Rafael Hernandez is one of two guys who attacked me on July 31, 2014 outside the Cheshire County Courthouse. I was recording from the sidewalk when the group of thuggish friends surrounded me, and threw my camera and cell phone on the ground. He pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of Criminal Mischief and sentenced this Thursday, January 29, 2015.
The court’s orders were: 1) He must pay me restitution for my broken camera battery ($28.94), 2) he must not have contact with me for one year, and 3) he will have a sentence of 60 days in jail suspended for one year on the condition of good behavior. (more…)
They dismissed jurors who admitted to seeing signs or looking at activists’ fliers. However, that wasn’t enough for the woman in the robe, Katherine Bolan Forrest. Philly liberty superactivist James Babb explains:
Evidently, despite the millions of dollars spent and incalculable power of the state, Judge Katherine Forrest feared that a few folks with pamphlets could upset their steamrolling operation. As predicted, a juror with a conscience and knowledge of their power terrifies these petty tyrants. The billboard campaign and the pamphleting op were referenced on multiple occasions. Selecting an uninformed jury became a top priority for the prosecution and their subservient judge…
Free Keene Bloggers James Cleaveland and Jay Freeville Outside the Ulbricht Trial
Basically, she decreed that if the independent volunteers didn’t stop informing jurors of their right to nullify unjust and misapplied laws, she would “annonymize” the jury, bussing them in from a secret location, blocking their contact from the outside world. Of course, the jurors won’t be told that they are being “protected” from a 100% factual pamphlet about their indisputable rights. Instead, they will thank the judge for protecting them from a dangerous crime boss. Experts have confirmed that this is a credible threat…
After careful consideration, we have decided to postpone the pamphleting operation until the hostage is recovered safely. However, the offending judge will not be forgotten. She will become accustomed to dealing with informed jurors. We will not be intimidated. We will not abandon our mission. Forrest’s grumpiness confirms what we already knew. They are scared of the truth. They fear for their house of cards.
Pamphleting at this court will resume at a later date. The kiosk ad campaign will continue. If you want to help expand it, you can participate here.
Here’s another reality check for all the trash-talking haters out there:
No, not everybody loves what you are doing. People are different. As delusional and crazy as you think liberty activists in Keene are, I’m pretty sure most of us are aware that people are individuals. They don’t have the same beliefs. That includes both libertarians and members of STOP FREE KEENE!!! – not all of them agree on things, either.
Recently, one local hater, alleged to be Steven Graves (UPDATE: Graves claims it’s not him), a Peterborough-based artist (originally from Boston!) recently said this about Boston Strong on the comments section of Free Keene, “He’s right, he’s awesome, and he’s kind of my hero right now. The town, the state, good people everywhere hate you people.”
Sorry, Steven, but good people don’t hate. The people calling themselves the town, city, or state are doing wrong, but I don’t hate them for it. They’re fallible humans just like the rest of us.
Oh wait, he claimed on video the other day that he is just making sure there’s no deer in the road. No wonder everybody loves him – no one would want to see a deer get hit, especially by a man safely and gently accelerating down a neighborhood street. What a guy!
Irregularly for weeks, Matthew “Boston Strong” Schmidt has driven by the intersection of Leverett and River streets in his Amari Plumbing work truck and personal vehicles, laying on his horn and screaming “Get a job!” at the top of his lungs. Rich Paul, who lives in one of the homes at the intersection, decided to go down and confront Boston yesterday after he again drove by honking angrily.
To be clear, Boston has been engaging in this un-neighborly behavior long before his wife Jennifer Schmidt was recently issued a temporary stalking order for allegedly threatening to kill a 10-year-old boy with a knife. WMUR covered that story after it broke here on Free Keene, but WMUR did not mention any names in the case. WMUR also said that Jennifer Schmidt would not talk to the media until they speak to their attorney. In the video of Rich’s confrontation taken by activist David Crawford, Matthew broke the family’s silence in the case, alleging the boy in question was a bully, presumably towards their daughter.
When informed multiple times that his honking had disturbed children from their slumber, Boston was unapologetic. In fact, he further promises to, “make their lives a living nightmare.”
Despite seeming to have some grievance against what he calls the “shithole” on the corner, the Shire Free Church-owned LRN.FM studio and Keene Activist Center, Boston seems to think that all the neighbors who aren’t liberty activists really appreciate his loud honking and screaming. At one point he even claims, “Everybody loves what I’m doing. They love it.”
This delusion is typical of the local hater – because the people who they are close to appear to agree with them, they believe that “everybody” agrees with them. The reality is that people have different opinions. Some people in Keene dislike some things activists do, but like others. Some people like some activists but dislike others. Some love what we do. Some hate what we do. Anyone who’s not in an echo chamber of hate would understand that. Of course if any of his friends or acquaintances actually disagree with him, they probably keep their mouths shut for fear of his wrath.
In district court yesterday morning, Keene Police prosecutor Jean Kilham seemed to be suggesting that because Derrick J was laughing during proceedings that he doesn’t deserve the right to concealed carry a gun. Derrick was clearly laughing at the absurdity of the violence brought against him during his Victimless Crime Spree, which was detailed in witness testimony today.
Derrick J’s attorney, Free State Project participant and former FSP vice president Evan Nappen, is known among defense attorneys in New Hampshire as the go-to guy for gun rights cases. Nappen did a fine job today and Derrick seemed very pleased with how he argued the case.
The Keene police argued that Derrick J is “unsuitable” to conceal carry, the big loophole word in the state’s “shall-issue” statute. While simultaneously admitting that it’s fully legal for Derrick J to carry a gun openly, they claim that due to a record of victimless “crimes”, alleged cannabis use, and suggested affiliations with violent groups, that Derrick J should be prohibited from concealing.
Burke ends the hearing and retires for the holiday weekend with a DVD of Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree as part of the evidence in the case. Perhaps he will sit down with the family this holiday weekend and watch the movie that he helped make possible. (more…)
