Here are the salient facts of this case:
I was leaving MSP airport by bicycle after a flight from California. I was legally operating my bicycle completely in accord with MN statutes and MAC airport ordinances. I was following all posted signs. There were NO signs at that time prohibiting bicycles. I was rudely accosted by an officer in a passing squad car, came to a stop, and was immediately threatened with mace and taser if I didn't get off the bike and up on the curb. I did not understand the reason for this outrage.
I calmly yet firmly protested the threats, and said that I was happy to abide by all laws that applied, but asked what I had done wrong and why the process was so immediately belligerent. Officer Wingate said 'You can't ride here'.
I asked where that was posted. Officer Wingate made a vague gesture in the direction of the Lindbergh terminal and angrily said 'back there'. I asked for specifics of where it was and what the sign said, and tried to explain that I had been to the airport many times and had never seen such a sign. Officer Wingate became more angry at this questioning of his authority, and burst out 'I'm *telling* you you can't ride here'. I never raised my voice, used profanity or made threatening gestures yet I was threatened again: 'I'm going to mace you, I'm going to tase you!'.
I told Officer Wingate that he was being rude to me, and as I said that, I read his name clearly aloud off his shirt and asked to speak with his supervisor. At this, he took a step back and changed his tone for the better. He asked if I worked at the airport. I answered 'no' and explained that I had just come in on a NW flight from California. He asked where I was going. I said I was on my way to St Paul to see my family. He asked how I planned to get there. I explained my planned route out of the airport that completely avoids the highway, using the service roads, connecting to Post Road and then the bike trails in Fort Snelling State Park. Officer Wingate said, 'Well, I see you've done your homework. *Just this once* I'll let you ride out along here', referring to the one-way service road that parallels the main airport egress, but traveling against the marked flow of traffic, and that connects to Post Road, Fort Snelling, and so forth.
I replied 'OK, that's fine, but what do I do the next time I come to the airport, because I don't want to go through this again?'
The notion that I was even thinking of ever operating my bicycle again at the airport brought back Officer Wingate's anger in full force. He vehemently replied, 'NO, you're going to *WALK* your bike to Post Road'. I asked what had changed all of a sudden. The one way service road is rarely traveled, a walking cyclist is twice the width of a riding one and with more limited control and you would be on the road 10 times longer. I stated that I saw no problem with doing what he had just said, as there was no traffic at all on the road. Officer Wingate then blurted, 'NO, you're going to *walk your bike back to the terminal and take public transportation*'.
This last order was clearly not in the interests of my safety, but was delivered in a vindictive and punitive way. I would have become a pedestrian (illegal), double the width of a normal cyclist, walking back against 2 to 3 lanes of oncoming traffic on the main airport egress road with no sidewalks, blind walled curves allowing no margin of safe retreat from the road, and regular posts and pillars along the small curb that is there. I stated what was obvious: 'that's ridiculous, that would put me at risk'. Officer Wingate then ordered me to 'get on my knees'.
I replied that that was absurd, that there was no basis for that as I wasn't doing anything threatening to him. I stated again, 'You are being rude to me and I want to speak to your supervisor'. Officer Wingate then said, 'Look, you're wasting our time. We were on a call to the Humphrey Terminal for a runaway teenage girl, and we would have been there by now.' I completely agreed that it was a waste of time for everybody. I noted that I was not being cited for any violation, nor told any statute that I had violated. I explained that I would follow the first and most reasonable, safety-wise, of the conflicting orders given to me, and then said 'I'm going to wish you both a good evening, and hope the rest of it goes better than this has gone.' I then got on my bike and began to leave.
I was instantly and with absolutely no verbal warning whatsoever attacked from behind and thrown to the ground. I received wounds to chin and arm. The impact put a new casing crack on my helmet. My glasses were thrown off by the impact and bounced several feet away. The bicycle continued to roll forwards a few feet, coming to a stop in the center of the road. (A gold van would later have to stop, because the bike was crumpled in the middle of the one lane road.) Officer Wingate then came up behind me and jerked me up into a standing position. I then heard him yell an order to Officer Bryant- 'Shoot him!'. Officer Bryant then shot me with the taser. I fell uncontrolled to the pavement for the second time, experiencing the full force of a weapon that can only be considered barbaric. (There are many documented deaths by taser. For this reason police departments do not consider it a 'non' lethal weapon, but a 'less' lethal weapon. It was developed to be used in lieu of a gun, as a weapon of last resort when a person is seriously threatened. Needless to say, I did not give permission for this to be used on me as part of the exercise, nor was I asked in advance if I had any medical history that could have led to my death. Only after the fact, in the hospital, was I asked my medical history.)
As I lay still on the pavement, Officer Wingate walked over to my glasses and smashed them into the ground with his boot. I was handcuffed, body searched and baggage searched. Reinforcements were called in, a total of (4) squad cars and a paramedic unit.
Officer Wingate said, 'Well, you wanted to speak to my supervisor, here he is'. I then asked Sergeant Karsnia 'What in the world is going on here?' He also wanted to know from me what had happened but said 'first, I'd like to speak to my officer, and then I'll get back to you'. He had a private conversation with Officer Wingate, came back, asked what had happened but immediately interrupted me and said 'Look, I'll do the talking here because you tried to take a swing at my officer'. At this point the collusion was clear. I then had no reason to believe that the brutality was over. As I stood on Outbound Rd next to the squad car, handcuffed, I called out 'Help!' to all passing traffic, hoping to draw attention to the situation, and in hope of a witness. No cars would stop. When ironically asked to 'calm down' I explained to Sergeant Karsnia that I wanted a third party present, as I no longer had reason to trust the police. At no time did I physically resist arrest.
After being taken to the hospital, I was again in the squad car. At this point Officer Wingate was calm. I asked him if he *really* thought that I was going to take a swing at him. I think this caught him off-guard, and he replied, a bit hesitatingly and somewhat sheepishly, that in police work any gesture has to be interpreted as potentially aggressive. In demonstration he put his fist to his chest, and said 'you never know when someone could put their hand like this, and then suddenly strike out'.
My California driver's license passed with flying colors- I have no criminal record, and no recent moving violations. The Minnesota test also passed with no violations or adverse history of any kind.
