Avenue Craziness
The bicycle phenomenon known as Midnight Ridazz had a near tragedy as they rode down Avenue 52 this past Friday night. Around midnight (hence the name), as hundreds of cyclists were making their way from Griffith Park, through Highland Park, and on their way over to Lincoln Heights during the Neverland-themed ride, the group was attacked as they descended down Avenue 52 just before the Pasadena Freeway at Bomer Drive.
When the rolling mass of cyclists with blinking lights, bells, horns, and amplified music trailers went rolling by a house party on 52, the occupants there started yelling, “Fuck you white boys!” (despite the diverse crowd of men and women of every skin color) As the blocks-long group of bikes continued to pass, the group of men in the yard started throwing beer bottles, pots, and anything they could find at the cyclists. (As of this post, there was still bits of broken Corona bottles and white ceramic shards in the Avenue there.) Then they came at them with shovels and started knocking people off bikes and successfully manage to steal one bike from a local cyclist as he was dodging a swinging shovel.
As the cyclists tried to defend themselves and rescue the fallen cyclists from the street, someone from the house pulled out a 22 from his pocket and shot a male cyclist in the back. The shooter then fled, and the other assailants ran back into the house and turned off the lights to hide. Highland Park’s LA Fire Department #12 was on the scene within five minuets. Unfortunately, LAPD officers from Hollenbeck Division didn’t arrive until 15 minutes later. Several suspects were apprehended.
In this case, the cyclist was extremely lucky, it was a small caliber bullet that missed his spine by less than an inch, and who’s impact was partly shielded by the bag he was wearing on his back. The wound proved not to be too serious, the bullet got lodged in his back muscles. (See, more benefits of cycling: strong back muscles!)
At this point, the Ridazz are keeping quiet about the incident, (deleting any discussion about the shooting on their message boards) preferring to ride on, and not let this ugliness mire the bike movement. Such censorship will hopefully allow the criminal justice system to do its job, and suppress the urge for retaliation on behalf of both parties.
thas sum f-ed up ish right there?!??! who the hell does that just because theres a mass of people riding their bicycles…. what kinda city do we live in Highland park?!??! wow what a disgrace to the community and their families!!! Thats just senseless beyond comprehension. im out peace!!!!
who knew u could get shot in your back for riding your bicycle… shame
Thanks for the whole story. And yes the Ridazz are being smart about this. Glad the dude is okay!
It just sucks now that a lot more people will think our area is sketchy, this shit happens everywhere.
My favorite part is that the shooter ran away and attackers ran inside and turned off the lights. Real big men.
Just goes to show you the stupidity out there. The amount of ignorance is astounding who in there right mind can tolerate such hate of self and community these guys are no more than roaches who feel threatened by the good changes happening to this community. What gets me is how dear they feel they speak for everyone and what cowards they are to run and hide. This is a rich full and colorful community with all stripes. Rockers,artist,working class,professionals,greasers etc , etc. Fear is an ugly thing, especially the fear of change and others. The sad truth of the matter is I don’t believe this happened out of a vacuum. We all moved here for various reasons and it makes no sense that we can’t exist side by side without such ugly actions and thoughts.
This didn’t happen in a vacuum. Before you all rode through, the Aves were having a bad day, emotions were already on edge.
I hope that both sides can see this as an isolated and unfortunate incident. Misunderstanding, excitement, emotions and booze made for a sad event. I hope they can move pass this.
I can’t really say even anonymously what happened but there was crazy gang shit going down in HLP before Midnight Ridazz came through. It’s no justification in any way but it could be a factor in why they were reacting so violently. It sometimes helps to put situations in context when looking back at an event.
As for all this hate crime stuff, I dunno, it’s not like white folks have decided to share all their power and we’re all equal and shit. It’s not that world yet.
Maybe this will make some of the bike groups (gangs?) think twice before calling themselves ‘mobs’ and blasting loud music in residential areas. That’s what might’ve irked the homeboys. Just sayin…
fucking gangsters. stop the fucking violence. that’s why we can’t have nice things.
No. When two cultures clash, especially those of mis-understood counter-cultures, they many times buttheads. But they have a common enemy, and it ain’t each other.
Thanks for that, Adfreela.
No, they don’t have a common enemy. The gangsters’ common enemy is anyone who disagrees with them or in any way tries to rein in their thuggish behavior. The Midnight Ridazz are doing something edgy but wholesome at the same time, and they didn’t deserve to be attacked. Period, no excuses.
