Here's an update on the post below (concerning last Friday's Critical Mass). One of the people involved called their councilmember, Mr. Niland, to let him know what had happened and the way the police had treated those gathered, of course, they were not able to talk to Niland, so left a message. Lo and behold, some mpls sargeant (I think a sargeant) called my friends house to tell them if they had a problem they should go to the civilian review authority!!! Aside from the obviously horrible action by the police at the event, this raises two more troubling threads - the further illustration of the police's bravado (calling the home of someone complaining about them)!!!, and secondly, the fact that someone in Niland's office gave this information out, and especially to the police. So, Mr. Niland, are you responsible for giving out my friends' phone number to the police, and is this the policy when one of your constituents has a complaint against the police? I assume that you are not personally responsible for this, but I am shocked that it happened, and would like an explanation. jon kelland bryant --- jon kelland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > last friday there was a scheduled critical mass ride > downtown, as is customary for the last friday of > each > month, but when the riders arrived at loring park, > they were met by droves of mpls' finest on bikes, in > squads, in a van, the bikers were told if they left > the park they would be arrested. the cops were > apparently very irritated from the get-go (i was not > there but had the story recounted) and threatened > people with taking their bikes away (because the > cops > assumed they were unregistered), ticketing for not > having a light on the front of the bike after 4 or > 5:00...and generally being aggressive idiots. it is > one thing to be a cop and harass a group of people > once they do something wrong, but until they do they > should not be treated like criminals. the bikers > were > never told what it was they could do but when asked > what they couldn't do a cop responded 'you'll know > when you do it' > > this type of behavior absolutely needs to stop - > what > do you folks out in mpls-issues think? > > ever since the wto protest in seattle the police > have > been on a mission to suppress any voices that are > counter to mainstream commerce culture. hard times > (with the help of the city council and the mayor, of > course), isag, sisters camelot, other critical mass > rides, other gm protests, the list goes on and on > > so far we have seen no reprimands for the police > responsible for mistreating citizens, and i think > mpls > residents need to speak up and make it known that > the > police do not have the authority to arrest citizens > who have done nothing wrong - leave out your > pathetic > arguments that these people have done something > wrong > and just admit to the fact that every person has the > right to not be arrested if they do nothing wrong - > right? we need to first agree that this is the way > our system should and does work, and then we can > assess police(/judge/jury) actions as they come up > and > hold each offending offecer responsible as > violations > of rights occur. though i fear this is less an > indivdual police problem than a systemic mpls police > department problem... > > jon kelland > bryant > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Photos - 35mm Quality Prints, Now Get 15 > Free! > http://photos.yahoo.com/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos - 35mm Quality Prints, Now Get 15 Free! http://photos.yahoo.com/
