Keene Law Enforcers Arrest Derrick Instead of Giving Peace a Chance

September 15, 2011 by talleytv · 73 Comments
Filed under: Civil Disobedience

Adam Kokesh provides an eye witness report of Keene Law Enforcer’s Caging of Derrick J. Freeman on tonight’s Free Talk Live.

Dramatic video from Cecilia from 4:20 today in Keene Central Square:

and Talley.TV:

WTF GOV Smiley

September 14, 2011 by Dale Everett · 11 Comments
Filed under: Laugh at the Aggressors

New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) Index

Zooming in. Look closely.

Free Keene TV – Episode 10 – September 12th, 2011

September 13, 2011 by James Schlessinger Jr · 30 Comments
Filed under: Free Keene TV

Special Guests Jason Talley and Ryan Maddox join the show along with Derrick appearing on camera to talk about the arrests that took place at central square on Friday night.

What To Do About Central Square

September 12, 2011 by Heika · 97 Comments
Filed under: Issues, Question

I attended the unofficial city gathering this evening at City Hall to listen to what people had to say about the use of Central Square. In a nutshell, what it came down to is people needing to be respectful of others and take responsibility for their actions. Yes, it’s a public area, but that only means to me that EVERYONE should feel comfortable being there. Many townspeople aren’t happy with the swearing, the aggressive acts (fighting, yelling, etc) they witness, people getting screamed at and even threatened for sitting on park benches and observing what is taking place at the park. I happen to also not be happy with my community treating others in this way.

The atmosphere has changed drastically in the past year. Last summer I loved hanging out there and I felt that despite some civil disobedience (I even proudly partook in much of it), it was non-threatening and peaceful. Now, I don’t enjoy being there or even walking through the park. And I certainly don’t walk through it at night if I’m alone. This isn’t ok with me.

Unfortunately at the meeting it seemed that the room became divided: they weren’t members of the community so much as ‘freestaters’ and ‘juggalos’ and angry townspeople and business owners. So, instead of blaming a ‘group’ or ‘gang’ or ‘those people,’ what can we, as an entire community, do to make this popular hangout spot an area for people of all ages?

Some ideas I have heard through the grapevine to make the park more comfortable for all were curfews and surveillance cameras. I personally don’t like either of these options. On October 26th there will be an official City Council meeting to talk about what to do, and if anyone has some positive/constructive ideas I sincerely hope that you will take a few minutes to attend this meeting, or even submit a letter to City Council.

Voluntary Alternatives: Pollution

September 12, 2011 by Trifith · 89 Comments
Filed under: Essay

Pollution seems like an insurmountable problem for a stateless society. After all, without government regulation, who will prevent companies from dumping toxic waste everywhere? This overlooks the fact that a company has a strict liability for damage it causes, even through it’s dumping practices. This liability is something that the company itself, as well as its insurance provider will want to control. And because all property is privately owned, there will always be a damaged party from indiscriminate dumping. Read more

Watch Derrick, Ryan & Roz Get Some Accountability from the City of Keene, Live

September 12, 2011 by talleytv · 10 Comments
Filed under: Copblock, Copwatch, Court

On Friday evening the City of Keene sent the night shift of the Keene Police Department to Central Square where law enforcers stole an audio mixer and assaulted three people participating in the community’s Live Free or Dance event. Derrick Freeman was maced while law enforcers attempted to blind the cameras from the actions of their aggressive colleague with their flashlights.

For background, read my post on Talley.TV and watch this video by Dave Ridley, featuring Neal Connor. Please join me in watching the backs of Ryan Maddox, Roz and Derrick J. Freeman by watching the video below and the schedule under that:

These videos will also be published on the watchtalleytv YouTube channel. Subscribe to be alerted to future videos.

We intend to go to the following bureaucracies and enforcement agencies in the following order and hope to arrive at Keene City Hall at 8AM.

If you see something say something. If you witness actions taken by public servants on the livestream that concerns you, please call one of the following locations to voice your objections. Phone numbers are provided below.