This is a hate crime, plain and simple. I don’t care if there was “beer” or “emotions,” guess what, c**ksucking Klansmen have those too. This had BETTER be prosecuted as a hate crime.
To quote from above: Period, no excuses.
Clayton,
I’m sorry, but I don’t think bicyclists are recognized as an ethnic group.
I’m very sorry to hear that someone got shot, but it was only a matter of time that the militant bicyclists encountered real militancy. I’m glad that they’ve seemingly gained some sanity and are not going to return to the scene in force and better armed. That shows more maturity than I gave them credit.
Since when have the Midnight Ridazz been militants?
You call a situation where a drunken idiot w/a .22 that shoots someone in the back because he was riding down the street w/a large pack of bicyclists militancy? Drunken fools who knocked a girl off of her bike and threw her to the ground is a case of militancy?
If the jackass ‘gangsters’ said “Fuck you white boys”, as reported, this can be tried as a hate crime.
the avenues had a bad day? emotions were running high?
what exactly is the whole story here?
are you really trying to defend someone who pushed a GIRL off of a bike, and shot someone in the BACK?
Maybe some sort of understanding can help ease the tension. I doubt they are defending anyone’s actions, the act is, without a doubt, inexcusable.
Sympathy and forgiveness goes more towards peace, while revenge and anger will only makes things worst. No one has mentioned that, immediately before the cops came, one of their own was apologizing to the girl and the guy that got shot. Does that make things better, not totally, but it does little bit.
The biggest gang in LA is the LAPD, the most corrupt force in LA are City Officials and the corporations that feed them.
Hopefully, one of these days, people will realize that the actions of “Thugs” and “Villains” are a direct response to an overlaying feeling of oppression, whether they are real or just perceived.
Trouble is a relative.
What kind of hogwash is this? A bunch of flowery words with a over-worked and stupid attempt at making the LAPD responsible for what was a cowardly, vicious attack. Oppression my butt. Nobody oppressed these idiots from their free will and choice to act in such an ‘inexcusable’ and criminal behavior. So stop trying to make excuses for them. They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and, if the quoted racial slurs are true, that they be charged with a hate crime, pure and simple.
Peoples right’s were violated in a brutal manner and they deserve justice. We as a community deserve better than this blight on our community’s reputation that so many of us are working diligently to restore and preserve as a place we can be proud of and feel safe to exercise our rights to pursue our life’s enjoyment.
Apologizing? Haul them to jail! Who thinks apologizing makes a gunshot would go away.
Marcos, I’m sorry if I sounded strident in my post but the story upset me when I read it. And there were “hundreds” of bicyclists there so if these guys on 52 were heard yelling “Fuck you white boys” I’m going to guess more than one person heard it and it’s not some sort of conspiracy. It just struck me that these guys are 100% the same as whites in the south in 1870s, or 1960s, who’d have “uppity” blacks “strutting around”, it starts with yelling, then a thrown bottle, then a SHOOTING. And the people in charge just make excuses, oh, excitement, misunderstanding, “maybe they deserved it” is next. You said “it was only a matter of time.” Really? Really, that’s what you want to say?
Can you honestly tell me that if bicyclists riding through, I dunno, Silver Lake or something, were attacked and beaten by people yelling “Fuck you brown boys” and then shot at, do you think it just be in some little local blog, or make the Times?
Oh please the bad policemen made me do it. What a loud, I don’t care much for the LAPD but give me a break. If what was reported is true and some racially charged words were uttered it is indeed a form of a hate crime. That is what help fuel this attack so please spear me the excuses for these thugs. As a person of color I take any attack charged with race as a factor as an affront on us all no matter the color of the victim or perpetrators. Stop making excuses for bad behavior. It is offensive and insulting.
Oh please, spare us your tired rhetoric. Extrapolating a tiny detail to discredit the whole reply? That’s what politicians, or political wanna-bes, do. Please, continue your hate.
Why don’t you go down there and take them on, yourself? Or join the mob, I’ll make you a torch. Oh, because you wouldn’t dare.
Why don’t people strive for hope, love and maybe some compassion instead of fueling a fire. Maybe because it’s easier to hate and blame. Especially when it’s not their conflict, or struggle, to begin with. Arm-chair politicians.
I’m not making excuses for anyone, especially the Aves. They can speak for themselves.
I’m speaking for myself, to make it clear that not everyone is trying to start a war. But instead trying to keep the peace.
It’s about accountability not hate. I do have compassion but it’s not misplaced. I have compassion for the victims of this crime. Your form at keeping the peace comes at too high a price. In terms of daring–I dare to speak out when I read such garbage. Call me what you will, but you should step off your soapbox and think before you start slinging your own tired rhetoric.
