Re: Very sad news from Brazil

Hi all,

The driver lawyer said his client would show up at the police this
afternoon, when he was contacted by the press. According to his
lawyer, he will pledge innocent, alleging that the cyclists hit the
car first, breaking the glass and scaring his 15-year-old son who was
with him.

This is different from the story the cyclists told on the video
footage taken right after the accident. They said they were going
slow, and that the driver had been honking and threatening to
accelerate for a few minutes. They asked him to stay calm, because
there were elder people, and kids, and pets, and it would not be safe
for him to pass through - which, as you saw, he ignored.

The 15-year-old son, when interviewed by the press, said (translation):
- It was wasn't them, the cyclists, who started. My father went a
little first. But then they started hitting the car for real. Then,
after they calmed down, three of them stayed in front of the car,
blocking him, only him.

[from this link, in portuguese:
http://zerohora.clicrbs.com.br/zerohora/jsp/default.jsp?uf=1&local=1&section=Geral&newsID=a3223867.xml]

Etienne, you are right. The police so far acts as if the cyclists were
wrong, for they had not warned the authorities that they would be
riding that night.

I think one of the great help we can have from the international
community is to have this story show up on major newspapers all over
the world. I believe our politicians are very sensitive to the bad PR
that will come if this insane driver is not convicted.

BTW, I am brazilian too, but from another city (Recife). I will follow
the events through the blog of the Critical Mass of Porto Alegre, and
try to keep you updated.

We are also trying to figure out what is the best strategy to raise
awareness of the incident throughout the country. Some cities have
scheduled rides for this week. If anyone has experience on this kind
of thing (I hope not), we are open to suggestions as to what worked
before, and what didn't.

Davi Pires

On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 8:58 AM, Theo Haris <[email protected]> wrote:
> This is very sad news indeed. I hope nobody got killed during this heinous
> act..
>
> Luis Patricio, do you want to keep us informed on what's happening in
> Brazil? I wonder also whether we should organise a critical mass ending on
> the embassy of Brazil in all countries we can, to protest if they still hold
> to the story that he didn't mean murder..
>
> Theo
>
> On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Etienne von Bertrab <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>>
>> These are horrible news, Luis Patricio. As far as I understood the police
>> is still not recognising these powerful video testimonies. I wonder if we
>> could show solidarity while contributing with putting pressure on
>> authorities with a letter from WCN. Has it been done in the past? What do
>> you guys think?
>> Étienne
>>
>> On 27 February 2011 21:40, Luis Patricio <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Last friday on Porto Alegre's Critical Mass, a driver hit dozens of
>>> cyclists:
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRgiIrHRoHM&feature=player_embedded
>>>
>>> We are all still shocked but many groups throughout the country are
>>> already planning something to respond to that hideous crime.
>>>
>>> The Porto Alegre CM blog has more info and videos (in portuguese):
>>> http://massacriticapoa.wordpress.com/
>>>
>>> Luis Patricio
>>> transportehumano.com.br
>>> "Mais importante que o veículo que você usa, é a mensagem que você
>>> veicula"
>>> @luis_patricio
>>>
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