from DC 'zine Rushed:,via Moving Target, Spring 95
Paul Jensen, 32, died while he was working as a cc on Tuesday, October18th 1994, and this in itself is very fucked up.
I arrived at 14th & N.Y. Ave.,just after they had taken Paul tohospital, while they were washing the street, inspecting the motorcyclethat hit Paul, and Paul's mangled road bike. The details of exactly whatwent down were a little sketchy, but basically, a motorcycle that was speedingand trying to elude police hit Paul and launched him eighty feet into traffic.What did happen was that Paul was nearly decapitated, and when the copsgot there, the guy on the motorcycle was taken away in hand cuffs.
The following day the Washington Post wrote an inaccurate, callous anddownright rude article about the tragic event. It didn't mention the policechase (it is illegal to have high-speed pursuit in DC), that Paul had rightof way, that he was wearing a helmet [!] & that the motorcyclist wasarrested; in fact, the article went on to insinuate that all ccs are recklessand cause tons of accidents and their surprise that more ccs are not killedeach year. In a loosely organized act of civil disobedience, DC ccs memorializedPaul the next day at high noon by laying dawn their bikes in the middleof the intersection where Paul needlessly lost his life and held handsfrom corner to corner, blocking off traffic in all four directions. Wethen all knelt down and held a moment of silence, right there in the heartof downtown DC, and I know that I'm not just speaking for myself when Isay that it was a heavy, heavy moment. It was a direct call for respect& recognition for Paul, and all ccs in general, and whether or notthe Post acknowledged us or not, the people who were there, who saw whathappened, who came out of their offices, maybe they will be a little moreaware of ccs and the vital role they play in keeping this city of paper-pushes afloat. Never before had I witnessed such true unity among couriers.Just the fact that nearly ccs showed up right at noon, in the middle ofa workday, all organized in less than 18 hours was simply amazing.
If nothing else, hopefully a little camaraderie has come out of thisterrible mess. We are all out here on the same streets, doing the samejob, dealing with the same shit, and the truth is we all have a lot morein common than just bikes.
Rest In Peace Paul - Andy Zalan
Amen
6 CCS KILLED WORLDWIDE IN 1994
It is 3 years since the last London cc was killed. But last year Berlin(Andrea Franke 18/02/ 94), New York (Paul Curry, April 1994, & JamesDuggan, June 1994), San Francisco (Thomas Meredith 27/09/94), WashingtonD.C. (Paul Jensen 18/10/94 ) all lost ccs whilst working. Moving Targetwishes family & friends of the dead couriers well & offer prayersfor the continuing good fortune of all ccs everywhere.
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