Police arrest cycling protesters

[Pardon the belated posting. I just saw this.]

Demonstrators hold up traffic in ride to oppose Charging Bison

By Patti Edgar
Thursday, May 4th, 2006
Winnipeg Free Press

CLASHES between Winnipeg police and anti-military protesters turned violent yesterday, with at least seven protesters handcuffed and hauled away in a paddywagon. Protesters said police pulled them off their bicycles. One man said police put him in a headlock, and a woman said
police knocked her down and carried her away.

“The police pushed me to the ground and cuffed me and lifted me up,” said Alex Stearns, 19. “I panicked. I struggled because I panicked. There were three to five cops on me.”

The conflicts happened around 5 p.m. when about 50 protesters under the surveillance of police officers bicycled through city streets to protest Operation Charging Bison, a military training exercise underway in Winnipeg.

A police spokesman said last night two people face criminal charges, and at least five more are charged with violating the province’s Highway Traffic Act. He said police did not detain protesters overnight.

He said he couldn’t release further details of the  confrontations.

The flare-ups came as the cyclists held up traffic while cycling from the Exchange District downtown to the Pioneer Arena on Logan Avenue, to protest the war training exercise.

The clashes happened at two seperate locations — three people were arrested at the intersection of Ellice Avenue and Smith Street, and four more outside the Pioneer Arena. The arena, fenced and guarded by troops, is serving in the simulation as a Canadian army base nicknamed “Camp Pioneer.”

Charging Bison is one of the largest urban combat exercises in Canadian history and is meant to prepare 500 reservists from the 38 Canadian Brigade Group for an international mission in 2008.

The cyclists identified themselves as members of a movement called Critical Mass, described on one website as a “leaderless group of cyclists, boarders and bladers celebrating human-powered transport.”

The cyclists say they weren’t chanting or brandishing signs, but had advertised on websites that the group bike ride was in protest of Operation Charging Bison.

The cyclists started at Old Market Square in the Exchange District, cycled to the arena on Logan and then cycled back to the Exchange District, holding up a lane of traffic along the way.

The cyclists were flanked the entire time by police officers, also on bicycles, said protesters.

Protester Jacob Carson estimates at one point there were about 50 officers monitoring the group, in cars and on bikes. At the start of the ride, at Ellice and Smith, a red light caught some of the cyclists in the intersection.

Carson, who was in the intersection and trying to stop traffic that had the green light from going though, said police descended on the group.

He said he and Alex Wright were hauled away in handcuffs, along with Jon Schledewitz, a freelance photographer who was also on a bicycle taking photos.

“I think they wanted to set a tone…we were outnumbered by the police,” said Carson. “It was pretty chaotic, every one is crowded around on bikes, so it was very disorganized. I think the police didn’t know what to do and my impression was they didn’t want people to get down to Pioneer Arena because that was where the military was.”

“It’s overkill,” said Carson, who was taken to a police station and given three tickets. “It’s a bunch of kids on bikes going for a bike ride when you really look at it.”

Other protesters agreed.

Alex Stearns said she only became involved in the fight when police pulled one man off his bike and other cyclists attempted to go to his aid. From there, it was a melee, unlike anything Stearns said she ever expected.

“We had no intent to do anything violent,” she said, admitting in the man’s defense she jumped off her bike and began yelling at officers to let go of the man.

The next minute she was on the ground herself, along with another female protester.

Because of the protests, the military held up a convoy of about a dozen vehicles carrying 40 soldiers that had been heading toward the arena.

But military officials said protesters were not a large  concern.

“We are not looking to escalate anything, so as a precautionary measure sometimes we will adopt a reduced presence in order to ease the situation,” said military spokesman Brian Lacoursiere. “The other aspect of this is if the convey comes back, we need them to get through
the perimeter and if we open the gate to do that, that becomes a security issue.”

On Monday a throng of 100 peaceful protesters marched through downtown Winnipeg to voice their anger over Operation Charging Bison.