I was put in Hennepin County jail, and on the entry form the box was checked that I should be detained WITHOUT bail, because I was 'likely to commit another crime'.
I was thus held without charges and without bail. The admission process was intentionally made to take over 8 hours, so I could legally be held through the long weekend to an arraignment on Monday. Everything was taken from me. I could only make collect calls to numbers I had remembered. It was impossible with this arrangement to even leave a message on a message machine.
Police photographs were made that night of a series of 'NO PED XING' signs and a lone 'AUTHORIZED VEHICLES ONLY' sign that is buried in the transit hub, and not even visible from the road. That is the photo 'evidence' against me.
24 hours later I was released on a negotiated $2000 bail, reduced from an intermediate $10,000. (note- Vikings player Travis Taylor in an incident earlier this year, was released in 45 minutes on a $50 bail.)
Sergeant Karsnia had by now reviewed the CCTV video evidence and made a margin note ordering the video evidence from 5 cameras burned to disc. My personal request for video evidence was never answered by Airport Police. There are over 800 CCTV cameras at MSP Airport. The system was substantially upgraded after 9-11. Police are now claiming through the prosecution that I didn't show up on any camera.
I was kept in limbo for one month, then finally charged with (6) counts, including a Gross Misdemeanor of Obstructing Legal Process 'with force or violence or threat thereof'. (see the CASE SUMMARY link for details on all the counts).
Four months later, new signs prohibiting bicycles are installed by police without the knowledge of the Metropolitan Airports Council.
I think the underlying circumstance of the incident is clear. I later learned that the threatening officer, Officer Wingate, had taken his oath of office less than 3 years previously. The squad car driver, Officer Bryant, had taken his oath of office less than 3 weeks before. To begin with, Officer Wingate probably doesn't like cyclists. He was also likely showing off to the younger recruit, using me as ready educational fodder, demonstrating how immediate threats of violence can quickly force the compliance of a suspicious person. He became angry when I legally questioned the legitimacy of it all. Is this what his education taught him? Is this courtesy, respect and professionalism? Hubris and unchecked authority are a volatile combination, and should have no place in a peace officer who has taken an oath to 'serve and protect'.
An altogether illegitimate police stop cannot trump our Constitutional Rights. If this is not the case, then any officer for any whim whatsoever could blurt out (4) warnings to anybody's grandmother that they 'will be tased', and then do it if they don't like being disagreed with. It would be hard to imagine a clearer definition of a police state.
At the very least MSP Airport Police are in violation of the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights Amendments IV and VIII, Metropolitan Airport Council Ordinance 58, discrimination and profiling of a cyclist, flagrant violation of the MN police policy manual's stated force continuum policy, collusion and embroidery of police narratives to support a Complaint against an innocent person supported by spurious and irrelevant evidence, posting of new signs without due notification of the appropriate authorities and the likely destruction of key CCTV video evidence that would make the truth of what happened clear to all.
I remain committed to the peaceful and lawful resolution of these issues. For whatever reason I am truly glad to have no anger over the matter, but this is fully replaced by a heightened concern for everybody of what the precedent could be from the outcome of this case. On one level this is a personal case for me, and an important test of cycling civil rights, but at an even deeper and more profound level it is about the Constitutional Rights of all of us and whether we will allow them to be trod upon.
With thanks to the many voices of support,
Peace and best wishes to all,
Stephan Orsak
(more complete details may be read in the CASE SUMMARY. Court documents and evidence details are linked from the margin above.)
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406 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 406 Newer› Newest»As some people might read the comments and not the case, I feel I need to come back to the crux of the matter, urge others to do the same,and make some points clear:
1) I had broken no law. Then or now. The statutes are there for all of us to read, and no one has yet been able to show what law I was in
violation of. This is not about 'should have', 'could have', common or uncommon sense. Laws are laws and I was following mine.
2) It was an illegitimate stop, and I was treated rudely as a second
class citizen from the beginning. Which law or policy allows for that?
3) I was stopped for not seeing signs that didn't exist until four
months later.
THIS much alone should be enough to throw out the case. But there is
more:
4) Some seem to think it an established fact that I was told to stop at some point and refused- this is just not true.
5) Officer Wingate's last orders to me would have put me in a dangerous situation. If an officer, having made an unlawful stop, then tells you to do something both illegal and hazardous, are you going to
do it?
6) Officer Wingate's final actions prove that this was clearly no stop
to 'serve and protect', but that its basis was vindictive. If being
thrown on the ground and shot is how concern for my safety is
demonstrated, I'll take my chances with normally friendly MN traffic,
thank you.
7) I was immediately attacked from behind, while leaving, and without
any warning whatsoever. Prior to this, I was not being cited for any
violation, I was not being arrested. Under such circumstances there is no police basis to detain a person further.
8) I explained to them that I was going to leave, that I was going to
follow the safest and most reasonable course of the several told to me, and even wished them a 'good evening', and 'hoping the rest of it goes better than this has gone', and then I started to leave. At no time did I raise my voice or give anything that could be construed as a threatening gesture.
9) To avoid misinterpretation please note- NONE of the (6) charges are for 'fleeing an officer'. What this means is that even the police do not hold that it was wrong for me to leave.
SO it begs the critical question- what justification was there then,
in attacking me?
10) My decisions were not an obstruction of justice, but an upholding of justice. I was simply following the law and in my actions taking a stance for all of our constitutional rights. If one wants an excellent definition of obstruction of justice, it is putting up a smokescreen and pressing charges on a victim just to hide an officer's inappropriate actions.
11) In no way did I ever physically resist arrest. Posters that state
this are simply wrong, and are not stating just what this 'resistance'
was. I did call out for help from passing traffic. That is a constitutional right. There was no physical resistance to arrest
whatsoever.
Perhaps Officer Wingate was mistaken in making the stop. I do not have a problem with that per se. I am happy to stop for anybody to clarify something and have a reasonable conversation. But asking a question should not cause a person to immediately be threatened with mace and taser.
I think a word needs to be put in for Officer Bryant. I want to
clarify that there was a distinct difference between the manner of
Officer Wingate and Officer Bryant. Officer Bryant (who had taken his
oath less than 3 weeks before) had a minor part to play in this, even
though he did follow through on Officer Wingate's order to tase me.
