Thanks to concerned individuals, a public benefit to raise general awareness is now in the works for September. Also, a new organization is in the process of being created by others, to support the work of this cause and to serve as the basis for future good works. More to come on that.
And MORE good news- James Oberstar, chair of the House of Representatives transportation committee and Member of Congress from MN 8th district has written to say that he has watched this case "with great interest", that language has now been added to the FAA reauthorization "which will make bike lanes and bike facilities eligible for funding out of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP)" and that the MSP airport, previously uninterested in applying for a grant out of 25 million in available funds for *mode shift* (i.e., getting people out of their cars and on bicycles or walking), has now changed their policy:
"Today that has changed and I have received assurances that the airport will apply for a grant and will pursue strategies to make the MSP bike accessible and bike friendly.
"I regret that you had to undergo this experience to see such good results. I trust that we can work together to make Minneapolis and Minnesota a better place to commute and travel by bicycle.
"If you would like to receive periodic e-mail updates on issues before Congress, please visit my Web site, www.house.gov/oberstar, and go to "subscribe."
With best wishes.
Sincerely,
James L. Oberstar, M.C."
A very positive outcome and true cause for celebration!
Cheers, Stephan
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
I am totally supportive of your case -- the entire proceeding struck me as preposterous from beginning to end. In an accountable police force, this officer wouldn't get away with using his taser. Bravo for standing up for yourself.
But, that all being said, building bike lanes is really not what the AIP is for.
In an ideal world, the federal government wouldn't be involved in this business in the first place.
But since it is, and since the AIP is paid for mostly by direct taxes on aviation, it disheartens me to see these funds diverted to non-aviation purposes -- essentially just another Congressman's pork.
Especially given that there are thousands of tiny airports that small communities depend on, but which are not inherently self-sufficient. They're under a lot of pressure from land developers, and disappearing at the rate of one per week. Which community will lose their airport so MSP can get a bike lane?
One can make the argument that bike lanes vs. airports is a reasonable priority question for Congress to decide -- except that the AIP is funded by, and reserved for supporting, aviation.
I'd compare it to the abysmal (annual) practice of robbing the so-called social security trust fund to pay for wars, corporate welfare, and the rest of our federal government's unbelievable priorities... it's just not what the money was raised for.
Now they've done the same thing to Congressman Filner. They charged him with assault! This man who has devoted his entire life to public service and was on his way to visiting the troops in Iraq was harrassed and arrested at the airport for assaulting an airport worker. Between what happened to you, the sippy cup terrorist (a todler) the airport police beating the girl at Reagan National airport and Congressman Filner getting arrested for "assault" there is obviously something corrupt with airport security when they arrest and beat law abiding citizens with such frequency.
Where you there at the airport? Did you see anything? Of course I'd claim to be innocent too if I did something stupid....Hell Marion Berry said HE didn't do anything either and he was FILMED smking crack...
Get over it....Good people do stupid things....
I have'nt read much about your case, but I noticed there was a police Sgt. named Karsnia involved. He might be the same guy who arrested Larry Craig recently. I'm not saying Craig is innocent or guilty, but as you know from personal experience, some cops arrest people for no good reason. By the way, I put a link to your site on my site (keldefin's blog)
Police are human, too, and as such are subject to the same emotions and temptations as the rest of us.
God help us when these authority figures use their powers corruptly. There's nothing worse than authority, if it's misused and abused.
Your small victory, like that of the Duke Rapists who weren't, is a tiny sliver of the fractal that is Authority Abuse in this country. And this country is probably the World's best at quelling such abuse...to a degree.
I'm glad the outcome was better than it could have been, but I remain convinced you were completely railroaded. And now Larry Craig is in the same boat. (I'm no Republican, but those tapes reveal the evil that lurks within the ranks of the Minneapolis airport cops).
Truly, it's time for an investigation of the leadership, training and rules governing these guys, because they're completely out of control.
Karoli, if Larry Craig were in the same boat he never would have plead GUILTY....
After reading the police narratives, I'm convinced SGT. Karsina did not tell the whole truth. He helped trump up the charges against Stephan, and I wonder if he might do the same to Senator Craig? Touching feet in a stall is not a crime, but if you can embarrass someone enough you may be able to get them to plead guilty.
