How did it happen? Looks like someone posted the video to reddit with the title, “We’ve seen lots of bad cops treating citizens poorly; Here’s some bad citizens treating a good cop poorly.”
The comments section is full of Stockholm Syndrome sufferers who excuse the officer’s aggression by claiming he’s just doing his job and was “respectful”. They ignore that officer Harrington aggressed against a peaceful driver who had not endangered anyone, then attack Derrick for daring to keep his privacy (and the heat in the car) by only cracking his window to talk to the officer. (Among other nasty, vitriolic comments.)
The reddit comments are a sad reminder of how worshipped the police are – how people will excuse their aggression so long as they are nice-seeming about it. It really highlights why its so important for liberty-loving people to move to NH and get together – lots of people love their oppressors and we are highly diluted across the country and world. If you haven’t signed up yet, hop on over to the Free State Project site and get onboard – we just crossed 13,000 signers!
Today the Union Leader is featuring an article about Cheshire County Department of Corrections Corporal Thomas Schoolcraft requesting to be pardoned for a string of burglaries he was involved in.
(The only uniformed law enforcement/corrections position that a convicted felon may hold in New Hampshire is county corrections officer. County corrections officers possess no arrest authority and may only use force to detain offenders brought to them by order of law enforcement agents or courts.)
In the article it appears that the reporter inquired with the Corporal about why he isn’t simply attempting to obtain a more common “annulment” for his offenses:
“Schoolcraft prefers a pardon to annulment for his convictions because he doesn’t want them to disappear from his criminal record.”
He “prefers” a pardon.
I presume that the Corporal knows precisely what his present impediment to advancement in New Hampshire law enforcement is: if he had his felony conviction annulled (not pardoned) he still could only serve as a county corrections officer.
New Hampshire Police Standards and Training rule Pol 301.05 (g) (2) specifically forbids certification of an individual who has committed a felony even if it was annulled. If you are a felon, you must receive a pardon to be eligible to serve as a certified law enforcement officer in New Hampshire.
Pol 301.05 Background Investigation. The following shall apply to the background investigation required on the applicant by the agency:
(g) The hiring authority shall evaluate the results of its background investigation and the agency shall not appoint or invest with authority an applicant who:
(2) Has ever been convicted of a felony by a civilian court or by a military court, whether or not the charge had been annulled nor whether a suspended sentence was completed, and for which he or she has never received a pardon;
If we as a society are going to forgive the Corporal for things he did that actually hurt people, how can we not simultaneously forgive all felons convicted of things that never hurt anyone? I’m sure he is a good guy working hard to now live a law-abiding life, but there are way too many “felons” in New Hampshire who (unlike Corporal Schoolcraft’s crime spree eight years ago) created zero victims.
You may have heard that I am running for State Rep in Keene this year against Chuck Weed and Delmar Burridge. Chuck Weed is good on ending cannabis prohibition and is also the incumbent – to his credit as well, he will be debating me in the upcoming candidates’ forum on 10/16 at 2pm in the Keene library.
Delmar Burridge, however, is not going to appear at the candidates’ forum. Perhaps because he thinks he has the election in the bag, or maybe because he doesn’t really want voters to hear his sick, twisted views. Allow me to refresh you on what Burridge has to say. I would like to take you back to 2008 when Free Keene blogger and then host of Free Minds TV Toby Iselin had an email exchange with Burridge regarding cannabis decriminalization. After Toby asks Delmar to do the right thing and move the legislation forward, Delmar responds with an insulting screed that actually advocates Toby snitch on his cannabis-using friends, saying,
“You are very passionate in your beliefs and would make a great snitch. It is thrilling to dime on your so called friends.”
-Delmar Burridge to constituent
The rest of his outrageous email to Toby is worth reading. This sociopath ex-law enforcement officer is my competition in the upcoming Keene state house race. If you want to vote for oppression of freedom, Burridge is your man. If you want to vote for liberty, I’m the clear choice, having been endorsed by the NH Liberty Alliance.
The Sentinel ran two recent LTE’s regarding the Registry of Deeds. One letter told how the office was filthy and needed to be cleaned. The other letter was written by the current Register of Deeds, claiming the budget had been cut to the point that “there was nothing left to cut.” (more…)
The following are my answers to the Keene Sentinel‘s candidate questionnaire:
Name: Ian Freeman
Age: 32
Town: Keene
Party Affiliations: NH Liberty Party, Libertarian Party
How long have you lived in the area: Since 2006
Family: Yes
Education: Associates in Radio/TV Broadcasting
Occupation: Talk radio personality on Free Talk Live, Program Director of LRN.FM
Organizations to which you belong / have belonged: NH Liberty Alliance, NH Liberty Party, Libertarian Party, Free State Project, FreeKeene.com
Public/governtment Service: Longtime peace and pro-accountability activist.
1. Why are you running for the NH House?
The NH Liberty Alliance consistently ranks Keene’s “representatives” very poor (C-F) on their yearly report. I would provide a principled voice for liberty in the state house.
2. What are the three top issues facing state government and how would you deal with them? Please be specific:
The question has it backwards – the issues are those that have been created by the state government that are actively harming the people of NH. Here are three:
