Demonstration accounts differ

A downtown bike-ride protest turned ugly Friday when a skirmish with police led to seven arrests.\nIt's now uglier, with accusations flying on both sides.\nPolice shut down Friday's "Critical Mass" bike ride -- a monthly event celebrating alternative modes of transportation -- for obstructing traffic along North Walnut Avenue. Officers charged two of the participating activists with battery of an officer, a class D felony. In turn, the activists alleged unprovoked police brutality and are now threatening civil rights suits.\nSix of the bicyclists pleaded not guilty during their arraignment in Monroe County Circuit Court Monday. A pretrial conference date was scheduled for May 15.\nThe seventh -- Mike Andrews -- will be arraigned today. Charged with obstructing traffic, disorderly conduct, resisting law enforcement and battery of a police officer, Andrews is still being held without bail in the Monroe County Correctional Center.\nWhile the others were released on bond or their own recognizance, police said Andrews must remain in jail until his arraignment because he refused to have his fingerprints taken. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to three and a half years in jail and a $16,000 fine.\nPolice said the arrests could have been avoided had the bicyclists all moved into one lane, as the officers on patrol had instructed. \nGreg Garvey -- a Bloomington attorney representing David Agranoff, Shane Becker, Matthew Heidrich and Allan Murray -- said his clients did nothing wrong.\n"Supposedly, they were obstructing traffic," he said. "In fact, they were traffic. And based on what I've heard from witnesses, the other charges are probably false, so we're bringing civil rights actions."\nSgt. Bob Neely of the Bloomington Police Department said the bicyclists refused to let other vehicles pass, prompting police to move in. \n"They were blocking the lane of traffic," he said. "That's what the officers reacted to."\nSome of the activists claim police intended the arrests as a scare tactic.\n"We gathered as a peaceful assembly to encourage people to use bikes to lessen the environmental impact cars are having on the earth," said Nancy Rinehart, who was also charged with battery of a police officer. "We were engaged in riding our bikes on a city street as is our right when this incident occurred."\nThe 49-year-old Rinehart claims police handled her roughly.\n"I was not asked to stop and get off my bike," she said. "I was grabbed from behind by an officer who sought to cause harm to my person and property."\nPolice dismiss claims of brutality as being without merit. Linda Runkle, the city's corporate counsel, said she only heard one inquiry about filing a formal complaint.\n"The most expeditious way to handle such a matter is to file a complaint," she said. "We look into it, and if you're not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, you can appeal."\nRunkle said while she has not yet received notice of a tort, any civil rights suit filed would lead to a thorough investigation.\nThe demonstration kicked off a "week of resistance" planned by local activists in support of alleged eco-terrorist Frank Ambrose, who was arrested in January for spiking trees set aside for lumber in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. \nAmbrose had a court hearing scheduled for this Thursday, which has been postponed until May 15 because of security concerns.