I think people should always obey police. They have a hard job.

It's true, police have a very difficult job. I wouldn't want it. And there are some people who are very good at it.

It's tough being a musician, too. But that's no excuse for dropping notes in a concert. People don't go to a concert and walk out saying "wow, that was really bad, but really it's hard being a musician, so it's ok that the soloist forgot where he was and dropped a bunch of notes and made the orchestra start over."

Policing is a profession and we can expect professional behavior. Can't we?

If they break their own rules, or seem to be going over the edge...

What would you do if you were walking peacefully down the sidewalk and a cop came over to you, yelled at you and said to get down on your knees?

I honestly don't know what I'd do.

I guess since there are signs up there now, the police were right, that road IS too dangerous for bicycles.

Fair enough.

And yet: it was not posted at the time, unless you think that bicyclists are pedestrians. I guess some people are confused on that point. Officer W... testified that he was trained that that sign applied to bicyclists, and that bicyclists weren't allowed. It's interesting that this was his first opportunity to find out the difference between pedestrians and bicyclists. I think that speaks for the need for some education for local police viz a viz bicycles:what they are, what rights bicyclists have.

So the question really is: can an officer stop a bicyclist from bicycling on a road, a road that does not have a no-bicycles sign, a road that is legal for a bicyclist to be on, ONLY because the officer's personal opinion is that it's too dangerous? We're not talking about stopping children doing trick riding, we're not talking about bicyclists taking risks or deliberately interfering with traffic here. We're talking about bicycling according to the laws of the road, legal cycling.

What lawful order did Stephan fail to comply with?

Good question. That's not specified.

It's his word against theirs. Where is the video?

Good question. Where is the video? One was requested. There are a lot of security cameras at the airport. You'd think one would have caught this. Apparently not. Apparently the tape showed nothing. Well, the exact wording on Seargeant K's police report is:

I checked camera footage. Cameras number 420, 305, 54, 191 and 188, which did not show anything prior to the incident.

The words "prior to" are interesting.

Also, I don't know what those cameras point at, but Seargeant K testified in court that he was told by his officers that the incident happened in the alcove of a building. It happened on Outbound Roadway.

I read that Stephan biked away from the officers. That's fleeing an officer, that was wrong.

First, Stephan had not been advised that he was under arrest. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) Minnesota law says a person who has not been informed s/he is under arrest may leave.
Second, I'm sure that "fleeing an officer" refers specifically to driving a motorized vehicle.

I think airport police should be able to stop anyone suspicious.

A lot of people would agree with you.
The sworn testimony of the airport police who stopped Stephan was NOT that they suspected he was a terrorist, or wanted to check out suspicious behavior. The reason they stopped him was that they thought his bicycling on Outbound Roadway was dangerous for him and for motorists. Remember, at the time, there was no sign forbidding bicycling on Outbound Roadway. There was a "no pedestrians" sign.

Is bikeamici.org a radical anti-cop organization?

No. We recognize that police officers have an important role to play in enforcing traffic violations. It would be nice if they would ticket motorists who drive into bicyclists. The recent Summit avenue case comes to mind: I believe the motorist was driving an SUV and suddenly made a right hand turn, right into an experienced bicycle commuter in a bicycle lane wearing lights. Was the motorist charged? I hope so, but I read elsewhere that there was no charge.