this was posted just today on Youtube, and linked in the Chronicle comments..Direct link to youtube video
I might be able to help with the audio synch problems. email me!
comments posted om Youtube
Added April 27, 2007
From WheelsOfChange
In the wake of the incident of motori… In the wake of the incident of motorist violence at San Francisco Critical Mass on Friday, March 30, 2007, this video is presented as a counterpoint to the gross misrepresentation in much of the Bay Area media. The hype began with a gossip column in the SF Chronicle.
The side of the story which hasn’t been told: a mother in a minivan reportedly endangered her children and the demonstrators by crashing through the Critical Mass in San Francisco. She struck one cyclist, who repotedly flew 4-5 feet, and crushed the cyclist’s bicycle underwheel. She then fled the scene (hit and run). Cyclists chased and detained the cyclist. One cyclist reportedly erred in throwing a bicycle at the rear of the van, which had tinted windows. None of the children inside, who were not visible, were injured. There were no further acts of agression in response to the attack. The police failed to arrest the driver, wihch is all too common in the everyday mistreatments of bicyclists, and particularly true at Critical Mass.
The attached video shows a parallel event, in which a mother terrifies her child, jumps a curb to attack, strikes a cyclist (a cancer victim, incidentally, and partially disabled), traps his foot underwheel, then pushes through and crushes the bicycle.
A police lieutenant failed to respond immediately after (audio problems need to be corrected, but you can see the cyclists are asking for justice). The full video shows that there was a police helicopter and police stationed at intersections along the way. Their failure to protect the cyclists speaks to the endemic and institutionalized discrimination against bicycling which is a foundation for the need for critical mass demonstrations. (more) (less)