Last night around midnight, an NH state trooper pulled over some young men just outside the LRN.FM studio in Keene, NH. The officer must be new to the force, as there are about a dozen liberty-oriented folks who live on this street corner, which means that at any time of the day or night, it’s likely someone is awake and will notice. Renee and I spotted the pullover and after getting on some warm clothing, given it was about zero degrees Fahrenheit, we immediately responded. Here’s the video:
As we approached the scene, we heard the officer badgering a guy in the back of the car about ID. As I understand it, it’s not a requirement for anyone in a car except the driver to show ID, so I told the officer he doesn’t need to be asking for that information. Pretty much right as we arrived, he went back to his cruiser. I then approached the driver and asked if he was okay with us recording the scene. He was.
Sometimes people are embarrassed by police pullovers and don’t want people to see them in a video, so they decline. In this case, the officer appeared to be attempting to intimidate his victims, and they seemed welcoming to our presence. The driver then accepted a Cop Block WARNING know-your-rights flyer from me.
Moments later, the officer cut the guys loose with what appeared to be a warning, and they both left. Back inside, I called State Police Troop C and inquired about who was driving car 915. Troopers Tucker and Thomas Burn refused to give me the ostensibly public information, with trooper Burn claiming he didn’t feel comfortable giving it out, and passing the buck to shift supervisor Philip Gaiser. (You may remember Gaiser as one of the officers who lied about James Cleaveland during his trial for “disorderly conduct” and “resisting arrest”.) I left a message on Gaiser’s voicemail and it has yet to be returned. Audio from those calls is included in the above video.
There’s no doubt that having libertarian activists living close by each other is effective and helps protect our community. That’s why the Free Streets Project was founded, to encourage liberty migrants to the Shire to concentrate in specific neighborhoods in various cities. Concentrating activism is a proven strategy for success on the state level, now we’re trying it on the neighborhood level. There are real benefits to having people of a shared belief right next door or just down the street. Come here and join us and find out for yourself! In Manchester, look for homes for rent or sale in the Amory St. neighborhood and in Keene look near Leverett and River streets.
Pete, I would argue that the greatest weapon that all authority has isn't the "gun to the head" but rather it's *perceived* legitimacy by the people. That's why I'm very skeptical about the voluntaryist position; it doesn't account for the fact that people have been very conditioned to accept authority or the fact that everyone has their own situation, context, cultural norms, etc. How would a voluntaryist respond to this problem?
Yeah, It seems Pete is away, so I'll add some dialog, Julia. The "perceived" legitimacy or authority follows the "gun to the head", the threats of imprisonment, or other State-imposed sanctions, even if it is only a tolerant resignation, like the cliche, "death and taxes." Violent opposition to the State will usually be crushed. But even if successful, a violent revolution or civil war will usually result in a new Central State that can quickly become worse than the first, like after the American Revolution. A quick primer on the topic might include Murry Rothbard's article, Anatomy of the State.… Read more »