(603) 352-0133 Keene City Hall
(603) 352-4238 Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office
(603) 357-9813 Keene Police Department
(603) 903 1600 Cheshire County Department of Corrections
(603) 352-6902 Cheshire County Superior Court

Each of these organizations are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and this morning is the first available chance for the FOIA to be evoked.

For any members of law enforcement who may be thinking about stopping my efforts to make government more transparent I suggest you read about the recent Glik ruling by the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals here and here. It upheld the right to record public servants and makes it clear that people who are law enforcers can be personally held liable for for infringing on rights acknowledged by the First Amendement to the U.S. Constitution. Words on paper that law enforcers swore to uphold. From the unanimous three judge ruling (PDF) by the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals:

[A] citizen’s right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment.

Lets see if they want to challenge the U.S. District Court today?

Ryan Maddox on the “Live Free or Dance” Arrests in Central Square

September 10, 2011 by talleytv · 54 Comments
Filed under: Civil Disobedience

On September 9, at approximately 10:15PM, members of the Keene community gathered for “Live Free Or Dance” at Central Square, for the 2nd week in a row. The dance party was short lived however, because not a minute into the fun, police showed up and instead of protecting and serving what they did was entirely different, as you’ll discover below.

Ryan & Roz being attacked by Keene Law Enforcers. Photo by dooms-day-device.com

They said that they received a noise complaint (that they seem to have fabricated) and made numerous assertions such as: we need to obtain a permit, that the music was excessively loud and disturbing, and that we couldn’t use the openly-available power.

Then they asked who owned the sound equipment. No one stepped forward. After some time multiple individuals independently claimed ownership of the equipment. The police took the word of an individual that they had in their custody for an unrelated incident which the cops claim was an assault. They chose to arrest him after he indicated he owned the sound equipment used that night. The police knew that the sound equipment didn’t belong to him. After kidnapping him they went back to the gazebo with the intention of stealing the sound equipment. Although they were notified and aware that they had no means to know with certainty who the equipment belonged to, they maintained that they were going to take it by force. As is typically the case when law enforcement is involved, violence ensued. One officer began aggressively tugging on the equipment, attempting to steal it. Derrick J Freeman and Roz tried to hold onto the property, and then that officer violently assaulted and kidnapped Derrick [video].

While that occurred, Roz too was assaulted and kidnapped by another officer. I saw the assault and ran over to Roz to grab her away from the violent man with a badge. He pushed us to ground (at which point I suffered a mild head injury) and kidnapped us. Roz suffered bruises on her arm as a result.

Minutes later, they took Derrick to a vehicle and pepper-sprayed him while he was standing cuffed in front of the car door. While preparing to spray him, another officer deliberately blinded video journalist Jason Repsher with a flashlight to obscure the recording of the cruel and sadistic application of force.

The three of us were transported to the House Of Corrections where Derrick, in the spirit of the event, spent the rest of the night dancing without stop. We were all eventually liberated on bail. Roz and I were both charged with obstruction of government administration and resisting arrest, while Roz received an additional charge of obstruction of apprehension. We have a scheduled court date of October 4 at 8:30AM.

It’s really unfortunate that those who purport to protect us are often indistinguishable from thugs and gangsters in their actions. Perhaps when innocent dance parties are a threat to the police it is an indication that we are living under a tyrannical state.

How conservative are libertarians?

September 10, 2011 by Skeptikos · 7 Comments
Filed under: Data, Politics

Political commentators often lump libertarians in with conservatives on the right, but how accurate is this?

To get a start on this question, I compared New Hampshire legislators’ liberalism or conservatism, as measured by W-NOMINATE, with their libertarianism, as measured by the NHLA’s Liberty Rating. (To make the comparison easier, I used the raw Liberty Rating scores. An “A” is 80-100%, 60-79% is a “B”, 40-59% is a “C”, etc.)

See what I found.

Keene Law Enforcers Use Violence to Shut Down “Live Free or Dance”

September 10, 2011 by talleytv · 103 Comments
Filed under: Civil Disobedience, Copblock, Copwatch

A peaceful and fun evening for the Keene community devolved into chaos when law enforcers, employed by the city of Keene, showed up to make threats and eventually kidnapped three people, Ryan Maddox, Roz and Derrick Freeman.