Perhaps he did not consider as a free individual if that were really a reasonable thing to do. Perhaps he felt he had to just 'follow the
order' whatever the rightness or wrongness of it. Or, perhaps he feels that it was completely reasonable and in accord with the force continuum policy. Whatever the case, it can be seen by all that Officer Bryant was made to write the bulk of the narratives, and I will state with all my conviction that I believe he was made to embellish them by orders from others. You will note that Officer Wingate's narrative is only a couple of sentences. It is outrageous for the responsible officer to only have to write two sentences in explanation for such an incident. I have reason to believe that Officer Bryant would make a fine peace officer and may be so now, and in no sense should the overbearing actions of Officer Wingate be blamed upon him. Officer Bryant should be able to stand upon his own record, and not be tainted by the record of another. Fairness is fairness and peace officers deserve it too.
With best wishes,
Stephan Orsak
This is a tragic series of events. It is a gross violation of civil rights and freedom as a U.S. citizen as we are granted by the Constitution.
It is sad to see this happen in my home State, which is supposedly the land of bleeding-heart liberals. I guess this guy Windgate didn't get the memo, or more likely, is a few cards short of a full deck.
It is hard enough to commute on a bike without cops stopping oyu for no reason and then attacking you from behind. What a travesty!
I hope that you have a good lawyer and that this case doesn't come down to your word against the police. I didn't read all of the blog or the record, but I hope that there is evidence that supports your case - CCTV cameras, a witness or two that saw parts of what happened that night etc.
I will anxiously stay tuned for more details.
Best Regards,
Jeff Anderson, Boulder, CO
Wingate seems to have put himself in a corner. He has motivations to try to make himself look good, or at least better. He needs to save face. He needs to save face with his supervisors as well as with others. His job and his future could be affected.
Embellishing reports is a standard way for police to strengthen their cases, and to make convictions more likely, and to keep themselves from looking bad.
Exaggerating your actions may have been part of this.
4) Some seem to think it an established fact that I was told to stop at some point and refused- this is just not true.
Weren't you told to stop at or near the very beginning? And didn't you keep riding?
Also, did you really think it was going to be fine with them if you rode away?
He asked how I planned to get there. I explained my planned route out of the airport that completely avoids the highway, using the service roads, connecting to Post Road and then the bike trails in Fort Snelling State Park. Officer Wingate said, 'Well, I see you've done your homework. *Just this once* I'll let you ride out along here', referring to the one-way service road that parallels the main airport egress, but traveling against the marked flow of traffic, and that connects to Post Road, Fort Snelling, and so forth.
Couldn't you have left it there?
It seems like it would have been a great place to end it. He yielded somewhat; he gave you a way out; why not meet him half way?
Also, what route were you originally planning to take from where you were? More specifically, how were you going to connect with Post Road?
9) To avoid misinterpretation please note- NONE of the (6) charges are for 'fleeing an officer'. What this means is that even the police do not hold that it was wrong for me to leave.?
This does not follow, Stephan.
...SO it begs the critical question- what justification was there then,
in attacking me?
To prevent or stop you from continuing with fleeing?, which you must have known wasn't a very wise move? (--and maybe they were stopping or preventing more than 'attacking'?)
Why even try to justify that kind of behavior?
It was simply wrong.
I wonder if a Minneapolis police officer reading this blog, might be willing to comment on the policy for use of force (specifically regarding taser use) and for their general training in regards to how they are taught to deal with others. It seems like there may be some real problems and a lack of a clear model for positive communication which would be necesary considering the power invested in the police. This sort of thing (whether Stephan could have/should have behaved differently) obviously reflects poorly on the police department...because I can not for the life of me come up with a clear justification for that sort of force to have been used.
Here is something I came across on the back of a Sheriff's business card. Peace officers that believe in and support these core values are the people I respect and am grateful for having to help keep the peace and protect us all.
As a leader in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, I commit myself to HONORABLY perform my duties with RESPECT for the dignity of all people, INTEGRITY to do right and fight wrong, WISDOM to apply COMMON SENSE and FAIRNESS in all I do and COURAGE to stand against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and bigotry in all its forms.
I wonder if something like this exists for the MSP aiport police....
Any brave officer willing to reply....
You were asking for it. I'd have shot you.
By these comments, people seem to like to live in a dictatorial police regime.
Wtf would he need to stop if he had done nothing wrong?
How can you people accept being treated like this?
Is this the freedom USA touts?
"You were asking for it. I'd have shot you."
What the fuck?! You shouldn't be in a place to do such a thing! If you're a policeman, you shouldn't be!
That's why gun control is important, so you don't do stupid, dumb ass things like shooting a innocent person doing nothing wrong! And even breaking a rule isn't reason to freaking shoot or kill a person!
There are very crazy people over there... unbelievable.
My sympathy to you Stephan.
As a classical music lover and an American, I hope you sue the hell out of the police department. That seems to be the only way they can learn that they are not thugs.
Best wishes.
Supporter of Police with core values said:
because I can not for the life of me come up with a clear justification for that sort of force to have been used.
I can. Power Corrupts
As another prominent professional musician once stated "Fuck the police!"
Stephan,
You have a civic duty to file a lawsuit over the violation of your civil liberties. If you don't, it lends precedence to the beating received by the next hapless victim of that thug Wingate. It wouldn't surprise me if several of the previous commentors were Wingates colleagues or friends. I have a hard time believing the Wingate could write legibly enough to form a coherant comment, but he could be dictating.
Go to a reputable Law firm (I would be more than happy to give you the name of an excellent attorney in the twin cities) and sue the pants off of the Airport police. Demand that Wingate be removed from duty. Demand the release of the video, and short of that, the removal of Wingate's superior. Demand a few million dollars for the brutality shown to you, because Stephan, it's the only thing that will get their attention and force a change in the policy of law enforcement by lowest common denominator.
You sound as thought you were immediately against this idea, or it would have preceeded the blog post, but you have to. It's your civic duty to hold these thugs accountable.
I'll look for a comment in return from you if you'd like to get in touch with someone to discuss this case.
