For the first time since being caged, Ross Ulbricht — no stranger to readers of FreeKeene.com — candidly, and powerfully spoke out. In this 25-minute audio recording he:
Bitcoin Gandhi Marches Across NH For Crypto6
Libertarian activist Dave Ridley has taken it upon himself to lead a march across New Hampshire in the hopes of bringing attention to an oppressed group of activists currently under attack by federal authorities for peacefully resisting the violence of the state.
Following in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi, a ‘terrorist’ leader in British ruled India, Dave has dressed the part calling himself, Bitcoin Gandhi, and marching in kind to raise awareness about the libertarian plight and migration that has brought together thousands of like-minded individuals to New Hampshire.
Mahatma Gandhi was an anti-colonial nationalist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead a successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule. He in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi led a 24-day march challenging the British-imposed salt tax in the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to leave India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India.
Speech & March Led By Bitcoin Gandhi From The Raided Mighty Moose Mart and Bitcoin Embassy In Keene, NH To The U.S. District Of New Hampshire Courthouse
Like in the case of Mahatma Gandhi a group which has become known as the Crypto6 has been leading the way in peacefully resisting the violence of state and federal powers over the past decade. As part of the Free State Project and larger libertarian migration movement the Crypto6 moved to New Hampshire in the hope of changing the state and ridding it of the violence inherent thereof. Unfortunately this has not gone over well with many of the violent actors in power and these individuals have taken to an extreme dislike of the ideas of liberty.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2021, federal and local agents kicked the doors in at the Free Talk Live studio, Bitcoin Embassy NH and Shire Free Church, arresting 6 individuals and confiscating several Bitcoin vending machines, computers and other personal items. Some might say these individuals deserved what they got- after all the state slandered their names with false accusations of unlicensed money transmission, money laundering, and wire fraud. This however has already been demonstrated in hearings to be patently false and of which many other false accusations including that of violence ruled on. The judge agreed for instance with the lawyer of Ian Freeman in that he was not in fact a danger as the prosecution argued releasing him after 70 days of confinement.
This isn’t the Crypto6’s first rodeo with the authorities however. After a decade of nonviolent activism both Ian Freeman, Nobody (formally known as Rich Paul), and others have been targeted by both state and federal authorities. In may of 2012 the FBI setup a sting with the help of the state to ensnare Nobody. FBI agents were waiting at the local Keene PD and upon arrival offered Nobody a deal he couldn’t possibly refuse- or so they thought. They told him face spending the rest of his life in prison or wear a wire into the Keene Activist Center. After refusing and taking his case to trial he was convicted of selling a small amount of weed and spent a year locked up up.
In March of 2016 the FBI were at it again. Two weeks after Mark Edge went live on nationally syndicated radio accusing the FBI of being hypocrites in their handling of the largest child pornography bust of the decade FBI agents stormed the studios of Free Talk Live. This time the FBI simply lied, obtaining a warrant to search under the guise that someone had downloaded child pornography-but explicitly slandering the name of a leading activist Ian Freeman and his radio show. This attempt at undermining the show largely failed. Everyone knew Ian advocated peace and was a staunch advocate against the use of violence. After some legal wrangling the FBI was forced to admit defeat and return computers seized. This however did not deter the FBI and had continued hunting for something to charge him with, and those surrounding him.
In spite of Ian Freeman’s immaculate legal and operational record the FBI once again pursued him and those closest to him for ‘crimes’ involving cryptocurrency. Not unknown to the government Ian Freeman worked to ensure compliance of his churches cryptocurrency vending operation through the obtainment of legal counsel and petitioning of the government to change New Hampshire law on cryptocurrency. Thanks to the participation of Free Staters, those who moved to NH as part of the migration, New Hampshire law did get changed making all operations clearly legal under state and federal law.
For much of this march Dave Ridley has been calling for the state and federal government to stop the violence against the Crypto6 by going around to police stations, federal buildings, and other government offices to ask bureaucrats to discontinue their participation in and cooperation of the federal governments activities. Unfortunately mostly to no avail.
Like Mahatma Gandhi on June 2nd, 2021 Dave Ridley concluded his 24-day march as Bitcoin Gandhi by committing an act of civil disobedience. Dave and around two dozen other activists gathered at the US District Courthouse in Concord, NH to break an unjust anti-speech law, fed speech-restriction §102-74.415, that prohibits the handing of grievances to federal authorities. This act of civil disobedience was chosen for its apparent and blatantly unconstitutional nature and having been a law routinely used against activists on past occasions. In fact this wouldn’t be the first time Dave Ridley himself has been arrested or convicted for breaking this law. This time however the federal government didn’t want the negative publicity such an arrest would bring to the cause of the Crypto6 and thereby sent out a public relations expert to deny it’s very existence.
To contribute to the Crypto6 legal fundraiser, follow the ongoing developments in the Crypto6 case, or purchase a Crypto6 fundraiser t-shirt, “Bitcoin Is NOT A Crime: Free The Crypto6” check out the TheCrypto6.com.
Ian Freeman
Almost two months after his arrest by the FBI regarding cryptocurrency related charges, host of Free Talk Live Ian Freeman has been granted bail.
The decision came after a half hour zoom hearing before Judge Joseph Laplante. When discussing the matter of cash bail, the prosecution had originally suggested $200,000 but alleged that Freeman could have millions of dollars in hidden assets. Judge Laplante stated that he did not want to be a vehicle for discovery for either side and eventually set cash bail at $200,000 but allowed for the Shire Free Church to put up two properties as collateral to insure that Freeman doesn’t flee.
