"Charges Against Shoved Cyclist Are Dropped" NY Times
September 5, 2008.
See the full article for a picture of Christopher Long leaving the courthouse.
Prosecutors dropped charges on Friday morning, as expected, against the bicyclist who was shoved off his bike in July by a police officer in Times Square. The confrontation between the cyclist, Christopher Long, and a New York City police officer, Patrick Pogan, was captured on amateur video and circulated widely over the Internet.
Mr. Long, 29, had been charged with assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct on July 25 after Officer Pogan wrote in his report that Mr. Long had been weaving in and out of traffic and that he had deliberately hit the officer with his bicycle.
But video recorded by an onlooker soon surfaced on YouTube, showing Officer Pogan lowering his shoulder and shoving Mr. Long off his bike on Seventh Avenue at 46th Street as Mr. Long tried to steer out of the way. (Officer Pogan was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on desk duty pending the completion of an investigation into his conduct.)
...
Mr. Long has seemed to attract a bit of a cult following. Several people who have ridden in the Critical Mass bike rides — which Mr. Long was participating in when he was pushed, and which for years have had a troubled relationship with the police — showed up in court and applauded when the judge ordered the case dismissed. A court officer quickly quieted them down. One of the supporters had a camcorder and was taping Mr. Long as he walked through the lobby of the courthouse, but again, court officers quickly intervened and demanded that the footage be erased.
...
She said Mr. Long has attracted a groundswell of support “because we are a community and our community is made up of activists and people who care.”
Original sift: http://www.videosift.com/video/NYPD-Ravages-Cyclist-in-Time-Square
See the full article for a picture of Christopher Long leaving the courthouse.
Prosecutors dropped charges on Friday morning, as expected, against the bicyclist who was shoved off his bike in July by a police officer in Times Square. The confrontation between the cyclist, Christopher Long, and a New York City police officer, Patrick Pogan, was captured on amateur video and circulated widely over the Internet.
Mr. Long, 29, had been charged with assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct on July 25 after Officer Pogan wrote in his report that Mr. Long had been weaving in and out of traffic and that he had deliberately hit the officer with his bicycle.
But video recorded by an onlooker soon surfaced on YouTube, showing Officer Pogan lowering his shoulder and shoving Mr. Long off his bike on Seventh Avenue at 46th Street as Mr. Long tried to steer out of the way. (Officer Pogan was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on desk duty pending the completion of an investigation into his conduct.)
...
Mr. Long has seemed to attract a bit of a cult following. Several people who have ridden in the Critical Mass bike rides — which Mr. Long was participating in when he was pushed, and which for years have had a troubled relationship with the police — showed up in court and applauded when the judge ordered the case dismissed. A court officer quickly quieted them down. One of the supporters had a camcorder and was taping Mr. Long as he walked through the lobby of the courthouse, but again, court officers quickly intervened and demanded that the footage be erased.
...
She said Mr. Long has attracted a groundswell of support “because we are a community and our community is made up of activists and people who care.”
Original sift: http://www.videosift.com/video/NYPD-Ravages-Cyclist-in-Time-Square
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