According to a report on The Gothamist’s website, “The police officer in the video has been stripped of his badge and gun and the NYPD has placed the unidentified officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation.”
According to a report on The Gothamist’s website, “The police officer in the video has been stripped of his badge and gun and the NYPD has placed the unidentified officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation.”
The last Manhattan Critical Mass I rode with, in July ‘07, had a big cop come up behind a slow-rolling cyclist in Union Square, grab him around the neck from behind, yank him off his bike and slam him to the pavement. This almost caused a riot, and ultimately the cyclist was “un-arrested”.
A local network TV news crew was there, but missed that action, and it never made the news. Luckily a photographer was able to catch it. For those interested, here are some links.
Audio slide show of the Mass: http://gazette9.com/brb/07/nyc/cm707
I hope these still work:
James Wagner’s pix: http://jameswagner.smugmug.com/gallery/3221973#177892130
and his blog report: http://jameswagner.com/mt_archives/006489.html
Looks like assault to me.
I’m glad it was caught on tape. Now there’s evidence and no way to deny the brutality. I hope that biker is ok…
I’m not a fan of the Critical Mass concept, but this is ridiculous. May a U-lock fall from the sky upon the Pig.
Apparently the cyclist was also arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and something else…
It’s clear from the video that the constable lied about the cyclist trying to mow him down, implying that his sucker-lunge and shoulder thrust were defensive maneuvers.
So, if the cop lies about the encounter, why should anyone believe him when he claims the cyclist was weaving and “forcing multiple vehicles to stop abruptly or change their direction” to avoid hitting him?
Hmm…I smell the unmistakable and highly repugnant odor of pigshit.
infuriating. doesn’t change my disapproval of CM, or my dislike of cops one bit.
clearly a case of rookie badge rage, but given his generational pedigree and the blue wall of omerta in the nypd, don’t count on him being out of action for long.
civil action, should mr. former soldier elect to pursue it, is likely the most effective course of action.
complete assault. however, what else would expect from a person who’s job is based on having others obey them under the threat of violence at all times.
I agree with Sumadis. I have grown weary of boat rocking Critical Massers. Get a clue, all you are doing is furthering the rift between you and those folks you are taunting in their cars.
Critcal Mass does nothing for the guy or woman who rides alone at night. Nothing except make them an easy target.
yea, critical mass is absolutely ignorant and really does more bad than good. I would like to hear if the guy spouted off to the cop before being smashed off his bike.
clearly excess force, but an impressive looking hit.
I was there. It was a clean happy ride for bicycle safety and awareness. It lasted for 2 hours with no issues other than the cops in Times square brutalizing a few kids…
> yea, critical mass is absolutely ignorant and really does more bad than good. I would like to hear if the guy spouted off to the cop before being smashed off his bike.
Don’t you think the cop would have mentioned that in his arrest report, instead of trying to claim that the cyclist was “forcing multiple vehicles to stop” when there weren’t any?
> clearly excess force, but an impressive looking hit.
The cyclist wasn’t wearing a helmet. If his head had hit the kerb, which looked entirely possible from the video to me, I would not have been surprised to read that he’d died. Nothing about what the cop did was okay or necessary; he made no attempt to signal for the cyclist to stop before endangering his life by assaulting him.
At the point when you hate Critical Mass so much that you’d be willing to see its riders die due to police brutality, you should take a big step back and question why you feel that way, and exactly what kind of police force you’d like to live with.
- Chris.
Terry - would it matter if he did say something rude of even offensive to the cop? Is violence ever a warranted reaction in response to something another person has said?
Especially when dealing with a cop, anything you may say falls under something called free speech.
video footage of a cop being a dick. way to go dick head cop, have fun pushing pencils. don’t tackle anyone while standing around the water cooler now, ya hear?
Chris - Well put.
Jeff, please keep UV updated as to how this case progresses.
If I was a bike rider and a cop did that to me I would hunt him down like a rabid dog and bust a cap on his ass.