Oh, and since my dander is up, screw all of you small minded closet facists. You shouldn't be allowed to call yourselves Americans. Trash is as trash does, tough guy.
Good luck to you Stephan! Are any legal rights groups or bicyclists groups supporting you? I used to naively think the people became police officers because they cared about justice, these days I am convinced most of them sign up because they care about power.
There's a lawyer in Boston, Andrew Fischer, who specifically supports cyclists. I'm not sure how much he can help but it's worth a shot. Jason & Fischer
The earlier commenter who suggested that you sue is right. In my city, the total amount of payments in lawsuits against the police for inappropriate actions recently came to light. It caused a huge furor and an immediate review of police procedures and inappropriate use of force. Wrongful arrests and wrongful deaths plummeted. It seems that in an environment in which those charged to uphold the law are themselves becoming lawless, financial recourse is the only way to have such malfeasance noticed. (And if you don't feel right about taking the money, consider donating it to some charitable agency helping people who cannot afford to defend themselves, or to a post-incarceration support society.)
I'm a US Navy vet and I'm appalled at this event. This should never have been allowed to happen. Please, not for your own sake, but for the sake of all citizens, fight this all the way to the Supreme Court. I will be happy to donate to your fight in order to see these brutal thugs incarcirated.
This is a Nazi state, not America, and those cops had no rights or powers to take the actions that they admit to in these charges.
This is my focal point, and if you lose this case, I'm dissolving my citizenship and moving to Mexico, and from there points unknown under a new name. My properties can be sold under my corporate trust and I'm sure that there are peaceful countries that will welcome the income.
Democritus
I agree with Tim's comment. It's understandable that you'd like to put it all behind you - but you need to establish Wingate's criminal behavior in a court of law, or other citizens will end up victims of this swaggering turd.
My sympathy to you. This behaviour is simply appalling. This is a sad day for both civil rights and the environment.
You probably already have a lawyer, but in case you don't, I know of a good one with possibly relevant experience in defending people against government abuse (and is a bike enthusiast and occasional blogger himself): Greg Luce, of the law firm Christensen, Laue & Rasmus (ph: 952.927.8855).
The second worst thing a person can do when told by the police to get on their knees is to argue with them, the worst then they can do is get on their bike and try to get away. Buddy, you passed the moron test and got what you deserved, you do this in any city to a cop and your going to find yourself in the same spot.
Next time you come to my fine city take the free train the the Humphrey terminal with your bike, it is on a normal street that you can bike away from, not the one way freeway entrance you tried to bike down to the one way going the other direction post office access road.
Stephan--
I found myself immediately skeptical of your claims, seeing them as yet another self-fulfilling prophesy of police brutality based on one's preconceived beliefs and paranoias regarding police officers. I was prepared to view it as mere opportunistic politicising of an unfortunate, yet overstated, personal interaction with police. A tinfoil-hat liberal activist's best-case scenerio: hard, personal evidence of a fascist-neo-con police-state conspiracy. 'Cause I kinda got that vibe. And maybe there's something to that. Riding your bike away after an angry cop just said "walk it" was, at best and as a matter of common sense, dumb, and at worst passive-agressively confrontational.
It is, of course, highly advisable to expressly ask "Am I being detained, or am I free to leave?" before turning your back on a police officer who is speaking to you. Your "taking the initiative" to end the encounter has risks. As a practical matter, if the cop has ANY residual thoughts of continuing to detain you based on his subjective perception of a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity (he doesn't even need to imagine probable cause to arrest), you're risking a take-down and charges of resisting or failure to comply.
That said, having read your side of things, which seems largely measured and credulous, I have to agree that it appears that the officers acted petulantly, unprofessionally and unconstitutionally. I hope your case is dismissed, that the officers involved are disciplined, and that you get a reasonable compensation for the rights violation. I hope this unfortunate incident can be an opportunity to improve our police force, not a source of political and community tension. Sorry this happened.
Have you contacted either the St. Paul Pioneer Press or the Star Tribune about this. Seems like something a reporter might be interested in looking at (if not just for the use of force on an allegedly harmless person, but whether the 9/11 camera system is all that effective)?
Something to keep in mind, is that *regardless of the truth* you may well be faced with the situation where the officer(s) will perjure themselves. And there is really nothing that you can do about it (been there). When both sides tell different stories, they will not accuse you of lying. They will simply accept the testimony of the cop as the truth because after all, he is 'more honest' than you. Hopefully you have lawyered up and your attorney is prepared to confront this type of issue. Best of luck to you.
Wow, this is horrific. I commend you for your persistence with this ridiculous abuse of police power.
My parents rode their bikes from the airport in Paris to their first destination on a trip they took a few years ago. They were terrified of the traffic, but not harrassed by authorities.
As a daily bike commuter, I applaud your efforts of biking, standing up for what is right peacefully, and sharing it with the internet.
Rachel
Wow, this is really unfortunate. Do you have an update on the outcome of the case? Amazing how police, TSA agents, and many other "service" professionals can feel so threatened by someone passively asserting one's rights. Also funny how this comes on the heels of the sippy cup TSA case. While the story of the woman in question has a few holes, I think there are definitely parallels, particularly in dealing with authorities in air travel. Traveling is stressful enough without having to worry about arbitrary (or in this case non-existent) rules you may be transgressing. I've encountered this myself a few times traveling with my young daughter. However, in my case I felt that groveling and bending over backward to accomodate would be least painful. Cheers to Stephan for standing up for himself.
Why all the concern about what signs were posted? There aren't any "NO MURDERING ZONE" signs posted and yet it's still illegal to commit murder.
A police officer told you not to ride your bike somewhere; regardless of whether or not there are signs posted to that effect, it's a lawful order which you failed to comply with. Even when they tried to let you off the hook you continued to antagonize them. Finally, you attempted to depart the scene before they had released you, so you were arrested. This really isn't that unusual.
Also, you keep going on and on about how rude they were to you. Police officers are in the business of enforcing the law and promoting the safety of the public. They aren't in the business of pandering to your precious feelings. You never even establish if they used profanity while dealing with you, and I'm guessing they didn't. If a police officer speaks forcefully and directly to you, it's because he's doing his job. Part of being a good police officer is asserting your authority when people question it.
