Jared Lodge ’05 did not expect to spend any part of his spring break in the hospital getting stitches and a cast, but that’s what he did.

Lodge was assaulted by a Minneapolis police officer while he was taking part in the monthly Critical Mass bicycle ride. He is currently filing a claim with the city of Minneapolis for medical damages and damage to his bicycle.

Critical Mass began a decade ago in San Francisco. The name Critical Mass was inspired by a documentary which showed intersection crossing techniques in China’s large cities. In China, bike-traffic waits until it has enough riders-or a critical mass-to push its way through an intersection.

“We conceived Critical Mass to be a new kind of political space, not about protesting, but about celebrating our vision of preferable alternatives, most obviously in this case bicycling over car culture,” said Chris Carlsson, one of the founders, on the Critical Mass Web site.

Rides occur in cities all over the world. In order to enhance the feeling of solidarity, rides are always conducted on the last Friday of every month. In Minneapolis, these rides begin at 5 p.m. in Loring Park. Throughout the course of a Critical Mass ride, riders occupy various amounts of space on the road and in traffic.

The rides are loosely organized and are leaderless. Usually the bike route is decided by the massers-as Critical Mass riders are called-after they gather in Loring Park. The approximately 60 riders on March 29 decided to bike through downtown Minneapolis en route to Northeast Minneapolis.

On March 29, after leaving Loring Park riders did not get far before police blocked the road and told massers to form a single line, although Minnesota law allows them to ride two abreast. Then, as riders slowed, the police confiscated unregistered bikes within their reach. Minneapolis, one of the only Minnesota cities to require such licenses, uses them to recover stolen bikes.

According to the arrest report, “officers attempted to stop the group and deal with traffic offenses, but the group split up and rode through downtown.”

What remained of the mass regrouped and headed north on 3rd Avenue. At the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 7th Street, some of the riders near the rear of the mass allegedly rode through a red light. Because the mass often stretches more than a block, riders near the end sometimes need to run red lights in the interest of staying together.

Lodge said he was near the front of the mass and riding next to the sidewalk and went through this intersection while the light was green. Soon after he left the intersection, Lodge heard a car screech to a stop behind him. He turned and saw an officer open the car door and run towards him.

“A cop threw me over the front of my bike, he got on top of me, took the back of my head and just went smash!” Lodge said. “He smashed my face into the ground while he was on top of me, took my arm and cuffed me so I was out of commission.”

Rider Alex “Curly” Freeburg ’05 said, “The cop was fierce, it was speed anger raw and Jared got his skinny ass viciously kicked. He was screaming ‘help, stop hurting me’ with blood dripping down his face-It was fast.”

After Lodge was put in a police car, a sixteen-year-old girl was pepper sprayed and arrested for trying to retrieve her bike. Minneapolis police had a flatbed truck on location to help them confiscate bikes.

Another rider who was objecting to the pepper spraying was arrested with the girl. They were both booked for obstructing the legal process and interfering with vehicular traffic.

Lodge, along with 10 others, was also cited for interfering with vehicular traffic.

Instead of booking him, officers dropped Lodge off at Hennepin County Medical Center where he received two stitches on his nose and a cast for his possibly broken arm. On the incident report for Lodge’s citation, it was noted the police did not use force while ticketing him and that he did not receive medical treatment.

Police spokesperson Sgt. Medaria Arradondo told Skyway News that “there was no indication in any reports that officers tackled bikers in Critical Mass.”

On April 2, four days after Critical Mass, approximately 20 riders met with Minnepolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Councilperson Dean Zimmerman.

The massers asked the mayor to address excessive police force, return the bikes, waive the fines and planned a future ride with the mayor.

In return the mayor arranged to have the bikes released, the fines for retrieving them waived and admitted that excessive force has been an issue in other parts of the community. Mayor Rybak will also take part in next month’s Critical Mass.

He then added, “I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret-I don’t have a license for my bike. I haven’t been put up against a cop car and I don’t expect to be and I don’t expect other people to be.”

Lodge also expressed concern about the police department’s excessive use of force. “What happened at Critical Mass is nothing compared to what has happened. You want to see police brutality? Look at the shooting of [Abu Kassim] Jeilani (see World News Roundup, The Mac Weekly, March 15). A mentally ill man, doesn’t speak English, shot 17 times by officers. I think that is gross police brutality,” Lodge said. “What happened to me is part of a pattern and it’s not just like one Mac kid. These are dangerous police officers.”

Next month’s ride, on April 26, will be attended by the mayor and proceed as usual. People who have attended Critical Mass are hoping that what happened last month does not deter would-be riders. The ride will kick off the Building Urban Resistance Networks conference and will end at the Seward Café for a screening of two Critical Mass related films.