New mover Chris Cantwell reflects on his first month in the Shire:
A few weeks ago, my shotgun would have subjected me to years in a state prison, I paid an 8.625% sales tax on nearly everything I purchased, and a progressive state income tax made every effort to steal from me the fruits of my labor. Finally, a local municipality driven mad by xenophobic anti-immigration activists declared my apartment illegal and threatened to evict me from my home. Thanks for that, no, really, thank you, because coming to New Hampshire is the single greatest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.
So I fit what I could in my van and fled the criminal gangs calling themselve The State, operating inside the arbitrary geopolitical boundary commonly known as New York. 5 hours north, I find myself in Marlborough, New Hampshire, just outside of Keene.
Fred Parsells and I go way back. I like the guy personally – we’ve dined together a number of times over the years and had pleasant conversations. However, last year he left his job at the “Keene Housing Authority” and took on the role of city “Code Enforcer”. A former detective with the Keene police, (and I believe collecting a police pension) Fred has decided to make my property one of his pet projects and has begun a campaign of harassing me, my tenants, and most recently, my new neighbors next door. (Curiously, prior to Fred being hired, I hadn’t heard from code enforcement in five years. So, clearly there weren’t any glaring issues at the time upsetting anyone. The one time I did hear from code enforcement prior to the five years was due to the complaint from a city employee.)
I recently came home to discover Fred and his partner Josh, parked out front of my house, standing at my new neighbors’ door. They were just leaving and I inquired of Pete, who was there recording, as to what was going on. I was informed that they were threatening the neighbor over the car in their side yard. I informed Fred and Josh that I have no problem with their car being there and that I don’t appreciate them picking on my neighbors. Josh told me to stop eavesdropping, as though when strange men come threatening my neighbors that it’s not my business. I don’t know where Josh lives, but I want to live in a place where neighbors care that their neighbors are being threatened by aggressors.
Afterward, I spoke with the lady next door and assured her that I had not called code enforcement on them and nor would I. If I have an issue with a neighbor, I’ll do like a good neighbor should, and drop by to talk. She informed me that Fred claimed he’d gotten a complaint from another neighbor regarding their car in the yard, because the other neighbor had experienced code enforcers threatening them over the same issue. (more…)
Free Keene TV’s Ali Havens interviews several victims of the insane no trespass orders that have been leveled at activists for exercising their supposed rights to free speech and assembly:
Michele Seven refused to take the plea on tickets for registering her car and a trailer. She took them to trial, as everyone should, to clog and hopefully eventually change the system. Here is the raw footage:
For years I have been doing outreach at Keene State College. This normally consists of handing out fliers on campus, especially during class changes. Only this year did I ever encounter any trouble from campus security, when they threatened me with a no trespass order if I were to continue handing out information. Upon visiting with one of the college directors in his office, I inquired regarding their policy. I was told that not even KSC students may hand out fliers on campus! I was informed that I could have a table in the student center, just like the students can have. I would be allowed to sit behind the table, quietly, and only interact with people who came up to speak to me.
This was unacceptable to me. It’s highly ineffective. Why sit at a table all day or even for a few hours, when my friends and I can deliver hundreds of fliers in fifteen minutes during class change? Besides, aren’t college campuses advertised as the holy grail of free speech? What a bunch of nonsense.
So, last week on Thursday, I returned to the campus with new mover Daryl Perry. (more…)
New mover Chris Cantwell reflects on his first month in the Shire:
