Michael Lane's detailed account of Columbus police attack
Photo: Michael Lane and family by Brenda Norrell
Video of attack by Long Walker Marie Littlemoon
Video of attack:
COLUMBUS, Ohio --Michael Lane, Menominee with a degree in law, describes in detail the Columbus, Ohio police attack on the Longest Walkers on the northern route. Lane, who walked with his Maori wife and three children, arrived from New Zealand to join the walk in Kansas. The Columbus, Ohio, police attack was the only attack on the Long Walk. The Columbus mayor apologized and an internal police investigation was launched.
Michael Lane describing attack: "I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun."
Michael Lane describing attack: "I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun."
Michael Lane's statement:
(Posted with permission from Michael Lane)
The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route
Incident Report of Interaction With Columbus Police Department
The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route
Incident Report of Interaction With Columbus Police Department
This statement is a true and correct account of the interaction between The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route and the Columbus, Ohio Police Department. My name is Michael Lane. On the day in question I was driving point, and responsible for the coordination and safety of the Walkers.
We began the Walk on the western end of Columbus, near the beltway. We walked a few miles down the main road without incident. Upon turning into a three lane road going eastward I made the call to take the right hand lane, as we had done in a number of other cities. After a mile or so, a police cruiser pulled up and demanded that the Walkers go on the sidewalk. After some internal consultation via walkie talkie, the Walkers did move to the sidewalk. Soon thereafter another vehicle approached and attempted to interfere with a support vehicle. I pulled over and had my wife drive so that I could talk to the police while the Sacred Staffs continued on. When approaching the Walkers I saw a police officer grab the arm of the driver of the support car, nearly causing an accident. At almost the same time another officer was yelling at our Security to not stop a vehicle at a small intersection while the Walkers continued across. The officer then ran up to one of the Security, Luv (Rudolfo Villalobos) and physically grabbed him from behind with the intent of shoving him aside. At this time the Walkers had crossed the street, and Security carried on.
I went to the patrol car and attempted to talk to the officers, but they took off down the road. I then proceeded to return to the Walkers and was about two blocks behind. Another support vehicle came up and gave me a ride. I saw two more police vehicles. I tried to engage one of them in a conversation and said that if this continued they would be creating an international incident. The officer said he did not know anything about that but that his superior officer was arriving. I next noticed that a number of police vehicles and officers had swooped down upon the two support vehicles. I got out of the vehicle I was riding in and the Walkers were told to carry on.
I went up to the lead support vehicle that was being driven by my wife. I saw approximately four officers standing by the driver door of the two support vehicles as well as a number of other officers. I approached the driver side of the door and attempted to explain what the Walk was about and that my wife was just driving because I had tried to talk to the police a few blocks back. I said if they needed to talk to someone then they were to talk to myself. At that time, as there was a paddy wagon I feared that they were going to try and arrest my wife, a fear that was confirmed later. At no time did I use threatening language or in any way attempted to get physical with any police officer.
I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun. The officer pointing the taser gun at my head was approximately 3 feet away with the gun about a foot or so away. I know that it was pointed at my head because the front end was not in any way slanted. The officer with the taser was standing to my left at a 45 degree angle. Within a second or two the officers holding me jumped to my right and when I looked over, Luv was being thrown to the ground. I continued trying to talk to the police, and an officer identified himself as a Lieutenant.
We walked to the sidewalk while Luv was being arrested. I continued to explain that we were a spiritual Walk and had walked through many cities in the same manner without incident. He repeatedly said we needed a parade permit and were a threat to public safety as well as ourselves. I told him that we had been liaising with a Mr. Cull in the Ohio Department of Transportation and had his phone number on my cell phone. I was not allowed to get my cell phone to verify this, and it was clear that he did not believe me. While we were talking, the mother of three of the five children in the rear support vehicle came up to the vehicle as her children were crying. She was physically manhandled, as was another elderly Walker who came to her aide. I said to the Lieutenant that things were getting out of hand and that he needed to control his officers. After another minute of this kind of verbal exchange, he indicated that he was going to arrest the drivers of the two support vehicles and impound the vehicles, as well as Luv, but was thinking perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise. He looked at the Driver’s License of those driving the support vehicles and was surprised to see that my wife’s license was from New Zealand. I reiterated that the Walk had people from all over the US and other parts of the world. The Lieutenant than said that he would not arrest the drivers of the support vehicles and impound the vehicles and would only issue Luv a summons, if we agreed to only walk on the sidewalk and stop at all intersections until clear of vehicles. I told him that we could walk on the sidewalk but that we could not stop the Staffs at each intersection as we had a Ceremony whenever we stopped the Staffs. It was unfeasible for everyone to form a circle at each intersection. Another minute of back and forth on the issue and then he asked if we could just walk to a certain park (I forget the name) and sort things out there. I agreed.
I then jumped into the lead vehicle and we drove down to catch up with the Walkers. I briefly indicated to the Walkers via the passenger window to keep going to that park. In going ahead I was surprised to see another group of approximately 15 – 20 officers with a number of cars and paddy wagons. I asked my wife to pull over and I asked to speak to someone in charge. An officer indicated he was and I asked what was going on as a deal had been made with their Lieutenant. He said that they had just been told that and were standing down. It was clear that the intent was to blockade the sidewalk and arrest the Walkers.
We drove a little further and saw a closer park then the one agreed to. We decided to have the Walkers stop there instead. I flagged down an officer to relay that message. The Walkers stopped there, and with some assistance from the Department of Justice and the Ohio Department of Transportation, an agreement was reached whereby two bicycle officers would ride along so we could have continuous motion through intersections.
