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news
NYPD tackle cyclist as Obama motorcade approaches (source mattpeco Instagram video still).PNGVideo: NYPD take down CitiBike rider as Obama motorcade rolls through Manhattan
Officers from the New York Police Department on Wednesday intercepted a man riding one of the city's CitiBike hire bicycles as he unwittingly rode towards an intersection on Park Avenue just seconds before Barack Obama's presidential motorcade rolled through. To add insult to injury, the episode made the unfortunate rider miss a date.
The incident was caught on video posted to Instagram, with some questioning whether one of the officers was using excessive force on the cyclist, who was very much in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, one commenter to the video said that when they asked police whether such a strong-arm approach was really necessary, they were told "it's the President."
The cyclist, Daniel Provencio, appears to have had his mind on other things as he obliviously breached the road block - he told TMZ he was listening to the song Call Me Maybe as he pedalled to a date with someone he had met on a dating site the previous evening.
And call his planned date with what must be the Mother of All Excuses for lateness is exactly what he did when police let him go after several hours of questioning, but it was to no avail.
"Manhattan men are huge on punctuality," he reflected.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
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Pog having just found out it's chips for tea tonight maybe?
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33 comments
I must concur that it isn't much of a road block if not one but two riders went trhough it without being stopped.
This is pretty symbolic of Obama's America. He cruises all around getting camera time instead of doing anything leadership related. Meanwhile, the average guy in the street gets beat down by the increasingly militarized "police" forces.
There's nothing that cyclist could have had on him that would have breached the armor on the President's vehicle. The take-down was pointless, probably revenge for showing how piss-poor the NYPD's preparation for the motorcade was.
The good old land of the free!!!!!
If he was more tanned and had a beard he would have been shot...
Have you ever seen that program that gave an insight into just how secure Obama's "Beast" is? It's ridiculous. Not much would get through it!
I got this on a cycling themed news feed today. This has got to be the worst cyclist hatred article for the month.
http://totalfratmove.com/watch-these-hero-cops-take-down-a-cyclist-for-b...
It's worth remembering when you are on the road that there are a small number of people who are happy to see you come to harm.
Feel sorry for people like that. Small minds.
What cycling news feed you on? Always looking for good sources of entertainment to distract during the day!
I bought an iphone SE and the news app asks for your interests. I just selected cycling. I'll ask the clever (young) people in my house if it has a special name.
Ah yes, Apple News app. I used to use it but selected too many interests and ended up getting tons of crap. Need to go back and mute lots of channels on it.
That is an awful article, and below the line is even worse. Presumably it was a cycling feed because the word 'bike' is included therein?
The takedown is maybe excusable, but the behaviour of the cop with the helmet on, who runs over and pins him to the ground, definitely isn't. What the fuck is he playing at? The guy is already on the floor, clearly stunned. If you think he could still be dangerous, stand him and get him away from there. He just looks like a big bully he wants to throw his (considerable) weight around.
It also looks like (though admittedly without seeing the whole road) like the police did a pretty shitty job of cordoning off the road. If someone had nefarious intentions, they could easily drive a car or truck into the motorcade.
So now we know - if you were planning to do the POTUS some harm, get an accomplice to ride a bicycle at the road block. 7 of the people supposed to be keeping an eye on things will have their attention diverted to restraining someone who's just been pushed off their bike by one of their number. One of those seven might wake up and remember they're supposed to be doing somehting useful, but he'll then look at the motorcade instead of what else is happening. A simple 'Stop' would have done a better job.
I don't understand - was the road he was turning into the one that was cordoned off?
If so, it wasn't not a very good one: it just looks like a van and some police officers, and a crowd of people fenced onto the pavement. You'd get the same for a guest appearance by a Kardashian or something.
Were there no police further away, to stop people getting close enough that they had to jump on him to stop him getting in the way of POTUS?
Not totally a bad result for Mr Provencio, my reading is that he was off to spend an afternoon under one bloke and ended up under 3, in uniform! *
Heavy handed? As others have said you never know what someone in the wrong place at the wrong time is really there for, especially in the USA where any fruitcake can get hold of guns, ammunition and explosives. Actually pretty brave of the NYPD to throw themselves on top of what could have been a suicide bomber for all they knew and, by the look of it, the most exercise they have had in some time.
*Please note - not a comment on his preferences, good luck to him with his next date.
He might have thought he had joined a triathlon by mistake.. easy thing to do.
Seriously, ask him to stop.
He did, bit late by then though..
Not sure why, after he was taken down and clearly subdued, there was any need to another 2 officers to come over and push his face into the tarmac three times. And what about the bloke that approaches with a bloody great backpack on halfway through.
Appalling behaviour on the part of the NYPD. Why not simply stand in front of the bloke and hold up a hand and shout stop?
..because a Presidential motorcade was about to pass, towards which he was riding and given the current state of the world, they're probably told to err on the side of caution - don't you think that might be wise ? There are situations where being all lovey dovey and polite can get you, and those around you, seriously fucked up - no point in taking the risk in my book.
Still too heavy handed in my view. They should have been watching out for gun-toting and bomb-vest wearing people in the crowd who appear to be standing way too close to the motorcade ...
People will have been watching the crowd and the security pesonnel had no idea whether he had a weapon, or a bomb, either and little time to act when it was apparent he wouldn't stop. He was riding directly towards the motorcade and although he was supposedly unaware of that, the uniforms couldn't know that. Luckily for his sake he didn't get past our athletic looking friend who halted his progress - if he had, the outcome may have been slightly more serious for him.
People will have been watching the crowd and the security pesonnel had no idea whether he had a weapon, or a bomb, either and little time to act when it was apparent he wouldn't stop. He was riding directly towards the motorcade and although he was supposedly unaware of that, the uniforms couldn't know that. Luckily for his sake he didn't get past our athletic looking friend who halted his progress - if he had, the outcome may have been slightly more serious for him.
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They managed to halt the red t-shirt wearing cyclist without physically abusing him. All I see are thugs in uniforms thinking they're protecting a bloke in a bullet-proof and bomb-proof car.
That would be the old-fashioned British way, but where's the fun in that?
Sounds like a complete liability on a bike if he was paying so little attention to the road that he missed a road block for the president!
On the other hand, it can't have been much of a road block if he wasn't stopped by it in the first place.
You can't blame the cops. A cyclist with a bomb vest, would be a simple way for the Ne'er do wells to score a big propaganda victory, in the current paranoid climate.
Agreed. Yes, it was heavy-handed but it was seconds before the world's #1 terrorist target passed by. It could have been much worse for that cyclist.
LOL at those FAT SLOB police men/women. Seriously, what a bunch of fat fucks. I guess there's no fitness test element to american law enforcement?
Too many doughnuts, burgers and riding around in their cruiser! Maybe some patrols by bike would help?
He's a very lucky man, normally US cops would just have shot him and worried about it later.
He's white and smart-casual. Usually fine. Just get a bit manhandled.
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