Recently published was a new Ridleo chronicling a history of arrests of Russell Kanning in New Hampshire. Russell is partly responsible for the reputation of Keene area activists as civil disobedients, as he had originally moved to that area of the state as he made waves over a number of victimless offenses.
Kat and Russell in Keene, NH
The video also features footage from Michael Fisher’s illegal manicuring event from 2005 in Concord. The headline-generating fingernail beautification by a Free State Project participant is referred to by Ridley as a “textbook act of civil disobedience”.
Russell currently faces federal chalking-related charges in Waco, Texas. Though he also had chalking charges from Concord, New Hampshire, Kat Kanning reports that the NH charges were dropped because, “[the] NH court said they thought he could be prosecuted adequately in TX, so they dismissed their charges.” Authorities may have prevented Russell’s legal adventures from taking him back to NH also because he would attract more supporters while in the Shire.
Yesterday I called in to Keene’s open-phones local news show, Talkback, after the main host, Cynthia Georgina suggested jail telephone systems were too expensive. She didn’t understand why such an expense was necessary where jails are ‘supposed to be punishment’.
In the program, we were only able to touch on a few aspects of her belief, when there’s so much that could be said about that mentality. People who are not affected by jails can fail to recognize the unnecessary strain on human life created by conditions of caging. In the nation that has 25% of the world’s institutionalized inmates, it is still easy to ignore the plight of others when they are removed from sight and mind.
Because Cynthia was specifying jails, she was endorsing punishment of people held for either misdemeanor convictions (facing a penalty of under a year of incarceration) or those being detained pending trial. Detention pending trial could simply mean one is too poor to afford bail, or that they were in violation of any number of stringent bail conditions. When I brought up that New Hampshire jails are occupied by a large number of individuals convicted of driving infractions, Cynthia was surprised, unaware of the mandatory minimum prison sentence written into state law for those designated habitual offenders. (more…)
A report this morning by Kat Kanning relays the unfortunate news that Russell Kanning has been arrested on federal warrants on what are likely chalk related charges (or failure to pay fines related to chalking).
Suddenly alone in a truck stop in MO. We had a headlight go out. They found warrants for Waco and NH chalking incidents. Background checks hadn’t found the warrants, so Russell thought they’d been dropped. Too late at night for me to talk to anyone. They say there’s no bond, they’re dragging him off to TX or NH.
Russell has been arrested and ticketed for chalking FREE BRADLEY MANNING on a retaining wall at the federal building in Concord, NH and he was arrested in Waco, TX while chalking in support of Nazry Mustakim, who was facing deportation at the time but has since won his freedom to remain in the US. Kat was the first person videorecorded being arrested on FreeConcordTV in the blog’s debut video Federal War on Chalk Begins.
Santa Claus, also known by his friends as James Peterson, was arrested after spreading holiday cheer and chalk with young people in front of the Texas capitol building on the 21st. An occupy activist who was giving out chalk to children while dressed as Santa was well received in the plaza, but as he left, Texas DPS officers chased him down and handcuffed him. The crowd appears shocked, one woman yelling out in confusion, “You’re arresting Santa Claus?!”
The jolly red man asks numerous times, “Why am I being arrested?” After a minute, they tell him that he was chalking the sidewalk. A few in the crowd having filmed the entire time tell police that everyone was chalking, to which a female officer states, “You’re the only report that we got of chalking.” (more…)
It was a cold and rainy morning as the Bearcat attack truck was put on display to the public for the first time in Keene, New Hampshire. Between nine and eleven ante meridiem, the Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck was on display with the motor running and the rear doors open, revealing the personnel carrying compartment which seats eight. With the driver and passenger seat, the truck fits ten commandos comfortably, and came standard with no less than ten gun ports. While the KPD didn’t receive the additional gas injector arm, LRAD, or a .50 caliber to mount atop their rotating turret, the powerful fixed FLIR camera gives the department new vision as hunters. The infrared lens can see warm bodies in the darkness, as the image is created by detecting thermal signatures instead of light, akin to the alien antagonist in the sci-fi thriller Predator.
Waco-style penetrating gas weapon
Among those who braved the weather, there was much speculation as to how the Bearcat would be first put to use. While those who tried selling the prospect of the Bearcat to the people claimed it could be used as a rescue vehicle, tour guides acknowledged that it was a standard Ford pickup truck on an enhanced frame with armor. It is not capable of traversing flood waters any more than its unarmored counterpart, beyond the additional elevation provided by the large wheels.
The attack truck is equipped with environmental detectors on the exterior of the vehicle. The sensors are capable of recognizing certain chemical, biological, and radiation dangers. However, the interior itself is in no way insulated from any of these potential threats, as it does not have its own pressurized cabin. The boondoggle also features three spotlights, and all the flashes and noises one would expect from a police vehicle. (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.
