I went to the Manchester City Council meeting this evening, along with about 35 others in support of Manchester activists speaking out about the unjust arrests and stolen properties from Saturday evening. There were several differences in the way their meetings were held as opposed to Keene (such as the mayor didn’t say a word to anyone addressing him), and I must say I found their attitudes and overall demeanor disgusting and unprofessional.
At the meeting, anyone was allowed to speak about any topic of their choice for 3 minutes, but one had to sign up before the meeting began. An alderman/woman (aka city council member) then called people up one by one to speak. Not one alderman looked directly at the speaker, and in fact often rolled their eyes, ruffled through papers, or chatted amongst themselves. The mayor himself appeared tired and unwilling to listen to the citizens of Manchester voicing their concerns.
On the other hand, the people that spoke about Saturday’s arrests did a splendid job. They raised a lot of great points about how far is too far, police accountability, and using tax payers’ money to arrest people chalking and not showing identification (neither which are illegal). Many people that had their cameras or phones confiscated for “evidence” (why is beyond me as they have their own surveillance) spoke out and kindly asked the city council to tell the officers to return their property. The speakers were professional, eloquent, and I personally was very impressed!
As a protest to Dave Ridley getting his camera taken away indefinitely, he walked into the meeting gagged with a sign on his forehead saying “MPD gagged indie press.” This draws my attention as the MPD did not take WMUR’s cameras when they showed up. Hmmmm. A few people also brought a large banner saying “LIBERTY- To Big To Fail” and held it up the entire city council meeting.
In the end, everything the speakers talked about was “put under advisement” and the meeting was adjourned. Ademo, Pete, and Beau from Liberty on Tour made an attempt to interview a couple of the officers that were there about Saturday’s uproar, but they were unable to get much from the officers.
I strongly urge people to write to the mayor of Manchester about the violation of one’s constitutional rights and help these activists get their property back! You can make a difference by contacting the mayor! Or you could go right to the source of the problem and speak to Officer David Mara, chief of police in Manchester at (603) 668-8711.
It’s bothersome to me that these ‘aldermen,’ put into their position by a vote of Manchester residents, felt this wasn’t an important enough issue to even ACT like they cared. It’s bothersome to know that the police officers are taking phones and cameras away from people on a whim-and getting away with it. THIS IS WRONG! Wake up, Manchester City Council!
