It has been one year since the 2014 Keene Pumpkin Festival and subsequent riot which spilled into the streets through the following morning. While snipers perched above the festivities for the second year in a row, no one was aware at the time that the riots would spell the end of PumpkinFest as a downtown Keene tradition. This saturday, the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey as well as the city of Laconia will be hosting their own independent Pumpkinfests. With few places to position snipers at the fairgrounds, unless special towers are brought in, there will likely not be such a militarized presence there. The situation in Laconia is more likely to host police with rifles, as also the organizer of previous Keene Pumpkinfests, ‘Let It Shine’ is also coordinating this year’s Laconia event.
In the time since last year’s chaos, I had since discovered two different articles hosted by the Blaze and Vocativ which feature content from facebook posts I had made that day. While I was unsure whether or not I had in fact captured an image of someone pointing a firearm in my direction, upon seeing the image as presented in the Vocativ piece, it appears to very clearly be a rifle aimed at the are where I was filming from (which was a heavily populated area at the time).
Laconia police are likely stocked up on riot gear as part of their preparation for the motorcycle weekend sponsored there each year. With luck, the relocated festival won’t deteriorate into a glass bottle war, and riot squads will not make an appearance.
Jury nullification outreach efforts reach new heights in NH
On August 3rd and 4th, New Hampshire activists (organized by Joel Valenzuela of Rights Brigade) reached an incredible six courthouses with jury nullification outreach information supplied by NHJury.com. Activists canvassed much of the state, reaching locations in Dover,Laconia, Brentwood, Concord, Manchester, and Nashua, sharing with jurors the knowledge of their age old right to nullify bad laws. (more…)
Mattheus Von Guttenberg, Bitcoin Magazine contributor, and Liberty Forum speaker, stops by the Rebel Love studios. Rob, Shire Dude, and MVG all announce that they have have talks at this year’s Liberty Forum in Manchester NH at the Radisson Hotel. The Rebel Love Show will also be recording live at Liberty Forum each day of the event. Topics discussed in this episode include MVG giving an update on the status of Bitcoin, should the Bitcoin Foundation be in existence?, when will Bitcoin be the mainstream currency?, MVG and Rob share TSA activism stories, issues with coming out as a Free Stater at work, using the topic of police as a tool of outreach, MVG filmed Amanda Billy Rock being arrested, right to travel activism, and cop blocking in Manchester.
LACONIA — A self-proclaimed anarchist associated with the Free State Project spent Friday night in the Belknap County House of Corrections after refusing to cooperate with a police officer who stopped her after she allegedly ran a red light.
According to Laconia police logs, Amanda “Billyrock” Johnson, 27, of 105 Windsong Ave. in Manchester is charged with one count of disobeying an officer, one count of resisting arrest, one count of transporting alcoholic beverages (for allegedly having an open container containing alcohol in her car), driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and possession of controlled drugs.
Johnson allegedly refused to tell police her name or cooperate with the police.
For the next 12 hours, Internet sites associated with the Free State project and other libertarian causes buzzed with tales of Johnson’s “kidnapping” by the Laconia Police and subsequent “caging” at the Belknap County House of Corrections — where she was taken after she allegedly refused the services of a bail commissioner. Readers of the sites were urged to call the county jail in protest. (more…)
Amanda initially posted video of her arrest to her Youtube channel, but it was removed within hours at the advice of her attorney. While it is understandable why she would lawyer up – the court system is an intimidating process – it’s always sad when attorneys advise their clients to not speak to media or post media relating to the case. The attorney’s advice disconnects Amanda from a large pool of potential supporters, as now we have no way of knowing what happened. Many may be willing to support her, but since the video is not being shown, some people will have a hard time getting behind her.
Since her attorney is refusing to release even what the charges are, which should be public info, I decided I’d do my best to track down the info. The court system doesn’t even have a docket number for the case yet, so I called Laconia Police and was treated very rudely and hung up on by “Sgt. Hubbard”. He refused to give me information about her charges and told me to either come down to their station or use the request form on their website, which is broken. I called back, this time recording the call:
For whatever reason, Hubbard changes his attitude after putting me on hold for a few minutes and then gives up the info. According to him, Amanda is facing the following charges: (more…)
