Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kerrigan Attacker Tries To Get Clear Record, Become Navy Seal
KOIN News 6 ^ | 12/1/2005 | Drew Mikkelsen

Posted on 12/01/2005 8:56:49 PM PST by DuckFan4ever

PORTLAND --New developments in the Tonya Harding ice skating scandal.

Shane Stant, the man who hit Nancy Kerrigan in the knee, appeared in a Portland courtroom Thursday, trying to clear his record so he can become a Navy Seal. Stant doesn't have the name or face recognition as the other players in the infamous scandal do, but he is the one who attacked Kerrigan and when she heard he was trying to clear his name Thursday, she fought back.

What started as a surprise attack on a star skater became one of the more memorable news stories of the 1990s.

It turned out to be a plot involving Kerrigan's rival, Portland skater Tonya Harding, her husband Jeff Gillooly, her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt and an Arizona bounty hunter named Shane Stant.

Stant confessed to hitting Kerrigan with a metal baton and pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge. A Multnomah county judge sentenced him to a year and a half in prison.

Eleven years later Stant was back in court trying to get that felony off his record, making him eligible to be a Navy Seal.

"I feel like this is something I really want to do. I want to serve my country," Stant said.

Prosecutors argued Stant's crime isn't the kind that can be erased from someone's record. And Kerrigan had something to say about his request.

In a letter she said it would be "unfair" if Stant's felony charge was "swept under the carpet" because she wrote, "…the attack by Mr. Stant and his cohorts remains something that I must live with on a regular basis."

The judge denied Stant's request.

"We all make mistakes. We make bad decisions," Stant said.

A disappointed Stant says it's unfortunate he's still paying for his 1994 crime.

"I think people should have a chance to redeem themselves. You make a mistake, you can't be held down. There really aren't a lot of opportunities for ex-felons," Stant said.

And while what he did still haunts him, he admits it also has helped.

"When you're open to doing something like I've done, it means your open to other things. I'm really lucky I'm not in prison. I'm lucky I'm not dead. I'm really blessed in that way. I've learned a lot from that. I'm a wiser man today than I was yesterday. I'm trying to use it the best I can," Stant said.

Stant told us he lives in southern California and works in sales. Since that 1994 arrest, he has not been in trouble and says he doesn't keep in touch with any of the people from his past.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: nancykerrigan; shanestant; tonyaharding
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-110 next last
To: DuckFan4ever

he is qualified to repel a squad of attacking figure skaters...


41 posted on 12/01/2005 9:48:48 PM PST by isom35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dsc
How do you know this?

Well, he wasn't exactly a shy about it.

Not the sort of thing you'd make up and bandy about unless you were daft.

On the other hand, he looks like this guy:



so you never know.
42 posted on 12/01/2005 9:49:42 PM PST by A Balrog of Morgoth (With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: beaver fever
What was the felony? It must have been sweet!!!!

Armed robbery, when he was 17 or 18. Joined the Navy, perhaps under the old join-or-jail "program"(I'm not sure about that, been awhile since I talked to him), became a diver, got his commission, ended up running around in circles with his hair on fire on a USN Salvage Ship.

I'm not sure what he's up to, now.

I always figured him for a carny after he retires.
43 posted on 12/01/2005 9:53:55 PM PST by A Balrog of Morgoth (With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Oztrich Boy
Stop me if you've heard this one.
"A seal walks into a club...."
44 posted on 12/01/2005 9:54:22 PM PST by DuckFan4ever (Janice Rogers Brown for the Supreme court in '06)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Freedom of Speech Wins

The liberal wing nuts at the CIA would enlist him in a heartbeat. Go apply there, learn catch phrases such as "bisma'llah" and you're in like Flynn!

Who knows, maybe he might find some ice-skaters in the desert towns of Iraq?


45 posted on 12/01/2005 9:55:15 PM PST by Candor7 (Into Liberal Flatulence Goes the Hope of the West)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: chae

"this guy whacked a girl on the leg with a pipe"

That was what they finally decided to do, but people have forgotten that they also discussed killing her, running her over or slicing her achille's tendon. This guy ain't Tookie, but he's still missing something fundamental.


