A cyclist assaulted by a former rookie cop in Times Square last year is filing a $1.5 million lawsuit against the NYPD for attempting to cover up the unprovoked attack. 30-year-old Christopher Long was bicycling through Times Square as part of a July 2008 Critical Mass ride when then-cop Patrick Pogan, just three weeks on the job, tackled him to the pavement. Read more »
Justice has been served today thanks to some video, YouTube, and the common sense of the Manhattan DA. All charges were dropped against Christopher Long, he’s the innocent cyclist who was brutally shoved to the ground by live at home bully cop Patrick Pogan. After a clip of the incident quickly spread online and word got out of Pogan’s perjurious statement claiming he was the victim, outrage swelled quickly beyond just the usual civil rights and Critical Mass crowd. Pretty much anyone who saw the clip besides evangelical law enforcement types were convinced of the wrongdoing. No word yet on Pogan’s punishment—he “was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on desk duty pending the completion of an investigation into his conduct.” That should be easy: guilty! |CityRoom|
The video of rookie cop Patrick E. Pogan (shield #28957) violently body checking cyclist Christopher Long during a Critical Mass group ride has a lot of people wondering what motivated him to act in such a blatantly egregious manner. Contrary to the video evidence and universal common sense, the cop (deponent) claimed—in a sworn statement—that Long swerved and then ran into him, “causing deponent to fall to the ground and causing deponent to suffer lacerations on deponent’s forearms” (PDF doc here). However, as the clip demonstrates, that’s not the case and the attack was unprovoked. Why is Officer Perjurer Pogan so angry? ANIMAL takes a look into some of the potential, hostility-causing factors: UPDATE: All charges dropped!
Here’s footage of a uniformed cop taking out a Critical Mass cyclist who was peacefully riding through Times Square this past Friday as part of the bike advocacy group’s monthly ride. The unprovoked attack was caught on video and posted on YouTube. Thankfully, due to the video, the cowardly cop was stripped of his gun and badge. The consistently bicycle-abusing NYPD put the officer on desk duty pending an investigation. |Fox|
While attending the Critical Mass rally this past Friday, a very familiar face made his way through the fidgety crowd: Reverend Al Sharpton. He was there to discuss police brutality, continuing his campaign to publicize the Sean Bell case among throngs of disinterested cyclists who were clearly more concerned with riding their bikes than hearing speeches. But before he made his way to the podium, I was able to get Sharpton’s attention just long enough to get a comment about former White House press puppet, Scott McClellan’s new ‘Bush is a forgetful cokehead‘ book. The off camera lead question was about his first impression it, to which he quickly responded “It’s about seven years too late.” I then followed up with some awkwardly worded questions about whether McClellan is a coward, should Bush be impeached and who has the “balls “guts” to make that happen, prompting Sharpton to joke about the tongue twisted wording. At a little over 20 seconds long, it quite possibly could be one of the shortest piece of amateur citizen journalism ever documented.
It’s no secret that the NYPD has been mistreating cyclists who gather for Critical Mass, especially in the past few years. The Glass Bead Collective, however, presents 12 minutes of police misconduct, including really egregious behavior by a one Sgt. Timothy Horhoe, who’s seen trying to pull riders right off their bike. Despite the damning video evidence, the Civil Complaint Review Board refused to hold any of the cops accountable. Check out the video and marvel out how NY’s Finest are given carte blanche. |Boingboing|
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