Thanks but no tanks, Keene!

January 28, 2012 by Pete Eyre · 34 Comments
Filed under: Announcement, Copblock, New Hampshire, Police, Politics

The residents of Keene have so far said no to the fear peddlers.
May their stand give all of us the courage to do the same.
-Robert Koehler

The purpose of this post is to share all BEARCAT-related content.
Transparency and the free flow of information are good.

Need to get up-to-speed about this issue?

Watch the excellent coverage in the video below or read the post:
Cowardly City Councilors Ignore the People, Vote for BEARCAT 9-4

Still interested in learning more? Below you’ll find:

an overview of Keene police chief Ken Meola and some Keene city councilors attempt to quietly acquire an armored vehicle
background of the not-too-surprising pushback from Keene residents
related videos and documents, including the 11-page grant request
a list of links to related content, and more

(BEARCAT stands for Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck)

Don’t Strip Our Rights – Call To Action

January 27, 2012 by Kelly · 15 Comments
Filed under: Announcement, Civil Disobedience, Don't Strip Our Rights, Issues, Video

February 15, 2012

Don’t Strip Our Rights featured on the Huffington Post.

In liberty,

Kelly

February 13, 2012

On the morning of Jan. 20th, I headed off to the Manchester airport to tell the TSA “Don’t Strip Our Rights” in response to the unnecessary and invasive strip searches of elderly ladies Lenore Zimmerman, Linda Kallish, and Ruth Sherman by TSA agents at NYC’s Kennedy airport in December. Wearing nothing but pink lingerie in below freezing weather, I passed out TSA related literature both inside and outside of the airport and attempted to connect with individuals who were traveling to and from New Hampshire; taking the opportunity to educate them about the immorality inherent in the TSA’s standard procedures, the oppressive and tyrannical federal government, and the ideas of liberty.

My demonstration of peaceful resistance was so well received that Derrick J. Freeman and I decided to hold another “Don’t Strip Our Rights” event on Thursday, Feb. 2, again at the Manchester airport. We handed out over 250 flyers in our underwear while avoiding any initiation of force against us by agents of the state. A Londonderry police officer even affirmed that doing this is our right as granted by the constitution.

This form of activism, for me, is not without a fair amount of risk. Due to the fact that I am free on personal recognizance because of actions I took on January 9th when I was arrested for chalking “Free Ademo” on the front of the Manchester District Court building; if I am arrested again for any reason, I could be caged on charges of contempt of court until March 22, which is my next court date for the chalking. In addition to the risk involuntarily imposed upon me and my actions by the state, Derrick J. is currently out on bail for actions he took in his “Give Peace A Chance” arrest last September. His bail conditions can be viewed in detail at LiveFreeOrDance.com, and the key condition is that he refrain from partaking in any action which results in another arrest.

After careful consideration of the inherent risk to reward ratio, Derrick and I each still decided to participate in this important anti-TSA activism. I hope that our actions show others that they too can stand up for their rights without having force initiated against them by the oppressors.

Therefore, I am asking for others to join me in telling the TSA “Don’t Strip Our Rights”. While I cannot guarantee the actions of law enforcement officers in cities across America, I can guarantee that if any force or caging is initiated against any peaceful person participating in a “Don’t Strip Our Rights” event, that it will be very public and that I will personally invest my utmost efforts and resources into making those initiating the force or caging look very, very bad.

In consideration of this fact of matter; if you believe as I do that TSA procedures are conducted in direct violation of inherent human rights and are therefore a crime against humanity, I ask that you take this as an opportunity to stand up to tyranny and oppression and make the choice to participate in this event at your local airport. And yes, I am available to travel to your city to participate in your event

Video of Don’t Strip Our Rights held at the Manchester airport, Thursday Feb. 2

In liberty,

Kelly

January 27, 2012

“Don’t Strip Our Rights”, held at the Manchester airport on Friday, Jan. 20th, was a huge success in large part due to the many talented liberty media representatives from Free Keene, Cop Block, and Ladies in Keene who covered the event, Adam of Marijuana Muscle who is including it in a video project he is working on which focuses on the activism here in Keene, Free Keene blogger Jason Rapsher who so expediently released this video the day after the event, and to my video editor/graphics designer Beau Davis for creating the awesome flier and video you see featured in this post; his work speaks for itself.