Your entire story smacks of self-righteousness, which I guess shouldn't surprise me coming as it is from a cyclist.
Heh. A little tact could have made a 6 month ordeal into a 6 second one.
But I guess you got a nice blog entry out of it.
"The second worst thing a person can do when told by the police to get on their knees is to argue with them,"
Why would he get down on his knees? What did he do wrong?
"the worst then they can do is get on their bike and try to get away."
He was going his way, if he was to get away, I believe he would've.
"Buddy, you passed the moron test and got what you deserved,"
No one deserves to be abused like this, you're the moron if you think it is normal to humiliate, assault, taser, wtv people at random for any reason. He wasn't running, he didn't attack the officer, he was unarmed, it was power abuse.
"you do this in any city to a cop and your going to find yourself in the same spot."
If that's like that in all the country, I'll try to remember not to go to USA ever.
"Next time you come to my fine city take the free train the the Humphrey terminal with your bike, it is on a normal street that you can bike away from, not the one way freeway entrance you tried to bike down to the one way going the other direction post office access road."
Because you are the one to decide how people get around. :P
Hmmm...typical class war. Working class cop can't win the intellectual debate on legality of bike traffic, has nothing to arrest Stephan for, but must save face in front of collegue. I might not be smarter, but I'm stronger - whack! Knock him around first and come up with a plausible story later. Teach him a lesson.
Unfortunately, many in this position would simply give in or keep quiet out of fear of retaliation. I'm happy Orsak is bringin this to light and fighting the charges.
Card-carrying member of the ACLU here — yes, I pay my membership dues with pride — and as I read this, I couldn't help but consider what a major dumbass you were. Even the ACLU tells you not to argue with police if you're stopped by them.
There were so many places where you could have defused the situation. He gave you a perfect face-saving out for ending the conversation when he said the "just this once" bit, which you didn't take. At that point, I'm thinking you're a moron, but I'm still with you. Where you totally lost my support, however — and this is coming from someone whose linklog is stuffed to the gills with civil liberty abuses — is when he tells you to "get on your knees," and you call him absurd, refuse to get on your knees, and then start to ride off. Dude, you were being arrested. Now, I imagine he would have read you your Miranda rights after you got on your knees, but you attempted to ride off before he got to that point. I'm really not surprised you got your ass tackled.
Wingate's actions were, without a doubt, rude, and I personally don't think he was justified in stopping you or in his commentary or decisions. The proper venue to challenge this would've been to pursue follow-up conversations with his supervisor, and a court case if necessary and if you chose to pursue it. However, dealing with a police officer who's being rude to you is not the same as dealing with a store clerk who's being rude to you. You can't refuse to accept his authority and demand to go over his head; it's not the way our country's police works. (It's not an effective way for any police force to work: if a garden-variety criminal could legally refuse to accept a police officer's authority until his supervisor showed up, it'd be a wonderful and perenially used escape/stall tactic.) And, seriously, just from a pragmatic side, when has anyone actually effected a policy change from arguing with an officer on the beat?
Good luck with your court case. I think you're going to lose.
For the benefit of angry people without a sense of attempted-humor detection, the comment "I'd have shot you," from a commenter claiming to be a shepherd from Dublin: attempted joke. And from a detached, cynical, Dublin-shepherd "I don't know you from Adam" perspective, kinda funny.
Regardless of whether or not the bicyclist left without the okay of the officer in question, the brutality and overuse of force is typical of what gives police in general a bad name. To tase someone who did nothing (other than possibly riding their bike rather than walking it after a flip-flopping of instructions from the officer) is extreme. Adding insult to injury by crushing his eyeglasses is just the officer flexing the muscle his badge gives him. I, for one, hope that this ends in a lawsuit that makes an example of the overuse of police force in extremely minor implications such as this one. As for the camera issue, I find it hard to believe that they don't also have cameras in their squad cars. With the aspect of the surveillance cameras at the MSP airport, something needs to change if they were unable to at least catch this incident from a distance. Contact, or have your lawyer contact, every form of Twin Cities media outlet you can find.
Couple of problems with your story.
First, I started to major in law enforcement, and tasers *are* classified as non-lethal. If there are cases where they've caused death, cite some. I've never seen a documented case, even when searching for them. And no, I've never been tased. But I *have* been hit by a stun-gun, which feels about the same (from what I understand), so I can certainly sympathize.
Second, was this a "no pedestrians" road? Aren't bicyclists in many places are considered pedestrians? I don't know the answer to the first, but I suspect the answer to the second is "yes." Your case hinges on the answer to the first. 'cause if you tried to leave a lawful stop, then in some warped way, the officer could justify his actions.
Third, while you weren't under arrest, simply trying to leave wasn't exactly wise. Police are trained to use force on step above what it absolutely required to contain a situation. While the officer was absolutely in the wrong, even if it *was* a lawful stop, he obviously didn't see it that way. I hope the courts do :)
From the above, you'd think that I was on the side of the officer in your case. I'm not. I'm just trying to get clarification, and pointing out that one of your "facts" doesn't have a source cited, and I believe you to be mistaken.
'mute
Sheesh! You law-and-order types baffle me. The guy was TASED, and for what? Attempting to ride a bike?Question a cop's "right" to push people around for no reason?
What sheep you are.
Wintermute - Where do you live? I live in Houston, where police officers typically have carte blanche to use whatever force they deem appropriate (typically proportional to wealth/skin color).
Police here began using tasers last year - and while I think there are certainly cases where use is appropriate, there have been several well documented cases of abuse in the news, as well as documented cases of deaths (not exclusive to Houston) in the ongoing debate over tasers.
Yes, police have to contend with scary situation, in which split second decisions are made that can result in the life or death of the aggressor or the officer. This, however, was not one of those cases. At worst, this guy is a snark who wanted to dig in his heals in a pi##ing contest with a frustrated cop. Perhaps the cop could justify detaining the guy until he had clarification on bike traffic - but using a taser!! That is ridiculous. I have a hard time believing that a 140 lb violinist posed a physical threat to 2 armed officers. If they wanted to take him down, they could have done so without the taser. Time to lawyer up! While I hate the idea of suing, the best way to promote change is to hit someone in the pocket book.
