Check out this story I just read from KATU-TV:
“Two cyclists said they were attacked by three teenagers near a north Portland bus stop on Wednesday.
The women, Ashley Gorman and her co-worker Heather Moles, were riding their bikes home from work when the attack occurred near Legacy Emanuel Hospital.The cyclists said the teen girls were standing in the bike lane waiting for the bus and they had to steer their bikes around the group. The teens may have thought the cyclists rode too closely.
The next thing she knew, one of the teens kicked out Moles’ tire, causing her to fall…That’s when the beating began. Three teens punched both cyclists in the head and dislocated Moles’ shoulder…One witness heard a racial slur aimed at the cyclists, who said they didn’t hear it. The teens were black while the cyclists were white.
The cyclists wonder whether race had anything to do with the attack. They can’t understand what caused it…one witness claimed
“I got bruised up pretty good,” Gorman said. “I got my behind handed to me.””
KATU says the attackers scattered by the time the police arrived.
This really hits home for me. I live in North Portland and I ride by the same bus stop all the time. I’m aware of racial tensions that might exist in the rapidly changing neighborhoods and I always try and make eye contact, smile, and ring my bell at the kids in the neighborhood.
Regardless of why this happened, it’s clear that as cyclists — without a thousand-pound steel cage to protect us — we are much more vulnerable to stuff like this.
Does anyone know these ladies?
Have you ever had a similar experience?
Do you take precautions while riding at night?
Thanks for reading.
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maybe this would be an opportune time for kruger to announce a sting on hoodlums who attack bikes.
waiting? or, you bike nazis, do we have to enforce this sort of thing ourselves?
what say you cityfolk????
It is sad that we have to endure this type of behavior. We DO have to protect ourselves. Ironically, we can not carry pepper gas because it is illegal in Portland. The only other alternative is to obtain a concealed weapons permit and carry high powered “pocket” guns. I’d rather carry non lethal weapons but our hands are tied….
Steve,
I respect your suggestion, but I don’t think arming ourselves (lethal or not) is the answer.
This is Portland, not Baghdad.
If anything, this incident shows how far PDOT and local bike advocacy groups still have to go to reach out to the black community (and other under represented segments of our city).
Steve- carrying OC (pepper spray) is not illegal in Portland from what I understand.
Jonathan- Do you really think this is an issue of needing to reach out to the “black community”? It sounds like the assailants were scumbags. Personally, I feel that I get a whole lot more respect from black drivers than white drivers. This is (of course) a generalization, but I have been nearly injured much more often by the “white community”.
buy the small kryptonite lock and keep it in your back pocket. it’s not illegal, no one expects it, and it’s a mighty strong weapon.
Illegal or not carry some pepper spray. I used to carry a gun (legally) when I lived in Memphis and I can tell you from experience its a pain in the ass even with a small gun you always have to be aware of it. Arm yourself in your house but in Portland you really don’t need a gun. Pepper spray and a bike make a hell of a weapon.
honestly, i don’t see this as a consciously cyclist-specific incident. it sounds like some bored, pissed off kids taking out their ire on a ‘random, accessible victim’.
oh, also, as far as self-defense goes…pepper spray is a good one, and personally i like to ride with my u-lock easily available in a pinch.
unfortunately, this event hits close to home. like jonathan, i try to be respectful and congnizant (ie smiling, nodding, waving, etc) of those with whom i share the road. and yet, on three separate occasions in the past year, i have been threatened with physical assault while riding my bike. the first occurred on the hawthorne bridge, and was instigated by another cyclist (i forget his name, but it was that wackadoo written about in the papers). the second was at the intersection of ne multnomah and 20th – this time by a pedestrian. the third and most recent occurred about 2 weeks ago at the intersection of mlk and fremont. heading home from work on mississippi at about 9pm, a car full of teenage girls – probably in high school – pulled up next to me at the stop light. what started as waving and smiling quickly turned into racial taunts and threats of violence laced with obscene remarks of a racial/sexual nature.
