Olympia Critical Mass bike parade met with resistance from OPD

author : T. Claw topic : Critical Mass | police misconduct

by T. Claw

On October 27th, cyclists from Olympia and surrounding areas converged in their monthly ride to support safe, non-motorized transportation.

The Halloween Critical Mass was Olympia's largest in two years, surpassed only by the 2004 election ride. The bike parade was tainted when police harassment ended the ride with unsafe road conditions, multiple citations, and two arrests.

The Mass ride left The Evergreen State College at 4:45 p.m. with 75 -- 80 cyclists. There was little or no dangerous/aggravated behavior by cyclists or motorists on the stretch between Evergreen and the intersection of Harrison and Division. The motorists treated the mass of cyclists with respect and a general tone of support.

Throughout the ride, one or two cyclists would stop at intersections and signal for motorists to slow down and stop, allowing the entire group to get through the intersection safely.

When past large rides had occurred, the Olympia Police Department chose to escort the rides and hold back traffic at intersections for the group's safety. Those rides were successful, nonviolent, and quite fun. At the Halloween Critical Mass, the OPD acted to the contrary.

Detour into a pigsty

As the group descended the Harrison Road hill toward downtown, the parade of cyclists picked up approximately twenty additional riders and stretched the length of three to four city blocks. The group made one circle around each roundabout, occupying them for less than one minute each, to allow for stragglers to catch up safely and stay as one unified parade as it crossed the 4th Avenue bridge.

While passing through the light at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Yashiro Street, the light turned red and a bike cop shouted not to run a red light and held his bicycle out in front of the crosswalk.

One participant who was badly injured described the incident: "They caused everyone to stop suddenly, turning a perfectly safe situation into a very dangerous one. I couldn't stop in time and hit the person in front of me. After a nasty fall I heard one of the policemen say, 'That's what you get for trying to run a red light.' They made absolutely no effort to see if I was okay or apologize for causing my accident."

On the other side of the intersection, one Critical Mass participant was being issued an $81 ticket for riding more than two abreast of the curbside. One rider noted that "police were waiting at the bottom of the hill anticipating our presence." It was later learned that the police were present not due to a commuter call (as stated by the OPD press release) but were waiting for approximately 30 minutes on the east side of the 4th Avenue bridge.

After the group picked up more cyclists at Heritage Park, the ride continued through downtown Olympia. Police officers continued to pick people off and cite them for minor infractions. This aggravated the group which had been participating in a peaceful and joyful bike parade.

One cyclist was quoted while conversing with a police officer, "I think that offering citations is making the group more aggressive and the situation more dangerous overall."

The officer responded, "We are just doing our job . . . who knows, there might be commuters calling in angry and they want to see us cracking down." Three police cars and three bicycle cops herded the group into a large mass, completely stopping traffic on 4th Avenue.

Officers were witnessed ordering and physically pushing cyclists into other cyclists.

While police harassment was heightening, a hissing noise was reported by people on the sidewalk. An officer was seen sprinting to the front of the mass where he assaulted a participant with a flying choke hold, sending him to the pavement.

The participant, who offered no signs of struggle, was handcuffed and dragged into a police car. As this happened, two tires of a parked OPD cruiser hissed flat.

Participants were later informed that the officer thought he saw a shiny metal object in the hand of the participant but did not see him use it to puncture tires. A judgment call was made that this particular individual, out of many people standing near the police car, was the one who deflated the tires. Evidence was never found and there are no confirmed witnesses that saw the tires punctured. An innocent bystander who inquired about the situation was also arrested.

Bad cop, confused cop

At the police station, the arrestee says he was told by officer Gasset, "You don't have to put on a show anymore, your friends aren't here. You should cooperate. If they do show up, I'll give them a show, if you know what I mean. What's the matter can't you talk?"

Not until 2.5 hours after his arrest was he read his Miranda rights. Reportedly, Officer O'Neil told him he was being charged with 'malicious mischief in the first degree'.

"I only know what I saw," the officer said " and all I saw was a bunch of officers arresting you and suddenly you were in my car." The arrestee states that the officer later asked, "Did you slash the tires, and if you didn't, who did? And why were you standing so close?" To which the arrestee replied, "I would like to exercise my Fifth Amendment rights to not answer that question."

Cyclists' rights

As a statement of the legality of the ride, the following state laws are cited from the Revised Code of Washington (RCW 46.67.770):

1) When traveling slower than traffic, cyclists should ride as far right as is safe, except when: a) preparing to turn, b) when passing another vehicle, c) when on a multi-lane one-way road.

2) Cyclists may occupy the middle of the lane when: a) traveling at the speed of traffic, b) when the lane is too narrow to permit a car to share the lane, c) when road conditions (poor surface, drain grates, parked cars, etc.) prevent riding to the far right.

Bicycles are considered vehicles by state law and subject to the same rights and responsibilities as a motor vehicle. However, it is legal for cyclists to ride two abreast. It is also legal to parade without a permit in Thurston County.

Olympia has built an impressive infrastructure to support bicycle commuters. Many large cities such as Seattle (where thousands of citizens commute by bike every day) do not have such amenities available.

However, it is the motorists' awareness of bicycles on the road and the respect riders deserve on the road that still needs work. Day-glo clothing and night-lights can only go so far. Cyclists everywhere are harassed and routinely have their lives endangered without provocation.

The road is meant to be shared, and Critical Mass has been an effective and largely safe way to raise that awareness for 12 years. As the saying goes, "We're not blocking traffic, we are traffic."