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’m beginning to think that we need to send some really beautiful guys to sound out every candidate, to see if he has Craig syndrome BEFORE he gets elected.
Glasses are very important:)
LOL!
There have been rumors for YEARS that he's gay. I'm pretty sure when you peer into someone's stall for a couple of minutes, get into the one next to it, put your feet into it and wave your hand inside, the intent is clear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orW2NXQZg8U
I would think that is how most straight guys would handle it if they thought the guy in the next stall was coming on to him. I guess I just thought it would take more to get arrested than what is described in the article. As a female, I hate using public restrooms the way it is. The last thing I want to do is walk in on people doing it.
Note to self: when using a public restroom do not tap foot to the muzak.
Romney had better distance himself as far as possible from Queer Craig!
I’m guessing it will be Jim Risch, the current Lieutenant Governor.
There are several possible choices. A couple of people have brought up Lieutenant Governor Risch. I think it'd be a hoot if he named Robert Vasquez, myself. He's the guy who sued Mexico on behalf of Idaho taxpayers. The illegal immigrant activists' heads would explode. Ain't a-gonna happen, though.
Craig may simply decide to ride it out - man, I have to be careful with the phraseology - and not run in '08. Field is pretty much open anyway. That'd make the next session in DC pretty interesting, and I don't think it'd do the Republican party a lot of good if he did so. My guess is that he'll quietly resign.
Thanks, Senator Craig, for making it even harder for the Republicans to truly make any significant gains in ‘08! Grrr!
Correct. I take SkyWest (Delta Connection) to SLC from Pocatello. From SLC, you can generally get a non-stop to Dulles. I've been routed on Northwest when Delta was full. In that case, you have an SLC->MSP connection.
Funny story. When I read the article his “he said/she said” quote came before the, er, details.
The only thing that shocked me was the brief moment I thought it involved a woman. Surprised this didn’t happen years ago.
It took me less than a minute to find the actual charge, and the "sgt. cart enforcement" info. The rest of it is pure MSM spin.
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is Gay
Homosexuality is a horrible, disgusting, putrid sin. God calls it an abomination - which is the strongest language He uses to condemn sin.
Just like Foley, Haggerty, and other "closet" gays - they should all know what scripture says:
"You can be sure your sin will find you out."
Numbers 32:23
“A gold ring on Craig’s RIGHT hand is NOT a wedding ring......why did the cop even mention it?”
I noticed that, too, and was going to comment until I realized that I once heard a band on the right hand of a person is a symbol of either being a homosexual or a committed homosexual.
Just googled and came up with this:
THE QUESTION:
I’ve noticed that gay men sometimes wear bands on their right-hand ring finger. Does this symbolize anything?
ANSWER 1:
My “significant other” and I wear matching bands on our right ring fingers. This symbolizes our commitment to each other, much as a wedding ring would. Since we are not married (because we cannot do so) and do not enjoy the societal and legal benefits of marriage, we do not wear our rings in the traditional spot, which would normally symbolize legal marriage.
FURTHER NOTICE:
This seems to be something of a trend. Although there don’t seem to be any fixed rules, a silver or gold band on the right ring finger would indicate that particular gay man is in a committed relationship, just as heterosexual couples wear wedding bands on the LEFT hand. Perhaps it is a statement not only of committment but also pride in oneself as a gay person. Chuck A., 39, gay male
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
I’ve worn my ring on my right hand for years for two specific reasons: One is that it is a tradition in some European countries. The other is that it is not heterosexual. I like to identify myself as a “married” man (even though it isn’t legal yet) but don’t want to be misconstrued as straight. I still get asked what my wife’s name is, and I reply my spouse’s name is Michael.
http://www.yforum.com/sex61.html
>>Personally, I wouldn’t put it past his bitter enemies in the gun-grabbing crowd to set him up with the help of liberal, anti-gun Minneapolis city officials and a paid off cop.<<
Its certainly possible. But then a straight guy would’nt have stood outside another guy’s stall for 13 minutes.
How ironic that Craig supports a backdoor path to citizenship...among other things.
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