[*BCM*] Cop attacks Boston Critical Mass cyclist in Central Square: Follow up...

[Danny Piccirillo]

Hi Yoni,

I understand that you are hesitant about going forward with this, but
please at least call a lawyer and the ACLU. You have a good case, and
the fact that this has happened before stands strongly in our favor.
You may always regret not seeing if more could have been done, but if
you do find legal advice, you can still decide to back down.

Still, this is an incident that speaks to a larger issue, and it
should be stood up to. The abuse of power should not be tolerated, but
that isn't to say you must take the fall for us. I don't think there
is much chance of you getting bad press from this. There is too much
going against Pina, and at the very worst case, he'll keep his job,
but you will have stood up. The school admission concern is very
legitimate, though it doesn't seem like you could ever be blamed for
being assaulted. You are respectable and i don't expect to see any
articles coming out painting you as the bad guy. Either way, being the
one involved must be a very stressful experience, and we will respect
whatever choice you make.

Anyways, you might be persuaded that this is a worthy cause by the
first Google hit for Raymond Pina is about some much worse police
brutality:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1609354150/Pundit-claims-police-brutality-in-Cambridge

If you decide to go forward with this, you have the support of many
many new friends. Please feel free to contact me off-list for any
reason.

All the best,
.danny

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 17:19, Yoni Kurland <ykurland at gmail.com> wrote:
> Whoops, forgot the attachments.
>
> On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 5:14 PM, Yoni Kurland <ykurland at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> [Attached: pictures of injuries, scan of ticket]
>> Hi Everybody-
>> Sorry for the delayed response, but I have been spending some time getting
>> my thoughts together about the incident during the ride.
>> I would like to be completely upfront about the events that occurred, and
>> I would appreciate any advice you would like to offer.
>> I was riding down Mass ave in the bike lane, about 30 feet before the
>> Central Square intersection. As I understand it, other riders were blocking
>> the intersection; I do not know whether the light was green or red. Officer
>> Pina was standing in the roadway, yelling at passing cyclists to stop and
>> lunging back and forth as people passed him. I was unable to dodge his
>> lunges, and he tackled me to the ground. Fortunately I was wearing a helmet.
>> I sustained two minor superficial injuries to my right arm and leg.
>> Following the tackle, he yelled at me to get on to the sidewalk and asked
>> why I did not stop. I was shaken up from the incident and decided not to
>> answer. Officer Pina called for backup and I had no further interactions
>> with any of the officers until he handed me a $20 ticket, presumably for
>> "Operating to Endanger" (though the ticket is poorly filled out and vague).
>> Other issues with the ticket include:
>>
>> The address indicates that the incident occurred right in the
>> intersection, when it in fact occurred well before it.
>> My old address is listed, as he failed to note my updated address on the
>> back of my license.
>> The officer neglected to have me sign the ticket acknowledging receipt.
>>
>> Needless to say, I will be appealing the ticket.
>> I spoke briefly with Sgt. Joe Keough who said he was unable to comment as
>> he was not there. He said I should appeal the ticket.
>> I would like to thank Dave and the guy with the video camera (sorry, I
>> forgot your name) as well as the other cyclists who stopped. Your support
>> went a long way, and I believe it strongly influenced the Sgt. as well as
>> the other officers to de-escalate the situation away from an arrest.
>>
>> As for further actions, I am conflicted: On the one hand, I have only been
>> cycling regularly for 3 months, and this was my first Critical Mass ride.
>> While I believe that both Boston and Cambridge would benefit from more bike
>> lanes, I am not overly passionate about this cause. Further, I have no
>> desire for the publicity this would involve specifically because I am in the
>> process of applying to Medical Schools, and I worry that a Google search of
>> my name could scare off admissions committees. Lastly, I know in my heart
>> that I made the decision to avoid the officer rather than coming to a stop
>> as he had requested.
>> On the other hand, this officer had no reason to stop me in the first
>> place: I was operating my bicycle appropriately. Further, throwing me to the
>> ground could have caused serious injuries.
>> As for further actions, I will be appealing the ticket. I have called the
>> Cambridge Police Department, and I was told I should be able to pickup a
>> copy of the officer's report from the Records Department on Monday. I have
>> not decided whether I want to file a complaint, but I am pretty sure any
>> attempt at a lawsuit would be a waste of time and money. Even if I did file
>> a complaint, I would be faced with the fact that the officer demanded I stop
>> and I failed to do so. Even though the stop was unmerited, this will still
>> reflect poorly on me and the officer's actions may be deemed justified. This
>> single fact may make the difference between yesterday and the NYC incident.
>> Another option would be some sort of negotiation with CPD. I think the
>> other other officers realized that Pina made a very bad decision to do what
>> he did, and I think that a threat of a complaint may be a good negotiating
>> tool. Are there any concessions we should ask for from the city/PD that
>> would benefit cyclists? Does anybody have any contacts in the Cambridge
>> government or PD? Know any lawyers who could offer advice?
>> I have written this email as honestly as I could, and I know parts of it
>> are selfish but that is the situation as I see it. I look forward to your
>> responses.
>> -Yoni Kurland
>> P.S. Just Galen's email about the attorney. Do you think he would offer
>> pro-bono advice?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 4:51 PM, stephen messinger <s.messing at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> the guy who did this:
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ
>>> got in lots of trouble!
>>> what happened last night was pretty much the same thing as in NYC, except
>>> the cop was reaching out trying to grab people before he dove at poor Yoni
>>> and according to several eye witnesses (including me) Yoni was actually in
>>> the bike lane so he was not actually violating any obvious laws.  We do know
>>> is that there is a camera on top of the building on the corner (see attached
>>> image) for camera location.  anyone have any good ideas about how to get the
>>> footage?  it is the same building that houses cambridge's cctv.
>>> cheers,
>>> stephen
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 10:46 PM, Chris Ball <chris at printf.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>>   > Hey everybody. So we're sitting here, still blown away by what we
>>>>   > saw. A bicyclist by the name of Yoni Kurland was assaulted by a
>>>>   > Cambridge police officer, Raymond Pina, Badge CPD 567, in almost
>>>>   > the exact same manner as the infamous NYC Critical Mass incident.
>>>>
>>>> Ugh, sounds awful.
>>>>
>>>> In case you didn't see already, first Google hit for Raymond Pina:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1609354150/Pundit-claims-police-brutality-in-Cambridge
>>>>
>>>> Please do file a official brutality complaint; I think the officer
>>>> should always have some kind of recording active (probably audio,
>>>> or video from a squad car if there was one) that could be reviewed.
>>>>
>>>> - Chris.
>>>> --
>>>> Chris Ball   <chris at printf.net>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Stephen Messinger, LEED AP
>>> www.myatelier.org
>>> www.livecurio.us
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Yoni Kurland
>> ykurland at gmail.com
>> 781.249.1612
>> AIM: sinmosTaza
>
>
>
> --
> -Yoni Kurland
> ykurland at gmail.com
> 781.249.1612
> AIM: sinmosTaza
>