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Indybay Feature

Police pulling down bikers on Market

by Andre Jalobeanu & Delphine Fitzenz (dedelafusee2001 [at] yahoo.fr)
6:12 pm 6th and Market
Bikers were riding by peacefully chanting. The police let them pass by, then ran after them and pushed them brutally to the ground. They had been waiting for any opportunity to arrest somebody for about 45 min.
dsc06161.jpg
§Police pulling down bikers on Market 2
by Andre Jalobeanu & Delphine Fitzenz (dedelafusee2001 [at] yahoo.fr)
dsc06162.jpg
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by mission punx (gychie7 [at] earthlink.net)
so there i was riding down the street when i was clothes-lined, thrown to the ground (twice) and finally dragged to the center of the rode by my arms and neck! If anyone has anymore photos of the arrest of all us around 6pm on 3/22, please e-mail me! thanx
by anon

Using whatever methods we choose (anonymously calling the media, calling city hall, calling local city politicians, announcing at various city meetings, spray painting), we should communicate to city officials that IF THE COPS CONTINUE TO BRUTALIZE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS--OUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE--AND OTHER INNOCENT VICTIMS, WE WILL (according to our own choosing and self-initiative) COMMIT 'CD/DA' AGAINST CORPORATE PROPERTY--especially plate glass windows!

Maybe if the corporations and the corporate merchants (major department stores, etc) have to suffer the consequences of police brutality against our spiritual sisters and brothers, those corporate officers/managers or department store executive managers will put pressure on the city to stop their gangster cops’ brutal rogue behavior.
by jeandiva
Critical Mass this Friday. We have plenty of experience with SFPD violence during peaceful protests.

Here are a few guidelines about how to stay safe:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2001/04/100112.php

info about SFPD police riots:
http://www.brasscheck.com/cm/

and from the SFPD themselves, a general order from 2/95 telling the rights of protestors:

San Francisco Police Department5.07
GENERAL ORDER Rev. 02/22/95

RIGHTS OF ONLOOKERS

This order establishes policies regarding when persons are permitted to
remain as onlookers, their right to overhear conversations between the
officer and suspect, and their right to act as a witness.

I. POLICY

A. WITNESSING STOPS, DETENTIONS, ARRESTS. It is the policy of this Department that persons not involved in an incident be allowed to remain in the immediate vicinity to witness stops, detentions and arrests of suspects occurring in public areas, except under the the following circumstances:
1. When the safety of the officer or the suspect is jeopardized. 2. When persons interfere or violate law. 3. When persons threaten by words or action, or attempt toincite others to violate the law.

B. OVERHEARING CONVERSATION. If the conditions at the scene are peaceful and sufficiently quiet, and the officer has stabilized the situation, persons shall be allowed to approach close enough to overhear the conversation between the suspect and the officer, except when:
1. The suspect objects to persons overhearing the conversation. 2. There is a specific and articulable need for confidentialconversation for the purpose of police interrogation.

C. INQUIRIES 1. Persons shall be permitted to make a short, direct inquiryas to the suspect's name and whether the officer or the suspectwishes a witness. The suspect shall be allowed to respondto the inquiry. 2. If a citizen is a witness to the activity for which thesuspect was detained or arrested, the officer may requesthis/her name; however, the citizen is not compelled todisclose such information.

D. BYSTANDER FILMING OF OFFICER-SUSPECT CONTACTS. It is increasingly common for bystanders, who are not involved in any criminal activity, to record contacts between officers and citizens, during which officers are detaining, citing or arresting a suspect or engaging in crowd control at a demonstration. Bystanders have the right to record police officer enforcement activities by camera, video recorder, or other means (except under certain narrow circumstances as set forth in Sections A and B above).
1. An officer shall not seize, compel or otherwise coerce productionof these bystander recordings by any means without firstobtaining a warrant. Without a warrant, an officer may onlyrequest, in a non-coercive manner, that a bystander voluntarilyprovide the film or other recording. These requests should bemade only if the officer has probable cause to believe that arecording has captured evidence of a crime and that the evidencewill be important to prosecution of that crime. If a bystanderrefuses to voluntarily provide the recording, an officer mayrequest the person's identity as provided in Section C., 2.,above.
2. If a bystander voluntarily provides his or her recording and/orequipment, the officer shall provide the bystander with areceipt (SFPD 315). The receipt shall contain a writtenstatement verifying that the recording and/or equipment has beenvoluntarily provided to the Department and shall be signed bythe bystander.

E. VIOLATIONS/COMPLIANCE. As an alternative to arresting an onlooker who is in violation of Penal Code Section 148 or other related offenses (e.g., 647 c P.C., 22 Municipal Police Code) officers may order onlookers to "move on"; however, the person shall not be ordered to move any farther distance than is necessary to end a violation (see DGO 5.03, Investigative Detentions and DGO 6.11, Obstruction of Streets and Sidewalks). Persons who believe that an officer did not comply with the provisions of this order shall be referred to an appropriate supervisor or to the Office of Citizen Complaints.

