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Comment by yummyfajitas | Hacker News Reader

This has nothing to do with Wall St, and everything to do with NYC cops being out of control. The NYPD uses similar tactics against innocent bikers and anyone else they don't like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IORuR5iRuxs

I've heard that the NYPD is even going after people practicing parkour now, though I haven't seen it on youtube yet.

(Full disclosure: I got picked up during one of these incidents. The judge dismissed all charges after the cop lied and I showed videotape proving it.)

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Just curious, how did you get a videotape?

I wish I had an "Oh boy, here comes a police officer" button, which records the entire event. But obviously there is no such device.

I'm terrified at the idea of pulling out a cameraphone during any police interaction, due to the possibility of being prosecuted / imprisoned for violating their expectation of privacy. I'm relatively poor, and no one really cares what happens to me, so I wouldn't be able to fight the courts.

Another participant recorded the incident with a handlebar cam. She gave me the recording and offered me advice on how to fight the charges.

(Different topic, out of curiosity.) Why bother protesting anything at all?

I mean, we're both smart people. Surely we agree that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aT9p36fgHU#t=3m35s indicates the police can do whatever they want, and nobody really cares except the victim.

And there's really nothing to do about it, or any way to change it. Nobody cares about protests except the protesters.

I wish it weren't that way, but, given that things are that way, then why bother fighting?

Why go on living? You'll just end up dead.

Thought about it.

Critical Mass is a bunch of thugs conspiring to break laws, obstruct traffic, and threaten and enrage the same people every legitimate bicyclist was hoping to coexist with. I'm no fan of violence but "corkers" should be arrested.

If that's the case, how come the cops find the need to lie about critical mass activities on a regular basis? Shouldn't the video tapes recorded by critical mass participants be evidence enough of their guilt?

It's quite strange how these "thugs" make every attempt to record themselves when they "break laws" and the cops try to stop them from recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aT9p36fgHU

I wonder - would the police also attempt to prevent the mafia from wiretapping their own phones?

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