More from the Keene-inspired activists in Manchester, who have experienced their first civil disobedience arrest in recent memory. More video may be coming, but for now here’s the scene as described by liberty activist Joe Skinner:
Two Activists Arrested in Manchester for a 420 Celebration.
Saturday January 16th 2010 was an unseasonably warm day in the New Hampshire region. Because of this my roommate Mike and I figured it would be a perfect day to go, live free and hold an impromptu 420 celebration at Veteran’s Park in down town Manchester. Celebrations like the one we were planning that morning were held throughout the late summer and fall in both Keene and Manchester, NH. These celebrations, in which the participants partake in the public and open consumption of cannabis, were left completely unmolested in every instance of them occurring in the Manchester area. That is until that Saturday in January.
Around 4:00 PM Mike and I arrive on scene, close to the corner of Elm and Central in down town Manchester. We did not expect a large turnout because of the short notice, so we sat down smoked a cigarette and figured we’d just wait around until the hour arrived to do the public consumption and leave. We had done this dozens of times a few months earlier and it all seemed almost routine that afternoon. By the time it reached 4:20PM there were a total of six of us that had gathered, three of which were actually participating in celebration.
As we were passing around a marijuana cigarette (and may I mention, not hurting, nor bothering any passersby) two gentlemen who were wearing jeans, fleece jackets and baseball caps, entered the circle and asked if we were smoking. As we were not there to hide anything we acknowledged what we were doing without even giving it a second thought. At that moment the two men identified themselves as police and stated that we were observed to be smoking marijuana in public and that we were being detained by the officers. (Read on …)