46 posted on 12/01/2005 9:57:51 PM PST by Mordacious
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: chae

I don't know about his logic, but by my logic, 2 or 3 of Nancy's male relatives should have beaten this guy within an inch of his life.


47 posted on 12/01/2005 9:58:18 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Did you need a laugh today?


48 posted on 12/01/2005 9:59:04 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DuckFan4ever

The article makes it sound like he has a promising career going in the Navy and just needs the incident cleared to get into Seal school. He’s light years from becoming a Seal. He’s not even a squid yet. He’s old. The Seal line’s just a sob story. “Sniff sniff, I just want to serve my country…”

That’s pathetic. Even with the conviction removed from his record, he has a better chance of winning the lottery.


49 posted on 12/01/2005 9:59:28 PM PST by elfman2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

Nancy was hardly a sympathetic character. Most crime is scum on scum, and this was pretty much true to form.


50 posted on 12/01/2005 10:00:13 PM PST by DuckFan4ever (Janice Rogers Brown for the Supreme court in '06)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: A Balrog of Morgoth
"Armed robbery, when he was 17 or 18."

Different kettle of fish. Juvenile records are not released to the military.

The only exception to this WAS the Coast Guard, because of the federal law enforcement angle. The problem there was Coast Guard enlistments are fairly limited and most jurisdictions weren't aware of the legal distinction requiring them to release juvenile records.

51 posted on 12/01/2005 10:02:51 PM PST by CWOJackson (michael savage: the white trash alternative to talk radio)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Al Simmons
He ought to be allowed to enlist specifically and only for combat duty.

Why would you put our honorable men and women at risk by having to depend on this scum??? In a dangerous situation, you have to COUNT on your "band of brothers"!!! He can go work as a contractor...if they'd have him.

52 posted on 12/01/2005 10:03:01 PM PST by paulat (It's the end of the world....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: DuckFan4ever
"Nancy was hardly a sympathetic character."

And just how did Miss Kerrigan deserve to be assaulted?

53 posted on 12/01/2005 10:04:46 PM PST by CWOJackson (michael savage: the white trash alternative to talk radio)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: DuckFan4ever

You mean Nancy Kerrigan wasn't exactly Mother Theresa on skates? Not sure how that's really relevant.


54 posted on 12/01/2005 10:06:27 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Mordacious

I'm not saying this guy's a saint, or even a good person. All I'm saying is that he didn't kill anyone. He served his time, was released and hasn't reoffended, to my knowledge anyway. So I do make a distinction between him and a piece of garbage like Tookie


55 posted on 12/01/2005 10:06:28 PM PST by chae (R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero He lied, he cheated, he stole my heart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: CWOJackson

He was pretty adamant about being a felon, FWIW, and he made it pretty clear the Navy knew when he joined.

Or perhaps I misremember.

More importantly, the guy looks so much like Uncle Fester, it's all you can do to restrain yourself from asking him to put a lightbulb in his mouth.


56 posted on 12/01/2005 10:07:23 PM PST by A Balrog of Morgoth (With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

No argument from me on that one.


57 posted on 12/01/2005 10:07:51 PM PST by chae (R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero He lied, he cheated, he stole my heart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Marshall1

Um, nope, sorry, not a lib. My boyfriend is though, a card-carrying ACLU member.


58 posted on 12/01/2005 10:09:20 PM PST by chae (R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero He lied, he cheated, he stole my heart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
You mean Nancy Kerrigan wasn't exactly Mother Theresa on skates? Not sure how that's really relevant.

She sure fell out of the limelight in a hurry. Wonder what she's up to nowadays. Well, not really.
59 posted on 12/01/2005 10:09:23 PM PST by A Balrog of Morgoth (With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: chae
Um, nope, sorry, not a lib. My boyfriend is though, a card-carrying ACLU member.

Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you.
60 posted on 12/01/2005 10:10:33 PM PST by A Balrog of Morgoth (With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-110 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson