Storm trooper clad Los Angeles Police officers arrested a group of bicyclers protesting the oil industry, and blockaded the Metro Blue line stranding rush hour commuters for about forty minutes at Flower and 18th Street Tuesday afternoon.

The mass arrest, just behind the Patriotic Hall, headquarters of the Independent Media Center [IMC] and the Shadow Convention was witnessed by dozens of IMC journalists, Shadow attendees and Legal Observers from the National Lawyers Guild.

Ariela Gottschalk, who was not part of those originally arrested, said her group had been on a "critical mass" bike ride when without warning a squad of motorcycle cops forced the group off Washington Street and the down them down the wrong way on 18th Street. "We were promoting bicycle-friendly laws for cities, but only a few of us even had signs", she said, before the police came across the street to where media were interviewing her and placed her under arrest along with the approximately 30 riders.

When a line of black bucket helmeted police forced the crowd of observers to the south side of Flower and 18th Street, and stopped the rush hour flow of Blue Line trains, the crowd shouted the First Amendment and "Ride a bike go to jail" at the officers. Police refuse to identify themselves to Lawyers Guild attorney Ben Rosenfield or to allow him to cross Flower to observe the arrests, which took about three hours to complete.

Well I was one of the 71 bikers arrested so let me give a quick first hand perspective.

First of all, there were actually two groups of bikers arrested; the second group had been split off by the police and then promptly arrested.

Don't believe the mainstream media!!!! (Do I really need to tell you this?) We were not, as they suggested, wreaking havoc upon the traffic (oh...poor innocent SUV's): In fact there was hardly any traffic at all, as anyone can attest to who had been downtown at the time. We were not zig-zagging, or riding in the wrong lane (until the cops led us the wrong way down a one-way street.)

The police gave no warning, no "diperse" or be arrested. No indication of why we were being arrested until over an hour of standing in one place, handcuffed, and repeatedly verbally humiliated by LA's finest.

Then, the majority of us spent two days in LA County Jail. Imagine your worst nightmare of imprisonment. Now take out the buggeringand the gangs, and you pretty much get the idea: EVIL COPS. The prisoners I met were sound, articulate, and totally supportive of our cause. Most of hem actually lit up when they heard we were protesters. Not to make this an us & them thing, 'cause we were all prisoners, but the guards definitly did their best to make us feel special (or especially awful).

Everyone agreed that the whole thing was eerily absurd... one minute we're riding our bikes legally, having a great time, the next minute we're in jail being treated like the scum of the earth.

There are still a few left in jail. Supposedly they're supposed to be released by midnight tonight. I've learned never to trust what they say. If they're not, some serious action needs to take place. I hope I can count on all of you activists, protesters, and rabble rousers to join together to fight this ridiculous case, that's really not received the media attention it deserves.... (It should have its own heading here on indymedia, dammit)...

There will soon be a web site dedicated to the horrible

police action towards Critical Mass riders.

I was an arrested rider. The police had me step off my bike, which I did very calmly and obediently, at 6:30PM on Tuesday, August 15th. Not until 12:30PM on Thurday, August

17th was I released. I spent 42 hours in custody for riding a bicycle. Absurd. Shameful.

Mayor Riordan and Police Chief Parks and the LAPD deserve to be punished.