Amazing Turnout at Assembly Event in Concord Despite Bad Weather
The last several weeks have been hard to handle as a freedom lover. Seeing Americans obediently do whatever the government goons tell them isn’t really a surprise, but still sad and depressing to witness. Though I am an optimist, even I’ve been pretty disillusioned as a result of the widespread obedience that is leading to massive economic and personal destruction as businesses close and jobs are lost.
A couple of weeks ago, NH gubernatorial candidate “Nobody” announced an event at the state house that attracted over a dozen attendees to violate the New Hampshire governor’s “order” not to gather in groups of ten or more. Today, in an event created by Health Freedom NH a much larger group of approximately 400 freedom-loving people descended on the state house in cold, rainy weather to protest the ongoing tyranny here in the supposedly “Live Free or Die” state. Police didn’t even bother to drive by.
Hundreds were together on the pavement by Main St, ignoring the anti-human “social distancing” orders as dozens of cars were circling the nearby roads honking in support, many adorned with signs and flags. It was refreshing to see so many people acting free and ignoring the “orders” of “HIS EXCELLENCY” – which is actually how the “orders” refer to Chris Sununu, the republican governor of New Hampshire.
Many creative signs were present, though the Trump supporters seem confused. Do they think Trump somehow supports freedom? While some of his words initially on Twitter regarding Coronavirus were critical, he quickly fell in line and has been promoting the rise of the medical authoritarian state. At least they aren’t happy with Sununu.
My favorite sign was the guy in a V-mask whose sign read “THE REAL VIRUS IS FEAR”. I also liked “ALL BUSINESSES ARE ESSENTIAL”.
The support for freedom was refreshing. I’m glad to be here in New Hampshire where people still care about freedom. Maybe there is hope after all.
Missed today’s event? There’s another protest event slated for the State House in Concord on Monday, April 20th at 4:20pm, which will also feature open cannabis use as the annual “420” rally has for over a decade. Maybe the one after that should happen out front of Sununu’s house…
Over a Dozen Heroically Attended the Right to Assemble Event Today, April 1st in Concord
Donning masks from “V for Vendetta”, more than a dozen activists gathered at the New Hampshire state house in Concord today in violation of “HIS EXCELLENCY” governor Chris Sununu’s “order” banning assembly of over ten people. Not only did the police who passed by the event today use their discretion and ignore the event, one Concord police officer even waved to the group, suggesting that he also supported the human right to assemble. While responses from passing motorists varied, the majority were positive, including thumbs-ups, honks, and waves. Negative responses included middle fingers, shaking heads, a thumbs-down, and verbal “quarantine shaming”. Of course, any protest for any topic always elicits negative responses and this one was not unusual.
Curiously, the only media who bothered to attend was an independent videographer who interviewed me and NH republican primary challenger to the incumbent governor Sununu, “Nobody“. After standing by Main Street for over an hour holding signs like, “Social Distancing is Fear, Not Love” and “Assembly is a Human Right”, we took a group photo by the statue of General John Stark. Stark is known for creating the saying from which New Hampshire selected its state motto:
Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils.
Stark is likely rolling in his grave now with Sununu following obediently along with other tyrannical state governors and issuing approximately two dozen emergency orders in the last few weeks, destroying the freedom to do business and the freedom to assemble. While Sununu has not gone as far as some of his counterparts, he is nonetheless presiding over a tremendous increase in authoritarianism as well as economic destruction.
Protestors hold signs and socialize next to Concord’s Main Street.
Thankfully, Sununu won’t be unchallenged in this year’s election. “Nobody” of Keene has thrown his hat into the ring as Sununu’s thus-far lone republican primary challenger for governor. Here’s a recent Boston Globe story that features Nobody and mentioned today’s event at the state house.
Activists joined Nobody from across New Hampshire and even as far away as Western Massachusetts to hold signs and violate “social distancing” rules that are driving people nationwide to suicide from lack of human contact and job losses. Recent news has shown suicide hotline calls are well above normal levels in many places across the United States.
There may indeed be a nasty virus out there. How much worse it is than the flu, which kills tens of thousands in the United States each year, remains to be seen. Fearmongering media and politicians benefit when they ramp up fear in the population. However, the decision on how to handle possible risks in life should be up to the individual, not lying, power-seeking politicians and bureaucrats. Freedom is better than safety or the illusion of safety, especially when the cost is your liberty. Once the government goons take more freedom, don’t expect to ever get it back.
That said, many motorists in Concord seem to be on the side of freedom, and there were a surprising amount of people on the roads, getting life done. Kudos to the police for ignoring the peaceful event. The next Nobody-led assembly event in Concord is the annual 4:20 cannabis smoke out on 4/20, and for the only time – in 2020. Hope to see you there! Nobody’s campaign website is ElectNobody.com.