what i find interesting and disturbing about these events – including the one from the initial article – is that the only common thread is that it is cyclists being attacked (my wouldbe-assailants were of different races and using three different transportation modes). personally, i believe it is because as cyclists, we are extremely exposed to physical attack. in two of the confrontations, i was wearing a helmet, thickly bundled in several layers, straddling my bicycle while waiting at a stoplight, and had gloves on. essentially a totally vulnerable, unmoving target without any means of defending myself (hands in gloves, u-lock in backpack, etc).
while i continue to ride without a weapon – concealed, lethal, or otherwise – the thought has certainly crossed my mind, and i will likely trade in my large u-lock for a more accessible pocket-sized u-lock some time in the near future.
furthermore,i reject the notion that simply because i am in portland as opposed to a city with a reputation for violence that i should rely on advocacy groups or municipal agencies alone to protect me. victimization is victimization, whether one happens to be in portland, baghdad, or any other location on this lovely planet earth. ride safely!
Pepper spray is not illegal in Portland.
So, where did the teens go? Pleeeeeeease don’t tell me the bus driver watched this and then allowed the teens on to the bus. That would be a little too, um, consistent.
As someone who has experienced vulnerability in her lifetime for being a member of a minority, I’d have to say that if racial slurs are hurled I’d count the attack as bias-based.
There are lots and lots of components to the whys and wherefores of this situation. Race is only one of them. I suspect that the growing economic divide is another, and unspecified rage and boredom may yet be two more.
Because I tend to be more of an opossum than a cougar in my “animal” approach to scary things, I make it a point to vary my routes, and to avoid places where groups of bored teenagers tend to hang out long past any regular bedtime (and/or to no readily visible purpose). If you want to call it fear, fine. I call it common sense.
It’s sad, but Portland has grown up and become a Big City; a higher incidence of violent crime comes with the territory. All of our best intentions and honorable talk about “liveable” cities (liveable for whom? For how many? At what cost? And, perhaps most importantly, who gets to decide?) will not change that anytime soon, unless we are willing to admit to the social and economic — and yes, racial — biases that we as citizens and elected officials incorporate into our education, employment and urban planning policies.
Like Justa, I also don’t see this as an incident targeted at cyclists, but simply a random act of violence like this. Some kids just have a violent tendency towards “keepin’ it real”, and it affects commuters on all modes.
I’ve had friends tell me about being chased on bike by young black kids in NE during the summer, when you see large groups of teens roaming the streets at night. A few others have mentioned having eggs thrown at them.
But nothing like this.
I would encourage cyclists who don’t have self-defense training (martial arts as an example) to carry some kind of deterrent. Pocket-sized pepper spray cans can be bought at Andy & Bax, I think they cost around five bucks. From what I’ve heard, you would not have to even use them, just show them as a deterrent. Some people will prey on those they perceive as being defenseless, there will always be this type of person in every society and outreach / education campaigns will never change that.
The person / people you allow to get away with assaulting you today could be emboldened to attack me tomorrow, so I really don’t appreciate when people have an attitude of apathy about stuff like this.
these specific girls need to go to prison for a good long time, as do the ones involved in this distressingly similar attack the day before:
http://koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=5932218&nav=menu494_2
i’m sure they’ll get caught. i hope they’re spending their last days of freedom kicking their own selves for a change.
but what kind of social problems produced so many violent racist asshole girls all at one time? between those two incidents, there were seven, all black, all girls, all teenagers, presumably all raised in portland. what the —- is wrong with them, and what the —- is wrong with portland, then?
i think beth is right that there are huge education, employment, and planning decisions behind the ongoing race divisions in our city and our country.
what can we do to fix it?
Harassment of cyclists is a vastly underreported crime in Oregon. Many people on the road react with hostility and even displays of deadly force against cyclists. Police are often uncooperative, and the Portland Police Bureau has been reported on this site multiple times in the past few months as discouraging cyclists from filing police reports. It really is a jungle out there, folks.
We sorely need legal reform. Simple chances to Oregon’s laws would make a tremendous difference. We need: (1) Mandatory passing distance of 5 feet, (2) a rule requiring motorists to pass cyclists using the adjacent lane, not the lane in which the cyclist is traveling, and (3) traffic lanes, not narrow “bike” lanes, dedicated to cyclist right of way.
