[Mail to Jail was unable to transcribe this letter due to injury, so thanks go to volunteers Anthony Richard and one other person for transcribing this letter from Ian. We have not checked the transcription, so we are still attaching to this post Ian’s letter scanned in a PDF format.]
“Reflections on Civil Disobedience”
One night, later in the week at Porcfest this year I was walking around
and stopped at a campfire. A couple of the faces I had recognized as
people I had met earlier in the week – the rest I did not know. I believe
100% of them were attending their first Porcfest.
Apparently, I was right on cue, as when I approached the fire, some
comment was made about how if Ian Freeman were around, they could ask me.
The individual looked up, saw that the universe had delivered me to their
campfire, exclaimed a pleasant surprise and proceeded to ask: “Why Keene?”
Just prior to my arrival they had been discussing this, perhaps curious as
to why I had not chosen to move to Manchester and also under the
misconception that it was I who started the move to Keene. It’s an
understandable misconception, especially to people who may not have paid
attention to the Free State Project prior to the last year or two. (more…)
Hello from the Keene Spiritual Retreat, aka, the Cheshire County “House of Corrections!” In case you aren’t aware, I have been sentenced to 90 days here (plus 270 days “suspended”) for the “crime” of “obstructing government administration.” In other words, my friend Heika was being kidnapped by the people calling themselves the Keene Police because she was enjoying an afternoon in the park with an alcoholic beverage, and I chose to peacefully stand in front of police car to prevent the kidnapper’s escape. Turns out, I merely delayed them for a few minutes before they kidnapped me and the other brave activists who stove in front of, and behind the police cruisers -Rich Paul, Meg McLain, and Wes Gilreath.
So began an odyssey into “legal land” that has lasted over a year. Apparently, waiting over a year for a trial is “speedy.” That is one of several absurdities about this sick, slow, stupid system to which we are all subjected, that I experienced personally. Here are some more “highlights,” which you will be able to see in the trio video, thanks to Talley.TV:
• KPD’s Jason Thompson admits that he doesn’t really think about liberty, even though it’s his fundamental duty to protect it, according to KPD’s “Statement of Ethics”
• KPD’s Colin Zamore appears to be oblivious to what “subject” means, even though he and fellow officers use it all the time to refer to us non-police-folk
• “judge” John P. Arnold claims the constitution does not apply in this case
• Arnold ejects members of the public from court under threat of violence because their moral or religious beliefs prevent them from standing for another man.
There are more, but I only have so much space. Another interesting aspect was the jury. This was the third jury trial in Keene, and the first time they have returned a non-guilty verdict. They found me not guilty of “resisting arrant.” Unfortunately, they found me guilty of the “obstructing” charge, which is why I am in jail. There had been jury nullification outreach done to the potential jurors and the concept was the cornerstone of my defense. Was their “not guilty” a nullification? I’d speculate it wasn’t, but simply their decision regarding the facts of the case. Perhaps someday we will know for sure, as I have heard NHJury.com intends to contact them with a survey.
So here I sit at the Keene Spiritual Retreat, as my work responsibilities go unmet and email piles up – I am having months of my life stolen from me because I delayed the police for five minutes! It’s a clear violation of NH Constitution Article 18, which says punishments should be proportionate to the crime. Of course, if you are reading this, you probably know the government people don’t give a damn about their founding document, or any of their rules, for that matter. Look at the camera/audio ban at “Superior Court” – it violates both the NH Constitution and RSA 91-A:4, but good luck getting anyone to enforce their own laws on their buddies!
I am already jotting down ideas for future blogs from jail – for now though, I bid you goodbye. First though, THANK YOU to all who came to my trial and to everyone who has moved or will be moving to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. The more people who come here and get active in the way that is right for them, the better our chances of someday living free. Special thanks to the financial uprooters or Mail-to-Jail.com – one of the most useful activist tools out there!
Now it’s happening again. This time in Concord. I discovered an unwanted envelope had been littered on my car. It was a parking ticket from the people calling themselves the “City of Concord”.
I sent them in response a Shire Society Peace Ticket to inform them that if they don’t dismiss this matter that I will cost them as much money as possible. They ignored the Peace Ticket and sent me another threat, saying I now owe them $40 instead of $10.
So, I gave them a call to see if they received my Peace Ticket. (more…)
I can’t speak for Pete, but for me, the outcome of our trial on Monday doesn’t matter – we’ve succeed at making our point. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to go to jail (who does?) but my conscious is clear. I know without a doubt that Pete and I didn’t harm anyone (though one officer claims he was ‘scratched’ when arresting us – yep, a scratch – lock us up now!) nor did we damage anyone’s property.
To me, we’ve already “won” (for lack of a better word) by making an impact. We’ve personally met 100?s of people here and brought the issues of police accountability to the streets of Greenfield without the local paper, city officials or other major forms of distributing information. Instead, we’ve – with on the ground activism and outreach – distributed thousands of fliers, DVD’s, business cards and shown people how effective (and scared) a camera is when interacting with police, especially when they’re doing (or have done) wrong.
Folks in the downtown area of Greenfield are consistently stopping Pete, Beau and myself to thank us for highlighting the our issue here. Several have gotten, or are talking about getting, cameras of their own, with plans of using them for police encounters in the future. Others have continued the Robing Hooding that we introduced them to on our last visit to the area. Even a current Greenfield Police Officer bought one of our shirts and said, “You’re doing valuable work.”
This video of Beau’s arrest for wearing a hat in court (charged with direct criminal contempt) and the subsequent “right of alocution” hearing shows some important things about the NH liberty movement today. Continue reading after the video for analysis:
The good news: The numbers of liberty-oriented people moving to and getting active in NH are growing, and those willing to take a risk are increasing. There is strength in numbers, and the more of us there are that are willing to laugh at the aggressors as well as noncooperate and disobey, the more they lose their precious legitimacy and control. The robed man in this video, Edward Burke, desperately attempts to flex his power by attempting to clear the courtroom.
The bad news: Burke is largely successful at clearing the court. (more…)
[Mail to Jail was unable to transcribe this letter due to injury, so thanks go to volunteers Anthony Richard and one other person for transcribing this letter from Ian. We have not checked the transcription, so we are still attaching to this post Ian’s letter scanned in a PDF format.]
Ademo 
