Chicago Police Assault Massers

Something was up from the moment we left Daley Plaza.

I know the police have infiltrated the Mass to an extent in the past, but this was on a whole other level: There were several cops riding with us the whole time, a bunch of undercovers wearing hawaiian shirts, and police seemed to be directing the mass from the word go.

The first thing I saw was a bike cop grabbing people's beers in Chinatown and throwing them on the ground. I've seen people get tickets before in Daley Plaza, but this was very aggressive. The officer was reaching into riders' baskets and grabbing beers out hands. He said, "this is a waste of perfectly good beer" as he threw the cans on the ground.

All hell broke loose at the corner of Canal and Taylor. The Mass came to an instant stop with police vehicles (ATVs, Cars, Segways, and bikes) not letting anyone through. A paddywagon was also parked there and, I assume, designed to start "making examples" of riders.

Frustration in the Mass boiled over until a few brave souls broke through the police barrier and opened up the flood gates for the rest of us. The mass continued on for a few glorious minutes.

We went one block South on Canal and were on the corner of Roosevelt when the first rider was arrested. A twenty-something male was closelined off his bike by one of the Hawaiian shirt undercover police officers. He was thrown on the ground and instantly cuffed.

Then, one by one, the police systematically began arresting people and throwing them into paddy wagons. One 16 year old biker was tackled by two pigs for "inciting a riot" (i.e. chanting); He was put in a headlock by one of the officers while the other officer bound his hands. Two bikers that decided to get off their tandum bike and sit on the ground were picked up off the ground, handcuffed, and thrown into the paddy wagon.

The standoff with police lasted for about twenty minutes, taking place around 8:30 p.m. Towards the end of the standoff, police officers began running into the crowd and arrested randoms. They were riding vehicles in the crowd to break up mass, including one rather obese officer, that was riding his ATV into the crowd and hitting several riders.

Most of the riders took off West, but a group of us discovered that those arrested were being taken to the jail at 1718 S. State street.

The riders were released in staggered order from 4 a.m. - 5 a.m. They were charged with three counts each and had to deal with hours of harrasement by the officers. One biker was told, when he refused to write his prison number on his hand, that "he must be a holocaust surviver or something" by a police officer.

*NOTE = I have already contacted a lawyer to represent the riders and took witness statements/contact information at the scene. I know a lot of people took pictures at the scene so PLEASE post them on here so we can use them in court. Thank you*