserve my respect until they show me that they do. I have had run-ins with cops, but once the officer and myself showed each other respect (even if I got a fine), I had no problem with said officer. It's the ones who think they are above the law and abuse their power that I have a problem with. Which, in my experience, is about 40% of the time. Not that I've had many run-ins but some.

Isnt it disgusting that some people will not even watch the video and come spout off a bunch of junk. The fact is the video SHOWED him trying to swerve to avoid the cop. The cop wanted a fight and he got one not realizing there was a camera right there. When you look at the video you see the cop looking around also as if he is looking to see if there are cameras around. Keep denying the ignorance Griff.

what are you all talking about? here in san francisco everyone who does not participate in it HATES critical mass. they cause so much trouble!!! they think they own the road, they kick cars, they spit at you, they flip you off...

its good to see we have dedicated policemen still in the US!!

As I understand it, that cop lied in a written and signed legally binding document. Isn't that perjury?

How can you ever really trust poeple, regardless of who they are, that are documented and blatently committed to lying.

And not just little white lies, their lies ruin lives and are destroying what little shreds of faith remain in the police force.