Cop Pushing Man Off Bike Is YouTube Hit

Gman496

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A police officer who was filmed pushing an activist off his bike has walked free from court.


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Pogan begins walking over to knock Christopher Long off his bike


Patrick Pogan has become a YouTube sensation after a witness filmed him striding over to Christopher Long and shoving him to the ground.

The footage - filmed in New York's Times Square during a pro-cycling demo - has received more than two million hits.

But despite calls for Pogan to be jailed, the officer has walked free from court after he was given the US equivalent of a conditional discharge.


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Pogan, 24, fought back tears, hugged relatives and thanked his lawyer and police union after hearing his sentence.

He had gone to a Manhattan court facing the possibility of up to four years in prison.

"My family raised me to help people," the former emergency medical technician told the judge before being sentenced.

"And that is what I would like to continue to do, and put this nightmare behind me - it was a nightmare - and prove to you I am a highly productive member of society."

n April, jurors acquitted Pogan of assault and harassment of Mr Long.

But the rookie officer was convicted of filing false documents after a witness's video contradicted his account in a court document.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Connors pressed for jail for Pogan, saying "the entire fairness of the criminal justice system was called into question".

Pogan's misleading account led to attempted assault and other charges against Long which were ultimately dropped.

But defence lawyer Stuart London portrayed Pogan as a novice who "made an isolated mistake on paperwork."

Pogan, then about 10 days out of the police academy, was assigned to keep order and watch out for traffic violations at the Critical Mass protest on July 25, 2008.

Participants and police have had a rocky relationship since more than 260 cyclists were arrested in a similar ride in 2004.

Pogan said Long had steered into him and knocked him down, but the tourist's video showed otherwise.
 
bloody typical he gets away with it. you can quite clearly see what he did. IF the guy on the bike had rode into the police officer he woudl have got a jail sentence. If he has finished his time at the academy then he was a fully fledged cop!
 
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