References
DGO 5.03, Investigative Detentions
DGO 6.02, Physical Evidence
DGO 6.11, Obstruction of Streets and Sidewalks
DGO 6.15, Property Processing
by Ian Baker (ian [at] sonic.net)
And then what? Are we going to escalate forever?

Fighting police brutality is a good idea, sure. What the cops did is totally out of line. Still, there are far more productive ways of solving the problem than more violence.

Our power is in our convictions; in our ability to get the rest of the world on our side. Nonviolence inspires compassion. Breaking shit doesn't.
by a legal observer who was cited
Jean,

Thanks you saved me from having to look that up.

Just after midnight (early morning today, March 23, 2003) I was knocked over and cited by SFPD officer J. Kelly, # 1875 when I tried to ask the driver of a white truck if he was okay and whether he was being harassed. I was on the phone with the NLG at the time, (415) 285-1011, so they heard the whole thing as I was rushed and tumbled into the street with enough force to knock my seat sideways, and as the officers barked angry orders at me and I attempted to calm them and comply.

Fortunately I was not arrested, but I was cited with riding the wrong way on a one-way street, held in the rain for some time, and feared I would miss my BART train.

The reason I stopped was because the truck had "NO WAR" written in the back window and I feared they were being profiled.

They said that approaching a car window during an enforcement stop is very dangerous to them, which I understand and realize now I shouldn't have done. But I didn't ride the wrong way, I walked up to the front of the vehicle just to call into the drivers' open window. An officer observed me do this from the side. I was in plain view with both hands in the open, with one holding the phone to my ear.

I was told by Officer Kelly that the driver of the truck was being stopped for no lights and that he would not have been cited had I not intervened, which is not believable and speaks to the officers' prejudice and desire to cause me harm.

Fortunately I got the phone number for the people in the truck and the NLG heard it happen, so I have witnesses and NLG will help me fight the citation, but it's just one more hassle. I was arrested twice in the last week while standing on the sidewalk acting as a legal observer.

So basically I have the right to ask a detainee questions and am being punished for exercising that right.

I would have moved on within seconds of hearing from the driver that he was okay, had I not been rushed and made to fall over, then cited.
by a legal observer who was cited
Jean,

Thanks you saved me from having to look that up.

Just after midnight (early morning today, March 23, 2003) I was knocked over and cited by SFPD officer J. Kelly, # 1875 when I tried to ask the driver of a white truck if he was okay and whether he was being harassed. I was on the phone with the NLG at the time, (415) 285-1011, so they heard the whole thing as I was rushed and tumbled into the street with enough force to knock my seat sideways, and as the officers barked angry orders at me and I attempted to calm them and comply.

Fortunately I was not arrested, but I was cited with riding the wrong way on a one-way street, held in the rain for some time, and feared I would miss my BART train.

The reason I stopped was because the truck had "NO WAR" written in the back window and I feared they were being profiled.

They said that approaching a car window during an enforcement stop is very dangerous to them, which I understand and realize now I shouldn't have done. But I didn't ride the wrong way, I walked up to the front of the vehicle just to call into the drivers' open window. An officer observed me do this from the side. I was in plain view with both hands in the open, with one holding the phone to my ear.

I was told by Officer Kelly that the driver of the truck was being stopped for no lights and that he would not have been cited had I not intervened, which is not believable and speaks to the officers' prejudice and desire to cause me harm.

Fortunately I got the phone number for the people in the truck and the NLG heard it happen, so I have witnesses and NLG will help me fight the citation, but it's just one more hassle. I was arrested twice in the last week while standing on the sidewalk acting as a legal observer.

So basically I have the right to ask a detainee questions and am being punished for exercising that right.

I would have moved on within seconds of hearing from the driver that he was okay, had I not been rushed and made to fall over, then cited.
by somegirl (somegirl [at] helpdesk.zaz.net)
if anyone has a video of the bike arrest on saturday please post it or email me.

thank you
by charlie (thmsn [at] yahoo.com)
I haven't found accurate information regarding contact info for a legal fund for those arrested this past week. Would someone please post info on the Legal Update page at the SF Indymedia website?

--------------------------------------------------------------------
someone posted this at http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/03/1586595_comment.php#1587449 last week:

how can I support and help ?
by sm95132 [at] yahoo.com Thursday March 20, 2003 at 11:11 PM
sm95132 [at] yahoo.com


is there a legal fund or organization who is helping and providing legally assitence to those of you who are putting their personal safety and liberty at risk in protesting this war of conquest and colonization ?

where and how can us (the arm-chair protesters) donate and help ?

--sm95132 [at] yahoo.com


by dylan (neonheartattack [at] hotmail.com)
i would really like to see a video of this. i was one of the people who was arrested. i was pushed off of my bike and thrown to the ground. we were riding down market street, when a swarm of motorcycle cops fanned out in front of us, as riot cops were running behind us, we were all pushed off our bikes and arrested. if anyone has video please email me.
neonheartattack [at] hotmail.com
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