Streetsblog Los Angeles

There will be full coverage of the ride Monday morning, but I'm happy to report that the first "LAPD sponsored" Critical Mass ride was an overwhelming success.  Not only did the LAPD escort the ride safely through the city, but riders and the police had a fun night joking back and forth as the bike cops, motorcycle cops and even the LAPD film crew in a four-wheel all terrain vehicle zipped through Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Fairfax, West Hollywood, Hollywood, and East Hollywood.  As we zipped up Fairfax Avenue towards the Grove and Pan-Pacific Park, one officer even laughed that he was having so much fun that he might do this every Friday.

But don't take my word for it, here's three videos shot in the CVS parking lot at Sunset and Western.

 

 

 

Responding to the poster put out last week by the LAPD inviting themselves to Critical Mass, at least one rider wasn't impressed.  Rider Plebis Power, roughly translated to Power of the People, posted a poster at Biking in L.A. that both lampooned the LAPD's flyer and made the point that the bad relationship between the LAPD and the cycling community is hardly just the fault of cyclists.  Where the LAPD creates a list of infractions that will earn cyclists a ticket tomorrow; Power writes a list of "incidents" caused by the LAPD at "recent group rides."

Ted Rogers, the Biking in L.A. author, writes that even the LAPD officer who created the original flyer found it amusing.

Critical Mass has gone mainstream.  Following last month's "Critical Mass Attack," where an officer was caught on tape kicking at cyclists' bikes before the cameraman was tackled to the ground, it seems you can't go anywhere without reading or discussing Critical Mass.  There have been press conference's, lawsuits, and even a promise that the LAPD will ride with Critical Mass in the future.

So with the LAPD joining what has been a raucous protest ride, one that hasn't had a smooth relationship with the police, what should be expected?  A violent clash?  Mas arrests?  An orderly protest?  Only time will tell, but the history of Critical Mass, both in L.A. and beyond, suggest that it is possible that two can exist.

First off, word is going out within the community that riders should work with the police and should try to avoid some of Critical Mass' more confrontational tactics, such as the rampant running of red lights.  An open letter to the biking community posted in the Streetsblog comments section, LAist, Midnight Ridazz and other forums states:

At the ride start of the Critical Mass on June 25th, there will be a faction of people, including myself, who will be encouraging something we are currently calling, "Project Civil Obedience", in which all cyclists will demonstrate what it means for 1000+ riders to obey all road rules. That includes stopping at every red light. We will also be encouraging mass riders to cooperate in choosing a destination to ride to so that they can reunite if they get separated by red lights from the main group. The plan will be to get to the destination within 45 minutes (a reasonable riding time frame).

In the same article at LAist,  Sgt. David Krumer worries that Critical Mass breaking off into smaller groups could inhibit the ability of the LAPD to police the ride.  But that puts the onus on them, they can either facilitate the ride being able to stay together in one group or figure out a way to deal with riders going in different directions to reach the same pit stops.  It's not like there's not precedence for having city officials cork an intersection.

Whether or not the community, as a whole, can play nice with the police has been a matter of debate.  It's not uncommon to see t-shirts proclaiming "LAPD hates bikes" or even read "fuck the police" on forums; but the call to work together to improve Critical Mass sees to be resonating.  At Midnight Ridazz, the bulk of the comments on a thread previewing Friday's ride are supportive of collaborating.

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Traditionally, small groups of bike riders from around the city gather together on the fourth Friday of the month and head to the Wilshire/Western Red Line Station to gather for Los Angeles Critical Mass.  This month, following what Streetsblog is calling the "Critical Mass Attack," a new group of riders will be joining the mass: the LAPD.

In a flyer being circulated to bike advocates and within the department, the LAPD has announced that it will be joining the June 25th Los Angeles Critical Mass to both show their support for the rights of cyclists to ride peacably in a large group, be the purpose party or protest; and to help weed out the riders responsibile for the vandalism and other mischief that's given Critical Mass a bad name.

It's been a common complaint amongst cyclists that some people use group rides as camoflauge for law breaking.  For months, the popular Midnight Ridazz forum was filled with complaints about a group of bike thieves from Koreatown that would join rides starting in Mid-Wilshire and use the ride as an cover to vandalize, steal, and tag.  In addition to giving the rides a bad name, riders were frustrated that the police would deem a whole ride as troublesome without listening to the riders who tried to point out the culprits.  This seems especially true of the March 2009 "Crank Mob" ride where a small group of riders shoplifted from a Ralph's on La Brea, a few more got drunk, and a massive conflict between the LAPD and the Mob broke out.