Also, we need to be willing to use the civil legal system against those who attack us. The fact that we must defend ourselves to remain safe obviates the need to have a means other than physical violence to settle our disputes. We have to be willing to go through the extra trouble required to do what it takes to show the world that you can’t behave with total disregard for my safety and rights simply because I am riding a bicycle!
I am certain the bta and the ppb will be right on this.
whatever the races were in this episode, I encourage you all to be aware of your surroundings and to not be a victim of any kind.
I hit a guy with a ulock ONCE who got out of his car and came after me. I intended to lock up my bike and take care of that guy man to man but he was faster than I expected. He recovered most of the use of his arm, I hear, but, it cost me nearly 30 thousand non trust fund dollars and 6 months of stress to defend myself from that little episode.
most white people and most wealthy people have no idea what harrassment is, so, take it for what it is worth…
beth – you said, “It’s sad, but Portland has grown up and become a Big City; a higher incidence of violent crime comes with the territory.” can you support this with any “facts”? I would like to see them, most data I have seen shows a levelling and a decrease in percapita violent crime in portland since the mid 90s.
**this paragraph edited by site owner**
jonathan, can you ask the ppb to announce when they catch these perps and how much time they are going to serve?
No facts, I’m not a statistician or scientist.
I have only my personal experience, and so perhaps I need to find a clearer way to express what is an opinion. Apologies for the lack of clarity.
When I moved here as a child over 30 years ago, there were fewer violent crimes being reported, and I believe there were probably fewer violent crimes happening too. Why? I’m not a social scientist so I can’t prove any of it, but I believe a big part of it is that Portland’s population has grown, the city’s demographic is changing and the divide between rich and poor is growing. Just like anywhere else in the country, our city is having growing pains.
All the stats in the world won’t help us do a better job of creating educational and economic opportunities for everybody who wants/needs them. I maintain that the solution to these issues lies in a much larger discussion that more of us need to be willing to engage in —
about the way we choose to create communities (and with whom, and why we prefer to live near people who feel “like us” rather than seeking out lots of “diversity” among our neighbors — this is an ages-old dilemma and it did not start with “smart cities” thinking);
about they way we get from place to place and why we insist on making the poorest people live the farthest away from realistically available jobs when we plan new neighborhoods;
about the way we were taught to respond (emotionally, verbally/non-verbally) to people of different races/religions/economic classes/whatever else; and the way that families are less and less able to raise children with a sense of morality and shame and pride;
and perhaps at the heart of things, about the way we relate to each other, person-to-person.
These are questions that lie far beyond the scope of this bike-oriented website, but because riding a bicycle for transportation puts me out there in a more exposed, more person-to-person way than driving a car ever would, I cannot help but to think about them and be aware of them.
No hard facts here — just my life experience. Yours may well be different; and perhaps by adding to the dialogue we can learn more from each other than any numbers can ever teach us. Peace –B
I know a woman who nearly had her bike kicked out from under her at N Williams and Fremont, or thereabouts. She was waiting at a light and trying to not to be nervous about a group of teens on the curb nearby, when one of them came over and started kicking her wheel. He busted a few spokes but she managed to take off before he succeeded in destroying the wheel. She’s been pretty freaked out ever since. I don’t know if she reported it to the police but I’ll encourage her to do so now.
Michelle,
It’s amazing to hear that story. A few weeks ago, when I met with Bjorn Warloe about his ideas to change the red-light law for cyclists, he mentioned something I’d never thought of before.
He used security as one of the justifications for possibly allowing cyclists to roll through stop signs at night.
He thinks that because cyclists are so much more vulnerable than cars (especially women, at night, in bad neighborhoods) we should be allowed to go through red lights after stopping and waiting for a few seconds.
It made sense to me then, now after hearing all this it makes more sense than ever.
This is horrible. Even more horrible is the whiny approach some people have regarding this incident. This was CLEARLY a racist attack, and should be treated no differently than if the races in the incident were reversed. This isn’t about “economic imbalance”, the “growing distance between rich and poor”, or anything else. These two women were attacked because they were white.
