I organized an NHexit event in Portsmouth this Friday called “NH Independence Celebration“. People from Keene, Manchester, Nashua, and Portsmouth attended. Dave Ridley of New Hampshire’s #2 YouTube channel shot video from a safe distance across the street. Shire Dude live-streamed video while making commentary and chatting with curious passers by. One person waved a blue flag with a peace sign. Another waved a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and a sign that read, “I LOVE AMERICA, NOT D.C.” Some conducted a 3-question poll about secession from a random sampling of Portsmouth’s downtown. Music by The Beatles played from a small portable speaker. In total the event was 1 hour.
Poll respondents were asked to read 3 short statements and rate their level of agreement or disagreement with each one. 17 people participated. The results are as follows (click image to enlarge):
Shire Dude’s live-stream begins with an armed agent of the federal government speaking with some of the people celebrating. Apparently he warned that the celebration had to stay on the sidewalk and not linger onto what he claimed is property of Washington.
Some attendees of the celebration communicated across the street using inexpensive 2-way radios. This eliminated the need to shout or walk across the street and hold up traffic or disturb those on the sidewalk. 2-way radios are fast, reliable tools that a person can easily use to communicate with others in the event of an emergency, for example an unexpected arrest.
I intentionally refrained from using the term “protest” to describe this event, both on the Facebook page and in the press releases distributed to local media. It is more fun to celebrate my freedom with music and flags than protest against the invisible tyranny of faceless bureaucrats. Besides, they down own me; it’s all good.
So far, NHexit appears to be a decentralized secessionist movement. No one is in charge, but a lot of the same faces are showing up to these events and some are taking the initiative to organize one themselves. The desire that unites us is New Hampshire’s peaceful separation from the United States.
Here are some pictures from the event:
