Wow! What an amazing day. First, the most successful Free Keene Fest yet! Hundreds of Keeniacs of all ages came out to Railroad Sq. for the over five-hour event! It was a whole lot of fun with lots of booths, great bands, and it was a civil disobedience extravaganza! There was drinking in public, open cannabis smoking, gambling, unlicensed food sales and vendors, and best of all, no police and arrests! Of course there was the event itself for which no one pulled a permit. People were acting like free people, and all was well! Following that was the daily 420 in Central Square and then activists headed out to he brand-new Cheshire Jail to demonstrate for our friend and publisher of the NH Free Press, Russell Kanning. Not only did we circle the outside of the jail building twice (the first time with about five activists, the second time with about fifteen), but we also found Russell!
Upon completion of our second walk around the building (which the prisoners nearly universally loved, except one anonymous guy in the basketball court who told us to fuck off), the entire on-duty contingent of Keene police as well as Swanzey and Marlborough police were on-scene. They approached and we stood our ground, resulting in a dozen arrests. Twelve is the largest number of simultaneous arrests in the history of the NH liberty movement (during Pumpkin Fest, we had three arrests followed by three more a half hour later), and some were wondering in the history of New Hampshire when the last time mass arrests of this amount or larger were made. If anyone knows if this is an all-time record, please post a comment with details.
All were charged with “criminal trespass”, though Rich Paul also received marijuana and paraphernalia charges. There are signs up everywhere about it and they say that it’s only a misdemeanor if you have been ordered to leave. Most of us were never ordered to leave – just arrested. Everyone was given June 1st as an arraignment date at 8am. The only one of us who was not released was the heroic Lauren Canario who was wanted on a “disorderly conduct” warrant out of Nashua. More detail to come on her as we learn it. I’ll post below all the videos I qikked today – sorry I didn’t do one during the arrests – was too distracted to start one up, but Dale did manage to call Porc411 twice from inside the jail (Call #1, Call #2).
When are you going to move to NH, and specifically Keene? Don’t let us have all the fun without you! Today they managed to outnumber us during the arrests, but what if 30 or 50 people had circled the jail?
This story starts way back when Sam had been previously held captive by the Keene thugs in blue. While being held in jail for holding a camera in a public area, Sam’s license had apparently been suspended. Although Eli Rivera lied on the witness stand and said he had given the ‘defense’ all the information they had on Sam, there was nothing in the files Sam had received to make him aware that the Keene PD had knowledge of his license being suspended. So it was to his surprise when he was arrested for driving while under a suspension while leaving the very court room Rivera had just testified to the Keene PD not being aware of his suspension. During the trial for this “crime”, Sam noted multiple crimes being committed by the agents of the state (the judge, prosecutor, etc…); as well as, the judge made up several facts (like a name for Sam that he does not go by, and information about a license that has never been seen by anyone in the court except Sam). When he was found guilty, and ordered to pay $300, he refused. I assume it was on the grounds that he owes them nothing, and their justice system is too corrupt to determine crimes and punishments. As a result, he will be spending the next 6 days in the Cheshire County Corrections Facility.
Thanks to the Nashua Telegraph’s Joseph Cote for this story:
Activists were at it again Tuesday, protesting marijuana laws on Library Hill and later at the Nashua Police Department following one arrest.
Organizer Kelly McGuire said she was committed to continuing daily protests, which over the weekend included some protesters smoking joints and from bowls in the downtown park.
About six protesters held signs at the park at the top of Main Street, according to Nashua police Sgt. Denis Linehan. A handful of police were in the area to keep an eye on the protesters, including plainclothes officers among the group.
Linehan said police knew the protest was planned because it was advertised online. The man whom police arrested allegedly gave a joint to one of the plainclothes officers at the park and was charged with distribution of a controlled substance, Linehan said.
McGuire said police refused to identify themselves and didn’t give a reason for arresting the man.
“As far as I know, they came in and arrested him without cause,” McGuire, of Nashua, said. “They wouldn’t identify themselves.” (more…)
Obscured Truth Network’s coverage of the mass arrests that took place at the Nashua 420 celebration over Liberty Forum Weekend.
During a peaceful 420 celebration in Nashua, a young local man was targeted for arrest by undercover police. This was followed by the arrests of two activists who fell victim to a gross overreaction on behalf of the Nashua Police. All three were released a few hours later, and arraignment dates have been posted on the Free Keene Forum. Curtis, who attended the Nashua 420 on Saturday, despite a recent back injury which had restricted him to a wheelchair, was arrested on Tuesday during another Nashua 420 celebration. He is currently still being held in jail. Check back to FreeKeene for updates on Curtis’ status.
In response to the recent arrest and jailing of activist Michael “Big Mike” Tiner, who has been charged with assaulting a police officer, we have launched the Citizens Resisting the Assault of Police Officers (CRAP) medical aid campaign.
Wow! What an amazing day. First, the most successful Free Keene Fest yet! Hundreds of Keeniacs of all ages came out to Railroad Sq. for the over five-hour event! It was a whole lot of fun with lots of booths, great bands, and it was a civil disobedience extravaganza! There was drinking in public, open cannabis smoking, gambling, unlicensed food sales and vendors, and best of all, no police and arrests! Of course there was the event itself for which no one pulled a permit. People were acting like free people, and all was well! Following that was the daily 420 in Central Square and then activists headed out to he brand-new Cheshire Jail to demonstrate for our friend and publisher of the NH Free Press, Russell Kanning. Not only did we circle the outside of the jail building twice (the first time with about five activists, the second time with about fifteen), but we also found Russell! 
