After being trounced in the 1st federal circuit court, the Town of Weare and the notoriously corrupt Weare Police Department have settled with Free State Project President Carla Gericke to the tune of $57,500!
After Weare police had arrested her for “wiretapping” for recording a traffic stop then dropped the charges, Carla sued. She had recently won an “interlocutory” appeal case where the 1st circuit decided (again) that there is an established right to record government police doing their job in public and that police cannot claim “qualified immunity” from personal liability when arresting videographers.
The civil case against Weare, the WPD, and the individual officers was remanded back to the federal district court to move ahead to trial, but now that trial has been canceled with the news that Weare has given up and settled the case for over $57,000! Plus, there are no restrictions on her discussing the case, as are typically found with settlements. Congratulations to Carla and her attorneys for this epic win!
Throughout some STOP FREE KEENE!!! members’ War on Chalk, chalk has always been made available to them by liberty activists so that the SFK!!! members can express themselves and add their ideas to the mix, rather than deleting other people’s ideas. Until now, they have refused to participate in the chalking.
Now, in a pleasantly surprising turn of events, one of the 20 silent protesters from a few weeks back has broken the silence and chalked his own message! His message was found this morning outside of the Shire Free Church’s parsonage in Keene. It says “THIS HOUSE IS A FRAUD!”, with an arrow. Rich Paul chalked above it earlier today, adding, “Boston Strong Can Chalk!!!”. The SFK!!!-supporting man was in Central Square on Monday night washing chalk off the sidewalk when he and another local man who was chalking got into a verbal confrontation. The man allegedly claimed to be from Boston and allegedly threatened the local chalker. He was given the moniker of “Boston Strong” as a result. At this time his identity is unknown.
“Boston Strong”
Boston is most certainly the chalker from this morning. Not only did he hold a sign with a similar message in the silent protest, but he also lives a few houses down River Street from the church parsonage. Plus, a man wearing a hoodie was seen leaving Boston’s house, chalking the message, then returning to Boston’s house at approximately 5:17 this morning.
It was during the verbal confrontation at Central Square involving Boston on Monday night that alleged Pedrazas/Pour House employees threatened and attacked the local chalkers. Interestingly, one of the men who threatened and came at the chalkers (who also stole appears to steal and smash Garret’s camera) is from Washington DC. Funny that some people critique Free State Project participants for coming here wanting to live free, all the while people fomenting violence and destruction of artwork in the streets of Keene are also NOT from New Hampshire. (more…)
Darryl witnesses bizarre cop circles in Fla • Uploading one’s raw video to the cloud • Don’t know where Ukraine is? You probably want to bomb it. • Eric adopts some chickens • Cartoon bulls with udders? • SFK!!! plans to improve the community. Without help from the state • Star Trek money • 20 things guys do that woman probably don’t know about • Freerock joins • Show notes, archives, and audio at BlackSheepRock.org
The case dates back to 2010 where Carla was arrested for recording a traffic stop in Weare (home of notoriously corrupt police who have arrested other activists for the same). Police dropped the charges against Carla before trial, which included a “wiretapping” charge. Carla, with the help of liberty attorney Seth Hipple, sued in federal district court. Her suit alleged the Weare police violated her rights, particularly those ostensibly protected by the 1st amendment to the US constitution. Weare PD motioned the district court for “summary judgement” based on claimed “qualified immunity” protecting the officers from liability. The district court denied them qualified immunity, so Weare’s attorneys filed an “interlocutory appeal” to challenge the district court’s decision.
The 1st Circuit US Court of Appeals is the same court from which the Glik decision emanated. Glik is cited multiple times in the 21-page Gericke decision as evidence that the right to record government workers, especially police, is protected by the 1st amendment. The court’s decision makes it clear that the officers do not have “qualified immunity” because they, were they acting as reasonable officers, should have recognized Carla’s right to record the scene.
The appeals court ruled in Carla’s favor and now the case goes back to federal district court to proceed ahead in civil court, with the officers not protected from liability by “qualified immunity”, a protective shield typically given to bureaucrats supposedly to protect them from personal liability from mistaken decisions. Unless the case is settled by the town of Weare or PD, it will proceed. Stay tuned for the latest.
New Hampshire has already firmly established itself as the main source of liberty media for the world and more content continues to be created! It appears that “Shire Liberty News”, a new blog, launched online several months ago. Editor Sandy Pierre positions the blog as “Spotlighting activism in New Hampshire” and the site also features opinion pieces, including the blog’s most recent post, about civil disobedience.
Here’s hoping the new blog will keep the content flowing!
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After being trounced in the 1st federal circuit court, the Town of Weare and the notoriously corrupt Weare Police Department have settled with Free State Project President Carla Gericke to the tune of $57,500!