This flyer should also put to rest the idea that Critical Mass and other group rides are somehow an illegal assemblage.  The LAPD flyer states clearly that it supports cyclists rights to protest and ride together in large groups.

How will the LAPD and Critical Mass coexist together on one ride?  There's precedence for a mutually beneficial relationship, the SFPD and San Francisco Critical Mass have ridden together for years, and the LAPD has sent bike cops to other group rides, albeit much tamer ones, such as the Tour De Ballona rides co-sponsored by L.A. Streetsblog.

However, the devil will be in the details, and Streetsblog will be there to cover the ride as it happens.  For the first time since my son was born, I'll be hopping on Gunpower and riding Critical Mass myself with camera, flip vid, and cell phone all ready to go.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa responded to an open letter from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition concerning the incident from May's Critical Mass ride where the LAPD was caught on tape kicking at cyclists and attacking a different rider recording the incident.  Instead of his press office,  Villaraigosa uses the LACBC's blog to make his official statement on the attack, video and the LAPD's follow-up.

There's nothing ground-breaking in the response, the three sentences can be summed up as,"Cyclists have the right to the road and fair policing.  It's good that Beck is trying to make things better for cyclists.  The video is disturbing, but I trust the LAPD to make this right."  You can read the full statement at the LACBC Blog.

I've already heard some complaints that Villaraigosa's response wasn't stronger or didn't announce a policy change of some sort in addressing the assault.  But when you compare the Mayor's statement to that of another big city mayor in a similar situation, Villaraigosa's is actually a step forward when it comes to recognizing the rights of cyclists on a Critical Mass ride.

In 2008, progressive transportation hero and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg found himself in a similar situation after an NYP officer knocked a cyclist off his bike during a Critical Mass ride.  You can watch video of that incident here.  As was the case in L.A., the mayor responded after video of the assault made the rounds on the evening news. 2008 actually shows that L.A.'s Mayor is taking a stronger stand.  Unlike Villaraigosa, it didn't take Bloomberg ten days to respond.  However, Villaraigosa's, actually took the initiative on his own, instead of waiting for a reporter to quiz him, and he responded directly to cyclists on the LACBC's own blog.

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Friday afternoon at the Petroleum Building in Downtown Los
Angeles, Manuel Gallegos and his attorney Hermez Moreno announced the filing of
a legal claim against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD for assault,
battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and
intentional affliction of emotional distress.  The full press release is available at the end of the article

Gallegos, an electrical engineer with a major aerospace
company, is the Boyle Heights resident who recorded the now famous altercation
between LAPD and cyclists at last week’s Critical Mass.

The claim describes the events from last Friday night as
follows:

“Shortly after capturing an image of an LAPD officer kicking
at the tire of a cyclists, Mr. Gallegos was chased down by LAPD officers, who
tackled him, dragged him off his bicycle and proceeded to beat and kick
him. During the course of the
beating, one as of yet unknown LAPD officer stomped and kicked Mr. Gallegos’
phone in what is believed to be an attempt to destroy evidence of the unlawful
conduct of the LAPD officers."

Mr. Gallegos’ filing with the Clerk of the City of Los
Angeles further alleges that LAPD officers violated Gallegos’ 1^st, 4^th,
and 14^th Amendment Rights, namely the right to peaceably assemble,
freedom from excessive use of force, and the right to due process.

During his statement, Gallegos said he began recording the
LAPD on his iPhone when he saw officers trying to topple cyclists with their
batons. He then feared the worst
when he saw LAPD officers chase after him. As a result of being tackled, Gallegos suffered numerous
cuts and bruises, and to this day has numbness in his left hand from where
handcuffs dug into his wrists.

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Responding to a tweet asking for any first hand accounts, John Clark sent along the following first hand Rider Report from last Friday’s Critical Mass.  It’s interesting to see what someone in the ride, not involved first hand in any confrontation with the LAPD thought of what was happening as it was happening.

