Less than 24 hours ago, I had never cop-blocked before.
For the unaware, allow me to describe: the term “cop-block”, coined by CopBlock.org, is the de-escalation of a potentially dangerous situation with police employees, by ensuring that all parties are held accountable for their actions. The main task is filming police interactions, but there’s more: getting names and badge numbers of the employees, repeatedly asking “Am I being detained?” to establish the requirement that there be suspicion of your having committed a crime for a stop to even be taking place, and refraining from saying anything more than “Am I free to go?”, as police are trained (and legally protected) to lie to you in an effort to prompt you to say something that they could use to prosecute you. (more…)
Apparently because Pete, (who has never actually Robin Hooded) one time gave the location of a parking enforcer over a two-way radio and also once spoke to a parking enforcer at some point in the past, he is a valid defendant in this case, according to a recent filing and order from Cheshire superior court.
Graham Colson, a Robin Hooder, was illegally banned from Central Sq. with an unconstitutional and unauthorized-by-statute-or-ordinance “no trespass” order. Later, he was arrested for violating the illegal order and now heroic first amendment attorney Jon Meyer has stepped into the case and filed a motion to dismiss. This court footage is the hearing on said motion, where Meyer proves the “City of Keene” and the police clearly not only violated the constitution but also broke the law and violated due process. Go Jon Meyer!
We’ve been watching with interest a pitched battle playing out in Concord in recent weeks. In that city, police are hoping to use $258,000 in federal Homeland Security money to procure an armored vehicle, a purchase that’s raised eyebrows and voices.
It’s a fight that feels familiar here in the Elm City, where city councilors accepted a similar grant in 2011 to buy a Lenco BearCat Special Mission Public Safety Vehicle (though for $285,000 — did we miss a sale?) (more…)
I was grateful to be asked to moderate the civil disobedience panel this year at Porcfest and so I chose as my panelists the heroic activists who have spent the most time behind bars, Ademo Freeman, Derrick J Freeman, Lauren Canario, and Jim Johnson. It was an excellent panel with some great audience questions. Thanks to Paul and Athena from Red Pill Productions for doing the video work.
Sometimes Cop Blocking is a planned activity. Sometimes it just happens, as it did with new mover Amanda Billyrock and her friends in Manchester:
