Here’s an editorial published in Sunday’s Sentinel about the upcoming superior court decision on the Robin Hood of Keene case. Right out of the gate, the Sentinel poorly describes Robin Hooding, saying:
“the Robin Hooders are libertarian-minded activists involved with, or following, the Free Keene podcasts that emerged as an offshoot of the Free State Project.”
Robin Hooding was started in 2009 by Lauren Canario. While she is a Free State Project early mover, she moved here before Free Keene started in 2006. Further, Free Keene is not related to the FSP except for the fact that some of the bloggers (not all) are FSP early movers. The Free State Project exists to convince liberty lovers to move to New Hampshire and get active. After that, it has no influence over what those activists do here in NH. I created Free Keene to report on activism in the area and news of interest to potential movers. There are no Free Keene podcasts, though some bloggers at Free Keene do have shows – they were not created at my behest – Free Keene is just one way for them to get more visibility for their show(s).
They also walk along with the officers, calling them names, advising them to quit and filming them for the Free Keene website.
Who is they? If one person has called the parking enforcers names years ago, does that mean all Robin Hooders behaved the same way then or now? Certainly not. I’ve never seen any Robin Hooder call them names. There’s an allegation that Graham Colson called one a name, but he is no longer Robin Hooding. There’s video of Chris Cantwell doing it from years ago, but he also has never been an official Robin Hooder. If this libelous accusation were true, there’d be plenty of video evidence. None of which was ever shown (besides Cantwell) at any court hearing. Just because the government agents say something is true, doesn’t mean it’s true. What a shame the Sentinel never bothered to investigate the city’s lies before regurgitating them publicly.
At the same time, it seems wildly unfair to subject hardworking city employees to frequent abuse. One officer has already quit and others say they’ve needed counseling to deal with the frequent bullying.
Again, what frequent abuse and bullying? Where’s the evidence for these claims? This is just plain false. Besides, what about the frequent bullying of Keene’s motorists by the parking enforcers? Why is that okay? They are threatening and hurting people every day, but they get a pass because it’s their job? Also the counseling only came AFTER the city filed their lawsuit, which was the same time the parking enforcers stopped being friendly. It’s all a lie and the Sentinel has bought it hook, line, and sinker.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest on the Robin Hood saga.