Adfree- you know your history of LA — The Spaniards were bad to the Mexicans, the Mexicans were worse to the Indians, the Americans moved in ‘48 and established a white wonderland, and we didn’t have the mob running prosties at the turn of the century, it was cops; we didn’t have the mob running liquor in the 20s/30s like Chicago; it was the machine that went right to City Hall. Cops were their tools. And now, the liquor licenses and Uncle Tony’s mayoral tax increases are a mirror of those eternal screwings. So it’s not like it’s some new thing. There are those on the street who’ve been punking shit up since the beginning. Me and my crew were re-doing billboards back in the day of Survival Research labs, and we know a little bit about the beat-down. And if I had to choose between the 5-0 and the Avenues, and God bless my neighbors, I’d choose 5-0, and I’ve got scars enuf to hate 5-0. But the Avenues and all their li’l friends can go f’emselves (unless this was Dogtown, but they’re the other side of Fig).
All due respect but it is BULLSHIT to toss out your empty platitude crap like “hope” and “love” and just say that the “other side” is about “hate” and “blame.” I dare you to just speak honestly about this ONE EVENT THAT HAPPENED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD impassionately without catchwords thunk up by well-paid polyurethane politicos who usta work for Moral HiGround Corporation, I mean campaign.
“I’m not making excuses for anyone, especially the Aves. They can speak for themselves.” THEY HAVE SPOKEN. With racist shit. With bottles and tossed pans and beatings and bullets. I don’t want to hear from them again, ever. Where exactly are you getting all this stuff about joining the mob with torches? THEY are the klansmen. NEVER FORGET THAT.
Klansman apologist.
I don’t see anyone taking on the Avenues, not the cops, not the citizens in my neighborhood.
What I am willing to do is try help calm things down. You can call me on what you perceived as bullshit, fair enough. But I stand by my point, it was an isolated incident, it should stop there.
This comes from the point of view of a cyclist, who lives in the area. I don’t want a truck full of Aves pulling next to me, throwing signs, and threatening my life. Because, guess what, if things go further, and an Ave goes to jail, guess who they are going to go after. Not some Armchair Activist, or some Ex-Billboard Liberator.
No, they’re going to go after any one on a bike. All cyclists will become targets.
Things will get worst, and I don’t want to fucking die because I ride a bike.
Clayton, I haven’t heard mention of Survival Research labs for some time. Wow
Adfreela: I actually do feel better to know that at least one person from the offending avenues stopped and apologized to the woman who was attacked by his thuggish comrades.
Hey, the next night the Spoke(n) Art Ride rode through NELA (as it has done for a couple of years now) and everyone had a good time, nobody got shot (but a few people got lost and then found again).
ubrayjo2 good to hear don’t give into fear and keep up the good fight. The only way to take back a neighborhood is to prove to those who wish to behave in a negative and socially deviant manner is they don’t dictate the rules. It takes civic minded citizens to take back the streets.
I think it is going a bit too far for a guy (like me) that grew up on the pinche Westside to “take back” NELA. The guys in gangs have mostly been born and raised on their blocks. I’m not here to take anything back from anybody.
We’re all neighbors and members of a community, and I’m not that down on the existence of gangs as mad as I am about the lack of an industrial and a commercial base (for jobs) in the area, the drug war, the prison complex in California, and the poor local leadership with respect to urban design and planning.
But that is a whole ‘nother discussion!
Attacking a woman? Shooting a cyclist? Let’s reserve understanding for those who ask for help, or for the rare individual who apologized (if he has withdrawn his association with these beasts).
It’s true civilians and cyclists sometimes have the PD as a common antagonist. Read how one rider was treated recently by Beverly Hills Police
http://laist.com/2007/09/04/beverly_hills_c.php
but two cyclists were shot in different parts of Los Angeles the same night, and police did not perpetrate either attack. Criminals did.
http://tinyurl.com/ntx58g
An economic downturn is no time to move into a gentrified neighborhood. The country’s heading toward a depression, and you move into a neighborhood surrounded by ghettos, when you have the option of moving to a safe suburb? Somebody needs a V8 style smack to the head. This is no time to “slum it”. There are some serious “ghetto politics” going down right now in neighborhoods like Highland Park. A lot of people moving into these gentrified areas are acting like everything’s ok in the world. Anyone else picking up that vibe from them? Just hanging out at coffee shops with their lap tops and little dogs, chatting and gossiping. If this unfortunate event tells us anything, it’s that things obvioulsy aren’t good. I’m not saying the solution is to get up and move, but be smart. You live in a neighborhood surrounded by some serious gang turf. You can’t just go riding down any street. Sure, it’s your right, you could do it, per se. But what the heck could the police do to help you when they’re miles away and you’re confronted by some gangsters? A little street smarts, people. You don’t have to be friggin Superfly, but you have to stop being such clueless, ignorant fools.
