Unfortunately we do NOT pay officers to "protect" us, we pay them to uphold the law. In this case the bicycle ride pictured is generally considered ILLEGAL. I am not saying it is or is not illegal BUT NYC has the assumption that it is. The police officer in the video obviously believes it is illegal and has gotten frustrated at all the people riding by and "breaking the law" in plain view of him (the symbol of law). Obviously he cracked and took it out on the next guy past. I wonder what the video does not show... The bicyclist before he got to the officer. Did he make faces at the officer, was he swerving towards people on the sidewalk, what led up to this scene? I wonder also if there was something back down the road with this particular biker that was radioed ahead from another officer. You cannot tell ANYTHING from this video except the end conflict. No beginning, No middle, just the end...

Closing argument... YOU are responsible for protecting YOURSELF, even if it is from a crazed police officer. Police can only respond, they cannot "protect" since we (the USA) cannot afford to pay one police officer for each person It is madness to think they can "protect" us, when they can only respond.

The NYPD has taken away his gun and badge. I trust they will take away his job, some of his money in the form of fines and hopefully his freedom as well.

That is how people in America protect themselves from bad cops. We use The Power Of The Law.

Assault committed by a police officer is not "upholding the law." A police officer losing his temper (if that was the cause of his behavior" is no more upholding the law than is a private citizen losing *his* temper in frustration.

When a police officer "cracks"...he's no different from anyone else except as he thinks he has special rights and you think he has special rights. In the law, a police officer has no right to abuse citizens because he's frustrated, because someone made a face at him (which is purely your supposition, because you want to believe police do no wrong.)

Nope, no supposition that police do no wrong, in fact just the opposite if you read what I said not what you assumed I said.

I said, do NOT expect someone else to do your job of protecting you, even if he is a police officer, or in this case protect FROM the police officer.

Also do not assume to know the whole story from a video clip on You Tube. I do NOT know the whole story, I was not there, who knows what happened before and after. The internet is full of clips of prominent people doing things that look bad, out of context.(look up Obama not saluting during the Nat Anthem or just about ANYTHING Bush says)(I love Snopes)

The officer DID go over the edge. The officer DID hurt the bike rider. Who was protecting the biker? No one. Guess this proves the point that police cannot "protect everyone". Never can, never will. They can react, pursue and prosecute, and in this case I hope it is not the biker.

p.s. A little research turns up the long and angry dispute between the Critical Mass monthly ride and NYC police. Guess it reached "Critical Mass". "Can't we all just get along?"

When it comes to Critical Mass rides, the NYPD has a history of ignoring the law. Critical Mass is using the court system to fight back.

The man in an NYPD uniform assaulted a citizen who was violating no law. The man in the NYPD uniform may well go to jail because Critical Mass is using the law and the criminal justice system to protect their riders.

When it comes to assaults by the NYPD, Critical Mass is being very civil and restrained. Some NYPD officers, on the other hand are proving themselves to be criminals by assaulting innocent riders. Critical Mass is doing the city a service. They are willing to put themselves in harm's way to ferret out these thugs and working to see that they are forced out of the police department and put into the loosing side of the criminal justice system.

By doing this Critical Mass is performing the very patriotic task of "watching the watchers."


Edited at 2008-07-30 05:22 pm (UTC)

I didn't, I don't, I won't presume the cop is innocent.
Even IF something else we do not see upstream happened, the officer over reacted!

Unfortunately Critical Mass WANTS this to get blown out of proportion so their "message" will get out and 30 more cities will start a group blockage of vehicular travel once a month. You cannot buy this publicity (well,,, for 300 bucks). If they did not want all this attention, if they just wanted the biker freed, they would NOT have posted it to You Tube and would have handed it to the judge for review. Darn that guy for asking money for the video clip when he knew full well a news agency would have paid $1500 easy for that clip.
I am just glad Critical Mass is a peaceful organization worthy of being called a watcher of the watchers.
http://www.komonews.com/news/25943149.html

Interesting comments on a bicycle web board http://www.sorba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&p=227090

Anyone who videotapes an officer of the law violating the community trust should make as big a fuss as they can.

In your future comments, please make your links clickable and quote the relevant passages from the web pages you are referring to. The link should just be for verification. If you do not do this, I will delete your comment.

I would also prefer that you stop posting anonymously, but that is a preference, not a rule.

Who are you? Witnesses who have no connection to Critical Mass said the guy did nothing to provoke the cop. And anyway what if he had made a face at him? This cop assaulted a guy. "Obviously he cracked..."???? So what. Lots of people crack and commit crimes and they all get in trouble. "Cracking" is not an excuse nor a valid defense. It's weakness and in this case it is criminal assault. To make matters worse, your poor fwustwated officer lied about the whole thing. And then he got caught lying. I guess Officer Genius Jones was so busy cracking and body slamming cyclists he didn't notice a couple of tourists shooting a video of the whole thing. You say "YOU are responsible for protecting YOURSELF...". So what should that guy have done when Coppy Cracky, this noble "Symbol of Law" came flying at him? What would the correct response have been in your opinion? (Don't answer if you are not going to identify yourself. Anonymous comments in threads like this are cowardly.)And besides, Critical Mass was fine until the Republican COnvention came to NYC, then all of a sudden it was the worst thing in the world. People all over are bellyaching about global warming and greenhouse gasses and high oil prices, but a group that is really trying to make the country safer and more accessible for bicycles is being reviled. They are right. People's big complaint is that they block traffic. In the middle of the night. Once a month, for maybe a few minutes at any given intersection. YOu know who blocks traffic all the time everywhere? Car drivers. Critical Mass is not the bad guy here. If the cities where they ride had bike lanes and were bike-friendly in general, this would not be an issue. Show your face or shut up.

WELL SAID NDOZO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I ever get in trouble, I want you as my lawyer, even though you're not a lawyer. (But I'll try to not get in trouble.)

I'll b yr LOLawyer anytime!

Yes, I saw this video the other day. Disgusting and infuriating. I agree, when those who we deputize with the powers of the state (and the power of guns) abuse that power, they should pay that much more than any other citizen.