Angry Lady does not appear in the body cam video, but she is referenced...
0:00:18:00 SG “Little girl came up to me”
0:00:36:00 SG “So I tell her its OK baby ill go take care of it and talk to this guy”
0:01:16:00 SG “Little girl made a complaint”
0:06:03:00 TL “”he messed with the wrong woman
0:11:48:0 TL waves at someone off camera away from the scene. That was Angry Lady staying away from the action as she was possibly intoxicated also.
Harassment complaint filed with the BOG
(like it says in the NSS bylaws.)
I attended The National Speleological Society convention in Cookeville, TN. This was my sixth NSS convention over my 40+ years as a Life member the NSS. I am 72 and recovering from a heart attack. There are two stents in my heart. I can only drive in daylight due to my cataracts. I thought first aid would be readily available and convention would be a safe place. Turns out I was wrong on both of these assumptions.
An Angry Lady took a dislike to me and harassed me several times, assaulted me, and made a false report to NSS security. The name of this Angry Lady is not known to me.
I have been slurred by that woman as a misogynist. I have two sisters and three caving daughters who would take issue with that. Furthermore I live with two women: my Wife and her special needs daughter. I treat women fairly. It is not a crime to insult someone.
20190618 Tuesday Evening first incident
There were people singing on the stage of the Music Barn. Angry lady was behind where I was sitting talking lewdly to her friends about her boyfriend. She drowned out the music from the stage. I listened to a bit of her conversation and at a pause I said “Maybe you weren't too good at the sex.” (This phrase is used by You-tube channel “Ragical” and it was stuck in my mind as a humorous statement.) Someone giggled and she moved away. I thought I had done good to stop the noise. The music was enjoyable. I did not see her then or hear her voice anymore that night.
20190619 Wednesday Early Evening second incident
Walking through the Music Barn, I was blocked by a group of people. Blocking someone intentionally is harassment. Angry Lady was yelling about Tuesday. She had a bunch (5-10) of young men behind her as an implied threat. The young men were all looking at me with dagger eyes. She demanded I repeat what I said the night before. I wanted to avoid confrontation with someone who could rally several men to beat me up if I said the wrong thing, so I apologized to her. I said I did not remember what she was talking about. I said she might have misunderstood me. I called her a nice lady. She was disappointed I did not respond to her nasty talk and her posse lost interest. I went away from them quickly when her posse looked away. These young men are probably from her local club and may be located.
20190619 Wednesday Late Evening third incident
That evening I devoted myself to building a “hexastix” at the Tiki Lounge. That is a sculpture made from 72 pencils and rubber bands. This takes manual dexterity and mental acuity. It took many hours as I paused repeatedly to talk to cavers. Due to the big ruts the firetruck made, there were limited paths from the campground to the Tiki Lounge. I took a break and came back the short way through the Music Barn. Angry lady was still there and she called out to me. Her friend, Tattoo Lady was with her. This time she said I should stay out of the Music Barn or I would be in trouble. I told her I was sorry she was upset. She just wanted to yell at me. I left and went back to the Tiki Lounge and my hexastix.
20190620 Thursday Morning fourth incident
With my hexastix finished, I took my bag of art supplies to my camp. I returned through the Music Barn. Angry Lady was yelling at me about Tuesday, again. She called me over. I sat down away from her and tried to engage in “conflict resolution.” I asked why this was such a thing with her as I had apologized. She wanted me to stay out of the Music barn.
Then she got up and slapped me. I was startled, but did not strike back. Witness says the blow bloodied my nose. Her friend, Tattoo Lady, said she was calling security. It is unknown what she said to her friend in security. I was not going to run away as I did nothing, so I moved far away from them near the entrance and sat down to wait for security. Tattoo Lady came over to talk to me in a friendly manner and I told her I did not want to be involved.
Security Guy arrived and did not ask me what was going on. He asked me to leave and I did. Outside he grabbed my arm in a hard lock. He said "Lets go to your camp so you can sleep it off!" and sucker punched me. Security Guy had training as next he slapped my cider mug out of my hand so it was not a threat. Was he going to let me wake up in a puddle of my blood to teach me a lesson. I yelled “Help, Security”, but he yelled “I am security” and no one helped me. I was frogmarched to the gate because I challenged his authority. Angry Lady was getting revenge.
At the gate I was met by a local policeman. The policeman noticed the blood on my face. I told him that the Security Guy had assaulted me. He did talk to Security Guy and Tattoo Lady out of earshot. Why is Tattoo Lady giving testimony to the police when I have had minimal contact with her? The policeman came back to me and put me in the car. He said somebody came out of the crowd and punched me. He took me to a holding cell. I had trouble finding a bondsman. I was put in real jail before being bailed out. I missed my cardiac medication.
At the campground gate I found my credentials pouch. It still retained my badge, phone, and contraband. If Security Guy had not ripped that off my neck, I would be in deeper and longer.
Friday I tried to find somebody to report this to, but everyone was closing up the convention. I discussed the situation with few people. In a situation last year or so a Young Man was accused of being boisterous to a Young Lady. He was banned for a convention or two. Same situation as me, but serious escalation.
20190703 Cincinnati, Ohio
I wrote a trip report on my adventure called “My Last Convention” . I wrote notes of the events of the week as they were fresh in my mind. (Those notes are above.) I then generated a story of how I was worried about it being the last convention I could attend due to my age, but now it is not safe. I submitted this to my local club newsletter and it was published two months later to the delight of my local club.
I also submitted this to the “NSS News”. They declined to publish it due to administration.
20190706 Livingston, KY fifth Incident at KOR
I was at NSS associated event Karst-O-Rama in Kentucky. I was there with my wife and children. I was at the welcome party when I recognized the harassing voice of Angry Lady saying “Hey [Ancient Caver], do you remember what happened at convention?” I replied No and went away. I was able to stay away from her for the rest of the event. She was dressed and made up different from convention. Had she not spoken to me I would not have noticed she was at the event. I watched her from the sidelines. I watched her doting on a guy. I have seen her boyfriend for the first time.