Police and federal agents are not your friends. When they talk with you, everything you say is being committed to their memory to be used against you in court, should they decide to arrest you for some arbitrary reason. Lying to them can also get you in significant trouble as it is always illegal to lie in federal jurisdiction and frequently illegal in state jurisdiction.
If you don’t believe me… just ask Martha Stewart. As rich and influential as she is, it is too bad she didn’t know to just keep her mouth shut. Had she not spoken with federal investigators she may have never been convicted of anything. This is why I frequently advise people that when they interact with government agents that the best thing they can do is always remain silent.
Back in March I wrote about how I practice the art of not answering prying questions from federal agents when returning to the United States. Some may perceive this as me purposefully being disrespectful or looking for trouble. It is not intended to be either of those things. My refusal to answer questions is an attempt to protect myself and my privacy.
Two days ago I visited Nogales, Mexico. When I returned I was arrested, handcuffed, and thrown in a cage by a US Customs Agent. It was my first time ever being arrested. I was released without charges.
Why would I be released from federal custody without any charges?
There are two basic versions of the Golden Rule, with a bunch of variations found in virtually every major religion in the world. It is so common it prolly predates religion and written language.
1. Don’t do to others, as you don’t want done to you. (Negative version)
2. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Positive version) (more…)
Jason Talley of Talley.TV and the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund and I follow an undercover officer from Nashua PD with our cameras as he leaves his hiding spot in the police-friendly “Courthouse Pizza” (across the street from the court building). We pepper him with questions before he can escape in his buddy’s police cruiser. This is an excellent example of how more activists with cameras can make a huge difference – we were able to chase after this cop and others stayed behind at the pizza place to keep an eye on the rest of the cops:
While reading the excellent article by the Union Leader that Ian Freeman blogged about earlier, I couldn’t help but notice the following comment:
“It would be a real tragedy if one of these people were shot in the face while reaching for a recording device that looks much like a weapon.
– The Blue Boot, manchester”
There is absolutley no conclusive evidence that this commenter was in fact a member of law enforcement. For the sake of argument, please assume that he is.
What Mr. Boot is suggesting is that members of the public utilizing cameras to record public servants performing public functions (as allowed by the 1st Amendment all law enforcement officers swore an oath to uphold) be shot under the fabricated guise of a justifiable shooting.
The post below was written by Pete Eyre and posted this morning to CopBlock.org.
By Pete Eyre
On July 24th I was thrown to the ground and arrested after questioning Keene District Court bailiff Pete Macy’s demand to remove my hat. Rather than behave like a civil person and have a conversation about his request, Macy and his accomplices, Keene Police Department employees James Cemeralis and Matt Griffen resorted to force.
While I was still handcuffed on the ground Pete Macy was ordered to submit an incident report by his supervisor Lance Walton. After two months of phone calls to Walton and Walton’s boss, Jason Jordanhazy (who never returned my calls) and physically stopping by Keene city hall multiple times, I finally received the report in the mail. It was chock-full of inaccuracies – Macy purposefully submitted a skewed version of the truth to protect himself.
Fortunately my friends had captured their unjust actions on video and shared it online at CopBlock.org, FreePete.org and elsewhere. Thanks largely to the outrage many felt and expressed about the actions of the government employees, my charges were later dismissed. Yet no one has been held accountable nor even apologized (I see Cemeralis almost weekly when doing “Don’t Take the Plea” outreach and have asked him numerous times to meet to discuss what happened and to apologize. Though he expresses interest in meeting he has yet to follow through).
But is it really too surprising that Macy lied on his report? What fear of repercussions does he face? Macy, like other government actors, may claim to “serve” or “protect” you but we all know in reality they are not accountable to you or I. They claim the right to steal from us (taxes) and if we question their actions or inaction’s we face the threat of or actual use of force.
Ask yourself – if given the choice, would you voluntarily choose to hire such liars and thugs? What would happen if you behaved in such a way? If you lied to your boss? If you attacked, kidnapped and held hostage a customer?
Rep. Andrew Manuse (R-Derry), one of the 12 or 15 Free Staters serving in the state house, is “considering a bill to remove the [Catholic] Church’s tax exempt status in New Hampshire”, according to a quote released by the Catholic League.
The threat resulted from a squabble between the Catholic church and House Republicans after Bishop John McCormack, of Manchester, claimed that Republican budget cuts would hurt the most vulnerable residents of New Hampshire. This prompted House Republican leader D.J. Bettencourt to call McCormack a “pedophile pimp,” a reference to his handling of sex abuse cases in the Boston archdiocese. The situation has only spiraled down from there. (Link)