The ride was
fine up until we hit Hollywood and Highland and had LAPD waiting at the
intersection.  When we rolled up I stopped in front of "Ripley’s Believe It or Not" and waited until the group started riding down Hollywood
towards Western.  I then noticed to cops on my left (the ones from the
video.)  As I turned to roll down the street one of the officers was
already in the middle of the street looking around with his hand on his
baton.  He looked right at me and I’m thinking he is about to grab me.
I’m not a small guy so he quickly re-though this as I looked him in the
face.

I continued but turned around to see if he actually was going
to grab someone.  I watched him grab the girl with the white helmet
who has her hands behind her back during the kicking in the video.  He
grabbed her pretty bad so I stopped and starting walking back towards
them to see why he was doing what he was doing. I re-thought that as
I could see it was going to get ugly.  During all of the grabbing not
one cop said move, leave, or stop. 

The Mass continued down
Hollywood.  When we got to Vine I made a small group stop at the red
light as cars where already moving through the intersection.  I was
yelling at people to stay out of the street and moments later two LAPD
cars swerve right in front of of us and jump out with hands already on
batons ready to do I don’t know what.  I continued past the cops who
where blocking the street to continue.  Me and one other person (Yeah
1 out of 400 plus) ended up on the other side of Vine.  At this point
I made a right… and was completely by myself.  I then made my way to
the start of the Peoples rRde to find my roommate and friends and go
back to our house.

From what I could tell  some of the officers where
laughing and others where out to power trip and had no clue of what to
do…It was all bad news …

(In addition to a great report by Jeremy Grant, Bikeside has a list of things that you can do to make certain that justice is served in this case.  Including a "Storm the Bastille" ride to this week's meeting of the Bike Advisory Committee)

Well, that didn't take long.

Hours after I received confirmation from the LAPD that bike blogs and social media had helped catch a hit and run driver; the era of good feelings between the cyclists and the LAPD hits a major pothole as video surfaces of officers of the Hollywood Division trying to trip or kick a cyclist during Friday's Critical Mass ride.  When the videographer asks what the cyclist did to deserve that he is tackled from behind and alternately told to "stay down" and "get up."  The video ends with the camera facing in the air as what I presume to be an officer looks into it before shutting it off.

Regardless of one's feelings on Critical Mass, the video above clearly shows the cyclists taking one lane, as allowed to by law, and the LAPD acting aggressively to "police" the ride by interfering with it and attacking cyclists.  Most of the mainstream media reports do their usual hatchet job on the facts, trying to present the cyclists as somehow equally at fault as the thugs in uniform. If there's one thing cyclists know all to well; it's that the LAPD won't take action on a case that they don't witness or have some evidence of in person.

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(I figured some of you would enjoy this.  Originally posted as "A Lost Decade for San Francisco’s Critical Mass?" at SF Streetsblog – DN)

Well,
no. We’ve had a great run in the 2000s. Averaging between 750 and 3000
riders on any given month, the birthplace of Critical Mass keeps going
strong, in spite of the total lack of promotion or organizing during
this past decade. But many of us long-time riders have been dismayed to
see the persistence of silly, aggressive, and counter-productive
behavior that makes the Critical Mass experience worse for our natural
allies on buses, on foot, and even folks in cars who might join us in
the future. Not to mention that it makes it worse for us cyclists too,
to the point that many former regulars have stopped riding. Part of the
frustration for us long-time riders is that we went through all these
issues quite intensively back in the early-to-mid 1990s, and to see
them cropping up again is a harsh reminder that we’ve done a piss-poor
job of transmitting the culture, the lessons learned, from one
generation to the next. Plenty of current Critical Massers were under 5
years old when we started it, and the ride’s culture has been more
loudly and consistently transmitted by distorted representations in the
mass media than it has by those of us who put our hearts and souls into
it for years.

To address this, a few of us launched a new blog dedicated to San Francisco Critical Mass.

Online for only a couple of months, it has already reprinted a well-digested list of “do’s and don’t’s”, and a rumination from a long-time former Masser on the hard work it takes to keep a space like Critical Mass open and inviting and pleasurable, as well as a look at the Budapest, Hungary Critical Mass and an always provocative look at bike helmets.
It’s a moderated blog with a limited number of contributors, but it’s
open to a wide range of comments including some markedly negative ones,
while it also seeks to keep the discussion constructive and insightful.

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