Free Keene

Robin Hood and the Merry Men celebrate a successful first year! From Lauren C.’s post on the Free Keene Forum:

Hip Hip Hoorah to Robin Hood’s parking meter rescues!
Let it be known that in the course of one year the outlaw Robin Hood has deposited $54 in expired meters, denying approximately $1350 to the crown, and allowing about 270 people to relax and smile.
He also accepted $273 in donations, and spent $248 on expenses. That means $25 for the Merry Men!

Awesome job!

Liberty-minded people called “Talkback” on WKBK last week to discuss stealing property, who really belongs in jail, costs of incarceration, closing the old jail, and comparing Valley St. jail in Manchester. Cynthia’s well-informed guest is Rick Van Wickler, superintendent of the Cheshire county jail and a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Toward the end of the show, Rick is given the opportunity to answer a drug warrior caller. Rick knocks the drug warrior’s objections out of the park, as usual.

Grab the archive.

Please join us for our weekly chat and calling sessions on Saturday mornings from 11a-12p in the Liberty Radio Network Chat room. If you’re online, you can listen to Talkback streamed live via the Liberty Radio Network and if you’re in the Keene area you can tune in to WKBK 1290 AM or 104.1 FM. The Talkback discussion thread is here on the Free Keene Forum.

Court upholds a DWI for a man who was sleeping in his broken down car which was parked in his own driveway with no keys in the ignition, Bill Gates commentary on the economy mirrors what Free Minds TV has been saying for years, Health Care exemptions for the Amish, and the war on drugs may be coming to an end

http://www.freemindsmedia.org

Footage has now been release from the massive 40+ person 4:20 celebration that happened in Manchester involving a bunch of Keeniacs. This was from the one-week commemoration of Big Mike’s arrest for “assault”. Police threaten activists with arrest and are offered pink panties:

Click to Enlarge

For more info on the subject this comic was inspired by, visit the Anarchy In Your Head blog where you can watch video of the assault as well as a video showing how you can help this injured officer.

Dave Ridley proves a NH police chief lied during testimony at the state house in regards to cannabis legalization:

In response to the recent arrest and jailing of activist Michael “Big Mike” Tiner, who has been charged with assaulting a police officer, we have launched the Citizens Resisting the Assault of Police Officers (CRAP) medical aid campaign.

Here are some things you can do to help:

(Read on …)

We’ve been able to have picnics outside the jail in Westmoreland without issue, but in their visits to Valley St. jail, Manchester activists have come up against intimidation and threats from local police. In this raw video, they actually claim that the jail is private property and that the activists will be arrested should they come back. They plan to return this Saturday. Details on this thread. Here’s the video:

More video from Keene activist Rich Paul’s visit inside the jail: (Read on …)

A recent mover within the last year, Andrew Mercer has kept a fairly low profile as far as activism goes, but he’s certainly still been active. He has gone to court hearings when he can, he’s been to a few 4:20 rallies, and he’s accompanied Sam on quests into City Hall for open records requests, he’s even been on a few CopWatching missions. Though he hasn’t gone out looking to push boundaries and engage in disobedience, but he was recently held in Vermont by state troopers just because one of them suspected he had an illegal plant in his possession.

However, Andrew just went to trial on an unrelated case out of Keene involving him being caught driving a car that didn’t have the correct license plate on it. At trial Andrew’s councel, FreeKeene blogger Nick Ryder, argued that the State could not prove that Andrew attached the wrong plate to the car, or allowed anyone else to.

See the officer’s arrest report on Andrew (PDF)
Hear the audio of the trial (27 min length)

Nonetheless, Judge Lane of the Keene District Court found Andrew guilty, and because of his resistance to paying fines to the government, Andrew will be committed to 50 hours in jail over two separate occasions. The first beginning this Tuesday afternoon (02-02-10).

He may be critiqued for “playing by the rules” in trying to defend himself “by the system” in court, but he’s costing the State several times the price of his $150 ticket. And if more people did that, the system would easily grind down.