Make no mistake, these three criminal charges against me were not ‘dropped’ by Gilford Police Chief Bean-Burpee and his prosecutor Sergeant Eric Bredbury, they were dismissed by a New Hampshire Circuit Court Judge after a full hearing. In spite of having months to review the law and the facts, the Prosecutor refused to drop the charges or even propose a plea, but rather continued to seek a conviction to justify the State’s violation of my First Amendment right of free speech, and my unlawful arrest.
I was fortunate enough to be experienced in the legal system, and also had the determined, talented, and effective counsel of Mark Sisti and Jared Bedrick of Sisti Law Offices. But what about those who have none of these advantages? One of the most troubling aspects of this experience is having to face the fact that, out of the millions of people arrested every year in the United States, many are unlawfully arrested, maliciously prosecuted, wrongfully convicted, or pressured to plead guilty just to get it over with. Having a jury of one’s peers is supposed to be a check on this system, but NH law precludes a jury trial for a defendant if he is not facing possible incarceration.
I recently found out that the Berlin Police Department has submitted a grant application for a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck (BEARCAT). You may recall the Keene Police requested and received a similar armored vehicle after citing Pumpkin Fest and the Clarence Del Mar marathon as reasons for the needing a vehicle to be used to fight terrorism. And more recently, the Concord PD claiming “Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges,” in addition to organized groups, it cited “several homegrown clusters that are anti-government and pose problems for law enforcement agencies.” When asked to provide documentation of the “daily challenges” presented, the Concord City Clerk responded that there were no such documents.
In North Country, the Berlin PD’s application, which is full of spelling errors, cites 1) proximity to Canada; 2) terrorists coming in from Canada; 3) Carl Drega; and 4) Nathaniel Kibby as reasons for needing the vehicle. (more…)
Local government bureaucrats in Keene are infringing on my right to bear arms.
In July I applied for a concealed carry license. One man, Ken Meola, denied it. I appealed, and this week the news came back: Judge Burke denied my appeal.
Judge Burke’s decision means that while it is perfectly legal for me to carry a firearm openly, it is a crime for me to conceal that firearm, for example by putting on a winter jacket.
The next step is to move on to the State Supreme Court. I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to do that, but I’ll give another update when I speak with my attorney.
I’m disappointed about this decision, but I’m not surprised. The State is a many-tentacled beast, and the different facets of it protect each other. First the legislators did their part by camouflaging a restriction as a right: they call NH “shall issue” but ultimately leave the power of permission to one man working for the police. Then the police did their part to deny my rights, essentially arguing that they are restricting my freedoms because I don’t respect them. Finally, appeals are made to lawyers who also work for the State.
Darryl W Perry walked into the Cheshire County House of Corrections this Friday. He walked out today, Monday. However, according to Mr Perry, he was not corrected.
Darryl was sentenced $163 in fines for the offenses of “Residency” and “Operating a Vehicle That is Not Registered”. What that means in plain English is that Darryl has a valid driver’s license in Arizona, but the State of New Hampshire alleges that Darryl is a resident of New Hampshire and must change his license over to New Hampshire.
New Hampshire law specifies that an inhabitant is not necessarily a resident, and Darryl asserts that he is not a resident. Therefore, he is not required to apply for a new license. Even if he wanted to, Darryl points out that he lacks the documents the State needs to prove residency. Even if he were able to acquire the forms and signatures necessary, he still wouldn’t be granted a new license because he has a warrant out of South Carolina (also for victimless crimes).
Darryl kept his spirits high throughout the experience. He had a celebratory lunch before going in and plans to have a celebratory supper now that he is out. Darryl produces a daily podcast and content at http://FPP.cc
Dave Ridley of RidleyReport.com drops in to a couple of school board meetings in Merrimack in this series of videos and is mostly ignored by various politicians and bureaucrats as he attempts to ask important questions:
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.
