Re: Critical Mass planning to disrupt the Republican Convention

07-09-2004, 12:03 PM

My guess is that none of you have ever been involved with a protest
march in NYC.

Just FYI, walking protests here are very frequently a failure. NYC
cops brutally push protesters into 'pens' made by blocking off one side
of a block between avenues. When a pen is full them move one street
down and repeat. Then they clear the pens one at a time. Want to know
how? By running mounted police through the block. The people once
forced out the other side by the horses are then ordered to disperse or
be arrested -- and there are usually dozens of police busses lined up
to take all the people that resist.

I view this as an attack on the right of free assembly and I'm in good
company. Many lawyers and the ACLU have been very vocal about these
tactics. I've been stuck in a pen for hours during a protest that I
was not even involved with. If the NYC cops actied differently it
would be a different story.

I will be there. I am a resident of New York City and as far as I'm
concerned I can ride my bike where I want to. Also, please prove me
wrong but I don't see biking as something that the GOP has lifted a
finger for.