I’m not sure about Sam’s charges, as he missed his first court date due to his move back to Texas, but my charges for the 2010 Drinking Game arrest, “disorderly conduct” and “contempt of court”, were both dropped or by the prosecutor. Here’s the video from the original arrests.
As you may recall, liberty activists including myself had engaged in a drinking game in protest of the “open container” ordinance. “Mayor” Dale Pregent interrupted his own meeting to threaten us over it, then had Keene police chief Ken Meola threaten and arrest us. He demanded I either hand over the brown bottle for inspection or leave the meeting. Considering I am not obligated to either consent to a search of my property or leave a public meeting simply because I was engaging in silent protest, I stayed right there and was arrested. The “contempt” charge was levied because I was arrested while on bail for the prior arrests for “trespass” at the jail and for standing in front of a police car, or “obstructing government administration”.
It’s also worth noting that at the 2nd drinking game, Dale Pregent and police ignored the dozen-or-so activists who re-played the game.
Will Dale Pregent and Ken Meola apologize for the illegal arrests? Will the city council issue a proclamation that silent protests will go unmolested in the future? Stay tuned to find out, because I plan to ask via a letter I am dropping off today at city hall.