Readers of this blog may come across a copy of this post plagiarized by local newspaper the Boulevard Sentinel on page 2 of their August edition. (No request to print, nor any credit given. Just printed without permission as if they wrote it.)
Earlier today, the editor of the BS, Tom Topping removed the story from their website, and issued this explanation:
“The write-up came to me without any attribution- I did not know where it came from. I often receive news items anonymously from people who want to see a story published, but do not want to be identified, just as many bloggers and blog owners want to have their say, but do not want to be identified.
I did call the LAPD and confirm that the incident did indeed happen.
The news item was clearly an important story that the non-computerized segment of the community should have access to. They depend on me and I do my best for them, and considering I am the only full time paid staff at the Boulevard Sentinel, I do a pretty damn good job. (I am often amazed I get the paper out at all)
…Anyway, I would be thrilled to print a correction in the September issue, and to give you attribution in the future…”
I understand that the Ridazz are keen to filming everything they do and everywhere they go, whether in downtown Los Angeles, on the 405 Freeway, or at the Bicycle Kitchen and thereabouts.
I am very curious to know why there appears to be absolutely no video on-line of this incident, despite the many hundreds of Midnight Ridazz that attended.
I was at an event last Friday night in Little Tokyo, one at which David Bryne, Donald Shoup and a couple of others were speaking. Before the event had started, I was witness to three young ladies on bicycles who had stopped in the middle of second Street—blocking motor and foot traffic, as they had stopped in the crosswalk near the theatre—and made clear that their only ambition was to find the bike valet. It is exactly this attitude which puts off people. (Those who might assume wrongly I have a motor vehicle, please know that while residing in O.C., L.A. and LES, NYC I have owned no motor vehicle for over two decades; I will implore the self-righteous among you to stop being schmucks.)
As for “keeping quiet about the incident, (deleting any discussion about the shooting on their message boards) preferring to ride on, and not let this ugliness mire the bike movement. Such censorship will hopefully allow the criminal justice system to do its job, and suppress the urge for retaliation on behalf of both parties,” can someone please explain why?
Could it be that this video of a right-turning bike messenger—who cut off a pedestrian (the beginning of the video was cut off, but it is not difficult to discern) might reveal the reality of one person’s bullshit taken to task in that the message is clear: don’t fuck with bicyclists?
http://gothamist.com/2009/07/21/video_bicyclist_attacks_man_with_lo.php
Could it be that releasing some of the video footage—like the following video and respective thread—might disclose information about how the Highland park July 2009 incident came to develop? http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/23/da-files-charge-against-cyclist-attacked-by-suv-driver-in-9th-ave-bike-lane/
I would like someone to point out where “the urge for retaliation on behalf of both parties” has been suppressed here.
[Editor's note: 11.05.09, Sorry Randall, just saw your comment from a month ago in my spam folder, posing it now.]
There is (was) footage of this incident just after it happen on-line. It’s both disturbing, and reassuring in that it shows the victim’s extent of his injury to be not as severe as one could imagine in such a situation. Part of what the victim said in that video was said in rage, and not in his best interest to be shared with the general public. Thus a need to hold back information on behalf of him and the others that were attacked that night.
I too hate censorship, but can sympathize with MR reasons for squashing the discussion. It was getting ugly with needless infighting. Focusing on the event was pulling the movement in a wrong direction and did nothing to pursue justice. The 5th Amendment is a good thing. Discussion boards are great for discussing, but terrible places to try a criminal case in absentia.
There is no such thing as a homogeneous group. Every person has their own backgrounds, their own motivations, their own tendencies to do the wrong thing. A bad apple can ruin all the apples. The biggest challenge to mass bicycle riding in Los Angeles is keeping the bad apples from ruining a good thing for the greater group. Bad apples will use rides as cover for their usual shitty behavior, it’s important to police ourselves, but as they say, shit happens.
On one recent ride, a cyclist stabbed another cyclist after they crashed into each other. There have been problems with riders who use the ride as cover to vandalize. Incidents as dramatic as they may be, should not be used to taint the thousands of other non-malicious people who socialize via bicycles.