As an employee of the Minneapolis Police Department who has done extensive research on Tasers *and* been tased myself, I have several takes on this story.
First, I am sorry to hear that you had an unfortunate run in with a cop. Furthermore, I am sorry to hear that his supervisor did not attempt to hear you out and receive and file your complaint. I don't know if the Airport PD (an independent jurisdiction) has some sort of Internal Affairs Unit, but that would be the appropriate place to file your complaint if they do. Lawsuits are also effective - anything that hits anyone in the pocketbook is always effective in bringing about change in behavior and policy.
Yes, being tased sucks, but I would hardly call it "barbaric." Given the right circumstances, it's a useful tool that undoubtedly saves more lives than it can be linked to ending. All of the research I've seen shows that while people do die following being tased, those people had other contributing factors, most commonly drugs such as cocaine and meth. The Taser alone has not been responsible for any death that I am aware of.
Finally, I urge you (and all readers of this blog) not to stereotype cops based on this run in. Yes, there are bad cops who do bad things. There are good cops who do bad things. There are good cops who do good things. Cops are people - they make mistakes. It's unfortunate that Officer Wingate and his supervisor did not acknowledge those mistakes; however, stereotyping all cops ("fuck the police) based on these two is a mistake as well.
I am a certified Taser instructor and have been tased 100's of times. It is not an enjoyable experience but given the choice between a Taser and CS/OC gas(Mace,) I would pick the taser any time. The taser is not that bad and only lasts a short period of time versus a 15-30 minute ordeal with mace.
Tasers are non-lethal, period. Only one death has happened as a result of them. And it was not the tasers fault, a police officer tased a menially ill person who was standing on the edge of a tall building threating to jump. After he was tased they failed to grab him and he fell. Dumb move on the officers part.
As far as where he was riding his bike, my memory puts the only way out of MSP as a freeway entrance. With the NW buildings being 1/2 mile down the freeway entrance past the no pedestrians sign.
STUPID BIKER FAG. YOU DESERVED THE ASS-KICKING YOU GOT. ASSHOLES LIKE YOU ARE ENDANGERING THE TRAFFIC FLOW AND THE VERY LIVES OF AMERICAS PEACE OFFICERS.
YOU WERE TOLD TO CEASE AND DESIST AND YOU BLATANTLY DISREGARDED THE OFFICER. YOU DESERVED TO BE SHOT IN THE HEAD WITH A REAL GUN INSTEAD OF A TASER. WE DONT NEED YOU SCUMMY HIPPIES CLOGGING UP OUR FREEWAYS AND ENDANGERING THE GOD-FEARING FOLK OF MINNEAPOLIS WITH YOUR BLATANT DISREGARD FOR LAW & ATHORITY. I HOPE YOU GET YOUR ASS-KICKED BY SOME GANGSTER ONLY TO HAVE A COP TREAT YOU LIKE YOU TREATED THEM.
What is the deal with militant bikers? We don't block their bike paths with our cars! We don't even drive our cars down their bike paths! They disobey traffic control repeatedly and deserve everything they get when they get hit my a semi when they weave through traffic and run a red light.
I like to slam on my breaks when they are holding on the the back of my car, hopefully they will break their wrist next time or fall and get ran over by traffic.
Ben: I'm nowhere near a "law and order" type, so I hope you didn't confuse me with one - I'm a card-carrying libertarian ;) I agree with everyone, including you and the anonymous commenter below you, that the "officer" was abusing his powers. After physically taking Mr. Orsak down, any possible threat, real or imagined, was gone. I hope that, regardless of legality of the stop to begin with, that standing a "suspect" back up and tasing him is seen as excessive force.
Anonymous. I live in Ohio. Yes, police can use what force they feel is appropriate. They're trained that "appropriate" is one step above what a suspect is using. Using a taser on a fleeing suspect might fit that description, but certainly not after having physically taken him down. This is certainly how the officer saw things, even if his vision was corrupted by power.
I'm sure "fleeing an officer" and/or "resisting arrest" aren't included in the original charges in hopes that they can use them to leverage a plea agreement.
Unfortunately for the person citing the "sippy cup" TSA case, that woman exaggerated her claims and flat-out lied to make it appear that the TSA agents were jack-booted thugs. While I agree with her in principle, her actions discredit her and make me more cynical when reading similar cases. I simply feel like I'm not being told everything.
Just a few things to clarify:
1. Cops don't make the law. They uphold it. Just because the cop tells you to do something, it's not "law." What if the cop told you stand in the middle of the road in front of oncoming traffic? Would you do it? That's not too far off from what Wingate suggested.
2. Minnesota law says that bikers are NOT pedestrians. Stephen did reference the statute and you can read the text on the web. Bikers have the same rights to use the road as a car, in the situations that Stephen described. And it's a speed limit, not a minimum. He can probably ride his bike as fast as some old Grandma who cannot see over the wheel.
Just because Stephen made some poor choices in my opinion, doesn't make what happened right. Wingate, et al, behaved inappropriately according to what is fair and just.
You were right but you were almost dead right!
Now if you can imagine that sort of thing happens to you all the time then you can imagine being black!
Wintermute - Anonymous (laura) from Houston here.
I wasn't necessarily disagreeing with you, just curious as to you point of reference.
I grew up in a small town in rural NW Arkansas, where cops knew you by name - no fear of unnecessary force there.
While there are a few points at which the incident could have likely been diffused by the biker, I still feel tasing was an extreme response. I would like to hear an update of the case.
Stereotyping cops is not a crime. Certain professions attract certain kinds of people and the stereotypes of people in certain professions are usually pretty accurate.
Being a police officer usually appeals to people (mostly men) who have a low self esteem that is disguised as an extremely inflated ego. They have little respect for others or themselves - and so they like to demand respect from others. They like to feel like they have power and authority because in their real life or as a child they felt powerless.
They jump at every chance to display this "power" as well, which is why these stories are pretty common.
They are typically uneducated (most departments require no college education) and are simply bullies with a badge an a gun and a false sense of authority.
I have zero respect for them, I've known way too many shitty ones to believe the whole "some are bad, but most are good" bullshit. Most are bad and that's the way it is. We have to get used to it, stop giving them the benefit of the doubt and letting ourselves be pushed around. Period.
