As one of the behind the scenes people around here, you aren’t terribly likely to see me at an event such as Monday’s deplorable mass arrests of liberty activists and members of the press in Keene. Instead, I do things like upgrade the software that runs Free Keene, and participate in other things which make activists on the front lines more effective at getting their message out. One of these things in particular deserves some attention in the wake of what happened on Monday, and that’s Porcupine 411.
This morning I had a nice conversation with Superintendent (and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker) Rick Van Wickler of the Cheshire County Jail. According to him, Sam is eating but apparently wasn’t until just recently, and that he is still not cooperating so therefore has not been classified. That means he can’t be in population, therefore he is likely in solitary confinement until he decides to submit to some of their questions and a TB test.
I asked Rick what level of control he has over releasing inmates and he explained that he answers to the judges with one exception. (more…)
We tell ourselves that the contrived authoritarian monopoly on violence we call “government” is a necessary evil. When we feel victimized, used, and yet powerless to do anything about it, deluding ourselves into believing that government is necessary and ultimately beneficial may seem like a crucial relief valve. It’s already getting harder and harder to maintain that delusion.
That’s what we got for our incident 53 hours ago. But if that’s all we get, we have failed badly. The people of this city spent 2 weeks talking about a yellow building downtown. Do not let them forget April 13, and why it happened. It happened not because of a group of people wanting to provoke the giant. It happened because a bunch of people that don’t understand their own rules are making them up and handcuffing people. Lance of the court does not even know what the order on that wall means, and he is having people arrested because of it.
Did 5 people get arrested for nothing?
Is Sam suffering for nothing?
Sometimes I wonder… are we risking our futures for nothing?
Make sure the community continues to hear about this. Call Dan Mitchel’s morning show. I know you will call Talkback. E-mail Anika at the Sentinel (aclark@keenesentinel.com) and thank her for her bravery in covering this, as well as giving her updates about Sam. Videotape yourself talking to a camera and submit it to Cheshire TV! No joke; if that’s all you can do, do it.
This morning I had a nice conversation with Superintendent (and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker) Rick Van Wickler of the Cheshire County Jail. According to him, Sam is eating but apparently wasn’t until just recently, and that he is still not cooperating so therefore has not been classified. That means he can’t be in population, therefore he is likely in solitary confinement until he decides to submit to some of their questions and a TB test.