I was in Central Square to dance but instead my evening was spent livestreaming the violence that is unfortunately becoming more commonplace with militant law enforcers “just doing their jobs.” I was able to broadcast the following seven video playlist live:

Police interrupted the celebration in Central Square at around 10:15. According to Jason Repsher, “The music had only been playing for a minute and it wasn’t very loud.” [Video: Live Free or Dance Begins Peacefully] Keene native Jacqueline Lemieux commented on a Keene law enforcer’s claim that “a citizen complained” about the noise:

That is a flat out lie. The music had just been turned on and I was walking in front of The Stage and over towards the common and was not able to hear any music at all until I arrived a few feet from the gazebo. KPD is quickly developing a habit of lying and abusing its public and I will not stand for it!

Jason Repsher stated in the description of the video he recorded (below) that:

The cops make up a story that they were called because of a complaint and the cops insist on permits and licensing in order to play music in the park. The cops wanted someone to claim the equipment so they could check ID.

Repsher continues:

The cops knew it wasn’t his, but apparently the kid had gotten into trouble earlier in the night and they wanted a reason to arrest this kid. After the kid was arrested and hauled off, the cops proceed to take it upon themselves to seize the equipment. At which point, Derrick Freeman, Ryan Maddox and Roz get arrested in the attempt to prevent the property from being stolen by the Keene PD (for holding onto the property while the cops pry it away). After Derrick Freeman is handcuffed one of the officers maces and puts him in the patrol car. In the video you can see the officer shake his pepper spray at which point two officers come over and attempt to block my video.

When you watch the above video take note of how at least two law enforcers shine their flashlights at cameras just before Derrick gets maced. It seems obvious that they were attempting to censor the recording of their violent colleague. It’s unknown if this technique is taught during their training, is department policy or just the actions of two law enforcers who want to hide their aggressive actions from the public.

Another witness, Nick Ryder, posted the following on the Free Keene Forum along with his video:

1. Police show up on a noise complaint and inform people to tear down the lights, speakers, etc and not use city power.
2. Police ask who owns the equipment. Nobody answers.
3. After a while, random other guy (non-activist) claims to own them. He is arrested.
4. Police come to confiscate said equipment under the baseless claim that random guy owns it.
5. Derrick contests the claim, saying he owns it, and does not let the police take it.

All three were eventually released after many hours in solitary confinement. There are reports that Derrick was able to continue the dance party at the Cheshire County House of Corrections for four hours. He was able to eventually able to return home to shower out the mace before going to work. Stay tuned for more information about future court dates and danceobedience.

Photos used in this post were taken by James Schmill of Dooms-Day-Device.com.

A Modest Proposal

September 9, 2011 by Trifith · 20 Comments
Filed under: Uncategorized

I was in Central Square today for Free Speech Fridays, and while I was there I noticed that the gazebo is starting to look battered, the grass is patchy, and a serious mud hole, that may even present a safety risk to pedestrians, is to be found around the water fountain. Because of these problems, I took up the microphone an proposed that the activists, who are the primary users of Central Square in terms of time present, make an effort to repair the wear and tear the facilities have sustained. This will not only provide a better facility for the activists whom use the square the most, but also for all members of the public.

To accomplish this, we’re going to need paint, brushes, and other tools. If we wish to repair the ground cover, seed of some variety will be needed, and the effort will be impossible without volunteers. To that end, I will be attending the 4:20 rallies every weekday over the next 2-3 weeks to collect any funds anybody may wish to contribute, as well as any equipment that anyone may wish to donate for our use. I have also created a Facebook event, to be held in Central Square on Wednesday, September 14 at 4:00pm to discuss plans for making repairs.

An action like this is not without risks. Two years ago, another activist was arrested for attempting to create a public garden in Central Square. Arrests relating to this are also possible. The work done, if not done well, may cause bad publicity. And of course there is the chance that agents of the city council may choose to strip and repaint after our work is done, even if no arrests are made. I’m willing to take that risk.

Anybody who is interested is of course welcome to come out to Central Square on Wednesday to help plan. I’ll see you there.

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