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:
Dave Ridley proves a NH police chief lied during testimony at the state house in regards to cannabis legalization:
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 …)
The Union Leader’s Jason Schreiber reports:
EPPING – A police officer who fought publicly to keep his job has resigned from the police department and has also been given the boot as a member of an international group that wants to legalize drugs.
Leaders of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which advocates liberalization of drug laws, moved to distance themselves from Officer Bradley Jardis, who suggested in recent online postings that he would not enforce certain drug laws.
Jardis, of Hooksett, quit the police department on Monday, saying he could no longer work there after comments that Police Chief Gregory Dodge made about his job performance when he tried to have him fired recently. (Read on …)
A few days back on this blog we posted the news that longtime NH police officer Brad Jardis was no longer going to arrest medical cannabis users. Jardis has shown much courage – far more than the average cop – in first coming out verbally against the insane war on drugs, and now taking the first step into actually doing the right thing and refusing to enforce bad laws.
Despite the courage he has and the support he has earned in the community because of it, the organization known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has unceremoniously booted him from their ranks. Brad posted the email he received from LEAP’s head, Jack Cole, on the Free Keene Forum. In it, Cole takes position that while LEAP members are encouraged to speak out about the horrors of prohibition, as long as they are employed as LEOs, they must enforce bad laws, because to not do so would be “unethical and wrong”. It’s a sad statement that outs LEAP as an organization of nothing more than a bunch of talkers, rather than doers. Of course, Cole is incorrect. Enforcing laws that harm peaceful people is what is unethical and wrong.
Other law enforcement officers, who are members of LEAP, have announced they will be sending in their resignations. Many other supporters of LEAP are sending in revocations of their membership, and explaining why. Some of these messages can be found on this forum thread.
Here’s the message Jack Cole sent to Brad, with Cole’s full contact info at the bottom.
Dear Bradley Jardis,
I have tried but am unable to reach you by telephone.
It has come to LEAP’s attention from the below blog entry, that you have
chosen to violate the oath you took on joining the police department; to
enforce all the laws of the federal and state governments in which your
police department has jurisdiction. And worse, you are calling on other law
enforcement officials to violate their oaths of office. (Read on …)
On a recent layover in Detroit, I was filming roaming squads of TSA agents searching passengers at the gates. I didn’t feel like answering their questions, and their response was, well, see for youself . . .
In part 1 I interact with Janetta a TSA “Behavior Detection Officer”
The airport police show up to continue the harassment in part 2: (Read on …)
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 …)
From Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Member Brad Jardis, a 10+ year veteran of the NH police force (and probably the most courageous cop I’ve ever known):
Hello everyone.
As you all know, I have been cleared for duty and will be reporting back shortly. I have been re-reading the NH Constitution carefully so that when I return I am well versed.
I have come to a conclusion in reading the document I am sworn to defend: It is unconstitutional for the state to take action against a sick person who decides to use Marijuana to treat a medical condition.
I will never arrest a person who possesses, uses, grows marijuana to treat a medical condition……. and neither should any other NH LEO who intends follow his or her oath. I won’t even take it from them.
Legal argument in support of my declaration (quite simple): (Read on …)
The police in Manchester finally pounced on a spontaneous 4:20 celebration today in Veteran’s Park. (Is this the first civil disobedience arrest in Manchester?) After being illegally searched by the police, Brian Manning was arrested, allegedly for possession of cannabis. After shaking down the rest of the group, Big Mike is told he can leave. As he is surrounded by the police, he walks between two and brushes against one of them (it happens at 3:20 in the video). He is then immediately grabbed and arrested for assaulting a police officer! Big Mike is currently in Valley St. jail in Manchester and is allegedly refusing to identify himself. Remember, in the “land of the free”, refusing to identify yourself will result in you being locked in prison for an indeterminate period of time, as Sam discovered last year.
Here’s the raw footage of Mike’s arrest. If anyone has other footage of the scene (especially Brian’s arrest), please post links to the comments!
My parking ticket saga continues (see the other parts here), as today while at court to support Kurt I was “served” by the friendly Peter “Sturdy” Thomas of the Keene police. Here’s the complaint he foisted upon me, alleging I committed a “VIOLATION” of city ordinance 94-152 B1. As you can see, the original was completely illegible so Sturdy took the time to trace over most of it for me – such service! Basically they are claiming I parked at an expired meter and didn’t pay for the meter.
I’ve been meaning to post my correspondence about this incident with the Keene police’s parking bureau head, Ginger Reyes, and this gives me the perfect opportunity. (I believe she’s the angry-looking blonde parking enforcement person so many Keeniacs are unfortunately too familiar with.) Here’s the situation. (Read on …)
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