Pat
Pat I disagree....No person would just plead guilty to save embarassment...From what? Being wrongly accused? If you feel you've been wrongly accused you fight it...
Stephen felt he was and didn't plead guilty.....
The following incident in St Louis is, sadly, all too typical of police these days. Why is it that Officers Wingate, Karsnia, etc never seem to use video/audio recorders? With all the security cameras, why does there never seem to be a record of what they say to those they accost?
==================================
Officer in trouble over motorist's video in South County
By Patrick M. O'Connell and Georgina Gustin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/11/2007
ST. GEORGE — A car-mounted video camera — more commonly used by police than against them — captured a loud and threatening confrontation in this tiny St. Louis County community that left an officer on suspension and the whole world able to listen in.
The picture doesn't show much, but the audio part of the recording, posted on Google Video and YouTube on the Internet, brought more than 300 protest calls to St. George Police Chief Scott Uhrig.
"I was very displeased when I saw the actions on the video," Uhrig said. "My officers are not trained and taught to act like that."
He put Sgt. James Kuehnlein on unpaid suspension pending further investigation. Advertisement
Uhrig said the officer's actions were not justified, and he insisted the episode is not representative of his department.
A voice identified as Kuehnlein's can be heard taunting the driver and threatening to jail him on fabricated charges.
The tape, made late last week, was from a camera running in the vehicle Kuehnlein approached, police said.
Brett Darrow, 20, of St. Louis, said he was the driver who recorded the exchange. He posted it online Saturday.
"I wanted everybody to see that this kind of stuff does happen," Darrow said. "I thought if I just go to the chief or whatever, it would just get swept under the rug."
Kuehnlein could not be reached for comment Monday night. RELATED LINKS
Police video from St. George
TODAY'S TALK: Do you have experience with speed traps? Angry cops?
St. George, a municipality of about 1,300, sits along Interstate 55 at Reavis Barracks Road.
In the video, Kuehnlein, a St. George officer for about two years, approaches a young man who was sitting in a parked car about 2 a.m. in a commuter lot near Spokane and Reavis Barracks roads. Kuehnlein asks for identification. When Darrow asks whether he did anything wrong, the officer orders him out of the car and begins shouting.
"You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you have a bad night? I will ruin your night. … Do you want to try me tonight, young boy?"
Darrow says no.
"Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?" the police officer says. Later, Darrow says, "I don't want any problems, officer."
"You're about to get it," Kuehnlein is heard saying. "You already started your (expletive) problems with your attitude."
After the officer notices the camera, he says, "I don't really care about your cameras, 'cause I'm about ready to tow your car, then we can tear 'em all apart."
After more than 10 minutes of interaction, Darrow is allowed to go.
Darrow said he was not trying to entrap the officer. He said he pulled into the commuter lot to meet a friend. When the officer asked him for identification, Darrow said he didn't immediately present it because he believes the officer stopped him without probable cause.
Darrow said he installed the cameras in his Nissan Maxima after past run-ins with police. He said he was involved in a physical confrontation in 2005 with an off-duty St. Louis police officer, in a case Darrow said was later dismissed.
Darrow said he plans to meet with Uhrig today to discuss the weekend incident.
Chief Uhrig said Kuehnlein stopped to talk to Darrow because police have received reports of thefts from cars in the area. But, Uhrig said, based on his viewing of the online video, the officer acted inappropriately when he threatened to make up charges, and used a disrespectful tone and inappropriate language.
"We don't do that," Uhrig said. "Someone either violated the law or they didn't. You don't say, I'll lock you up and then come up with why afterward."
Joel Currier of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
poconnell@post-dispatch.com | 314-863-2821
ggustin@post-dispatch.com | 618-624-2438
Obviously, just looking at St Louis alone, there are tons of innocent people who have been harrassed by the police or against whom the police have trumped up charges:
http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/news-talk-of-the-day/2007/09/do-you-have-experience-with-speed-traps-angry-cops/
Officers Wingate, Bryant and Karsnia unfortunately are now viewed with suspicion that they are part of the "rotten to the core cop" brigade.
Stephan, you are far luckier than the recent motorist who was framed by the police in St Louis. That fellow has been threatened on blogs frequented by police, in your case, the police or police friends seem to have only tried to ridicule you with their comments on this blog. See below:
Missouri: Cop Website Contained Apparent Death Threat Against Video Vigilante
Unofficial website popular with Saint Louis, Missouri police contained a death threat against Brett Darrow three months before his recent encounter.
