There’s a lot of misinformation going around about the “attack” of a family in a minivan during San Francisco Critical Mass last Friday night. It started when San Francisco Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross (who are anti-cycling) wrote this very skewed editorial, claiming that a mob of crazed cyclists attacked an innocent family of vacationers in San Francisco. Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin picked up this story because apparently all cyclists are evil liberal hippies or something, and the conservative blogosphere is having a field day with how evil cyclists are, with many publishing death threats against us.
According to people who were there (unlike Matier and Ross), Susan Ferrando swerved her van into the cyclists (which, by 9 p.m., dwindles down to about a dozen riders), knocking one of cyclists off of his bike. Instead of the benign tap “reported” by Matier & Ross, the bike ended up smashed underneath the van. While the cyclists called 911 to report the criminal assault, Ms. Ferrando attempted to flee the scene of her crime. That’s when the cyclists surround the van to stop her until police arrive. While they waited, one idiot broke out her window. The police declined to arrest Ms. Ferrando.
It’s unacceptable that the one guy smashed out the van’s window with children inside. It’s also unacceptable that a Mother would commit assault with her own children watching from behind. And it’s horrible that the Mother would then attempt and hit-and-run to flee her crime, again with her children watching.
Here’s an update in the Chronicle that gives a little bit of information from the cyclists.
