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Brazil Critical Mass Update–Interview With Ricardo Neis 24

Critical Mass Brazil trampling

Ricardo José Neis runs down dozens of bicyclists – from YouTube video

In late February, we covered the terrible Brazil Critical Mass mow-down, where a driver of a Volkswagen Golf indiscriminately plowed through dozens of people on bicycles participating in a Critical Mass ride.

By some miracle nobody was killed in this incident, but at least 17 people were hit by the Volkswagen as the man accelerated through the bicyclists. It wasn’t until several days after we first posted our article before it was finally covered by the international mainstream media.

Close to two months have now passed since this incident occurred. Ricardo José Neis was indicted on 17 counts of attempted murder on March 18th, and was incarcerated on March 31st while he awaits trial.

On April 8th, Neis was granted habeas corpus and was released from prison. His habeas corpus status was granted due to the fact that there was no evidence that Neis had threatened witnesses or victims or destroyed evidence, so holding him behind bars would violate Brazil’s principles of presumption of innocence.

On Sunday, Ricardo Neis gave an exclusive interview to Fantástico News where he talked nervously about what was going on in his mind when he plowed his Volkswagen through a group of more than a hundred men, women and children.

In North America, it would be odd to give an interview while awaiting trial, since it could be used against him in court if he incriminates himself.

We have professionally translated the Portuguese interview below the image for our readers (for our Portuguese-speaking readers, watch the interview here):

Ricardo Neis Interview - Critical Mass Brazil

Translated Fantástico News Interview of Ricardo José Neis

Fantástico: What happened that day?

Neis: That day, I was bringing my son to his mother’s house. It was a Friday and he had spent the entire night with me. He was going to spend the weekend with her. They [Critical Mass] blocked traffic and took over the street there. I stopped the car and some of them threw themselves on top of the hood; others threw a few punches there, right? I became extremely nervous, my son too, so I tried to pacify the situation. I rolled down the window and told them that they didn’t need to do it in that way, because there was room for everyone on the road. When I passed, I saw that they were enraged. So, at that point, they really started attacking the car. They broke the mirror and hit the car hard several times. At that point, my kid and I began to panic and I tried to flee.

Fantástico: But you could not have taken a right or gone down another street, and avoided running over someone?

Neis: If I knew that the attack would get worse, I could have done that before. I acted instinctively and my intention was to get out of there.

Fantástico: But were you angry at that moment?

Neis: No, I was panicking. I was scared. I was afraid.

Fantástico: You could not have avoided the mass trampling?

Neis: If I could have predicted what would happen. If I could have prevented the attack. But I would need to have a crystal ball.

Fantástico: Would it not have been better to stop the car and ask a police officer for help, trying to divert the situation?

Neis: How? There would be no time, none.

Fantástico: But you could have killed a cyclist…

Neis: I acted impulsively.

Fantástico: Did you act out of revenge?

Neis: Absolutely not. I acted on the instinct to escape. You must agree with me that you cannot have a demonstration, or a march in the middle of traffic, right? I think it’s not appropriate.

Fantástico: Do you feel like a monster in traffic?

Neis: No, no…

Fantástico: Are you a calm driver?

Neis: Yes, yes, of course. I react according to the situation. Eventually, of course, I’ve received tickets, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Fantástico: Do you feel any remorse?

Neis: Of course I have thought a lot about it. Of course what you’re asking me, I ask myself often: Did I evaluate the situation correctly at the time? I really think so.

Just to recap, here is a video showing Mr. Neis running down the Critical Mass bicyclists:

James D. Schwartz is the editor of The Urban Country. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com.

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24 thoughts on “Brazil Critical Mass Update–Interview With Ricardo Neis

  1. Mr. S. Apr 20,2011 11:58 am

    Typical. I think I should shoot everyone in a driver’s seat, because they all make me worried. (Sigh).

  2. Roo Apr 20,2011 12:16 pm

    “Neis: If I could have predicted what would happen. If I could have prevented the attack. But I would need to have a crystal ball.”

    Whut?

  3. Zack Apr 21,2011 4:46 pm

    This guy need to lose his license for life and be forced to ride mass transit & bike… forcefully become part of the solution. What a monster.

  4. EricW Apr 24,2011 2:19 am

    Had something just like this at the Santa Monica Farmers Market a few years back. Elderly guy said he stepped on the wrong pedal by mistake.

    Much worse results. Did seem to make most people near the end of their driving think about the consequences of bad driving. Are there similarities here?

  5. Salsa Jun 22,2011 12:51 am

    Yeah…I loved this! I live in San Francisco and these people are terrorists! They disrupt everything, including those that aren’t even using motorized vehicles. They are violent and disrespectful. I hope people see this and start mowing down these dildos in every city!!

  6. Salsa Jun 22,2011 5:51 am

    Yeah…I loved this! I live in San Francisco and these people are terrorists! They disrupt everything, including those that aren’t even using motorized vehicles. They are violent and disrespectful. I hope people see this and start mowing down these dildos in every city!!