The attackers, if caught, should be treated no differently than skinheads.
I also agree with the posters who suggested non-lethal defense methods, but those don’t help much when you’re blindsided. Keep aware of your surroundings. Don’t get too close to groups of teenagers. Get both feet out of your pedals at stoplights.
My wife was assulted near Legacy this Septemer. It was minor compared to the women in this story, but it did shake her up a bit. My friend blogged it and here is the excerpt ;
“last night: Cars 1, Bikes 0
BECAUSE, you can’t have someone run up and SLAP you across the face if you are in a car.
My friend I were biking to a show yesterday evening. We were waiting for a light to change on N. Vancouver when a young woman waiting at the bus stop decided she knew Shannon and needed to slap her. Which she came over and did.”
My wife had one foot in a toeclip so she fell pretty hard on one knee, her glasses were knocked off and got scratched up. Not the best night for her.
What a grim conversation to be having on MLK day. If I feel like I have to arm myself just to ride my bike to work, then fuck it; I am taking the Suburban. We are not going to make is as a society anyway.
Having that crack park right next door to Legacy probably doesn’t help.
I have to go up Williams to the Alberta area every day as part of my commute.
But a looong time ago I realized that Williams was not the way to go — too many problems on that lower stretch around Legacy.
A better bet is to take Interstate to Mississippi and wind through the neighborhoods. This takes you around the back and allows you to miss the sketchy Legacy area.
There was also a black on white teen girls beating at a Max stop Thursday night, Jan 11. Also racially motivated.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_011207_news_max_beating.3307164c.html
Three occurances in one week’s time. That is highly suspicious. I wonder if the Portland Police are investigating these as a larger pattern or conspiracy? Anyone know how to inquire about such with the Portland Police?
And finally, on MLK Jr. Day it is hard not to reflect about the state of the black community today. It is such a tragedy. Ironically, as the opportunities to the black community have grown since the 60’s the social dysfunction within the black community has grown right along with it.
Shame on those kids.
It seems many of us are jumping to conclusions of race based voilence without knowing the facts of the event. We have a few sentences from a news report, but no knowledge if the attack was race motivated.
When we are fearful or confused it is easy to jump to quick conclusoins, especially when we become fearful.
What I understand from the report is that two women on bicycles were attacked for what seems like unknown reasons. This was a terrible event, but let’s not jump to conclusions about the motivation for the attack just because we are angry or scared.
there’s danger in generalizing these bad kids to the whole “black community.” i’m sure many very nice black people are shaking their heads and saying tut-tut with the rest of us.
it’s the ones who aren’t. over the years, most white people have learned that it’s not okay to be, raise, date, or befriend a racist. that’s why skinheads are now a tiny and pathetic little crowd getting chased out of even idaho. perhaps as a result of these incidents, a few more black parents will teach their kids that all racists, not just white ones, are disgusting and creepy.
Please, I have been yelled at by black kids while riding all over N. Portland, and the comments were indisputably racist in nature. Let’s not fall all over ourselves to apologize for the culprits in these racist assaults.
You know in your heart of hearts you wouldn’t come to the defense of suspected white racists if the roles were reversed.
From the KGW story…
“They set out to rob someone,” said Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz, “And they told detectives they chose this victim because she was white.”
The girls were arrested, but NOT charged with a hate crime.
Just want to let everyone know that I am moderating comments on this post with extra care.
What’s interesting to me is how the bicycle is likely a symbol to neighborhood kids about the major impacts that gentrification is having on their community.
Let’s face it, there may be thousands of cyclists riding around Portland every day…but very few of them are black.
How can we change this? Many N and NE Portland neighborhoods are predominantly black. How do we change what bicycles stand for in those communities?
In response to Andy’s comments:
I’m glad they weren’t charged with a hate crime. I think it sets a very dangerous precedent to base the severity of a crime on what that person *thought* before they committed it. We’re not trying to restrict thought, we’re trying to restrict behavior. Prosecute the person for the assault, or whatever the original crime is.
