Posted on 08/27/2007 2:14:41 PM PDT by Shermy
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.
According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s public restroom in which Craig was arrested.
Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in connection with sexual activity.
Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”
The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.
“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.
Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door.
“My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,” Karsnia stated in his report. “From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”
Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.
“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.
Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”
Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.
“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”
In a recorded interview after his arrest, Craig “either disagreed with me or ‘didn’t recall’ the events as they happened,” the report states.
Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine,” the report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.
“It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper,” the arresting officer said in the report.
On Aug. 8, the day he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the Minnesota court, Craig appeared via satellite at a ceremony that took place in Idaho in which former Idaho federal Judge Randy Smith was invested into his new position as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In October 2006, Craig’s office publicly denied allegations that he was a homosexual made on a gay activist Web site — blogactive.com. Craig’s office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the charge was “completely ridiculous,” saying that the allegations had “no basis in fact.”
Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.
I hate to sound naive for one so wise such as I.
But what exactly would happen if the invitation is accepted, ie the guy in the other stall responds to the “foot caress”? Do they get together in one stall? Or do they meet outside somewhere?
Evidently this bathroom is a problem which is why they likely had an undercover guy assigned there to begin with. I’ve heard tales of other notorious bathrooms, many along Interstate highways. And yeah, the concept that queers can just appoint a public bathroom as focal point to meet up and get partners really stinks in so many ways. The public should have to put up with this?
It’s this public bathroom thing that illustrates why homosexuals are promiscuous and nowhere near ordinary. That myth about a long term, loving relationship.....hey, you don’t hear of heterosexuals meeting up with strange partners in Interstate bathrooms across the fruited plains.
Of course females would not tolerate such a thing. The males in our species are way more uninhibited about sex than the females. This is not an insult. It’s the way it is and the way nature meant it to be. But it’s having the two sexes that keeps society reasonably clean. Females of all species, from bugs to birds to people, generally set the standards of acceptable sexual behavior.
With homosexuals you have two males. Neither one of which have the best of sensibilities.
I had no idea guys had so many “secret” hand and foot signals for bathroom use.
It is becoming clearer why Senatorial Republicans would not support Clinton’s impeachment...
I wonder if this is a current stakeout practice or just something that he ate?
I'm naive about these things, too, and wondered the same things you did. What happens after a "successful" signal? Are we to assume two grown men get together in a single stall....WITH the roll-on bag to block the door? Sounds pretty crowded. But that must be what happens since the article says the cop was there because of complaints about sex in that restroom. Without getting too graphic, could someone explain to me how this is supposed to work?
Second, the article describes the location as a restroom in the "Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal". Anyone familiar with that airport? Is this a main terminal? Would a passenger transiting D.C. to Idaho use that terminal or go past that restroom to get to his next flight? Or would he have gone out of his way to end up in that particular restroom.
Now....I feel like I need a shower. Ugh.
If Craig had played this game, he wouldn’t be in the pickle he’s in . http://gamescene.com/The_Urinal_Game.html
I believe it involves what’s called a “blumpkin,” but you can google that yourself — I would like to keep my breakfast in my stomach, thank you.
Which one?
Romney never did.
Thompson may not have either, we don’t know — we just know he was divorced.
Hunter didn’t.
Tancredo didn’t.
Huckabee didn’t.
The ones we KNOW that cheated on their wives are Gingrich and Guiliani, and hopefully neither of them will be our nominee. And I guess McCain? Do we know he cheated on his wife, or did he just get a divorce?
>>If he really was trying to engage in perverted gay behavior in a crowded public restroom in an airport, then he is too stupid to ever have been elected U.S. Senator from one of the most conservative states in the nation.<<
This does sound like he may be stupid. Even Voinovich (not the sharpest tool in the shed) voted against amnesty after he saw that it was going to get clobbered.
The only odd thing about it is, it’s not illegal to have sex with men, only to do so in the bathroom.
What if Craig knew gay men frequented the bathrooms, and knew the signals, but just used the rooms to hook up with the men, and when the men asked where to do it, he took them to a legal place to do so?
Then he’d still be gay and picking up men, but it wouldn’t be a crime.
Still, in these sexual offence categories, the laws pretty much allow conviction for intent — the prostitute stings don’t require any sex, just the signals that you intend to pay for it.
He didn’t say “do you know who I am”. According to the cop, he said “What do you think of that?”.
“Wide Stance” — it may mean that he rides horses a lot, which can make you bow-legged, and cause you to spread your legs wide when sitting.
If you knew you had this problem, and were embarrased by it, you might WAIT in the bathroom for the adjacent stalls to be clear.
And you might peek to make sure someone was really IN the stall, and then to see what they were doing for 13 minutes without grunting or flushing.
Later, when the guy taps his feet back at you, you might start wondering what is happening.
I have trouble explaining the hand under the stall, especially if the cop is telling the truth that no paper fell to the floor.
If I drop paper on the floor, I pick it up and put it in the toilet, so as not to litter.
I’m not saying he’s not guilty as he pled, just that you could explain a lot of what he did as innocent.
I don’t know. An anonymous meeting in the mens room probably has less chance for exposure than a formal arrangement. He’s not a recognizable figure, he was in a different state, and what’s the chance that a bathroom gay is going to have any interest in politics?
Well, that and it’s the LAW to do so in airports — they ask you if you kept your bag in clear view at all times.
And, to continue the thought, the ONLY place you can fit your rolling luggage in the stall is at the door. Plus, you want to keep everything you own as far away from the toilet as possible, because a lot of people mess up the floor around the toilet.
In fact, some people take wide stances in toilets to help hold their pants up so they don’t touch the floor, because of the filth on the floor around the toilet.
And to continue — since at the time, Craig as alone in his stall, and the undercover cop alone in the OTHER stall, what “conduct” would Craig be blocking with his bag?
Wouldn’t the “bag blocking the door” make more sense after the two men were in the stall together?
Last I heard (probably just a few threads ago), Giuliani was still the GOP frontrunner.
ICK....thanks.
Lindsey Graham? When was he caught in the john??
It’s just one damn scandal after another.
Where do these people come from and how do they keep getting elected?
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