Last night in Keene’s Central Square, nine liberty activists gathered after the New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu’s seventeenth “order” went into effect at 11:59pm, demanding all “nonessential” people stay at home and close their businesses for the next month. I’m happy to say that police, despite passing by the group more than once, ignored the peaceful activists. We enjoyed each other’s company, ordered Domino’s pizza, and imbibed some tasty beverages.
Not long after “HIS EXCELLENCY” – no, I’m not kidding, the orders actually refer to Sununu this way – issued the “order” the people calling themselves the “NH Department of Justice” issued a 33-page memorandum to law enforcement, instructing them on how to handle people disobeying the “order”. Page three of the memo encourages police to use their discretion when enforcing the diktat, first telling them to give out warnings and attempt to propagandize people who are acting free into believing the fearmongering about this virus that has been purposely overhyped.
The government goons want you to believe this is about safety when it’s really about them grabbing as much power as they can get away with. And they’ve gotten away with a lot. People who would normally be skeptical of politicians’ lies have fallen under their spell and are now lashing out with “quarantine shaming” at those who would dare to continue to live normally. You can see examples of this in the comments on recent posts about Coronavirus noncooperation here on Free Keene. These Stockholm Syndrome victims will even go so far as to threaten violence and wish death upon those who question the media and government claims about this virus and choose to exercise what few freedoms we have left.
It’s essential to have the company of other humans. It’s also a human right.
To Sununu’s credit, and he doesn’t deserve much, his order does have an interesting provision that gives more flexibility than is found in other governors’ orders like Illinois. It allows people to leave their homes for several reasons, including:
any other errands an individual determines to be for essential needs
Given that most people need to have contact with other humans, as we are a social animal, it could be considered essential to the need of good mental health to go out and be with others. It’s also interesting that the language allows the individual to determine, not state agents, so he does deserve some credit for this carve-out. However, Sununu is not a defender of freedom and his overall actions here are contributing to the spread of fear and the destruction of New Hampshire’s economy.
Though we were not able to reach over ten people at last night’s Nightcap, we likely will at the upcoming event at the state house on April 1st at 2pm that Sununu’s challenger in the 2020 republican gubernatorial primary, “Nobody” announced this week. Ten is most recent limit on the number of humans who can gather in the same place, per Sununu’s “order” on the subject earlier this week. In case you missed it, Nobody received excellent coverage for his views this week from the Boston Globe. Hope to see you in Concord on April 1st at 2pm at the state house steps to make a stand for the freedom to assemble, a basic human right.
Also, Keene Nightcaps will continue Friday nights, at 11:59pm, at Central Square. Attend at your own risk, bring your substance of choice and enjoy the company of other humans, as is your right to do.
Mayoral Candidate Nobody and City Council Candidates Ian Freeman and Robert Call toke up at the 420.
In September of 2009, liberty migrants and New Hampshire natives gathered in Keene’s Central Square to commit mass civil disobedience in violation of the state’s prohibition against cannabis. They did this heroic act despite the risk of misdemeanor charges that could have resulted at the time from the simple possession of cannabis.
The 420 rallies were historic and made local, state, national, and international headlines. They started small, with just a handful smoking cannabis in the iconic New Hampshire town common and quickly grew to upwards of 150 participants at their peak. The celebrations of cannabis freedom went on daily and lasted for weeks, despite desperate attempts by Keene police to crack down.
Once the events grew to a crowd, Keene police arrested a couple of the perceived leaders of the event in hopes of intimidating the peaceful tokers into calling it quits and going home, but the police aggression had the opposite effect. Instead of scaring away the protestors, dozens marched down to the Keene police headquarters and smoked cannabis behind the police station and later smoked up inside the lobby!
After that, the police never returned to the daily 420s and they eventually died off due to winter weather setting in. Though the rallies were revived the following Spring, we had clearly won the ground as a demilitarized zone for open cannabis use. It was a beautiful thing. Beginning in 2010, on April 20th the 420 rallies continued as a yearly event at the Concord state house steps and participants even came to include multiple state representatives.
Last weekend, the 420 rally returned to the place where it began – Keene’s Central Square. The founder of the rallies, then known as Rich Paul, now known as Nobody and running a campaign for mayor of Keene had the prior week announced a special rally to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the historic events. Held on Saturday September 28th at 4:20pm, the 10th anniversary rally was attended by locals, liberty migrants, and even included Robert Call and me, who are both candidates for city council in this year’s Keene municipal election.