In closing, one of my daughters (aged 9) was in the rear support vehicle when the taser gun was pointed at my head. She indicated to me that she was afraid I was going to be shot with a gun. She had no way of knowing it was not a regular gun and that if shot at point blank range in the head that my chances of dying were less then if it were a bullet. I could only give her a hug and tell her I was alright. It was of course not alright that she had to go through that for what at worse could be classified as jaywalking. In addition, she also said that one of the officers had told the children in the car that they would be taken to some social services place, causing the children considerable distress.
We began the Walk on the western end of Columbus, near the beltway. We walked a few miles down the main road without incident. Upon turning into a three lane road going eastward I made the call to take the right hand lane, as we had done in a number of other cities. After a mile or so, a police cruiser pulled up and demanded that the Walkers go on the sidewalk. After some internal consultation via walkie talkie, the Walkers did move to the sidewalk. Soon thereafter another vehicle approached and attempted to interfere with a support vehicle. I pulled over and had my wife drive so that I could talk to the police while the Sacred Staffs continued on. When approaching the Walkers I saw a police officer grab the arm of the driver of the support car, nearly causing an accident. At almost the same time another officer was yelling at our Security to not stop a vehicle at a small intersection while the Walkers continued across. The officer then ran up to one of the Security, Luv (Rudolfo Villalobos) and physically grabbed him from behind with the intent of shoving him aside. At this time the Walkers had crossed the street, and Security carried on.
I went to the patrol car and attempted to talk to the officers, but they took off down the road. I then proceeded to return to the Walkers and was about two blocks behind. Another support vehicle came up and gave me a ride. I saw two more police vehicles. I tried to engage one of them in a conversation and said that if this continued they would be creating an international incident. The officer said he did not know anything about that but that his superior officer was arriving. I next noticed that a number of police vehicles and officers had swooped down upon the two support vehicles. I got out of the vehicle I was riding in and the Walkers were told to carry on.
I went up to the lead support vehicle that was being driven by my wife. I saw approximately four officers standing by the driver door of the two support vehicles as well as a number of other officers. I approached the driver side of the door and attempted to explain what the Walk was about and that my wife was just driving because I had tried to talk to the police a few blocks back. I said if they needed to talk to someone then they were to talk to myself. At that time, as there was a paddy wagon I feared that they were going to try and arrest my wife, a fear that was confirmed later. At no time did I use threatening language or in any way attempted to get physical with any police officer.
I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun. The officer pointing the taser gun at my head was approximately 3 feet away with the gun about a foot or so away. I know that it was pointed at my head because the front end was not in any way slanted. The officer with the taser was standing to my left at a 45 degree angle. Within a second or two the officers holding me jumped to my right and when I looked over, Luv was being thrown to the ground. I continued trying to talk to the police, and an officer identified himself as a Lieutenant.
We walked to the sidewalk while Luv was being arrested. I continued to explain that we were a spiritual Walk and had walked through many cities in the same manner without incident. He repeatedly said we needed a parade permit and were a threat to public safety as well as ourselves. I told him that we had been liaising with a Mr. Cull in the Ohio Department of Transportation and had his phone number on my cell phone. I was not allowed to get my cell phone to verify this, and it was clear that he did not believe me. While we were talking, the mother of three of the five children in the rear support vehicle came up to the vehicle as her children were crying. She was physically manhandled, as was another elderly Walker who came to her aide. I said to the Lieutenant that things were getting out of hand and that he needed to control his officers. After another minute of this kind of verbal exchange, he indicated that he was going to arrest the drivers of the two support vehicles and impound the vehicles, as well as Luv, but was thinking perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise. He looked at the Driver’s License of those driving the support vehicles and was surprised to see that my wife’s license was from New Zealand. I reiterated that the Walk had people from all over the US and other parts of the world. The Lieutenant than said that he would not arrest the drivers of the support vehicles and impound the vehicles and would only issue Luv a summons, if we agreed to only walk on the sidewalk and stop at all intersections until clear of vehicles. I told him that we could walk on the sidewalk but that we could not stop the Staffs at each intersection as we had a Ceremony whenever we stopped the Staffs. It was unfeasible for everyone to form a circle at each intersection. Another minute of back and forth on the issue and then he asked if we could just walk to a certain park (I forget the name) and sort things out there. I agreed.
I then jumped into the lead vehicle and we drove down to catch up with the Walkers. I briefly indicated to the Walkers via the passenger window to keep going to that park. In going ahead I was surprised to see another group of approximately 15 – 20 officers with a number of cars and paddy wagons. I asked my wife to pull over and I asked to speak to someone in charge. An officer indicated he was and I asked what was going on as a deal had been made with their Lieutenant. He said that they had just been told that and were standing down. It was clear that the intent was to blockade the sidewalk and arrest the Walkers.
We drove a little further and saw a closer park then the one agreed to. We decided to have the Walkers stop there instead. I flagged down an officer to relay that message. The Walkers stopped there, and with some assistance from the Department of Justice and the Ohio Department of Transportation, an agreement was reached whereby two bicycle officers would ride along so we could have continuous motion through intersections.
In closing, one of my daughters (aged 9) was in the rear support vehicle when the taser gun was pointed at my head. She indicated to me that she was afraid I was going to be shot with a gun. She had no way of knowing it was not a regular gun and that if shot at point blank range in the head that my chances of dying were less then if it were a bullet. I could only give her a hug and tell her I was alright. It was of course not alright that she had to go through that for what at worse could be classified as jaywalking. In addition, she also said that one of the officers had told the children in the car that they would be taken to some social services place, causing the children considerable distress.
--Michael Lane
.
Videos of Columbus Ohio Police attacking Long Walkers
Watch the video of the attack:
Watch the video of the attack:
Video and photos by Marie Littlemoon
Listen to Michael Lane on Earthcycles on this video:
Part II
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