As you may be aware, I was arrested for video recording in Palmer, MA’s town hall back in October. At the time, I was given a report from the arresting officer, Raymond Tenczar, indicating he believed I was guilty of “disorderly conduct” for allegedly loudly causing a “disturbance” outside of the room in which the city was going to hold a tax sale. If you watch the video of the arrest, you’ll see that I do raise my voice, but only at the time Tenczar places his hand on me to arrest me.
Apparently, the Palmer police and/or prosecutor realized that they had no case for disorderly conduct, and the misdemeanor charge was dropped. More detail on the charge droppage later in this article.
However, they completely changed the circumstances of the charge and the evidence in their case for the remaining town ordinance “disorderly conduct” violation. Now they are alleging that I was “disorderly” in front of the open house, which happened prior to the tax sale. In an unsigned report, allegedly written by Palmer police officer Sean M Ford, he claims I was yelling at the town attorney and attempting to intimidate him. (more…)
Bright and early tomorrow morning in Concord district court, there will be a trial concerning Garret Ean’s year-plus old contempt of cop bicycle citation. Folks will be traveling from around the Shire to attend, and you’ll get to see Free Concord’s editor grill on the witness stand the CPD sergeant whose juvenile and brutish response to an audio recording inspired the blog’s very first article. More time has passed since the matter being heard tomorrow than passed between the first and second incidents with the badged individual in question. Expect to see the video here of the policeman’s response to tough questions about how and why he executes his job. If you need a laugh in the meantime, check out this Concord Monitor article from October quoting a particular CPD officer as he praises the approval of a BEARCAT attack truck to be delivered by Homeland Security to the small city’s department.
On the federal front, congratulations to Colorado for earlier today becoming the second state to make available to the public legal cannabis. The herb has been greatly marginalized and ignored since its ban via taxation in 1938. Washington became the first state to nullify the federal ban when it implemented a ballot initiative four days ago that was approved by voters in November. While the Washington system maintains the prohibition on cannabis cultivation, Colorado’s statute allows for individuals to garden freely (within limitations).
Dec 16 2012: Full video of the trial published earlier today.
Around 7:15 AM, eight individuals including myself left the Keene Activist Center in Keene, NH in order to make it to Palmer, MA District Court for a 9:00 AM pre-trial hearing for Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live. Four people in the Palmer area also made it to the hearing. Ian was arrested for filming inside of Palmer City Hall during an allegedly public tax sale on October 25, 2012. It was claimed that he was being “disorderly” by filming in the public space.
Upon entering the courthouse, the man operating the security theater (badge #245) asked what Cecelia (of Ladies in Keene) and I were there for, to which I responded, “A hearing.” After further questioning, I noted that it was a pre-trial hearing. Cecelia was told cell phones were not allowed in the courthouse, so she went to return it to the vehicle. Having emptied my pockets before entering the building, I walked through the metal detector and stepped off to the side to wait for my friends. Cecelia and Jay (who runs www.mail-to-jail.com) came through security, but Ian was questioned about why he had a tripod – as that was an indication that he had a camera. Ian shared the notice to record he had filed and convinced the man (badge #245) to hold his equipment at the desk until after the notice was reviewed by the judge; he was let through, without his recording equipment. (more…)
Back in October, I was arrested by Palmer, MA police officer Raymond Tenczar for “disorderly conduct”, for the terrible crime of operating a video camera in town hall. In case you missed the arrest video, here it is.
This morning was the “pre-trial conference” and eight liberty activists from Keene got up bright and early and joined four other liberty-lovers from Massachusetts at Palmer District Court. It was an eventful morning! Nearly every liberty activist was threatened by court staff for trying to bring in cameras, wearing hats, and other non-offenses. The insanity began immediately upon entry to the security area of the courthouse, where half-a-dozen court security agents flipped out over multiple activists entering with their cameras. One officer even came running down the hall and another rolled up quickly in his cruiser to “assist” their cohorts in crushing any hope of transparency or allowing the public to see what goes on inside the court building. Shire TV‘s James Cleaveland was even assaulted by one of the swarming officers as he grabbed at James’ camera. (more…)
On the evening of December 3, the Bradley Manning Support Network sponsored a presentation by Manning’s attorney David Coombs. Coombs played down the media’s role in covering the military tribunal, yet acknowledged the more humane treatment that positive press coverage resulted in after Manning was removed from harsh conditions in Quantico, Virginia and moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. See the full hour video embedded below, featuring Emma Cape, Michael Ratner, and David Coombs. A detailed writeup is available from the Dissenter.
