NYC Bike Protest: This is a big time to show that we won't be intimidated

[bigtree]

Police arrest 250 in mass bicycle protest

VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
Friday, August 27, 2004
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/27/politics2256EDT0813.DTL

(08-27) 19:56 PDT NEW YORK (AP) --

Nearly 250 bicyclists were arrested during a mass protest that passed Madison Square Garden Friday night, the first major police crackdown on demonstrators just days before a wave of activists were expected to descend for the Republican National Convention.

The cyclists had snaked through Manhattan for the monthly Critical Mass ride. But what was usually a crowd of hundreds swelled to thousands Friday, with organizers saying the excursion drew a horde of bikers who wanted to protest the convention.

Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said the cyclists had caused "massive disruptions" and endangered motorists trying to drive through the city. About 250 cyclists were arrested, including one for throwing a beer can at an officer, he said. The officer was uninjured.

During the ride, bikers chanted anti-Bush slogans, stifled traffic and, in some places, argued with motorists.

"I think they (police) want to set a precedent for how they want people to protest," said cyclist Jennifer Brustein. "This is a big time for us to show that we won't be intimidated."

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Couldn't have been a better group to get hassled.

This is going to make the cops look ridiculous, not make the protesters look dangerous.

All week, we were told to expect anarchists, Weathermen, etc.

What turns up?

Bicyclists.

To Mr. & Mrs. Middle America, 'bicyclist' equals 'weenie'. You remember all the sports talk shows on AM radio saying how cyclists weren't really athletes, and the bike does all the work for Armstrong last month?

The only thing less likely to cause Mr. & Mrs. Middle America to freak out would have been a Rosary pray-in by the Sisters of Charity.

[Cha]

4. Not exactly hippies are they? If we want to get into

labels like the media..more like yuppies!

[Cha]

2. I applaud them for their passion and activisim but I wish

they wouldn't get stupid.. "throwing a beer can at an officer".

Like Norman Mailer said in his article.."What I've Learned About Rage".."they are hoping for ugly attacks".

Not that the "ugly attacks" from the rw helped our cause in 2000!!

[bigtree]

3. So you accept the charges of the facist goon squad?

[Cha]

5. No! I guess I'm finally thinking about

Middle America. Is that what you meant?

[bigtree]

6. Middle america needs to get their heads out of their asses

and act. What is their responsibility to the rest of America?

[imax2268]

7. We can make a statement...

by not throwing things or giving the police an excuse to start cracking heads...that's what the media wants so they can blast it all over the news and make us look foolish...

[Cha]

8. I agree! But, throwing beer at police does not

help anything or anybody, imv..all I'm saying.

[a kennedy]

10. middle america, heads outta their asses???

Nope, ain't gonna happen. My neighborhood, no one in my neighborhood even knows about the overtime cuts. I mean really, middle america is NOT going to give a sh*t about this stuff. They don't read newspapers, listen to news, well, ok they get our fluff local news but don't get the "on line" info. Nope, Middle America are the swing votes this year, you know, soccer moms, NASCAR dads, etc, and they don't even know how high the stakes are this year.

[Erika]

13. My Nurse Neighbor Knows About OT

She lost OT wages last pay period enough to reduce her normal pay by 8%. Americans see it when it hits their pocketbooks. Hopefully enough paychecks will be hurt by Bush so workers can see what Bush is really about. And he's not about helping the average American worker.

[Eric J in MN]

9. I think the point is just because the police said a protestor

threw a beer can at a cop doesn't make it true.

People shouldn't do that, but we don't have enough info to know if anyone actually did.

[Stephanie]

12. There were 5000 of them

I watched them ride by. My friends were with them. One idiot out of 5000 is not too bad. Lots of critics around here.

[Erika]

11. This IS SO FUNNY!

NY police crackdown on bicyclists. Can you tell they have a GOP governor and mayor? This is almost as good as their crackdown on Mike Wallace.

[Stephanie]

14. Well actually I was surprised they got away with it as long as they did

The crowd was HUGE. It took fully twenty minutes for all of them to ride by. I can't see the street from my window but I heard them and finally I went down to see what was happening. Awesome.