Ex-NYPD officer goes on trial over cyclist clash

Submitted by mfriis on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 4:41pm

By JENNIFER PELTZ and COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press Writers

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In this July 25, 2008 image taken from a video posted on Youtube and released by "Time's Up!," former New York City Police Officer Patrick Pogan, right, makes contact with "Critical Mass" demonstrator Christopher Long, just before knocking him off his bicycle in New York. The police officer said he was deliberately rammed by a rowdy cyclist, one of thousands demonstrating in Times Square. But this witness's video, posted online, told a different story. Former officer Patrick Pogan faces trial Monday, April 19, 2010 on charges he purposefully knocked the activist off his bike and lied about it on his report. (AP Photo/Times Up!) NO SALES

The video started as a tourist's souvenir of a trip to Times Square and ended up in the spotlight at a former police officer's trial.
The July 2008 footage drew more than 2.1 million online views before jurors saw it and another witness' video Monday, at the start of Patrick Pogan's trial on charges of assaulting a bicycling activist and lying about it.
Nearly 20 years after an amateur tape of Los Angeles officers beating driver Rodney King sparked a national outcry, Pogan's trial showcases the growing prevalence of witness and surveillance video in law enforcement in

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