“Big Mike” arrived in New Hampshire this week and made good on his promise to bring Keene’s brand of civil disobedience activism to the Manchester area. My understanding of the story is as follows. After calling the police chief to announce his intentions, he walked around a Manchester park for a couple of hours asking people why marijuana is illegal, while holding a bud of it in his hands. No police showed themselves to enforce their statutes, so he proceeded to the police station and had a chat with the secretary, requesting an officer come talk to him about the issue, making it quite clear he was possessing the illicit plant material. After waiting in the lobby for over 30 minutes, he and the other activists decided to call it a day. No officers came over to talk to him, despite the fact that one was in visual range of him, as you can see in this low quality, raw video of the occasion. Hopefully better coverage will be released soon.
Welcome to NH, Big Mike – may civil disobedience begin sprouting up all across the state!
Mike, I've got to hand it to ya; You know how to make an entrance! 🙂 I think the police response was fantastic.
What reason does society have to arrest peaceful people for holding plant matter? I'm sure some of the cops understand the harm caused by the "war on drugs".
Hopefully their indifference will continue and allow further acts to raise public awareness to a more compassionate and humane solution.
A couple of things I want to add… I started at Victory Park, talked with people for about 45 minutes or so. No police showed up so I decided to try talking to people outside the police station. Talked to a few but there wasn't much traffic. One of the activists suggested just walking around downtown so we headed to Elm Street and stayed outside of city hall while I spoke to people for about an hour. No police. We then headed to the Manchester district court and talked with a few people. No police. At this point it was… Read more »
Fantastic! GOod idea for a protest, very brave. And cops ignored you! How completely arbitrary (which isn't surprising) after what they did to Andrew Carroll!
Fascinating approach.
Big Mike is my new favorite activist.
Hey Big Mike,
How did you fit your gigantic cojones through the police station doorway?
Comment by bob
August 20, 2009 @ 7:38 am
Hey Big Mike,
How did you fit your gigantic cojones through the police station doorway?
My thoughts exactly, Bob. If there is an upcoming "Brass Balls" award then Big Mike gets it or there is absolutely no justice in the world.
I'm sure the other "Big Mike" is smiling down on you!
FYI: NH Brass Balls isn't a top-down award; if you think someone has displayed extraordinary courage in their journey towards freedom, nominate them or vote for them at NH Brass Balls.
Thanks for the support all. I'm hoping to demonstrate that defending myself is the actual activism. If I can take it to the top I will. The arrest part will suck and I'm not looking forward to it. If I get an interview with chief Mara, I hope he chooses to ignore me like his officers did.
Welcome Mike! Very courageous, I was thinking brass balls as well right after I learned about it.
There's no way to tell how they will react until you give them something (peaceful) to react too. Thanks for showing us their response to a certain plant.
This is prime for a story in the Union Leader with a long comment thread to follow!
Thanks and again Welcome to NH!
Thanks Mike. That took courage. I assume they will eventually end up arresting you. I hope they don't hold you too long.
I don't know how realistic this is, but I'd suggest being careful about being picked up at the worst possible time. I think some people have had their cars, and/or homes, stolen from them when possessing some sort of prohibited substance.
I agree with KAT. You are where you want to be. He would be with you if he could.
Big Mike is a hero.
This CD has to be my favorite so far, not only for the fact that Mike went into the PD with the bud, but that he managed to walk back out without being kidnapped and held for ransom.
Simply awesome.
Free Minds Media's report.
http://freemindsmedia.org/index.php?option=com_co…
Well done, Mike. Actions like this make it quite clear how absurd some laws are. People see you not hurting or bothering anyone, yet you're breakin' the law!
//does not compute?!?!alfwiuehfawl///
As Ayn Rand loves to say, contradictions don't exist. When you see a contradiction… check your premises.
just my thoughts…i don't think the ManchPD *ignored you*, as much as they wisely chose to not engage in contact/conflict with you. Agreeing w/others here, I think that the *GROUP OF PEOPLE*, with *VIDEO*, + the generally peaceful and lighthearted mood of everybody, *ALL* contributed to the success of this action. Not to take any glory away from Mike, just want to show that it was a well-thought out group effort! CONGRATULATIONS to ALL OF YOU! (Um, i couldn't really see the "bud"…what was it, like maybe 1/2 gram???…Indica? Sativa? Seeds?…hey, stop by, i've got a bubbler…uh, wait a minute,… Read more »
Good point, Elkfart. Thanks to everyone involved!
It actually wasn't all peaceful. One of the activists sat on the counter in the lobby. A woman behind the glass knocked on the glass and requested he not sit on the counter, in which he complied without hesitation. Within seconds a nice man we dubbed Sgt. Roid-Rage storms out and begins shouting at the activist to behave and after a brief exchange of not-so-pleasantries (I don't remember now exactly what he said but the activist's response was pretty funny) the guy yells something about how the place is not a zoo. You think he knew there were cages in… Read more »
Wow, I find it funny that a cop walked right past him and didn't even say anything.
Mike, I'm suggesting that you send copies of every letter to everybody. So all can see what's going on. As for Governor Smiley-faces' veto of the "medical marijauna" bill recently, I am glad he did veto it. I think it was very poorly written, almost as if it was written to be vetoed. *2 ounces* every 10 days is a *LOT* of weed, especially medical grade. Only maybe Cheech & Chong *TOGETHER* could smoke *6* ounces/month! Commercial grade/schwag maybe, but not medical grade! And the whole "care-center" thing, or whatever they are called, I also think is stupid. I still… Read more »
Jraxis finished the vid
http://jraxis.blip.tv/file/2507590
Mike,
You sure made a bang on your move to New Hampshire!
Tamara
Come to Moultonborough NH and try doing this…. If you want to stir something up go to the moultonborough police! It will be like hitting a bees nest with a stick good luck