I'm sure many of you have read about the Chinese Government's brutal
crackdown on the Folun Gong, a peaceful movement that practices a
graceful form of group exercise. When I read about ordinary people being
arrested , beaten and thrown into jail because of a little peaceful
flexing of muscles I'm puzzled: what sort of crazy, repressive regime
would fear a bunch of peaceful, health and exercise fanatics?
Then I think about the over-the-top, brutal harassment and
repression of Critical Mass last Friday. Critical Mass is a ten year old
movement that celebrates bike culture. Like Folun Gong , Critical Mass
is non-violent and peaceful. The people who participate in CM are
ordinary people, mostly young college kids who have very strong feelings
about the environment, health and social justice. They suffer, as all
bicyclists do, the daily frustration of sharing the road with noisy,
polluting , life (and planet) threatening cars. Once a month, they
peacefully come together, for the fellowship of other bicyclists and to
say "we ARE the traffic". These people are not criminals any more than
the Folun Gong are.
What I witnessed last Friday was a brutal suppression of a peaceful
group of citizens not unlike the brutal suppression of the Folun Gong.
We cannot say that the police were responsible for what happened at 3rd
Avenue and 6th Street anymore than we should hold the Chinese police
responsible for the crackdown on the Folun Gong. It is the
responsibility of the government...our government to instruct the police
on how it should treat citizens, not vice versa. The right of free
speech and assembly is a right guaranteed by the Constitution...a
political right our elected officials must protect against the authority
of the police who's only interest is to keep order .
The police will justify their brutality by saying that the Critical
Mass breaks traffic laws. The elected officials must step in to instruct
the police that a certain amount of rule breaking is a part of public
gatherings and as long as the intent of that rule breaking is peaceful
and respects public and private property, the police should look the
other way as they do when a sports team wins a championship and the fans
celebrate by throwing confetti (littering) or running around naked
except for purple and gold body paint(public indecency). Ritual rule
breaking is a part of the celebration of urban life that takes the edge
off of being an up-tight, law-abiding citizen all of the time...it's the
safety valve that lets off a little steam to prevent the build up of
explosive emotions.
There is a precedent for allowing the Critical Mass to ride without
police harassment. In October of last year, Mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton
sent this e-mail to the Critical Mass:
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Sayles-Belton, Sharon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: "Johnson, Randall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 17:13:15 -0500
I am sorry that I can not ride with you today. I
did speak to many people
about Critical Mass since I spoke to you. And I
am committed to helping you
to get your message out. All I ask is that you
obey the traffic laws and do
not try to purposefully disrupt traffic.
Promoting alternative forms of
transportation should be encouraged. I am
forwarding my message to
Inspector Randy Johnson of the 5th Precinct.
....I was on that ride and it was peaceful and without incident. I would
like to see the current Mayor and City Council be as forceful as the
previous Mayor in protecting the right of the Critical Mass to ride
without official harrasment .
I hope the Mayor and other former activists on the City Council will
recall their own leadership and participation in demonstrations and act
to protect the rights of citizens to gather peacefully without official
harassment. Perhaps elected officials will join the Critical Mass next
month to make sure that the brutal events of last Friday are not
repeated.
I would also like to add that our Twin City has a once a year event
called The Saint Paul Bike Classic where the police cooperate with
bicycle activists in closing streets to cars for an entire morning (
http://www.spnec.org ) .
Ken Avidor
Kingfield
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