On Saturday, October 10th, Free State Project early mover and Keenevention keynote speaker Christopher David was peacefully offering a very valuable service to the people of Portsmouth – late night rides home at a far faster and more affordable rate than the local taxi monopoly.
He was picking up some eager customers outside of the Daniel Street Tavern when he was threatened with $500-$1,000 ransom for trying to help them return home.
He recorded some incredible audio of the incident, which you can watch and listen to below.
There’s an absolutely incredible customer rant leveled at a taxi driver who attempts to box David in, which you really have to listen to for yourself. Aside from his shocking directness, the customer also points out,
I took a cab once from here to Hampton, where I’m living, and it was $60. I take an Uber, it’s $28 – it’s a nicer car, and it’s nicer people.
So, why would the city of Portsmouth possibly want to shut down a business that customers enjoy so thoroughly?
Perhaps even more to the point, why would the bouncer at the Daniel Street Tavern (you can leave them a review here, as I have) be chasing down police offers to tell them of an Uber driver trying to get his customer home to safety?
Taxi services on the Seacoast are notoriously slow to respond to customer inquiries, and are also known to shut down before bars have last call. Uber was filling this niche in the marketplace very nicely, until the Portsmouth city council decided to ban Uber this summer.
This leads to a very dangerous situation for all drivers in the Portsmouth area, giving incentive for more drivers to be on the road while impaired. It’s one thing for a city council to attack the people of Portsmouth. That’s pretty much what city councils do. But bouncers at private institutions, who should theoretically have a vested interest in their customer’s safety? It’s downright irresponsible.
If you want to support Christopher in his heroic efforts to nullify the Uber ban in Portsmouth (and perhaps lay a groundwork for nullifying these ridiculous bans worldwide), head over to FreeUber.org and get involved.
For additional coverage of the Free Uber movement in Portsmouth, check out Rights Brigade, a New Hampshire based activism group that has been assisting Christopher in canvassing the city with flyers to raise awareness for the city council’s protectionist schemes.
The criminal gang known as the “city of Portsmouth” is now openly threatening to ticket illegal UBER drivers like Christopher David, who has pledged ongoing civil disobedience. Christopher’s already lawyered up and is ready to record any encounters with Portsmouth police.
Portsmouth city councilor Brad Lown, in an article at Seacoast Online, claims the city gang, “want UBER to be here”. No, what they want is for UBER and its drivers to bow to their unnecessary regulations. They want CONTROL. They want money. He also probably doesn’t want the negative press they’ll get when the cops eventually target Christopher and anyone else brave enough to face a $500 ticket.
The Portsmouth city attorney claims they’ll begin enforcing the ordinance on UBER drivers in the, “very foreseeable near future”, whatever that means. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest in this saga.
This summer, Portsmouth, NH regulated UBER and other ride-sharing services out of the city. UBER’s regional spokesperson described the regulations as, “Draconian” including prohibiting anyone with a misdemeanor conviction within seven years from being able to drive, among other restrictions which have nothing to do with a person’s ability to drive safely. UBER refused to jump through the arbitrary hoops, and as a result is now prohibited from operating in Portsmouth, its drivers facing fines of $500 – $1,000 per day.
In a heroic act of ongoing civil disobedience, Free State Project early mover Christopher David decided to keep driving anyway. Free Keene broke the story when it happened, and he’s since gotten some mainstream media coverage and has launched FREEUBER.org, a site encouraging Portsmouth inhabitants to take action on the issue by contacting city councilors, riding UBER, and driving for UBER. He has even posted fliers promoting his site all over downtown Portsmouth.
Now, he’s coming to speak as our Saturday night Keynote at Keenevention 2015!
I got a sad letter from my attorney this week. He informed me that the Supreme Court of NH upheld the lower court’s decision to deny my application for a license to carry a handgun discreetly. You can read the decision here:
Free Keene broke the news last week about the UBER driver and Free State Project early mover in Portsmouth who has been flagrantly violating the city’s prohibition of the innovative ride-sharing service. Christopher David has courageously stepped out into the limelight and announced to the world, and more specifically the Portsmouth city council and police that he’s continuing to give people illegal rides around the Seacoast city.
Now, mainstream media has picked up the story of Christopher’s heroic civil disobedience in this Seacoast Online story by Elizabeth Dinan. Christopher reports on his facebook that he and another activist have posted 100 flyers around downtown Portsmouth promoting his new website, FREEUBER.org that is encouraging Portsmouth’s inhabitants to contact the city council (it provides their contact info), boycott the snitch cab companies, and sign up as an UBER driver to join the ranks of the civilly disobedient!
Stay tuned here to Free Keene as this saga develops!
Recorded September 9th, 2015
The Rebel Love Crew has returned from the NH Hempfest & Freedom Rally invigorated with good vibes, peace, freedom and love. Topics discussed include Hempfest’s mission, our experience at the festival, best moments, favorite drugs to use there, pro pot Porcupine speakers, experiencing Zach Deputy for the first time while rolling, the Rebel Love campsite, the silent disco, and what we took from the second annual festival. Other topics this week include the recent detention and threats of violence Rob and his Rebel Mistress faced by the hands of the Manchester police and a NH State trooper earlier this week. The Rebel Love Show broadcasts every Tuesday night at 10 pm EST on LRN.FM and Rebelloveshow.com
