February 23, 2002

NEWS RELEASE

Stanley for U.S. Senate
Web site:http://www.stanley2002.org
Contact: Rick Stanley
Campaign office: 303.329.0481
Email:rick@stanley2002.org

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Stanley Arrested in Apparent Administrative Foul-up

(DENVER,CO - 6:30PM) A victim of an apparent administrative foul-up, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, Rick Stanley, was arrested by members of the Denver Police Department at approximately 1:30 this afternoon, during a Bill of Rights rally at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.

Arresting officers stated they were acting on a bench warrant issued February 20, 2002, for Mr. Stanley's failure to appear at a scheduled court hearing in connection to his prior arrest on a Denver Municipal Code Violation. Just prior to being taken into custody Mr. Stanley produced documents showing his next scheduled appearance to be on March 5, 2002. In response, the arresting officers stated they must obey the court's orders and bring him in.

Rick was taken into custody and released after about an hour of captivity at the Denver County Jail. When reached later for comment Mr. Stanley stated, "I was glad to have another opportunity to educate the Denver Police about the Constitution -- I told the Desk Sergeant I was willing to teach a class about the Constitution. While I was in the booking room I did talk to a couple dozen police officers. All of whom, have sworn to defend the Constitution, but none of whom seemed to understand it very well."

Mr. Stanley went on to say, "One thing I understand about the Constitution is that it protects the right to keep and bear arms. The Denver Municipal Code under which I was originally arrested is unconstitutional and will be overturned." Stanley, along with another supporter were arrested for openly carrying a gun in violation of Denver Revised Municipal Code 38-117.5(b) on December 15, 2001, during a rally celebrating the Anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

When reached for comment Saturday afternoon, Stanley's attorney Mr. Paul Grant, stated that he was, "...disappointed, but not surprised to see that the Denver Police Department is again violating Rick Stanley's rights. I hope they'll do more than just apologize. I hope they'll pay Rick for the loss of liberty he suffered today. I also hope the 3 arresting officers will attend Rick's trial to show that they support his rights. If they don't, one might be concerned this was not an accident, but harassment."

"Personally, I am concerned by the Denver P.D.'s apparent lack of appropriate prioritization of resources in relation to this arrest." said, Michelle Konieczny, who is Mr. Stanley's Senate campaign media director.

"This clerical error could have been cleared up with a simple phone call to Rick's offices, or by reading the court documents. Instead, they chose to waste taxpayer dollars and send out officers to arrest him."

"They say we have terrorists among us, and yet they are spending their time and our money arresting a future Senator who is trying to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They are busying themselves arresting honest citizens who are trying to protect their loved ones. Frankly, I'm wondering why they weren't busy trying to catch the guy flashing kids on the West side of town."

Ms. Konieczny went on to question how the judge "...could have missed the orders he signed in January while in court last Wednesday. Didn't the judge review the case file before signing the warrant?", she pondered.

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Rick is available for media interviews regarding his court case, this arrest, and his grassroots campaign for U.S. Senate. For more information please call Rick at 303.329.0481 or contact David Bryant at 303.744.6577.

For information about the Libertarian Party of Colorado please visit http://www.lpcolorado.org. For information about the Libertarian Party of America please visit http://www.lp.org