A lesson learned: When dealing with law enforcement only two phrases should be uttered- "Yes sir" and "No Sir". Otherwise, you're a smartass (in their eyes). After complying with law enforcement you take it before a JUDGE. You then gather all your evidence without their knowledge. That way you might have come off as simply "smart".
Good luck smartass!
I have not been in a fight since 3rd grade. I give money to the ACLU and Greenpeace. Won't buy tuna unless it is dolphin safe. Bike with my kids every weekend. I drive a Prius and would drive it over GWB if the opportunity arose.
And I am not a cop.
All that nonwithstanding, and even allowing for a certain amount of obvious exageration, if I was a cop and you said those things to me, I would have held down the tazer trigger until either my thumb, the tazer battery, or your bladder gave out.
Somehow I sense that the well-spelled-ALLCAPS-"scummy hippies"-"deserved to be shot in the head" post is by someone trying to mimic a stereotypical dumb, evil conservative in order to generate sympathy for Stephan. Don't even dignify it with a rebuke.
(Makes me wonder: how much hate-mail actually comes not from legitimate haters, but from "sympathizers" trying to generate some heat to further "the cause." I suspect a lot.)
And I note that a claim that most cops take the job to compensate for low self-esteem, rather than out of a noble desire to make a positive contribution to society, can be equally applied to, for example, teachers and professors, who one might say are compensating for their lack of self-esteem by taking positions of authority and influence to indoctrinate a captive audience of impressionable students. Hmmm. Then again, maybe he's onto something.
A wise man once told me that anyone who shows interest in being a cop should be segregated from society and studied. People who have no interest in being police should be forced into it. I too have been a victim of lying police, I was peppered sprayed when I was asleep. Between the incident and court appearance, the cop had turned me into a madman. Thanks for telling your story! Sadly, I think it isn't unique.
I'm frightened.
I'm ANGRY that I'm frightened.
This is sick and wrong. My only suggestion to you is to contact Governor Pawlenty and Mayor Rybak. They may be able to help in some way.
There's probably not much I can do to help you, but as a fellow cyclist who have been accosted on several occasions for legally riding my bike or stopped for reasons such as "illegally" riding in areas where there are clearly no indication of riding prohibition, I can only say good luck, we're all behind you. This is idiotic, stupid, and all the more reason for the general public to realize what a police state we're living in.
Fight on!
If Osama/Mcveigh had passed through that spot you can bet there would be video. Gear down and Giv'er !!
Don't let the bastards get you down.
I need an update. Are you suing?...I am just appalled. My sympathies go out to you.
The airport is not part of Minneapolis so Mayor Rybak is of no help. The airport is controlled by the states metro airports commission.
Welcome to Minneapolis! The cops here aren't known for being friendly, to say the very least. Add to the fact that bicyclists in this city have a habit of FREQUENTLY breaking traffic laws and getting self-righteous about it, and basically what you did was everything the police here can't stand. Add to this that this is the same police force that will post a traffic sign, ticket your car, and then take down the traffic sign the next day. Was it right of the cops to get that ignorant with you? Probably not. Should you have tried to leave? Definitely not. Unless you're a professional athlete, you might as well be a shady looking character in Compton to the police here. Again, it's not right, but if you'd known this ahead of time, you may have made some different decisions.
File a countersuit with the addendum that you'll drop the suit if the charges are dropped. There should be no reason whatsoever for this case to proceed to trial. The Duke Lacrosse case should bring to light some of these issues. Have your lawyer request the tapes. Even if you beleive that they don't show the incident, ask for them. Look at them. If they 'will' not give them to your lawyer, request the prosecution for them. Someone must have them. If they don't, it's destruction of evidence whether you were seen on them or not. You have the right to see that evidence (whether the prosecution uses it or not is irrelevant, like all the OTHER DNA in the Duke case, the defence has a right to see it, even if the prosecution doesn't use it).
On top of this, reading the statements from the Officers, it appears as though they don't even know what happened, there's a few contradicting statements in there.
I can't honestly see this going away any time soon. In fact, I would almost bet that this will get dragged out, and then summarily dropped. Has this gone to pre-trial? If it hasn't, you could probably get them to drop the least serious charges on a Prima Facia ruling, since they can only use evidence that was there at the time, and bikes are not people (as you stated more eloquently).
The stop was illegal, but 'justifiable'...concern for your safety.
As a side note, heres something that happened in Toronto Canada last summer. A guy was riding his bike down the sidewalk of a street that was blocked off (the street, not the sidewalk was blocked). Though it is illegal here to ride a full size bike on the sidewalk, it NEVER enforced. An officer saw this, and DROVE down the blocked off street. In the full hot summer sun, the guy, STILL ON HIS BIKE, was handcuffed to a chainlink fence. 30 mins passed, the officer returned (didn't say where he went)...uncuffed the guy and told him to leave, and to not do this again. Of course, he didn't know what he did wrong, no charges, no fines or tickets. But he sure did get punished...and probably a descent sunburn as well! When I heard of this the only thing I kept thinking was, "glad I wasn't there, or I'd be in jail" ... I would have asked the officer to cuff himself to the fence for 30 mins to see what it was like...
Hang in there...this will all get resolved.
LOL if a cop at an airport tells you to do something, you do it, you self-important schmuck. Whether you like his tone or not.
Very dismayed to read about this, especially as a Minnesotan. Best of luck with the proceedings.
As a fellow cyclist, musician, and former Minneapolis resident, I have little sympathy.
You ride a Brompton, a bicycle designed to be folded into a size to make it easy to carry on a train. Minneapolis now has a wonderful light rail train that goes from the Lindberg terminal over to Fort Snelling, where you were headed anyway. Even if you wanted to extend your trip and get more exercise, you could have simply gone to the HHH terminal and rode away on a normal street with relatively minor traffic.
Instead, the path you chose to take was equivalent to riding a bicycle onto a freeway on-ramp. A very busy freeway on-ramp at that. When the police stopped you, because you were acting like a nut - you responded by acting like more of a nut.
The publicity you are generating is extremely selfish and short sighted. I don't like aggressive cops any more than anyone else. But instead of raising awareness to police brutality or making life better for cyclists, you are painting cyclists like a bunch of nutball hippies instead of normal people who just happen to enjoy riding their bicycles.
