StarTribune.com
party110608
SearchSearch: Manage your Star Tribune subscription Manage subscription  |  Vacation stop

On the homepage

Vikings

NFL: Sunday afternoon results

Out There

Health care

Obama says it's Senate's turn

Deer opener

Dennis Anderson: Deer opener is time well spent

Home | Local + Metro

Obama party includes a naked digression

By MARIA ELENA BACA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 5, 2008 - 10:45 PM

E-mail this storyE-mail this story
Save to del.icio.usSave to del.icio.us
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on DiggShare on Digg
Follow local news on TwitterFollow local news on Twitter

More from Local + Metro

Call it naked enthusiasm. At 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jason Spidle, Bobby Becker and friends were celebrating Barack Obama's victory at Spidle's place in south Minneapolis. The champagne was flowing when the two made a decision they'd regret later.

"We had finished watching Obama's acceptance speech, and we were drinking champagne and cheering, and my friend Bobby and I just randomly decided we should go streaking," Spidle said. "We invited other people, but nobody took the opportunity."

So the two men, both in their mid-20s, stripped off their clothes and ran a block to 22nd and Lyndale Avenue S. From there, they turned south and headed for 24th Street, whooping and yelling, "Obama!"

They crossed the street and gave a shout-out to patrons on the patio of Leaning Tower of Pizza. 'They cheered and hollered and gave us high-fives, and we returned home to a lot of horn-honking," Spidle said.

About 100 yards from home, they were stopped by a police officer and trundled into the back seat of his squad car while he wrote up a citation.

"He'd had 'Cops' -- the show's -- producer in his car earlier that day," Spidle said, adding that it was too bad for the show that the producer had missed them, but probably good for him and Becker.

Spidle and Becker were issued citations and sent home.

"We were still whooping it up," he said. "[The officer] gave us a horn-honk, too, I think."

Now the two have to go downtown for a court date. There will be a hearing and probably a fine. What do they have to say for themselves?

"I think Barack Obama would be pleased with our excitement," Spidle said, "but maybe not with how we decided to display our excitement."

The vast majority of Minnesota Obama supporters who poured into the streets did so fully clothed, dancing and singing in the streets, honking car horns and punctuating the night with fireworks.

Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Somali immigrants spilled out onto Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis to began an impromptu celebration. University students and other neighborhood residents joined in. The party went on well into Wednesday.

Across the river, cheers erupted as people spilled out of the Bob Dylan concert at Northrop Auditorium. Larry Turner of St. Paul ignited the crowd with his drum beats, which echoed for blocks around campus.

A more conventional celebration was planned for Wednesday night at New Salem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, where the Rev. Jerry McAfee extended an open invitation for prayer and gospel music.

Staff writers Allie Shah, Lora Pabst and Mary Lynn Smith contributed to this report. Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409

Next pageNext Page

Recent Local + Metro stories

St. Paul suspect: 'I killed my wife' - November 5, 2008
St. Paul suspect: 'I killed my wife' - Gerald Wassenaar of St. Paul, 67, was charged Thursday in the murder of his wife, Jean, also 67. He's being held at Regions Hospital. More

Comment on this story   |   Read all 32 comments   |  Hide reader comments

Subscribe
Shopping + Classifieds
Personal Recruiter

No resume? No problem!

Create a skills profile in minutes, let a recruiter match you to an open position. Click here to get started.
Find A Job

Open positions!

A new career awaits. Look through thousands of listings to find your new job. Start now!
Contests
contest image

Win tickets to The Midnight Movie Society's screening of "Clue" at Red Stag Supperclub.

Vita.mn and DJ Jake Rudh present the first meeting of The Midnight Movie Society at Red Stag Supperclub on Dec. 4, with drinking, dancing and a midnight screening of cult-classic film, "Clue."

See all contests