well, i found another article from the minneapolis 'city pages' (which claims to be a 'sister paper' of the village voice). this reporter actually went and interviewed not only the cyclists but residents in the neighbourhood where the incident took place. actual reporting!
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2...police_adm.php
according to this article, local residents and cm cyclists are saying an unmarked police car deliberately crashed into some cyclists and then started "beating people indiscriminately" and it was "a 100 percent set-up". hm.