Here is a letter I wrote to Mayor O'Malley regarding the Critical Mass protest, and his response. I thought people might be interested to see the perspective of their MAyor on the incident:

Dear Mayor,
I recently read an account of an antiwar protest
that took place in downtown Baltimore this past Friday
the 28th. A number of cyclists with the group Critical
Mass wished to make their opposition to the war in
Iraq known by cycling through downtown at rush hour,
when their presence would be most noticeable. Their
protest was completely peaceful and legal, and did not
create an undue disruption to traffic or create an
hazard to public safety.
Upon setting out, the cyclists were treated abominably
by Baltimore City police officers. You can read an
account of what happened for yourself at this site:
baltimore.indymedia.org/feature/display/3491/index.php.
Officers attempted to verbally intimidate cyclists
into not protesting, then tried to obstruct the
cyclists by pushing their bike tires into cyclists'
tires, blocking them at intersections, following and
hounding the riders and finally by physically pushing
riders off their bikes and assaulting them. One man
was beaten after repeatedly telling an officer to
stop, while another had his bike thrown at him by an
officer. Those who attempted to see what was going on
or to photograph were blocked from doing so, and one
woman was threatened with arrest.
As a Baltimore resident who works in downtown
Baltimore, and simply as an American who values her
right to free speech and to protest, I find what
happened on Friday to be appalling, shameful,
frightening... there are not enough words to describe
what I felt when I first learned of what happened. The
tactics used by the police involved were morally wrong
as well as illegal, and their attempt to obstruct the
members of Critical Mass from exercising their right
to voice their opinions and to protest needs to be
brought to light and addressed by both your office and
the Baltimore City Police Department. I urge you to
initiate an investigation into what happened and bring
those responsible to justice, as well as to prevent
such occurences in the future.
I know that you are concerned about the rights of all
citizens of Baltimore, as well as about the conduct of
the police force towards those citizens. That is why I
wanted to make sure this incident came to your
attention. I implore you to take action upon it, and
ensure that it doesn't happen again.
Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear back from
you on this issue.

Sincerely,
Amanda Bowers

***

Ms. Bowers:

I also read an account which stated that water bottles were thrown at Police Officers. So, without either of us having attended this event, it's tough to accuse. Of course our Officers respect the citizens' rights to peacefully protest.
Any complaints about this should be made to Commissioner Kevin Clark,601 East Fayette St., Balto., MD 21202.

Martin O'Malley
Mayor