Sep 17, 2007 12:14 pm US/Central
Craig Arrest Makes Airport Bathroom Tourist Stop
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ―
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"It's become a tourist attraction," said Karen Evans, information specialist at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "People are taking pictures."
CBS
"Where's the bathroom?"
That's the question camera-toting tourists in Minneapolis are asking as they visit the men's room where U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested in a sex sting.
"It's become a tourist attraction," said Karen Evans, information specialist at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "People are taking pictures."
Craig was arrested June 11 by a Minneapolis airport police officer. The Idaho Republican pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Craig has since said his guilty plea was a mistake. His request to withdraw the guilty plea will be heard Sept. 26, just four days before he has said he will step down from his Senate seat, ending his three-term congressional career.
Craig's arrest came to light Aug. 27, and Evans said the airport has since been giving directions to the men's room near a central food court and shopping area.
Just 15 minutes into her shift at the airport on Friday, Evans said she had been asked directions to the new tourist attraction four times. Other airport workers field the same question.
"It's by the Lottery shop, right next to the shoeshine shop," said newsstand worker Abdalla Said, adding he gets the question daily.
At the Royal Zino Shoeshine shop, the owner's grandson, Royal Zino, said he might have been working the day Craig was arrested.
"I might've actually been here. Me and my buddy were watching them doing a sting," he told the Idaho Statesman.
The newspaper published a detailed map of the airport in its Sunday edition locating the restroom, about midway between Craig's 11:51 a.m. arrival gate and 1:25 p.m. departure gate.
Zino said he gets to watch tourists now.
"People have been going inside, taking pictures of the stall, taking pictures outside the bathroom door - man, it's been crazy," he said.
On their way to Guatemala, Jon and Sally Westby of Minneapolis made a visit to the new tourist attraction.
"We had to just stop and check out the bathroom," Sally said. "In fact, it's Jon's second time - he was here last week already."
"I checked it out," Jon said. "It's the second stall from the right."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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