Over the last week or so, the video involving Emerson Lyons Jr.’s unjustified threats towards me has made it’s way around the internet, to say the very least. While my intentions here were to make this individual’s aggressive actions public, I didn’t want much of what of I hear has been happening to happen. I was informed last night that him and his family have been threatened with violence several times in the last few days. I also read a comment somewhere where someone says that they’ve called Emerson’s Towing & Repair five times in the last hour and called the person who answered the phone vulgar names.
This is not an appropriate way to go about this. I’ve been accused of harassment by the City Of Keene (and their bogus lawsuit was inevitably dropped, http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/judge-cites-first-amendment-in-dismissing-keene-case-against-robin/article_40e36444-6dcb-5cc6-b6e2-a0bfa3e96930.html, as folks associated with Robin Hood Of Keene haven’t and don’t harass Parking Enforcement Officers) for filling parking meters and occasionally filming public officials in their line of duty. I’ve been harassed and aggressed against myself, by thugs on the streets and government employees, and it’s not something I’d wish on anyone. The way Emerson acted was inexcusable, but to respond to that by stooping to the same level is just as wrong. I’m genuinely sorry to anyone employed at Emerson’s Towing & Repair that has been affected by this negatively, though I’m not sorry for initially publicizing the incident. Had he asked me to stop filming in a respectful manner, I would have stopped filming. I’m not generally much of a filmer, and didn’t have much of a reason to be filming the vehicle being towed (and I don’t need one to film in public, especially when the folks being filmed are contracted through the City Of Keene). However, the second he stepped out of his truck he told me he’d knock my teeth out, and once something like that is said my camera is going to continue to record until the person making those threats has either calmed down or left the situation. He likely knows that the things that Robin Hooders film tend to end up on the internet, and therefore should have acted in a socially acceptable manner knowing how many people could see the video.
Regardless of all of this, I seek only to live in a free and peaceful society, where the use of violence to resolve ones grievances is used only as an absolute last resort. To those who hold issues with me over this incident, I ask that you at the very least come to the realization that violence or the threat of it is not an acceptable way to handle these issues. Talk to me about it. I think that you’d find that I’m actually a relatively okay person, and that finding a peaceful solution rather than a bloody one is the ideal route to go.
Thursday’s Keene Sentinel featured an update on the Robin Hood saga penned by Kyle Jarvis. The article overviews how the case is being prepped for presentation to the New Hampshire supreme court, where before being scheduled requires both parties to consider the possibility of mandatory mediation. The mediation process would involve a closed-door meeting between both parties to agree on a legal compromise. Mediation is certainly a fitting alternative to the courts for conflict resolution when a conflict exists, but as is uniquely the case in Keene, city officials can’t cite a single grievance against the Robin Hooders collectively beyond expressing a desire that they do not be in the proximity of or communicate with parking enforcers. For some individual Robin Hooders, no specific issues have been raised at all, and considering that Pete Eyre is still named in the suit when he has at no time been associated with Robin Hood of Keene demonstrates the indiscriminate nature of the city’s straw-grasping lawsuit. Early in the suit, the city requested the ability to add defendants to the case at will, but apparently ceased its hunt for the underground Robin Hooders after at least two individuals officially requested attachment to the suit and were denied, despite one presenting evidence of longtime participation in the activity.
While the ruling from judge John Kissinger was reasonable, a further contemplation of the case may have demonstrated the need for a less traditional ruling, which may have alleviated some of the issues that the legal department of “city of Keene” continues to press today. Though the judge never authorized “harassment and intimidation”, the ruling states only that the facts presented did not constitute any actionable activity. Yet the city’s attorney asserted this about the ruling: “The Order holds that the individual protesters have no duty to be reasonable in their actions and conduct directed toward public employees while doing their jobs … that the individual protesters are allowed to interfere, harass, and intimidate public employees while doing their jobs … (and) that the individual protesters may engage in inappropriate and unreasonable actions and conduct directed at public employees while doing their jobs.” Not only is it unkind to mischaracterize constitutionally protected speech as “harassment and intimidation,” but it is also a distortion of the actual text of the ruling. Perhaps mediation would have been most pertinent prior to the many hours spent in court, where it could have been cleared up ahead of time that Robin Hooders do not engage in harassment and intimidation. Of course, when myself I tried mediate with the city’s attorney prior to court, my camera was stolen for two months under the guise of “illegal wiretapping”. (more…)
Thursday Darryl and I appeared at the state house in Concord for the Criminal Justice committee hearing of a new cannabis decriminalization bill that would reduce the penalty of possession of up to an ounce of cannabis to only a violation punishable with a $100 fine.
The committee is full of people who know this issue and are very educated about decriminalization and legalization. This bill has passed the house several times in the past, by a wide margin. Perhaps that’s why the police actually didn’t show up! Normally they show up in uniform to oppose any decrim proposal, but not this time! However a couple of state attorneys, one for the attorney general’s office and another from the “department of safety”, did show up to support the status quo and they got GRILLED by the committee:
Ridley raises some controversial questions about FBI entrapment strategy and whether or not certain elements of the strategy would be justified by a nonviolent defensive organization in a stateless society. The questions are raised on the heels of an Illinois jury refusing to convict three protesters arrested prior to the 2012 NATO Summit of terrorism-related charges after manufacturing four molotov cocktails with the assistance of multiple undercover police operatives. More could certainly be said on the topic, with one of the major criticism’s of the practice’s ethics not being addressed, that of the use of deception and fraud to motivate actions of others.
While other states like CT and NY have recently passed more gun control legislation, New Hampshire’s state house today soundly defeated a proposal to ban all personal firearms sales! There really is no place like New Hampshire, where Republicans tend to vote for gay marriage and Democrats tend to vote against gun control measures! (If you love liberty, you should join the Free State Project and move here and get active!) Here’s a rundown from Examiner.com:
Today was the big vote on HB 1589, a gun control bill brought forth by House Democrats. As has been previously discussed, this bill was based on false premises, bogus studies and statistics that did not apply to the Granite State. An amendment was brought forth by Representative Laura Jones which would require a study commission be set up to further study the bill. This amendment passed with 177-175 votes.
HB 1589 was officially amended to a study commission which was then voted on by the House in an overwhelming win of 242-118, essentially killing the bill. There was a further motion to be sure the bill was sufficiently dead and buried that then passed by 244-113. This was a defining victory for the gun rights activists in New Hampshire who have been working non-stop against the out-of-state gun control advocates who wrote this bill and were pushing for its passage. (more…)
On the morning of February 10 in the new Cheshire county court building, which houses the Keene District Court, the room was packed as usual for arraignments. Travis Hobbs, who had made himself the subject of a video posted to Fr33manTVraw by threatening and attacking Robin Hooders, was present to plead not guilty to multiple charges of criminal threatening. Though it is unclear specifically as no state paperwork is currently available from this case, information from the Keene police suggest that Travis is facing four misdemeanor charges of criminal threatening. Shortly after the incident, the KPD requested that a statement be provided which outlines the events documented on video on the afternoon of Friday, August 02. Some of the information pertaining to the case was read aloud by Edward Burke. Below is video from the portion of the arraignment that occurred before the judge. Individual conferences with the representative of the prosecutor, KPD’s James Cemorelis (in police attire with firearm), occurred as each person demanded present was called past the bar prior to the judge’s arrival. The trial date has been set for June 17, and the defendant was appointed a public defender.
