As many readers of FreeKeene.com are aware, Ademo Freeman’s physical body is now caged. His crime? Well, there is none, as ‘crime’ implies a violation of the law. Ademo did not do that — he did not cause harm to another person. He is, however, guilty of violating legalese — the arbitrary, convoluted dictates penned by some busy bodies and enforced by an unthinking chain of their colleagues.
As Ian Freeman wrote here on FreeKeene.com over 16 months ago:
Cop Block founder and Free Keene blogger Ademo Freeman has been arrested while driving in Lebanon, Ohio by Ohio State Police. Despite Ademo not consenting to a search, trooper Jeffrey Martin claimed that because he allegedly smelled the odor of cannabis, that he had probable cause to search.
After that road pirate interaction, in which over 20 pounds of cannabis were discovered in the vehicle Ademo was driving, he was threatened with the prospect of spending decades caged. After weighing his options, on April 10th of this year, Ademo took a plea deal. The ‘distribution’ charge hanging over his head was tossed and he pled guilty to possessing cannabis. He’s due to be free(r) on November 27th of this year.
During Ademo’s less-than 10 minute legal land appearance in April even Robert S. Fischer — the person donning a black robe that some refer to as ‘your honor’ — agreed with Ademo’s statement that he didn’t deserve to be in a cage. Sadly, Fischer acted otherwise and directed his colleagues to transport Ademo to exactly such a place. Yet the fact that enforcers of this legalese are speaking against it so matter-of-factly speaks volumes. Due to decades of pushback this senseless war on drugs / war on people / war on an individuals’ right to alter their conscience seems to be reaching its terminus.*
In a 2014 interview with Wired Edward Snowden said that we can end mass surveillance today — not through politics, but through use of encryption. It’s why I use the email service Tutanota and the smarthphone app Signal and find value in the site PrivacyTools.io. Yet, sending some love to Ademo, who I’ve shared many adventures with since we first met almost a decade ago, was worthy of a plain text exception.
So a couple weeks back I sent Ademo a letter. Knowing full well that his captors may help themselves to the prose, I was sure to include some content that I hoped would resonate with them. Not by being accusatory or demeaning but, akin to the tact taken at BeyondTheBadge.xyz, by plainly recognizing and unpacking the structure and incentives of the system to which they currently lend their allegiance. To hopefully, in some small way, act as a bellows to the flame of their conscience and motivate internal reflection.
Last week I got a response from Ademo. He too took the opportunity to present his captors with a perspective to consider — a quote attributed to Gandhi on the envelope:
Despite his physical confinement, Ademo sounds like he’s a good place. He has been reading, working out, and not too surprising due to his outgoing personality, befriending others. Indeed, he’s been using the opportunity to grow, to better himself both physically and mentally. Indeed, a better response could not have been received.
If you have the time and interest to exchange some thoughts with Ademo there are two ways to go about it:
- Via email. Visit jpay.com, create a profile, fund your account, and locate Ademo via his ID: A743397. Note that his birth name is Adam Mueller.
Via snail mail. Send your letter to:
Adam Mueller #743397
Noble Correctional Institution
15708 McConnelsville Road
Caldwell, OH 43724
Ademo may be moved to a halfway house in the future. When that happens this post will be updated with his new address. UPDATE: Ademo is slated to be moved to a halfway house on July 10, 2018. Please do not send him mail to the address above. When his new mailing address is known it will be updated here.
It has been heartening to hear others, including Ian Freeman and Joshua Scott Hotchkin, have already written to Ademo. Thanks in advance to those of you who make the effort!
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*The harm caused by people obeying draconian prohibitionist policies has not just harmed millions within the political boundaries of the U.S. but has had negative unintended consequences elsewhere. Consider just two examples: the 17+ year occupation of folks wearing U.S. flag-laden outfits in Afghanistan who seek to control opium production and distribution and the fact that in less than 10 years over 100,000 in Mexico have lost their lives as lucrative supply routes are fought over. Ted Galen Carpenter’s Bad Neighbor Policy goes more in-depth on this topic concerning Central and South America. For a broader look at the far-reaching, meddling impact of these DC-based criminals see William Blum’s Killing Hope.