Freeman’s defense attorney Mark Sisti mentioned that New Hampshire is suffering a shortage of bail bondsmen and that it was not a likely option for Freeman.
During the hearing Judge Laplante spoke directly to Freeman and spoke plainly, saying that he was accused of a “white collar crime” and isn’t a violent danger to his community. Laplante stated that he agreed with the Magistrate’s decision to deny Freeman bail but now he believes that Freeman will not be difficult to monitor, and added: “the leash is going to be short”.
“Don’t be tempted to test US probation by pushing the edge of the envelop,” Judge Laplante said to Freeman regarding continuing his cryptocurrency trading business after release.
Judge Laplante also stressed how the conditions aren’t set up for Freeman to fail but rather to make sure he makes it to his 2022 court date.
One “deal breaking” condition of the release is that all of the firearms in the building Freeman will be living in must be removed for the safety of the probation officer.
The prosecution had no objections nor did Freeman and Judge Laplante said he suspects the orders would be ready by tomorrow.
Story written by Vincent Moore. Posted with permission. Original source: https://vincentmoore.substack.com/p/breaking-ian-freeman-granted-bail
This past Tuesday new mover Bonnie got fully initiated into the community with her first FBI raid. It was 6 am, and her roommate was yelling “get down stairs” and the whole house was loud. She grabs a robe and Coconut, her dog. She does not have time to grab her glasses. A rifle held by an FBI agent was pointing into the now broken window as Coconut, not accustomed to this type of chaos, runs out the broken down door. Bonnie is instructed NOT to take time to put her robe on before coming down stairs. They are ordered outside by the FBI agent. Bonnie is naked, as instructed by the FBI agent, and tries to put her robe on. The agent insists she comes out now and naked, until Ian objects “she’s naked; what are we going to do about this?” She is then graced with the highest kindness the Federal Government can provide- permission to put on a towel type robe before walking into the New Hampshire cold. Records show it would have been just under 20 degrees at the time. Ian had a robe and slippers on.
LBRY – Content Freedom
The supposedly offensive promo has a limited amount of footage that could possibly be objectionable. Was it the scenes of two men being arrested? A photo of a massive 420 rally in Central Square in 2009? A man speaking into a megaphone? A photo of a band playing or people playing a card game in Railroad Square? A large group of people standing around the “Welcome to New Hampshire” sign at the Vermont border? The 4:20 pumpkin?
Two days prior to this strike, another decade-old :15 promo was allegedly found objectionable, this one featuring then-libertarian Penn Jillette saying he should move to Keene to join the Free Staters. I appealed the finding, and YouTube reversed it, once again allowing the video to be played. So, when the subsequent takedown happened this weekend, I also appealed it, asking in my appeal where the supposed “harmful or dangerous” content was. They upheld their decision to block the short promo video and give the account a “strike”. Of course, they declined to state exactly what it was in those scant fifteen seconds that was so offensive.
Odysee.com Logo
Luckily, we’ve been cultivating our exit plan from YouTube for years.
In 2018 Free Keene was among the first to join the “YouTube Partner Program” that automatically syncs our YouTube uploads to the decentralized blockchain-based media protocol, LBRY. We’ve promoted LBRY multiple times as they have successfully protected our videos that YouTube has deleted over the years.
Now, YouTube has increased its rate of finding things it doesn’t like about our videos. It may not be long before our entire channel is taken down. If you haven’t looked seriously at LBRY yet, now is the time to do it. In 2020, they launched Odysee, a video platform built on LBRY. I’ve created a handy url to take you right to the Free Keene channel on Odysee: video.freekeene.com. Unlike YouTube, LBRY/Odysee has no strikes and videos cannot be taken down. It’s true content freedom, and blockchain-powered. You can get the LBRY app or just follow our channel on Odysee.
From now on, this :30 migrate-to-LBRY promo will play at the end of every upload I am able to make to YouTube before they shut us down completely:
Recently, I outlined how we are decentralizing as many things as we can with the goal of removing any reliance on Big Tech. One of the things we’ve been doing in recent years is syncing all our Youtube videos over to LBRY, the blockchain-based, decentralized, uncensorable media protocol.
In 2019 LBRY first protected us from the YouTube censors when they took down “Hippie VS NAZI”, a debate between Rich Paul and Christopher Cantwell.
Now, YouTube has struck again and banned a video some amazing editor made about the return of the White Rose Society. I was honored to discover someone from the new White Rose Society had taken some audio from my radio show, “Free Talk Live“, where we were discussing the new White Rose and their amazing counter-propaganda activism. I uploaded it to the FreeKeene YouTube and it was nearly immediately removed for violating their “medical misinformation policy”, which says, “YouTube doesn’t allow content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of local health authorities’ or World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on social distancing and self isolation that may lead people to act against that guidance.”
Here is the video YouTube didn’t want you to see, thanks to the uncensorable LBRY protocol, which recently launched its own video sharing platform Odysee:
If you’d like to join the White Rose, you’ll need the Telegram app. Then click this link: t.me/jointhewhiterose Check the pinned post for instructions and the latest sticker pack.
Got a YouTube channel and want to protect its content from censorship? Check out LBRY’s YouTube Partner Program here.
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