Counterpoint to Media Lies about Critical Mass

In the wake of the incident of motorist violence at San Francisco Critical
Mass on Friday, March 30, 2007, this video is presented as a counterpoint
to the gross misrepresentation in much of the Bay Area media. The hype
began with a gossip column in the SF Chronicle.

The side of the story which hasn't been told: a mother in a minivan
reportedly endangered her children and the demonstrators by crashing
through the Critical Mass in San Francisco. She struck one cyclist, who
flew 4-5 feet, and crushed the cyclist's bicycle underwheel.

She then fled the scene (hit and run). Cyclists chased and detained the
cyclist. One cyclist reportedly erred in throwing a bicycle at the rear
of the van, which had tinted windows, and broke the window. None of
the children inside, who were not visible, were injured. There were no
further acts of agression in response to the attack. The police failed to
arrest the driver, wihch is all too common in the everyday violence
against bicyclists, and particularly true at Critical Mass.

The attached video shows a parallel event, in which a mother terrifies her
child, jumps a curb to attack, strikes a cyclist (a cancer victim,
incidentally, and partially disabled), traps his foot underwheel, then
pushes through and crushes the bicycle.

A police lieutenant failed to respond immediately after (audio problems
need to be corrected, but you can see the cyclists are asking for
justice). The full video shows that there was a police helicopter and
police stationed at intersections along the way. Their failure to protect
the cyclists speaks to the endemic and institutionalized discrimination
against bicycling which is a foundation for the need for critical mass
demonstrations.