Roland Riemers found guilty of disorderly conduct for blocking train, lighting road flare

Oct. 10—GRAND FORKS — A six-person jury found Roland Clifford Riemers guilty of Class B misdemeanor disorderly conduct after a one-day trial on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

Riemers, 80, was charged one year ago, on Oct. 10, 2022, after police were dispatched to the intersection of 55th Street North and DeMers Avenue for suspicious activity. At the scene, they learned Riemers parked his car near the train tracks, then attempted to put a BNSF Railway train — and all of its staff — under citizen's arrest for blocking the road for more than 10 minutes, which is generally against city and state code.

After years of experiencing long delays caused by trains blocking intersections within Grand Forks, Riemers decided to keep track of how long they were blocking the road, he said. That day, his timer got up to 26 minutes before he decided to take action.

"I am an activist against train blockages in Grand Forks," he testified during trial. "I consider this a serious problem."

Jury selection took less than an hour, and the trial began with opening statements from Riemers, representing himself, and Marcus Skonieczny, representing the city. The city presented four witnesses, including the train engineer, conductor and two responding officers from the Grand Forks Police Department.

According to testimony from both the train engineer and conductor — Kyle Richardson and Jade Heinz, respectively — pieces of the train had just been put together, and staff were waiting for air to build before they could leave, which is standard practice. Both agreed they were likely blocking the road for more than 20 minutes, but weren't certain of the exact time.

Riemers said he knew where the train was headed and drove west to park and wait for it. He'd planned to tell the train employees they were in violation of city and state code, nothing more, he testified.

While the train was in motion, Richardson and Heinz observed a vehicle near the tracks. From a distance, it seemed close enough to potentially be hit by the train.

"That action can't be happening," Richardson said. "We're working with a massive, massive amount of weight. ... A train can't stop on a dime."

It was able to stop, though, and nothing happened for a few minutes.

"The train just stood there (and) I just stood there," he said.

Heinz initially thought Riemers might have been a maintenance person, testing their ability to stop quickly when necessary. Once he got out of his vehicle and began to approach, not wearing the typical orange uniform, she became frightened.

"The first thing I did (was) went and locked the door," she said.

The incident happened within months of a train engineer being stabbed by someone who approached and got onto a train in central Minnesota — a crime that was fresh in Heinz's mind as an unknown man walked toward her own train.

"Your presence itself was a potential threat for violence," she told Riemers.

At the train, Riemers spoke with Richardson, who said he was going to call the police, according to Riemers' testimony.

"I started walking back to my car, thinking, 'Oh, (expletive). Well, I didn't really want to do this today,'" he testified.

Riemers placed his own 911 call, then grabbed a white bag from his vehicle. Heinz worried there was a weapon inside — maybe a bomb. Instead, it was a road flare, which Riemers placed up against the tracks. Riemers did this because it was the only place the flare would stand upright and remain in full view of train staff, who he was worried might try to get away before law enforcement arrived, he said.

Hahn was the first officer on scene and eventually ended up placing Riemers under arrest for disorderly conduct. He testified that, during this process, Riemers was trying to explain that he wanted to put the train and its staff under citizen's arrest.

"He's twisting and turning, arguing with us," Cpl. William Hahn testified.

During Riemers' own testimony, he said Hahn and another officer yanked his arms to handcuff him and used excessive force.

"Not only am I 80 years old, but I have an artificial shoulder," he said.

Hahn didn't have body camera footage because his battery died shortly before the interaction, he testified. Cpl. April Prock's camera was on, though, and footage was shown to the jury.

In the video, when Riemers is being placed in the squad car, he asks another officer to arrest Hahn for violating his constitutional rights.

Multiple times throughout the trial, Riemers brought up that no one had body cam footage of interviews with train staff, despite their quotes being used in the police report. Prock said it's standard to get body cam footage and, sometimes, additional audio footage of interviews. Some law enforcement at the scene were lieutenants, though, who do not wear body cameras, she said.

During the city's redirect, Skonieczny asked Prock if the GFPD enforces city code; she said yes. He asked if the GFPD can only arrest people who are violating city code if they are committing a crime by doing so; she said yes. Skonieczny asked whether Prock would have been able to arrest the train, or any of its staff, for blocking the road in excess of 10 minutes. She said no.

Riemers' own ability to conduct a citizen's arrest that day was under question throughout the case, and actually delayed the trial itself.

The jury went out to deliberate at 3:12 p.m. and reached a verdict in 20 minutes.

Riemers was found guilty.

The maximum penalty for a Class B misdemeanor is 30 days in jail and $1,500 in fines. The city recommended a $1,500 fine and 360 days of unsupervised probation.

"I think it's harsh, your honor," Riemers told Judge John Thelen.

Riemers also asked for the verdict to be dismissed, arguing that he was denied due process because he was never sent a physical copy of the information filed in the case. Thelen denied the motion.

Riemers was ultimately sentenced to 360 days of unsupervised probation and fined $500 for the crime.