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Cyclists brought Minneapolis motorists a message of the joys of bicycling and a reminder of what it means to share the road with other vehicles. Sprinkled with first-time riders and long-dedicated cyclists alike, the group moved as one large mass into the roadways and through intersections, managing to slow automobiles following the group and moving aside to let Metro Transit busses pass by the group.

About 2/3 of the way through the anticipated ride route, the police escort shifted from monitoring the two-wheeled parade to shutting down the event. After cyclists made a left turn from east bound Lake St. onto northbound Lyndale Ave. police vehicles swarmed the group, surrounding cyclists and bringing traffic to a complete halt. A handful of police officers infiltrated the group on foot, shoving riders and bikes to the ground. As one young man was tackled and tightly pinned to ground by an officer, the officer's partner menaced the surrounding bicyclist with an outstretched can of pepper spray, shouting "You want some of this, You want some of this, huh?" repeatedly. In this bizarre display of intimidation, pepper spray was dispensed at close range on bicyclists.

As one man was pulled from the center of the group of bicyclists and arrested, another was shoved violently to the ground by a group of four uniformed officers. A fourth individual, also male, was injured by the force with which he was immobilized on the pavement in the intersection of Lyndale Ave. S. and 29th St. Some riders dispersed and peddled their way out of peril, while others spoke with the large crowd of onlookers and searched for their friends.

What began as an exciting display of the joys of bicycle riding and a renewal of a commitment to pollution-free transportation, ended in a pile up of 10 police cars completely blocking all four lanes of traffic on Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis. Minneapolis Critical Mass rides the last Friday of every month throughout the year. Gather at Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis at 5:30 pm. add your own comments

DeArresting by AngryBiker 9:52pm Sun Jul 29 '01

Next time before we go out lets do a quick lesson on how to dearrest someone. there were far more of us than police, and we could have easilly dearrested the first person who was shoved off his bike if people hadn't started running.
Legal Protection by MplsBicyclist 10:34am Mon Jul 30 '01

The dearresting strategy is a good one and will work as long as we stay as a group. On top of that, we need to remember that what we are doing during critical mass is a legal and justified form of free speech, assembly, and legal transportation. It's not illegal to be a part of a traffic jam when there are too many cars on the road-- so it's not illegal to be a part of a traffic jam because there are too many bicycles on the road at one time. Let's make sure the National Lawyer's Guild has legal observers (who are clearly marked so the police notice them there) at next month's mass. BTW: if you live in uptown (or near), you probably have the only serious candidate for office to vote for who does not own a car. Check out www.knappster.org