=v= As I look through the various media stories and broadcasts
about last night's Critical Mass ride, I noticed that many
repeat allegations from the NYPD's press release. Namely:
(1) Bicyclists were supposed to follow a set route.
(2) Some created a "breach of faith" by leaving the route.
(3) The arrests made were for leaving the route and then
allegedly doing various traffic offenses.
=v= I would like to correct the record on these points. First,
the court order did not stipulate that bicyclists had to follow
a set route. As the judge pointed out in his ruling, the police
are there to enforce the law, not create it. The NYPD handed
out a flyer that described a route and threatened arrest for
those who didn't follow it. I did not read this flyer when I
started the ride, so I did not know this.
=v= It was impossible to veer from the route. The police backed
up their imposition of the route by stationing hundreds of cops
at every intersection.
=v= At various points the police diverted bicyclists from the
route. I myself was diverted off the route by the police (not
knowing there was a route). We ran into other groups of
bicyclists who had also been diverted by the police. If anyone
was acting in bad faith, it was the NYPD.
=v= I do not know whether any bicyclists spontaneously broke
away from the route (as the _New_York_Times_ describes it).
I did not see any opportunity to do so because of the cops at
every intersection.
=v= If you were on the ride and witnessed this sort of stuff,
I urge you to contact the media and set the story straight.
As much videotape of the police diversions as possible would
be nice.
=v= Late last night, so most media don't have any coverage of
this, the NYPD cut some locks near the TIME'S UP! party and
stole some bicycles. IANAL, but this seems to be in violation
of the federal court order. The bicycles were locked to a gate
where bicycles have been locked for years, so this clearly a
case of selective enforcement.
<_Jym_>