Posted on 07/30/2008 1:28:56 PM PDT by BGHater
A video showing a New York City police officer knocking a bicyclist to the ground has become a YouTube hit and cost the officer his badge and gun.
An anonymous bystander posted the 70-second video over the weekend. In two days, it was viewed over 260,000 times. Viewers had rated it five stars and provided 647 reviews as of Tuesday.
The video shows bicycle riders in Critical Mass pedaling through the streets of Times Square on Friday. The footage shows the incident first in real-time, then in slow motion.
The officer stood in the street as some cyclists passed by, then walked briskly toward the sidewalk as another cyclist approached. The bicyclist attempted to swerve out of the officer's way but the officer slammed against him and pushed him to the ground. The person who shot the video appears to be about 30 feet away and, although the sound of the bicycle crashing was clear, the video did not pick up any verbal exchange between the officer and the bicyclist.
Critical Mass is a group that rides through city streets monthly. Some people claim they do so in protest of or to draw attention to unfriendly bicycling policies. The rides take place in cities around the world. New York City police frequently clash with members of the group, who often videotape their rides. Police claim that some members of the group are overly aggressive by deliberately slowing traffic and harassing drivers.
In the latest incident, the officer was placed on desk duty pending the outcome of an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney. Bystanders said the officer's behavior was unprovoked, but a police report said the cyclist provoked the officer.
The cyclist, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was handcuffed, arrested, and charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct for allegedly obstructing traffic.
He is due in court Sept. 5.
Police arrested more than 250 members of Critical Mass during the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in 2004. Though members have asserted the arrests infringe on their rights to free speech, a federal judge ruled that local government has the right to regulate the rides.
In recent years, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken several steps to make the city more green and bicycle friendly, including adding bicycle lanes to several avenues and streets and announcing entire avenue closures to free up routes for bicyclists.
'The cyclist, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was handcuffed, arrested, and charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct for allegedly obstructing traffic.
He is due in court Sept. 5. '
The policeman makes me so happy.
My brother-in-law is a cyclist, if
only it had been he.
Wow, no excuse for that...the cyclist made an obvious move to avoid the cop.
Cop’s in big doo doo.
Ugly.
And then, in about 6 months, he’ll be due in civil court when he sues the ass off the NYPD and the POS cop.
Not only did he assault the cyclist,
HE LIED ABOUT IT ON A SWORN AFFIDAVIT.
Buh-bye, thug.
“The policeman makes me so happy. My brother-in-law is a cyclist, if
only it had been he.”
Ah, so you support police officers who assault people for no apparent reason. Perhaps it will be you next time.
It amazes me that an angry cabbie hasn't taken out a dozen of them yet.
I don’t understand the assault. The video says otherwise.
Mr Long will no doubt be riding in a stretch limo in a few months-courtesy of the taxpayers of NYC....
Amazing, innit, how quickly anarchists run to court.
I'm shocked, cops never lie /s
Indeed - the policeman saw the opportunity for a cheap shot and took it. Hopefully he’ll soon be asking customers “You want fries with that?”....
I guess everyone gets used to cyclist and stuff. Bike messengers are another story. Crazy.
Not much of one. No breaking, minimal swerving. Did you notice that the cop was in a crosswalk? If that cop had been a little old lady, there’d be a dead little old lady. The cop may well deserve a suspension or reprimand; the bicyclist deserves whatever broken bones he gets.
Hit- Referring to traffic accidents not from cops. lol.
There are always going to be rogue cops, in every jurisdiction. The issue is not whether NYPD has rogue cops, but what the department and the city do about it when one turns up.
That was a nice hit by the cop.. ..One has to wonder exactly why he singled out that particular biker, speculation has it that the biker did something further up the street and the call was made to stop the biker over the radio.
It was a joke but I guess we are getting PC even here on FR.
No kidding. That was a nice hockey check though.
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