Tonight, the Keene city council could have made history as the first ever political designation to reject arms manufacturer LENCO and the federal government’s pushing of the BEARCAT police attack “tank“.
They could have heard the voices of the people who were crying out against this intimidating monstrosity that will inevitably militarize the Keene police even more, and as city councilor Carl Jacobs appropriately pointed out, distance them further from the community they supposedly serve.
They could have. But they didn’t. The BEARCAT passed 9 to 4.
Despite the outpouring of opposition in the community against the BEARCAT, not a single councilor changed their vote from December, when they originally voted in favor of it. That vote was 13 to 1. Why were the numbers different? The new city councilors who took office in January were the ones to vote against it. So, the councilors who originally voted for it completely disregarded all the input they received from the community in various forms:
In a Keene Sentinel online poll, 72% said they city council was wrong to accept the BEARCAT. (Only 12% favored the BEARCAT in the poll.)
City councilor Bettina Chadbourne related during tonight’s meeting that of the 80 phone calls she received from various members of the community, (old, young, business owners, men, women, etc) only ten calls were in favor of the BEARCAT.
A random walk down Main St. would show anyone who bothered to ask people that the supermajority of people oppose the BEARCAT.
Most letters to the editor of the Keene Sentinel were in opposition to the BEARCAT.
During the meeting the councilors who favored the BEARCAT got no applause from the packed room, while the councilors who spoke in opposition to the BEARCAT were blasted with applause.
The pro-BEARCAT minority in Keene is desperately trying to make the anti-BEARCAT sentiment in Keene appear to only be from those associated with this website. This is, of course, pure nonsense. Anyone who bothers to talk to the average Keeniac will see the truth. The truth is, the supermajority of people in Keene oppose the BEARCAT. Just take a walk down Main St. and ask them.
Here are three ladies that have nothing to do with Free Keene, all who work downtown, sporting the new “Thanks But No Tanks” t-shirts – now for sale at Corner News:
I just got off the phone with a local business owner. I was told that while at least a few city councilors have committed to voting against the BEARCAT, others have said they are on the fence. The vote is tomorrow night, March 1st. Please take the time to call as many of the city councilors as possible and tell them how you feel about the BEARCAT. Reports are that the pro-BEARCAT people are calling too and are trying to make this out to be a Free Keene-only issue. We know that the BEARCAT is opposed by the supermajority of Keene and FK is merely but one aspect of the opposition to this, but the councilors may not realize this, especially with the misinformation campaign being waged by the FK haters.
Here are the city councilors’ numbers. Please don’t delay. If we turn around this vote, we can make history by being the only place to ever refuse a BEARCAT, and perhaps we could start a trend of more refusals around the country.
Janis Manwaring 352-7185
Dave Richards 352-1084
Phil Jones 358-5016
James Duffy 357-8761
June Donegan 357-3827
Dave Meader 357-1340
Thom Powers 357-3738
Chris Roberts 352-1105
Dale Pregent 352-6736
Ruth Venezia 352-4822
Carl Jacobs 352-0421
Bettina Chadbourne 852-6173
Terry Clark~ AGAINST IT
If a councilor expresses support for the BEARCAT, you may want to inform them that you will campaign against them if they run for re-election.
P.S. You can buy “Thanks but No Tanks” T-shirts now at Corner News! Please attend Thursday night’s meeting at 7pm in city hall, but show up early to get a seat. Last time they stopped allowing people inside due to the large numbers of attendees. Bring a sign or wear a TBNT shirt, because you won’t be allowed to speak at this meeting. See you there.
If you have an hour to kill and don’t mind spending it hearing me talking about photography rights, you might want to check out my talk at the 2012 New Hampshire Liberty Forum, which was just posted online.
I talk about my experiences running Photography is Not a Crime, including what motivated me to launch it.
The trip was a great experience, especially when I visited Keene Monday morning with some of the activists who had been banned from the Cheshire County Courthouse because they used cameras inside the building.
There is no state law that bans video recording inside courthouses. (more…)
Tonight, the Keene city council could have made history as the first ever political designation to reject arms manufacturer LENCO and the federal government’s pushing of the BEARCAT police attack “tank“.
I just got off the phone with a local business owner. I was told that while at least a few city councilors have committed to voting against the BEARCAT, others have said they are on the fence. The vote is tomorrow night, March 1st. Please take the time to call as many of the city councilors as possible and tell them how you feel about the BEARCAT. Reports are that the pro-BEARCAT people are calling too and are trying to make this out to be a Free Keene-only issue. We know that the BEARCAT is opposed by the supermajority of Keene and FK is merely but one aspect of the opposition to this, but the councilors may not realize this, especially with the misinformation campaign being waged by the FK haters.
