On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:10:00 +1000, "Dario Western"
<westernorama@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>G'day ****oNoticias,
From the Register Guard 3/9/2008
Brief confrontation interrupts Eugene's ****d bike ride
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Police officers trying to control a mass ride of
****d bicyclists decided against making any arrests after the
confrontation intensified.
Roughly 100 bicyclists in various states of undress took part in the
hour-long event that mimicked similar rides held in bigger cities
around the world. Along the way, riders cheered, chanted and stopped
traffic as they pedaled through the streets of Eugene.
Organizers of the Saturday night event did not alert Eugene police in
advance, but officers quickly caught on. At one point, at least three
patrol cars showed up near the main pack of cyclists.
When an officer grabbed one of them, several bicyclists surrounded the
officer, shouting at him to let the rider go. After letting the first
cyclist go, the officer grabbed another.
Cassandra Hurd, 21, then rammed her bike into the other rider's bike.
She told The Register-Guard newspaper she was trying to keep police
from making an arrest: "We were making a statement; we weren't doing
anything wrong."
An officer grabbed Hurd, who was wearing only panties, and put her on
the ground, preparing to arrest her. Another officer trained his Taser
on a ****d man who approached the scene, but did not use the weapon.
The officers let Hurd go after the crowd chanted for them to leave her
alone.
"We attempted to make arrests but the crowd turned on the two officers
we had trying to handle the situation and they elected to disengage
before someone got hurt," Eugene police Lt. Rich Stronach said.
Stronach said officers may not have gotten involved if the organizers
had contacted police ahead of time and obeyed traffic laws.
****d bike rides, most of them peaceful, have been staged in dozens of
cities around the world in recent years. The purpose, besides fun, is
to protest global oil dependency and celebrate cycling and the human
body.
****tland has been host to such rides for several years. Last year's
event drew more than 1,000 participants.
"It's just fun and it caught on as a novel thing to do," said Jonathan
Maus, editor of bike****tland.org. "It's a sign of a good healthy bike
culture."
-T.
|
