Last night's Critical Mass bicycle protest was unique in that we took our message closer to its observers (than I've seen previously). For one thing, we actively leafleted. For another, legal observers on the scene may have changed the actions of a police officer.

We started around 6:15 p.m. About 18 of us rode up Charles Street. (With bicyclists joining us in mid-progress our numbers fluctuated, with a high of about 22.) We rode slowly in all lanes. Some motorists screamed at us. Others steadily used their horns. We tried to hand out leaflets to everyone interested in what we were doing. This included many of the motorists, some of whom were pressing on their horns as frequently as they do their accelerators. We continued north up to Mount Royal Avenue, taking a right. Then we headed south down St. Paul.

One of our issues mentioned in the leaflets is the need for safer access for bicycles. St. Paul Street remains one of the most dangerous places for a bicyclist in Maryland. Having a large group of riders negotiating St. Paul while working in tandem, each one riding slowly for safety, is almost a necessity.

We took the (lower) left fork at the intersection of St. Paul and Route 40. Motorists were quite vocal, getting more frustrated as we headed south. At Light Street a pair of motorists became extremely aggressive. One of them drove into one of our main guys as he was on his bicycle. Tempers flew. A pair of legal observers (prominently wearing hats identifying themselves) were fortunately on hand. I believe their presence, of actually taking video of the confrontations with the angry motorists helped dissipate the violence that was brewing at Light Street. We took a left on Pratt, somewhat shaken. On Pratt we allowed for a police car to pass. We then took an immediate left on Calvert Street, heading north.

At Calvert and Baltimore We encountered the police department's version of Rambo. A very tough cop, with tattoos running up his right arm, got out of his parked car. Using his loudspeaker he firmly gave us the bad news:

"Attention! The rule of a protest is you must have a permit. If you do not get out of the road you will all be arrested!"

We bicyclists scattered somewhat. It seemed to this observer that the officer was going to arrest someone. Suddenly, the two legal observers were on the scene. The woman came hurried up to the police officer and began videotaping him, making an improvised documentary of his actions. (This video footage is being transferred to a video for us to look at later.)

Minutes passed. From my position I could see the officer was telling the legal observer she was not allowed to film him from the sidewalk. (Baltimore City police officers do not normally acknowledge that there is a First Amendment.) Eventually, the standoff ended and we all left the scene without anyone getting arrested. While some of our numbers left when Rambo arrived, the rest of us resumed the ride, heading north up Calvert Street. This time we took up the right-most lane and did not block traffic. We took a left at Mount Royal Avenue. We then joined Artscape for the festival.

Although there were very ugly moments to last night's Critical Mass, I believe that it was a communications success. The legal observers to last night's protest were the best part of it. In addition, the flyer we handed out articulated what we were disrupting traffic for.


SL
p.s.

Speaker and Film about Critical Mass
Black Planet Books
Monday, July 28, 7:00 p.m.
www.radicalendar.org/group/all/all/display/6200/index.php