Between thirty and fifty people were arrested today 27/7 en-masse as a result of their participation in the traditional monthly critical mass.
pre-arrest detention
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London police have used pepper spray against “critical mass” cycle ride as the British capital holds the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Games. “Large number of people” arrested said a police tweet.
Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month all around the world.
Some witnesses said police pushed the cyclists aside to get David Beckham through traffic.
The helicopter was already tracing circles above Waterloo Bridge at 6.30pm. The mass left the meeting point earlier than the usual 7.30pm. A van with police inside was emitting some unintelligible words and there were police on bikes, too, something unseen in years now, even since the House of Lords decided that the mass was indeed not a protest.
Some people crossed Blackfriars Bridge, some others Southwark Bridge. London Bridge was blocked by police to traffic when the Critical Mass arrived there. A police officer said to all there: “Guess what's waiting for you on Tower Bridge!” There were some scuffles and what looked like an arrest. A small portion of the mass sneaked through the line on the pavement, which was then joined by the rest in the City.
The mass then proceeded without major incidents until Rick Roberts Way. All riders that had reached thispoint were kettled under section 12 of the "Public Order Act", for disobeying the order apparently given by police to stay South of the river, and about an hour later, arrested, taken to a police station in Central London in a bus hired by police, and have their bikes put on another bus.
The mass then proceeded without major incidents until Rick Roberts Way. All riders that had reached thispoint were kettled under section 12 of the "Public Order Act", for disobeying the order apparently given by police to stay South of the river, and about an hour later, arrested, taken to a police station in Central London in a bus hired by police, and have their bikes put on another bus.
Critical Mass is a mainly bike ride that has taken place from 6.30pm onwards on the last Friday of every month for the last 15 years. The House of Lords ruled in 2008 that it is not a protest but a customary ride.
criticalmass arrest buses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA8TNeHeBBw&sns=fb Mass arrests as London police attack 'Critical Mass' cycle ride during Olympic ceremony (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
http://www.rt.com/news/london-police-olympics-arrests-269/ 
During Critical Mass London, police escalate violence and aggression. Police took a rider around the corner and a mounted officer placed his horse between the other riders and the person they had on the ground. A rider in grey holding two bicycles steps off the road onto the pavement and is shouted at by the mounted officer. He is then dragged off the pavement by an officer who then attempts to take a bicycle he was holding. Another rider attempts to take the bicycle back which causes a struggle. A third rider who is facing away from a mounted police officer and posing no threat is then struck from behind by the mounted police officer with an extendable baton. Later this officer attempted to justify this by saying he was threatened. Near the end you will also see a person who is apparently a police officer in shorts showing people his warrant card. Earlier on he had assaulted a person and become involved in the situation without making it clear he was a police officer. We witnessed him grabbing a rider by the neck and only then said to uniformed officers that he was a police officer when they attempted to stop him assaulting a rider.
. Fuck the 2012 Olympics
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