As for weapons, commented on earlier by Jonathan and others:
You are responsible for defending yourself. It’s great when you can get the cops to show up to defend you, but that depends on how far away they are when you need them, what they’re doing at the time, and whether you can summon them via 911 or other means. Your only guaranteed defense is yourself. Take responsibility for yourself: learn a martial art, carry pepper spray, carry a gun (with proper permits) if you have to. Whatever you choose as your method for defending yourself, be ready to use it, know it inside and out, and get training on how to recognize a dangerous situation and how to handle it. And if you choose a weapon like pepper spray, a knife or a gun, remember that anything you hold in your hands can be forcibly taken from you and used against you or others.
Choose your method of defense, get trained in it, and keep up your skills. Above all, understand and accept the consequences of its use.
BTW, for those defending themselves against an attacker, Oregon law says the maximum range for self-defense is 21 feet. Beyond that, the law does not consider them an imminent threat.*
*Don’t believe me – look it up for yourself. Be knowledgeable, be aware of your surroundings.
Please note that Andy’s comment above references a separate incident.
“How can we change this? Many N and NE Portland neighborhoods are predominantly black. How do we change what bicycles stand for in those communities?”
We change it by encouraging more cyclists to ride in those neighborhoods. The problem with racial issues (and really, with any “group” issue) is that we’re all seeing each other as members of a group rather than as individuals. When we as individuals take the time to talk to someone for 5 minutes, they stop being a member of a group to us and become an individual in our eyes, and we do the same to them.
Instead of being black, white, red, yellow, driver, cyclist, pedestrian, equestrian, male, female, gay, straight, bi, transgendered, Christian, pagan, Buddhist, libertarian, democrat, republican, or one-armed Bavarian quilt makers, we (and they) become Bob, Sarah, Havel, Latitia, Robert, Anna, Kumori, and Mitch. Who are you more likely to be nervous of in your neighborhood – some big unshaven guy on a bike who you’ve never seen before, or Bob Jones, a cyclist who rides down the street every day, who’s got a temporary job because he was downsized from the company he worked at for 10 years, and is having trouble making ends meet? Same guy, but 10-30 minutes into a conversation with him.
Basically, we do it by riding in those neighborhoods more, and doing what many on this list do best – bike fun.
I don’t know NE too well but it seems that the locations of this incident and the one at the Rose Quarter MAX stop are pretty close geographically. I can’t help but wonder if the attackers are the same people.
Gee those low home and rent prices in the North come at a cost? Golly why can’t we all just get along?
Face it there is a reason why the North Portland is the way it is, there is a longer history of oppression and racial discrimination that goes back longer than the the bike lanes on Williams and Vancouver. Also if you look around to other parts of the city the North kinda gets shafted. Southeast Uplift is great at getting ‘their share’ … and maybe more. The Downtown\Perl and South Waterfront appear that they are going to be Urban Renewal areas for ever … thus preventing other areas from getting nice subsidized condos. Downtown has the Clean and Safe program to prevent homeless from drinking in public but the PPB had to cut its Youth Gang Violence program. Look how different a school in the North is to a school in the Southwest.
I totally agree with Matt’s point about talking to people and becoming a part of the community that you live in. Be a part of the neighborhood watch, talk to your neighbors and take a sincere interest in their welfare by understanding their past. I would further suggest to be an advocate in local government for financial assistance go to those who need it … as opposed to those who profit from it. Bicycle advocacy is great and all … but there are also other larger issues in this city that might deserve more attention than being the “#1 Bicycling City in America”.
I couldn’t find the news story but wasn’t it about a year ago a white male got beat up by a group of black youth on the MAX because his bicycle was in the way?
How can we get more NE residents to shed 2 wheels and 2000 lbs? I don’t know, but over the summer there were kids 8-18 all over our block… riding their bikes! We had an informal repair shop in our basement, every neighborhood kid knew where to come to get their bike fixed, the only hitch being that THEY had to do the fixing, we only showed them how. Sure, we lost a lot of tools and had to have an endless supply of bikes and tires (they love to skid!), but the kids had a great time, especially modding them out with spraypaint and 2 diff wheel sizes!