Rather than successfully making life easier for cyclists, you've already gotten cycling totally banned anywhere around the Lindburg terminal, and now cyclists at the airport are going to be the target of more harrassment. Thanks, asshole!
Not much fun getting treated like a poor person, huh? By commenting that you are being treated like a "second class citizen" do you mean being treated like those retched imbeciles that never went to college and have to work menial jobs serving people like you?
When you go in front of the judge, please keep up the elitist attitude that got your butt kicked in the first place: maybe stand up and recite your credentials or something, then talk about how you have rights and all that. That should go over real well.
I haven't read the whole of the Patriot Act passed after 9/11. But from what has been explained to me from sources are that we no longer have rights, as in the constitution has been basically nullified. On a whim they can arrest, contain or look into your privacy. As in the phone taping that people were complaining about, though Bush denied it etc. It is legal under the Patriot Act. I would suggest looking into that Act.
yet more evidence that security authorities and police forces seem to go out of their way to employ people who should be on welfare for emotional laziness, security dweebs are the new terrorists, vindictive, ignorant, and emotional labile. But then they are right wing and feel entitled to be entitled to be arseholes... much like suicide bombers feel entitled to kill because some pro-policestate sky-god is on their side.
security dweebs and terrorists are a co-evolving mess, a positive feedback vortex of right wing entitlement, unquestionable in its religious origin.
They feed off each other, and kill us as bystanders to their sick selfish psychodramas.
No offense, but you kinda sound like a whiny pussy from California.
This article if proof of two things:
1. Limitless power in the hands of limited organisms leads to unlimited idiocy.
2. There will always be people of limited intelligence who will find that what the police officer did "in full compliance with procedure". We generally call these people NASCAR fans.
Ahh, the old OLP ruse. I was assaulted, arrested, and charged with Gross Misdemeanor Obstruction of Legal Process by St. Paul cops for asking an officer for his name and badge number a few years back. It seems to be the preferred charge for daring to suggest that they don't have absolute authority and trying to bring some accountability to the situation.
Minneapolis cops have been somewhat notorious for assaulting bicyclists in the past (the attack on a critical mass ride that hospitalized people a few years ago, etc), though I thought issues had mostly cleared up recently.
Good luck with your case! Sounds like you have the evidence on your side. Assuming you win, please consider filing a civil suit against the cops (if you have qualms about the money, feel free to donate it to your favorite charitable organization). Unfortunately, money seems to speak louder than human rights these days, and abusive police departments need to get hit in their pocketbooks.
this and similar incidents at airports lately demonstrate that white middle class americans haven't gotten the message yet: this IS a police state. minorities have known it for a long time. the only difference is that it now applies to everyone.
One of the sheeple got a little uppity. The overlords had to beat him back into line. If the sheeple would simply comply authority there would be no problems. Next time do as you are told.
Jeez, stephen, you rode away from cops. You just don't do that.
You should have learned that when you were 12.
They may not have acted fairly, but you egged them on an taunted them. Cops usually have some power trip, you denied them of this.
Stephan,
I am an avid bicyclist as well and have experience similar aggression and ignorance (though, of course, nothing nearly as dramatic as you have). I realize that taking legal action is an enormous inconvenience, but I hope that you choose to do so whatever the outcome of you current trial. Here's hoping the word starts to get out about your cause and that all works out in the end. Good luck!
Michael
You're completely in the right - I just wanted to get that out before I throw down some negativity.
Why in the world would anyone ever talk back to an officer? They're always on edge because if they aren't, that's going to be the one time they get a knife in the face.
It's easy to get them wound up. It's easy to get them to blow up.
This is all COMMON KNOWLEDGE. So what do you do? Obey whatever they say the first time around, crazy threats or not. That makes them happy, and makes you not arrested. That makes them go away and makes you able to go home and raise a huge stink with a LAWYER.
Fighting opression in the moment it's happening almost never works. You've got to manipulate the situation back to your favour so you can put the smack down on them later.
Unless you don't do something as stuff like this happens, you are going to have nation wide Abu Ghraib of your own. Good luck for your case.
absolutely outrageous, Wingate. Heads should roll.
I have angry feelings towards 'officer' wingate.
Very angry. In the abstract someone who uses deadly force unjustly has given up their claims to the protection of law.
Yes-I very clearly mean that Wingate has no right to have his life protected. He is scum.
But, sadly in this case, I also have a commitment against killing others.
But to be deadly clear: I believe Wingate deserves to suffer and die. Yes. Literally. But I don't think any of us have the right to cause that to happen.
Sort of a bitch for me :-)
Humanity sucks. Sadly, I'm too young to help show everyone how much humanity sucks, and therefore things like this will keep on happening until someone who actually understands how much humanity sucks stands up and states how much humanity sucks.
If you had followed what Wingate's said, then I'd have only one thing to read right now because you'd probably have been hit by a car.
Lucky you, that you do not look like a person of middle-eastern descent... I also hope you will sue the living daylights out of them.
Just another uptight bike rider being painful and obstructive. Every city in the world has you guys in it and thankfully you all end up getting the same treatment. Who knows . . . maybe one day you'll grow-up, loose that giant chip off your shoulder and realise there are rules to play by in society. Oh gee, they're not written down. Boo-Hoo. Wanker
Best of luck in your fight. Please keep us posted of any ways we can help to expunge the bad egg Officer Wingate.
Officer Windbag deserves to be stripped of his badge and thrown in jail for a couple of years.
First of all, the nutcases in here can forget about a civil lawsuit against the police. It's not going to happen.
However, I do feel bad for Stephen Orsak if he statement of facts is correct.
What you are is a classically trained, save the seals, stop the war, go green, tree hugging, spoiled brat. Man up, Stephan. I can hear the whine in your voice from here. I can feel my testicles shrinking just reading this drivel. 3 degrees, 6 different schools, and you play the fiddle for a living? Have you ever worked a real job or existed in the real world for a day in your pathetic life?
If nothing else, the cop deliberately stomping on your eyeglasses was a show of unnecessary force.
I hope you do seek legal recourse. The next thing under his boot might be a person's head and not a pair of glasses.