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Mellow Johnny’s, a bike shop here in Austin, had a long relationship with the Austin Police Department but have now ended that relationship. Sometimes the police officers on those bicycles use those bicycles as a tool for the job, and the Austin bike shop doesn’t like that. They don’t want those bicycles being used to block streets or block people during protests downtown. They have ended that relationship with APD of fixing their bike patrol teams and selling them their bicycles.
Another big bike company called Bike Co. which is a North American distributer of Fuji Bikes and not affiliated with Mellow Johnny’s made a statement.
“In the last week, we have seen our bicycles used in violent tactics that we did not intend or design them for. In an effort to work towards real change, Bike Co. is suspending the sale of police bikes,” says Bike Co.
Bicycling magazine recently wrote an article where they called police bicycles makeshift weapons against demonstrators.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/todd-don-show-highlights/8-6-20-highlight-business-news
