Austin Bike Shop Stops Selling To Cops Amid Civil Unrest

AUSTIN, TX — A local bicycle shop this week announced it would no longer sell to police officers, expressing discomfort in knowing their bikes could be used to monitor demonstrators decrying law enforcement abuse.

Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop at 400 Nueces St. already had implemented the new policy before it was showcased by others on social media, prompting shop officials to issue a statement: "In the context of the current evaluation of community policing in Austin, we have decided to no longer purchase, re-sell and service police-issue Trek bikes and accessories under a City of Austin RFP [request for proposals] the shop was previously awarded," officials said.

Company officials added the decision not to service officers was made after thorough analysis with the backdrop of civil unrest. Protesters have been demonstrating in downtown Austin since late May in calling for police reform. The protests were sparked in earnest after the death of George Floyd, a man who died in Minneapolis on May 25 after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. In Austin, protesters already were united in protest after the April 24 death of Michael Ramos, an unarmed man fatally shot by police after a brief encounter outside a South Austin apartment complex.

"We regret not publicizing our decision before it was presented by others on social media," the bicycle shop's operators wrote. "It's difficult in these times to balance the needs of a business and a community. Our entire employee group was engaged in this dialogue, and we delved into our community to understand how we could best do our part to keep our customers safe and this city moving in the right direction. These are certainly trying times, and we understand people will object to any decision made along these lines."

The bike shop's operators suggested a complicity with police abuse should they continue servicing the Austin Police Department: "Businesses can no longer be non-participants in the communities they serve. We chose what we think will do the most to suture these divides, and place our community on the right side of history. We have had to make these choice before when we felt companies whose products we sold put kids at schools at risk of violence. We lost sales due to this choice. We also sw our former vendors later divest of holdings, and we've returned to selling these products. We will live with the choices our customers make if they want to buy bikes and bike products somewhere else."

Still, the shop's operators insisted they were not against police, suggesting the same local force at the center of their new policy will continue to exercise its oath to serve and protect the shop too amid backlash: "We are not anti-police," officials wrote. "We do believe our local police force will protect us from the very threats we are receiving now."

The Austin Police Department has not responded to the move.