https://greencycles.blogspot.com/

A cyclist leaving Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport on his Brompton folding bicycle was ordered off the road by the police. His full account of events is posted on the above link, along with the evidence against him, provided to him by the police. Doesn't seem like he did anything illegal. The police behavior is pretty appalling.

From his website:
"Immediately as I was leaving and without any warning whatsoever I was thrown off my bicycle onto the pavement. I sustained abrasion wounds to chin and arm. My helmet casing sustained a new crack, but otherwise prevented a direct blow to my head. My glasses were thrown off by the force of the impact and bounced several feet away. Officer Wingate moments later would smash them into the pavement with his boot. But first, I was jerked into an upright position, and Officer Wingate jumped to the side and ordered me Tasered by his officer in training. This, too, happened immediately and without any warning or choice whatsoever. I was then handcuffed, body searched, and luggage searched. Three additional squad cars soon arrived, including Officer Wingate's supervisor. However, my conversation with Sergeant Karsnia was abruptly cut short on the grounds that I had allegedly 'tried to take a swing' at Officer Wingate. I was handcuffed and transferred to Hennepin County Hospital, then to Hennepin County jail where I was held without charges and without bail."

*edited to include excerpt from his website

Is there a news article or anything? Or is there just the blog posting?

This is outrageous. There is simply not enough for the airport police and security services to do, so they find work harassing a cyclist. "The devil finds work for idle hands" springs to mind.
I've travelled quite a lot by air recently, and the whole thing has become a fiasco run by "Nazis". A tube of toothpaste was confiscated on one occasion, with the offer to squeeze half of it back into a bag for me. Then there's the case of my son, 4 months old at the time, in which the security officer outright insisted that we remove his shoes. It makes no sense at all. None of it makes me feel safer, because I did not feel threatened in the first place.

At one point I thought of riding to the airport, as my journey was a somewhat regular fortnightly commute. After reading the Greencycles article, I'm glad I didn't try it.

Ed

I couldn't find any news articles, but he does have a link on the blog which has a pretty extensive compilation of the evidence against him and his defense.

According to his website, the pre-trial hearing is today and jury selection starts on June 16.

Perhaps someone should alert the media? (not me, I'm too lazy )

Here's his link with the evidence:

https://web.mac.com/stephanorsak/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

That does sound pretty bad. One thing though, never argue with the cops. The police report makes it sound like he was belligerent and disobedient.

Although he was probably in the right most of this could have been avoided. Both parties appear to have been out of line.

In his motion to dismiss the charges, he is described as calling the officers "a-holes." Still no excuse to taser him, and they certainly had no legitimate reason to stop him and order him off the road.

the report does seem that way, but remember, it's just their word. they could be trying to cover their butts (most likely).

i remember once i was pulled over (i was driving) and the cops had wanted to search my car. i simply asked 'why?' and they started to get combative in a similar way to this story.

I read that when he wrote it some time ago (it was linked from the Minneapolis paper here) and I haven't really followed it since then because he didn't really get my sympathy in the beginning. All he had to do was take the free tram to the light rail station and leave from there, but instead he created the mess that he did.

Even though I am advocate of bicylcing, he could have done things differently and more reasonably, IMHO, but what do I know?

I've been following this story for a few days now.

At first, it looked as if the police were very wrong, much more so than the cyclist.

Now, after reading both sides of the story, and reconsidering the whole thing, it looks as if the cyclist probably also behaved badly, and also illegally.

Both sides could have handled it better, and saved everyone a lot of time and trouble.

As far as I can tell, he was riding legally. Therefore, the cops had no right to order him off the road. He apparently did call them "a-holes," but in the context of the events, it seems likely that they were being a-holes, and he perhaps imprudently pointed that out. That's no excuse to taser and arrest him.

I'm confused.... exactly what is illegal about leaving an airport on a bicycle? Is this akin to the law about interstates that limits traffic to motorized vehicles (excluding mopeds) that can travel the speed limit?

*genuine confusion* nothing on the website or this first post explains the exact nature of the problem.

I don't think so. As he points out, the speed limit where he was stopped is 15 MPH, and there are no signs excluding bicycles.

oy....


I've got something in mind to say but I have no vocabulary to express exactly what it is I want to say other than...



oy....

Correction: the speed limit is initially 15 MPH, then increases to 30 MPH. Still not high enough to make it unsafe to ride there.

Well what we get down to it is... whom to believe? I'm not completely a fan of the "the system is out to get me" mentality that some people seem to have in regards to authority figures... but I find it, oddly, both believable and incredible that the airport wouldn't release surveilance tapes if they had them. And that the police would order any such tapes destroyed, which would be considered a destruction of evidence punishable by law.

EDIT: And I can't believe anything that a person directly involved in a situation would say necessarilly. I don't feel that testimony is completely true, even 5 minutes after the fact. Even though I try my best to tell stories accurately when it's me on the stand, so to speak, some times I don't even believe what I am saying...... I'd make a terrible witness/

Some airport police have become deluded into believing anybody doing something unusual must be a threat to national security. Combine this with their expectation of strict compliance with any order, presumably to prevent planes from crashing into skyscrapers, and they end up ill-equipped to deal effectively with everyday real-world misunderstandings about traffic law and reasonable actions by people traveling by bike.

Every square inch of an airport is under video survelance. The truth "in living color" will come out on this one. Frankly, it is hard to believe that the Minneapolis police are that stupidly aggressive - LAPD, sure, but Minneapolis police en-masse brutality? I'm not too sure.

There is probably more to the story. Just because the writer of the blog is a bicyclist doesn't make him an angel.

Let's see how this pans out.

cops will be cops. I personally am not surprised by their behaviour at all. the cops are also certainly going to spin their story so they appear to look better than they actually behaved that day, also not surprising.

As outrageous as this episode is, I am afraid that the response of the general public would closely approximate that of my friend's relations when he told them about rail fans being assaulted by police for taking photos of a new passenger locomotive in Chicago. His relations merely quipped that doing "weird things" means that you are basically asking to get whacked.

It makes me wonder what would have happened if Mr. Orsak had been a visible minority or been a homeless person.

Sounds like high school all over again.

The alleged police response to the request for CCTV evidence.

https://web.mac.com/stephanorsak/iWeb...20cameras.html

It is my prejudice that Homeland Security is out of control , that I will admit. I think this story possible. If this story is true we all need by alerted and afterwards lobby our members of Congress.
Yet, the story just from some blog is grounds for skepticism. there is a like to some Minneapolis journalist. Yet, the actual story from the Star Tribune is not displayed on the blog. Then more evidence could be provided by say, displaying the police report.
I am inclined to believe this story happened. And, I'd like confirmation of this happening, so that we can be alerted to do something. Should anyone get better confirmation please post.
I'd like such confirmation because I can see myself unpacking my fold up and exiting some airport in the exact same manner, in the not too distant future.

anyone know how that tasered student out at a UCLA library, turned out.? Now that was totally uncalled for and a scary omen for our freedoms in the USA.