Fire. His. Ass.
And charge him with assault. I support the cops, but not thugs like this guy. Sure, the Critical Mass people can be complete jerks, but you have to be smoking something pretty illicit to watch this
and not see it as a completely unprovoked assault. I don’t care what the other cyclists may have said to the cop as they rode by; I don’t care what the guy on the bike said; they’re just words.
Of course, the Police Union defends him
…union head Patrick Lynch staunchly defended the officer’s actions and laid the blame directly on the cyclist.
“This officer observed the reckless actions of a specific individual weaving in and out of traffic and creating a hazardous condition for the public and took action,” said Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Uh-huh. Spin like a cyclist.
Sources said Pogan spotted Long weaving through traffic and riding with just one hand on the handlebars. Pogan yelled at Long to stop and when the cyclist tried to veer around the cop, he leaped into action, Lynch said.
“Instead of slowing down or stopping as any reasonable person would when an officer approached, this rider dropped his shoulder in an attempt to avoid arrest by plowing into the officer’s chest, which resulted in the officer pushing him away,” he said.
That’s a hell of a laugh; I can only hope that he hadn’t seen the tape when he said that bit of fantasy.
Oh, and if you read what this Criminal Complaint he filed, he claims the cyclist knocked him down and injured him! The video clearly shows that to be a lie; what are the penalties for filing a false complaint?
The cyclist got arrested and spent 26 hours in jail; how much do you think the City will end up paying him?
Nanny State | Mr. Bingley | 
July 30, 2008 9:07 am
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Yeah, not a smart job by the cop there. Added anti-bonus, now the Critical Mass folks gain credibility. I eagerly anticipate the next, um, “rally” and the flood of nonsense complaints the peaceful cycling enthusiasts shall file against the police.
Jesus. There are Critical Massholes in NY too? I thought those jerks were only in Frisco.
Daddy’s a big guy in the department.
Fire him? No, the police will give him a nice paid vacation and then promote him when he returns. They’ll probably recommend him for the SWAT team.
Because cops never commit criminal acts.
Wait wait wait!!! I see it now. The brave police officer was merely trying to save the bicyclist from the dangers of driving over the grating. He saved his life!
But then again, what’s not mentioned is that these are critical mass thugs. It’s really hard to be sympathetic to them.
But Skyler, now, now. We become them if we act on our baser instincts.
Bah. Push a few of them into lion pits, it’ll be fine, I promise. And toss the cop in behind them, twit. You don’t join a public service and defense job just to execute justice as you see fit. Paid vigilantism…damn I need to join the PPD mom!
This reminds me of the whole Rodney King incident.
A moron cop dishes out illegal “street justice” to a mope who now becomes a martyr even though said mope deserved a good crap-beating.
Feh. Now I’m bummed.
I know why!!!!! The cop was protecting him from HIMSELF!!!. (Pro-active, as it were.)
There’s even a picture of the doofus just before Officer Friendly decks his ass.
This reminds me of the whole Rodney King incident
Not that I want to defend a beat down, but people seem to forget that there were two or three other guys in the car with Rodney who didn’t get there asses beat. That seems to say something about Rodney.
Union official Patrick Lynch gives a very definite statement about what took place, even though is it wrong.
Shouldn’t someone ask him where he got his information and why he considered it reliable? Unless, of course, he was an eyewitness and is just lying.
Union guys are paid to pitch these things in the best possible light – sort of like defense attorneys, actually. Get ahead of events and get your message into the general awareness; make your version of things the default against which other information is judged.
Lynch probably didn’t see it firsthand.