NYPD Attempts To Criminalize Bike Riders Taking Part in Critical Mass

In 1992 in San Francisco cyclists started riding together monthly to assert themselves as traffic in a ride that became known as Critical Mass. Since then, the ride has spread to over 300 cities around the world.

Last August, when thousands descended on New York for the Republican National Convention, over three thousand bicyclists and skaters participated in a Critical mass ride on the eve of the start of street protests. That night, police moved in on the bikers and arrested hundreds. Over a week and a half surrounding the RNC, police arrested nearly 400 bike riders. Since then, activists and civil liberties groups say the City of New York has been targeting bicyclists and Critical Mass in particular.

Last week, the city filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the group TIME'S UP! from promoting or advertising events that the city alleges to be illegal. The lawsuit also states that TIME'S UP! and the general public cannot participate in riding or gathering at the Critical Mass bike ride. It claims that any event whatsoever with 20 or more persons requires a permit. On Friday, hundreds of bicycle riders defied the city and participated in a Critical Mass ride. Police arrested some 37 riders and officers confiscated dozens of bicycles. The police say they made the arrests because they say Critical Mass was "parading without a permit."

Democracy Now! producer Elizabeth Press was at Friday's ride. She was also arrested while filming Critical Mass during the Republican National Convention in New York. Here is a clip from a film she and others are working on about Critical Mass. It is called "Still We Ride."

VIEW VIDEO AND LISTEN TO AUDIO:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/28/1434209