Critical Mass Cyclist assaulted by Cop.

damoz

Not sure if this has been posted before :

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/new-york-cop-cleared-of-youtube-cyclist-assault-25840

The youtube clip in that article is distrubing. How he was cleared of assaolt im not sure, but looks like he still may be going down on false statment charges.

Lumen

BikeSnob has covered this several times.

It's an interesting one alright.



I'm not sure I have that much sympathy for someone who describes the assault as "he managed to halt my inertia and change my vector". Tool.

Ant

Lumen wrote: »

I'm not sure I have that much sympathy for someone who describes the assault as "he managed to halt my inertia and change my vector". Tool.

Agreed. After hearing that, I'd find it hard to take anything else he says seriously. Truly a cringe-worthy statement particularly if he actually described himself as a "couch-surfing stoner". I could picture a whole court room simultaneously facepalming.

I'm surprised that on a Friday afternoon Lumen resisted the temptation to point out that Long is reported as having worn red suspenders to court.

More seriously, it seems that police the world over abuse their power and get away with assaulting people by arresting the victim and then charging them with assault (without a hint of irony). I've seen too many people needlessly and violently attacked by guards that I'm now very skeptical of police reports on such incidents.

Viewing proceedings in district court can be an interesting experience. I've seen different gardaí provide different - and conflicting - statements about how an assault or public order offence was alleged to have happened only for the victim's statement to be corroborated by video evidence. District court judges don't seem too surprised by garda evidence which conflicts with that of their colleagues though I've yet to see any of them being charged with perjury.

Disclaimer: As someone who used to enjoy a few smokes when I was younger, I've nothing against cannabis smokers and I'm aware that it was actually red braces Long was wearing in court.

Harrybelafonte

Personifies what's wrong with critical mass

blorg

Ant wrote: »

Agreed. After hearing that, I'd find it hard to take anything else he says seriously. Truly a cringe-worthy statement particularly if he actually described himself as a "couch-surfing stoner". I could picture a whole court room simultaneously facepalming.

He certainly didn't help himself or the movement but frankly "couch-surfing stoners" have as much right not to be assaulted and falsely charged by the cops as anyone else. Last time I checked we were all equal under the law irrespective of tosserdom. Whatever you think of Critical Mass this case was really egregious.

dave2pvd

Lumen wrote: »

I'm not sure I have that much sympathy for someone who describes the assault as "he managed to halt my inertia and change my vector". Tool.

Yes indeed. He should have said:

"he managed to halt my momentum and change my vector"

Seriously, it sounds like the NYPD attorney was blowing a whole load of smoke, to cloud the issue at hand. (double pun win!).

I'd also like to point out that it would be marijuana, not cannabis that he would use to facilitate defecation.

SubLuminal

Its really important, to a civilised society, that the police do not dish out their own justice as they see fit - if the guy was doing something that was arrestable, he should have been arrested, and charged, and sentanced appropriatley after a trial with a verdicted decided by his peers. I don't care if he had his willy out with a swastika tattooed on the end of it, when the police are used to dispence justice to the population as opposed to collecting evidence for the judicial system and protecting the innocent then we're on the road to a police state, a totalitarian government, and I don't know about you but tienamen square didn't look like too much of a laugh to me. I know thats a big jump, from pushy cop to Chairman Mao, but my point is, that cop was wearing a uniform, a representative of the state, and his actions were the first steps down that road - steps which must be halted and retraced to make sure we maintain our freedoms and liberties.

Cop didn't like the guy on the bike fair enough - what happens when a cop doesnt like someone because of their sexual orientation, or their political or religious beliefs, are they too liable to have their vector halted, and their direction changed?

(I agree the last sentance is a bit dumb but fair play to our smokey friend, at least it sounds like he had a fun day out from it all)