Well, besides the usual antics (turning on the lightbar then driving, perhaps speeding, ahead so we’d follow, then turning off the lightbar, etc), the KPD was friendly as usual Saturday night. The police presence seemed heavy, but they claimed it was a normal Saturday night.
As before, some drunk white kids did not appreciate or like copwatchers. After watching their friend pepper sprayed and held to the ground, we approached an SUV with 3 people remaining inside. The girl in the back very much appreciated us, but the guy next to her got angry at us. Nick told him that we were there to make sure the cops didn’t hurt him. This combined with the soothing of the girl who liked us being there did calm him down. The girl in the front seat however, was not pleased at all (her boyfriend was the pepper sprayee). She was yelling at us, and particularly 280, who had the camera, to go away. The girl in the back seat tried to calm her down, while the guy was asking for a lighter. The girl in back also wanted a lighter, but the police would not allow 280 to approach.
After the girl up front refused to calm down, we left the scene to watch from a nearby parking lot. After the cops began to leave, we again approached the SUV. I apologized to the woman in front who was still hysterical and now began to threaten us. We managed to give a lighter and a WARNING flier to the girl in the back. Even though the guy had just been given a free lighter, the antics of the woman in front had whipped up his anger again and he stepped out of the vehicle and indicated he was ready to fight all four of us. By this time KPD was already back and intervening with him. We all decided it was time to go. Here’s the video:
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Cheshire sheriffs (uniformed men with guns and tazers) are searching the streets of Keene for the peaceful NH Free Press publisher, Russell Kanning. Below you’ll see video that Lauren Canario captured of her husband Jim Johnson successfully refusing to provide ID when asked:
See, the problem with you Free Keene folks is you don’t know your place. There is a heirarchy and you don’t respect your superiors. The knights of the kingdom have special privileges. The laws apply to you but not to us. What’s it going to take before it sinks in? How much more do we have to intimidate you before you submit and accept your place in this fiefdom?
Are you going to cause trouble? We are just trying to keep the peace. Obey blindly and there will be peace. Quit forcing us to punish you.
Now look what you made me do! You’ve left me with no choice but to put you in a cage and make an example of you before you start giving all the other serfs ideas.
A question that’s been asked several times is what have acts of civil disobedience accomplished in Keene, New Hampshire. I know of a couple of incidents where people refused to pay traffic fines on moral grounds and they got out of paying those fines. Those are small victories. I also have my larger expectations. For instance, I expect local law enforcement and the local justice system to exercise more restraint when they realize that their usual railroading and intimidation tactics don’t work on some of their victims. Instead, we make their jobs harder when they attempt to violate our rights. We don’t want to be in jail, of course, but we don’t necessarily let that threat deter us. Instead we bring attention to it. We stand up to them, defiant yet peaceful, and use it to point out the violence of the system. In turn, I expect that to affect a culture shift whereby many others become more aware of their rights and they’ll become emboldened to stand up for those rights. These are noble goals. But I can’t really point at anything significant and concrete that we’ve accomplished as of yet.
I don’t fault the victim of a street burglar who hands over his wallet rather than risk his life. For the same reason, I don’t fault the person who concedes to the demands of violent governments. We all have to decide for ourselves where our boundaries lie. Having said that, I’ve gotten a better sense of the risks and sacrifices of civil disobedience and what responses to expect from local agents of the State in my own role as a supporter of other activists. What I’ve experienced is my own safety boundaries being gradually pushed further and further out. (Read On…)
Thanks to Carlos Miller for uncovering this story about Keene PD’s Sgt. and prosecutor Eli Rivera. As you can see in the article, Rivera’s license plate says “PEACE”. However, in his job as prosecutor he regularly destroys the peaceful lives of individuals who have not harmed another person or their property. The article also says he has worked “to ensure law enforcement was viewed as a partner, not an adversary.” If police were our partners, for example, our friends and family members would not be being imprisoned for possessing plant matter or other chemicals. Drivers would be allowed to use their good judgment instead of being harassed and ticketed for speeding or not coming to a complete stop. People would be free to live their lives as they wish as long as they don’t harm others. The voluntary society wouldn’t be utopia, but there would be a lot more peace than there is today, where the police are the adversary of freedom. They could choose to behave differently. In private conversations some have admitted they would like to do the right thing, but they are scared they might lose their jobs, because those higher ranking than them are not interested in peace. They want more conflict, because conflict fills their jails and prisons and fills state coffers with fines extracted mostly from lower-income victims of the oppressive police state.
In the interests of promoting peace, I invited Rivera out for coffee and he accepted. Then, he canceled and never rescheduled. When I recently encountered him in person and asked when he’d let me take him out, he said “When all of this is over”, referring to the prosecutions of liberty activists here in Keene.
Eli, please stop prosecuting peaceful people. That would make Keene the most peaceful place on earth, and the police would start getting respect from people again, since they would only be going after people who do harm. Doesn’t that make sense?
FreeKeene.com’s newest service to the community is online. Now you can tune in to our 24/7 scanner feed of the Keene Police Department! It’s always available at 
A question that’s been asked several times is what have acts of civil disobedience accomplished in Keene, New Hampshire. I know of a couple of incidents where people refused to pay traffic fines on moral grounds and they got out of paying those fines. Those are small victories. I also have my larger expectations. For instance, I expect local law enforcement and the local justice system to exercise more restraint when they realize that their usual railroading and intimidation tactics don’t work on some of their victims. Instead, we make their jobs harder when they attempt to violate our rights. We don’t want to be in jail, of course, but we don’t necessarily let that threat deter us. Instead we bring attention to it. We stand up to them, defiant yet peaceful, and use it to point out the violence of the system. In turn, I expect that to affect a culture shift whereby many others become more aware of their rights and they’ll become emboldened to stand up for those rights. These are noble goals. But I can’t really point at anything significant and concrete that we’ve accomplished as of yet.
Thanks to 