  7. keenplanner Oct 27,2011 3:00 pm

    Well coached by his Lawyer. The part about being attacked by cyclists seems to be missing from the videos. He just plowed through the crowd with no attempt to stop, sped up, even. When someone commits a crime/has a collision and then flees the scene and/or abandons his vehicle (Hello, Ted Kennedy!) it’s assumable that they were drunk at the time the crime was committed. But he’s a banker, will probably get special treatment. Brazil is much like the US in that way.

  8. Tiarfruck Oct 28,2011 12:01 am

    Well coached by his Lawyer. The part about being attacked by cyclists seems to be missing from the videos. He just plowed through the crowd with no attempt to stop, sped up, even. When someone commits a crime/has a collision and then flees the scene and/or abandons his vehicle (Hello, Ted Kennedy!) it’s assumable that they were drunk at the time the crime was committed. But he’s a banker, will probably get special treatment. Brazil is much like the US in that way.

  9. Doodles Nov 8,2011 9:11 am

    Has anyone heard any new news about this case? I can’t find any info on it after March/April 2011. I wanna know if there has been a verdict. Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Portuguese, Brazil, or what their newspapers are. Please please, updates!!

  10. Doodles Nov 8,2011 2:11 pm

    Has anyone heard any new news about this case? I can’t find any info on it after March/April 2011. I wanna know if there has been a verdict. Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Portuguese, Brazil, or what their newspapers are. Please please, updates!!

  11. Nerfherder Jan 5,2012 4:22 pm

    I think he did a public service. Bike riders are mostly horrible people who think they own the road. They are on kid’s toys, they need to be on the sidewalk. The road is for grown ups.

  12. Nerfherder Jan 5,2012 9:22 pm

    I think he did a public service. Bike riders are mostly horrible people who think they own the road. They are on kid’s toys, they need to be on the sidewalk. The road is for grown ups.

  13. Pat Bond May 29,2012 8:33 am

    I know its been a while but I just stumbled upon this. When asked if he has remorse he says he thinks about it. maybe there was some people not acting appropriately, but the people he mows down were innocent. If i was there Im sorry but i would have busted his head open with my ulock. How can someone think they are more important than many. so selfish. I hope he got 17 counts of attempted manslaughter and raped in jail..

    • HaveSomeIntegrity May 29,2015 10:42 am

      I’d have run 50x that many people over to protect my son. Glad he was put in that position instead of me. You want to demonstrate, fine. You want to start attacking people, expect consequences. Do you think he should just put his car in park while people are punching and kicking his car and jumping on the roof? Sure, the people ahead of him were a casualty, but don’t blame him. Blame the idiots that caused him to accelerate in a panic to escape.

      • The Professor Jun 1,2015 5:50 am

        Sure, I’d panic too if a bunch of people were vandalizing my car while my son and I were inside of it. But his complete disregard for the innocent people he injured is not justified by his impulsivity. He even says in the interview:

        Fantástico: Would it not have been better to stop the car and ask a police officer for help, trying to divert the situation?

        Neis: How? There would be no time, none.

        Fantástico: But you could have killed a cyclist…

        Neis: I acted impulsively.

        Now, if there really were people attacking his car, yeah go ahead, incarcerate them. But he should not be set free after endangering the lives of those people he hit. Plus, he could be lying. There’s no evidence to support his claim at all. Just HIS word. And this video blatantly shows him committing a crime, regardless of what happened previously. He is still at fault.

  14. Pat Bond May 29,2012 1:33 pm

    I know its been a while but I just stumbled upon this. When asked if he has remorse he says he thinks about it. maybe there was some people not acting appropriately, but the people he mows down were innocent. If i was there Im sorry but i would have busted his head open with my ulock. How can someone think they are more important than many. so selfish. I hope he got 17 counts of attempted manslaughter and raped in jail..

  15. Jess Oct 1,2012 8:32 am

    Feed this piece of Shit to an Alligator , and piss on his corpse

  16. Jess Oct 1,2012 1:32 pm

    Feed this piece of Shit to an Alligator , and piss on his corpse

  17. Pingback: Critical Mass Carnage (GRAPHIC VIDEOS) ← The Urban Country

  18. Jack Nov 17,2013 3:46 pm

    NerfHerder, you’re a faggot.

  19. Joel Pomerantz Apr 12,2015 11:02 am

    Looks like he hasn’t been tried yet, after four years. Article in Portuguese

  20. Tear Them Apart Oct 7,2015 3:18 pm

    Lying psychopaths exist because society as a whole is stupid enough to believe them. How many times do our so-called leaders slap predatory narcissists on the wrist and let the animals go when we as a society should be waterboarding and skinning them alive?

    The video makes clear that this driver went into a homicidal rage at being inconvenienced. And look at all of the psychopaths leaving comments here based on what they imagined was the situation; they immediately commiserate with the attempted murderer and not the victims…clear evidence of narcissistic paranoia.

    The government and tech companies need to develop AI to crawl message boards and comments for anti-social posters. These are budding felons, murderers, spree-killers, and terrorists. Apprehend and lobotomize them and crime will fall ten-fold.

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