Cop Who Shoved Bicyclist Indicted Using YouTube Footage
The police officer who seemingly randomly picked a bicyclist out of a critical mass crowd to tackle has been indicted for falsifying records and could also soon be charged with misdemeanor assault. The YouTube video [below], which went viral soon after the incident, was instrumental in the indictment.
- » See also: An Ocean of Effort
- » Get Planetsave by RSS or sign up by email.
The officer claimed that the bicyclist had shoved him before the officer tackled him back, but the video shows no such incident.
Critical Mass is held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities across the world. Bicyclists join together for a cross-city ride moving as one unit and often disobeying traffic laws. The movement is intended to allow bicyclists, who typically must watch out for cars on the road, to be the traffic themselves.
[Via: Gawker]Photo Credit: Doug Letterman on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
Didn’t just assault the poor rider, he also filed fake charges in an attempt to sully the record of a law abiding citizen… all for riding a bike. This is like the cops who recently sexually abused the guy for smoking a joint in Brooklyn. When cops commit crimes, they MUST be held accountable. Otherwise, they get progressively more violent and dishonest. Just like in the infamous Stanford Prison experiments.
Every day I’m thankfully that there are men and women who risk their lives as cops to keep my family and friends safe. Its not a job I would want in a million years (or, quite frankly, would survive for more than one night, I bet…).
But a video like this is just crazy. It has to serve to remind all of how closely we have to continue watching what they do, and make sure we hold them 100% accountable for their actions.
These cops are criminals in disguise. The other cop is an accessory. They should be punished to the full extent of the law just like any other criminal. The punishment should even be more severe for public officials like this who abuse their positions to carry out their crimes. I hope after being convicted they are sued by the bicyclist for a large sum.
It is sad that he has only been indicted and not actually convicted. The cop will just be suspended with pay and then this will be forgotten.
Good.
I smell lawsuit. And by the looks of things he could buy a biomass-load of offset credits.
Wow America the police state, oh he pushed me sure he did, I suppose that’s what happens when you give underachieving jack asses with low self esteem a gun and a badge.
Whatever, the bicyclists in NYC are even lower scum of the earth than cabbies. They constantly disobey traffic laws and are hard to see when walking because they zip between cars. What a bunch of twats.
I would have definitely gone to jail or worse if I had seen this happen first hand. This cop should be put off the force for his actions. At the very least be suspended and forced to submit to a psychological screening before returning to active duty. Truly shameful behaviour.
I think that there should be laws that require greater penalties for law enforcement and government workers who break the law as they are supposed to be the front line to uphold it. As it stands they usually get off with very little punishment. How many innocent people are falsely convicted due to the general belief that police do no wrong and don’t lie? If the general public only knew.