Additionally, I must thank the individuals at the airport who were acting as agents of the state for doing the right thing that day. They regarded me with the same level of respect in which I regarded them and did not interfere with my peaceful demonstration by initiating any force such as arrest and/or caging against me.

I plan to return to the Manchester airport on Groundhog Day, Thursday, Feb. 2 to do it again, this time with a guest activist; to be announced.

The main goals of this event are to raise awareness of the violations on natural rights inherent in standard TSA procedures, to educate others on the ideas of liberty, and to promote a truly peaceful society.

As featured on:

…and more

Visit Natural Born Anarchist to read the full text of the literature I was handing out in the video.

In liberty,

Kelly

In Defense of Amateur Journalists

January 27, 2012 by Free Concord · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Free Concord, Free Press, New Hampshire, News, Politics, Response, Video

Since it was posted the day following the New Hampshire primary, a video by a watchdog group showcasing exploits of election security has reached over 350,000 views. I remember seeing several friends sharing the video on Facebook, and although I didn’t find it stimulating enough to watch from start to finish (it needed more editing for my taste), I found it to be an interesting piece of investigative journalism bound to start some heated debate over election security.

The video is briefly prefaced with text stating, “If a person walked in to vote in the 2012 New Hampshire Primary, and said the names of multiple DEAD people…Could he receive a ballot to vote without showing any ID?” “© Project Veritas” is watermarked on the screen. If you watch for the entire ten minutes, you’ll see the same scene repeated multiple times. A man walks into a polling location wearing an inconspicuous camera on his person. He says, “Do you have a (name) on your list?” When asked to confirm the address and party registration, he says, Read more

Bearcat Reconsideration Public Hearing is Happening, Thanks to Terry Clark

January 27, 2012 by Ian · 9 Comments
Filed under: Copblock, National, News, Occupy NH, Update

Bearcat No mention of this in the Sentinel, but at last night’s city council meeting it was revealed that councilor Terry Clark has brought up the Bearcat for public hearing at an upcoming meeting. Terry Clark, as you may recall, is the lone councilor who heroically voted against accepting federal money to buy a Bearcat armored attack machine in the first place. According to John McLean, city boss, the city council can re-hear an issue once a year, and when a councilor brings an issue forward, there has to be a public hearing. Unlike when someone recently presented 144 petition signatures asking for a public hearing on the matter, which were gathered over one weekend, and the council blew it off as “informational”.

Here’s a facebook event for the next City Council meeting. Come with signs and show your support for a peaceful, not militarized, Keene police.

Experiences from 4-days in Manchester’s Valley St. Jail

January 27, 2012 by Pete Eyre · 9 Comments
Filed under: Jailed Activist, Noncooperation, Personal Freedom, Update

Former cop-turned prosecutor-turned judge William H. Lyons said I owed “the state of New Hampshire” 248 FRNs. His claim is without merit. I did no harm to person or property. “The state” was not a victim that I was responsible to make whole. But I recognize that if I failed to act, I could be killed.

It wouldn’t happen right away, but if I ignored ever-more threatening letters sent by faceless strangers that I never wronged, their associates with guns would come for me. If I remained steadfast still, they’d use force, including lethal force. And most wouldn’t question their actions. After all, they wore badges. They’re “just doing their job.”

Looking over my shoulder doesn’t sound like a good way to live. So I’m forced to engage in damage control while remaining true to myself. Rather than pay the ransom, I decided I’d sit the time. Using “the state’s” math, 248 FRNs equated to four days and three nights at the Hillsborough County House of Corrections.

A week ago today I checked into my cage.

Read a concise and exhaustive write-up about my jail experience over at CopBlock.org.