In a few years these will be the same kids that know and influence aggressive teens like those we’ve been hearing a lot about lately.
Reguardless of race, as adults we tend to get stuck in rut and are unwilling to make a big change like using a bike primarily or even recognize those that do. Kids, however, are the adults of tomorrow, and they already love riding bikes! We just need to stop them from forgetting that when they turn 16.
And another thing, a good place to submit info about crimes like this is to the SPLC’s Hatewatch program http://www.splcenter.org/intel/hatewatch/. They do good things with the data.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that hate crimes are not isolated in local information sources like the PortlandMaps site http://tinyurl.com/sj3ao ; probably because they are federal crimes.
Jonathan, what’s the code to make HREFs??!!? Is it something special?
Matt, Punishments for crimes are often decided with the motivation in mind, why should this be any different?
Should a person arrested for stealing a loaf of bread because they were starving be given the same punishment as a theft made with reselling for a profit?
Here’s the story about the cyclist who got beat up on MAX back in August 2005.
Good memory MJ/Jonathan. I was going to mention that as well…
Here’s a somewhat harrowing, first-person account:
http://barkernews.blogspot.com/2005/06/yellow-line-incident.html
Major MAX stops seem to be prone to crime in general, not just those in Nopo. Take a look at the Google Earth crime overlay on http://www.portlandmaps.com/google.cfm. Downtown, Lloyd Center, and the MAX stop at 205/84 are far worse than anywhere else.
It’s probably wise to avoid major stops altogether, if possible. And if and when we offer bike lanes, it’d nice to avoid those spots as well.
Geez, I hope I’m never in need when mister Barkernews is around…
I just read that account all he was interested in doing was saving his bike, he seemed to care less that another cyclist was being beaten to death only feet from him.
Quotes:
“No, I didn’t think about helping the guy”
“That’s when I turned around and saw my beautiful bicycle. The kids had all gathered in the back of the train to beat the living shit out of this poor man.”
as far as changing what bicycles mean, why don’t we all chit in and buy EVERYONE in the city who wants a bike a bike? maybe sam can find some money in the billion dollar budget? heck, it would cost less than a tram…
then, the rich people with money can give what they have(money) and the rich people without money can get what they need(inexpensive transport).
it is easy if you want it…
@adam
as far as changing what bicycles mean, why don’t we all chit in and buy EVERYONE in the city who wants a bike a bike? maybe sam can find some money in the billion dollar budget? heck, it would cost less than a tram…
Remember yellow bikes? They all got stolen and sold in San Diego.
It seems that this incident is prompting others to follow the lead of the girls.
Whether it is thought to be “funny”, a way to seem tough, or acting out against any number of unspoken racial, economic, etc., tensions it is still a completely unaccceptable behavior.
Tonight at 6:30 or so while riding home from my work, which happens to be only 3 blocks from where the prior incident took place, I was faced with a similar situation.
I was riding in the bike lane on N. Williams approaching the intersection with Skidmore – where I normally turn right to head home. An ethnic youth ran directly into my path and and started yelling and motioning as if he were going to try and hit me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have room or time to move out of the way because of traffic, so I had to continue straight ahead – figuring that at least a full-bore collision would disarm him to some extent.
Thankfully he jumped back out of the way at the last minute, but it startled me pretty well and I ended up catching a pedal in the corner and nearly losing control. All the while his friends were jeering things to the tune of “Take that f-er” and “I’m going to f- your s–t up”.
Its an upsetting trend and is unfortunate that we as cyclists now have to add one more thing to the list of dangers on the road.
Be safe out there, keep your wits about you, and unfortunately try to avoid people at bus stops, intersections, etc.
In response to Jonathan’s comments:
“Let’s face it, there may be thousands of cyclists riding around Portland every day…but very few of them are black.
Is anyone aware of ridership data that supports this? I know the PDOT bike counts – probably with good reason – don’t include observations about race or ethnicity, but that data might be just as useful as knowing whether the observed rider is male, female, w/ helment, w/o helmet, etc. Anyone?
Hard to believe anyone could actually have made any money reselling those yellow bikes anywhere, let alone hauling them all the way to San Diego to do so.