When stopped by an out-of-control St. George, Missouri police officer last Friday, motorist Brett Darrow feared for his life (view story and video). It turns out, he had legitimate reason for concern. Three months ago, participants in an online forum frequented by Saint Louis law enforcement personnel threatened to harass -- and even physically harm -- Darrow.
The messages appeared on St. Louis CopTalk, a site that describes itself as a site "for the use of law enforcement officers employed by the St. Louis Police Department and their supporters in the St. Louis Metropolitan area." While it has no official ties to the city, it does allow officers to log into official police email accounts from the front page. In June of this year, Darrow had sparked outrage among the forum's members after he videotaped a disputed traffic stop involving what Darrow argued was a perfectly legal turn and what a Saint Louis police officer said was not.
In the course of researching the incident, TheNewspaper learned from an inside source about a CopTalk posting dated June 29, 2007. A user calling himself "STL_FINEST" wrote the following item, presented unedited and in full:
in reply to "Who is this terd?"
I hope this little POS punk bastard tries his little video stunt with me when I pull him over alone- and I WILL pull him over - because I will see "his gun" and place a hunk of hot lead right where it belongs.
We verified the existence of the post which, until some time around July, was publicly available here. It has been deleted. Because the CopTalk forum allows anonymous posting, only the site's administrator has the ability to confirm the identity of a poster or his status as a law enforcement official. When contacted by TheNewspaper this week, the forum owner had no comment beyond, "Sorry, the posting log I have access to only contains the most recent 300 messages, and that particular message cycled off some time ago."
Still, participants did not disavow the posting. Instead, another added, "I'm going to his house to check for parking violations." We informed Darrow of the existence of the messages, but withheld publication not wishing to interfere with an expected investigation into officers' behavior at the well-publicized traffic stops. To our knowledge, no such investigation was ever made.
CopTalk now bans discussion of Darrow's videos. A message dated September 10 reads: "We are already very much aware of Mr. Darrow and his antics. There is no need to post any of his award-winning videography here." Still, discussions of last Friday's St. George traffic stop made their way onto the site for a few hours before being removed by the administrator. One poster expressed contempt for Darrow:
"Other than CYA and a heads up why do we give this [expletive] any thought? He lives for this type of [expletive]."
Another CopTalk user referred to a discussion on the online forum AR-15.com by saying:
"I have a discussion going on another board where someone is basicly [sic] calling me a liar. The retards have even invited Brett to join to tell his side of what he does."
The firearms enthusiast forum began discussing Darrow's video on September 10. At least one other message from a self-identified Saint Louis area police officer appears to condone official harassment of the twenty-year-old motorist.
"Take the kid to jail... today... tommorrow... the next day... everytime you see him out and he commits a traffic violation... tow his car and take him to jail... period. No arguing, no yelling.....nothing but the sound of cash leaving his wallet from impound fees and fines." (view thread, view saved image of full post)
Unlike the CopTalk forum, however, neither this user nor any others in a sampling we made of the nearly 2000 messages posted on the AR-15.com message thread supported the actions of St. George Police Sergeant James Kuehnlein. A number immediately condemned the self-identified officer's remarks.
The evidence shows that law enforcement problems extend far beyond the tiny geographic boundaries of 1300 resident city and that Darrow's video may have wide-reaching effects. The young driver's encounters with Saint Louis area police began in March 2005 when an intoxicated, off-duty police officer threatened to kill him. Darrow escaped only to find himself arrested hours later. The city agreed to drop all charges against him on the condition that he waive his right to sue over the incident. The following year, a Saint Louis officer at a DUI roadblock said he would, "find a reason to lock you up tonight" (view video and story). This is in addition to Sergeant Kuehnlein's videotaped threat that, "we will ruin your career and life and everything else you have coming before you."
The videotape from Kuehnlein's police cruiser is currently missing and the sergeant is currently on unpaid leave. St. George Police Chief Scott Uhrig is also being investigated by city officials who say he may have failed to inform them that the State of Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission concluded that, "Uhrig's unwelcome sexual advances to a teenager, while on duty and under the guise of enforcing the laws, indicate an especially egregious mental state, show that he cannot enforce the law, and are cause for discipline."
Post a Comment