Don’t Stop Recording: Meet James Brown

January 27, 2012 by Ian · 52 Comments
Filed under: Copblock, Free Concord, Laugh at the Aggressors, Living Free, Noncooperation, Police, Update, Video

Back in 2010, on a visit to the NH Attorney Genital’s office, we met “investigator” Dick Tracy. More recently, Copblock’s Ademo and I were in the area so we dropped in again with some more questions, this time meeting “investigator” James Brown. Neither man was interested in speaking on the record and Brown attempted to intimidate us into not recording. We did not stop. Here’s what happened:

Remember, it is supposed to be your right to record government bureaucrats in public places. Though, we know they don’t care about what your rights are, so there’s always a chance you could be aggressed against and caged. Sometimes it can be scary when they threaten you, but if you have backup also willing to not back down, your odds of walking away without being caged increase.

Just say NO – to demands you quit recording them.

Rebel With A Cause – How I Became A Voluntaryist

January 26, 2012 by Kelly · 43 Comments
Filed under: Essay, Living Free, Your Evolution

I was always a rebel.

One of my earliest memories is of my mom telling me that touching the hot iron would result in burning my finger. Subsequently, I attempted to touch the iron with just my fingernail. Much to my disappointment, I got burned, but the experience didn’t dissuade my affinity for questioning the status quo and inventing innovative ways to subvert authority. My parents are both employed at institutes for “higher” education and always emphasized that earning good grades, going to a good (preferably Ivy League) college, and getting a good job is the way to achieve a good life. To them, such values are intrinsic and thus uniformly the best thing for every individual. I had different ideas. Read more

Kelly Shames Pepper-Spraying Cop

January 26, 2012 by DerrickJ · 10 Comments
Filed under: Court, New Hampshire, Police, Shire Society, Video

From the Live Free Or Dance Trial: Kelly Voluntaryist took an opportunity to shame Michael Kopcha of the Keene Police Department when, during the viewing of video evidence in which the public servant pepper sprays a nonviolent handcuffed man, she storms out of the courtroom and calls him a monster.

Radio Free Keene News – 2012-01-26

January 26, 2012 by Ian · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Audio, Copblock, Corruption, Issues, Living Free, Manchester, National, New Hampshire, News, Personal Freedom, Police, Radio News

Radio Tower Radio Free Keene News is a five minute newscast which is available as a podcast and also will air at the top of some hours on LRN.FM.

You can download the edition for this week here. Topics covered include Kelly Voluntaryist’s TSA lingerie protest/outreach, the Keene city council’s blowoff of the 144 petitions regarding the Bearcat, and the Londonderry cops’ bust of two Keene men for allegedly receiving hashish.

You can add Radio Free Keene News to your podcast client via this RSS feed.

Welcome to our newest blogger: Kelly Voluntaryist!

January 26, 2012 by Ian · 3 Comments
Filed under: Announcement

As you may be aware, she recently made national news with her TSA protest-in-lingerie, and now she brings her writing talents to Free Keene. Here’s her bio from the Bloggers page:

Kelly Voluntaryist (“kellyvoluntaryist”) – Kelly moved to Keene from Scottsdale, AZ in December of 2011 after being repeatedly victimized by the corrupt and involuntary system there for the “crime” of living as a free individual. While her activism in Arizona consisted mainly of working as an advocate for victims of the system and writing about her experiences, she moved to Keene in hopes of inspiring the evolution towards a peaceful society through civil disobedience. Kelly, a longtime agorist, not only believes in smashing the state through civil disobedience and delegitimization, but counter-economically through black and grey markets and non-compliance as well. A Christian Anarchist, she considers herself a conscientious objector of the current system and strives to promote non-violent resistance as exemplified by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. She believes that the violation of one individual’s rights equals the violation of all individual rights, that for there to be true peace there must first be true justice, and that true justice must be based on a model of restoration. Her pet peeves are the TSA, the prison system, and government transparency. When she is not smashing the state, Kelly loves to go shopping and spend time with her cat Emily, her chihuahua Isabella, and her voluntary liberty family. Kelly’s experiences in living the peaceful evolution are also being chronicled at NaturalBornAnarchist.com