But police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz described the group as known traffic scofflaws who "came barreling down the path, forcing other cyclists and pedestrians" out of their way.The group does not have a happy reputation.
Not all of the bike riders stayed on the trail, she said.
"They were going into the city streets and then back into the path," she said.
Schwartz defended the officers: "History shows us this group does not follow the laws."She was arrested when she refused to identify herself to the police officer. One person in the group was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon (a knife) and another person was arrested for trying to hit a police officer.
"The Milwaukee Police Department is not interested in upsetting people out for a nice ride on a beautiful day," she said. "That's not what this was."
The Milwaukee chapter of Critical Mass, like others around the world, stages regular rides to promote cycling as an alternative mode of transportation and to assert cyclists' rights to the roads.
Some groups are more confrontational than others, blocking drivers and defying traffic laws to make their points. The tenor of Milwaukee's rides depends on the night and who turns out, said Shea Schachameyer, 22, of Riverwest, who said she was ticketed for riding without a license and disorderly conduct.
Schachameyer complains that baunch of riders are coming from out of town next month, and she wonders what will be the reputation of Milwaukee when there are more arrests. I'll tell you what the reputation will be. The reputation will be that Milwaukeeans don't like a bunch of totalitarian wannabes tying up traffic, terrorizing pedestrians, and feeling superior because they're a bunch of smug twenty-somethings riding a bicycle in the middle of the road. Maybe if the police start confiscating bicycles and donating them to charity people like Schachameyer will grow up a little.
(ht: Dad29)
