America the land of the free - what a joke.....
I hope Officer Wingate gets the book thrown at him.
A shocking story.
this is why we leave the US of our travel plans these days. It has just become too hard. Pity. It used to be a good place to visit.
This discussion has been going on for sometime over on Crazy Guy On A Bike.
There are both pros and cons to this discussion on both sides. I can personally tell you that after serving just under three months in jail for 17,000 US dollars in fines on my mtn bike, THIS IS REAL PEOPLE, I am not joking. That i can see both the officers side, at least from their acct. as well as the rider's.
Basically, what it comes down to is that the cop asked the rider to not ride there, and he still did. I think the cop overreacted, which is typical, but the rider could've avoided the whole situation.
Noelbike2, I think you are jumping to conclusions, and worst of all, missing out on some great places to see. I hope you reconsider!
And yes Retsbrew, fredom, it is a joke sometimes...but all we can do is keep trying.......
This is very clear. The boogy man at MSP airport wears blue. These officers were born with a small penis. I'd be mad too if I had a pencil dick!! Why anyone would support rogue cops is beyond me.
Its ridiculous, but there are times that it's better to say "ok, dude, I'll do what you say" than stand up against idiots. It seems the police were in the wrong, but in standing up to them, in the big picture, what was accomplished? Nothing, except for pain, charges, and endless hassles for the cyclist. Will the police change? No. Suppose the cyclist had acquiesced and said "ok, I'll go back and take a bus" or decided to walk the bike, on the curb, away from the airport until he got to an intersection. We're not talking miles and miles here, probably, what, no more than half a mile? The police would have driven off, the cyclist would be on his bike in another 15 minutes or so, pedalling away, none the worse for wear other than "man, I've got to convince all my friends that Fascism really HAS taken over here in the USA".
The article convinces me that the author/cyclist had a very very poor read on the situation and chose a stupid, albeit "righteous" and technically lawful, course of action. The author believed he was living in a country where the police are respectful and obey the law - I know MANY countries where this is true, but the USA does not number among them, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand this. When you're in a country where the police are bullyish and non free of corruption... do what they say, man, just to get away from them.
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