Here’s a music video I made from footage of the original rallies in 2009, footage from the Concord rallies, and fresh footage and photos from last weekend’s 10th anniversary 420 rally:
In the past decade, we’ve seen some political progress in New Hampshire, including medical cannabis passing in 2012 and decriminalization of less than 3/4ths of an ounce of cannabis and 5 grams of concentrate passed in 2017. However, prohibition is not over and it continues to be a felony to grow or sell cannabis – an amazing plant that has helped countless people.
As long as prohibition exists, expect the 420 rallies and the civil disobedience to continue.
When I heard the first ever Straight Pride Parade was happening just an hour from my house, I knew I had to go. I brought along my video camera and a microphone with the goal of conducting as many interviews with interesting people as possible. No gotchas, just straight questions: “What brought you out today,” and “What do you think of the event?”
While I am pouring through yesterday’s footage, I came across 4 minutes of particularly defining footage. A man walking down the sidewalk gets blocked by a woman, and then a group of people, and prevented from moving. He yells for help but his calls are unanswered. The masked thugs revel in their positions of power and his vulnerability. They have deemed him the enemy. Why? That is unclear. But they have him. And they are going to project all their anger and hatred onto him. He smiles. He does not relent.
This year, after a four-year absence, I returned as an attendee to the Porcupine Freedom Festival, aka Porcfest. I’m happy to say that Porcfest 2019 was a success and even featured some history-making civil disobedience. More on that in a moment. First, kudos to Rodger and Jessica Paxton and their crew for throwing an excellent festival – in spite of the now-expected political bungling by the Free State Project‘s board of directors. Longtime Porcfest attendee, and Free Keene blogger Rich Paul had this to say:
The tension that has subdued Porcfest for the last few years is finally healed. It feels like 2012 again.
Before I continue my review of the event, a little background:
After its rise to being one of the most well-attended libertarian gatherings on the planet and also becoming the most cryptocurrency-welcoming event as far as its vendors are concerned, the Porcupine Freedom Festival, which is organized each year by volunteers, but ultimately controlled by the Free State Project corporation, ended up making a few key errors. Yes, it was a mistake for them to kick me and my radio show out after a few volunteers made a stink back in 2016, but I don’t hold a grudge, and at the time even published a blog encouraging people to continue attending Porcfest.
That’s one of the more obvious mistakes they made, as despite my urging of people to continue to attend, attendance did drop sharply the following year, from what I have been told. However, the other things they botched were even more damaging to the event.
For years, and from before they decided to ban me, people who’ve attended the Porcupine Freedom Festival each Summer in Northern New Hampshire have complained that its recent years have been lacking in fun, partially due to an ever-increasing burden of rules at the event and centralized decision making on the part of the Free State Project’s board of directors. For instance, longtime vendors felt pushed out of the “Agora Valley” prime trading zone by the artificial extra costs imposed by the FSP onto the RV campsites in that area.
Nearly Empty Agora Valley @ Porcfest 2019
Where did these artificial costs come from? The story of Agora Valley is one that libertarians should know well and should have seen coming, but the libertarians running the FSP failed to see it and fell into the same centralized control trap they typically argue against. In the earlier years of the Porcupine Freedom Festival at Roger’s Campground, the first few rows of the RV camping area became, through natural market functions, the most desirable real estate in the park. The reason is that all the major speakers and events are held at the Pavilion at the bottom of the hill, so most campers will pass through that part of the RV area on their way to attend Porcfest’s various events. Eventually the zone was dubbed “Agora Valley” and vendors would compete to reserve the prime spots first for the upcoming year’s event, however the cost to the vendors at the time was the normal lot fee charged by the campground.
Eventually, someone at the FSP got the bright idea that Agora Valley should be managed by the FSP’s festival organizers, and a vendor’s fee and agreement was created. When asked, the FSP’s representatives generally will defend the fees as reasonable, since they include a ticket to the event, promotion to the event’s VIPs, as well as a listing in the event’s “Whova” event program app, for a very small premium on top. They are right – the Agora Valley vendor prices are reasonable. However, the market is clearly speaking, more this year than ever before, that the fees and rules are not welcome.
One way the marketplace responded to the failures of Porcfest’s central planning was to fork the entire event back in 2017 and create a decentralized libertarian camping festival called Forkfest, which just finished its third year. Click here to read more about the creation of the alternative, yet friendly event.
However the other way the market responded during this year’s Porcupine Freedom Festival, was the creation of the “Where it’s at” zone deeper in the RV area. Longtime Porcfest vendors and attendees, fed up with paying more than they had to or simply frustrated by the restrictions for Agora Valley, decided to opt-out and setup a hot zone of economic activity in the RV rows past the Valley’s “jurisdiction”. This mass exodus left Agora Valley nearly a ghost town at this year’s Porcfest.
To be fair, according to Shawn Grissom, this year’s Porcfest vendor coordinator, there were vendors in the lonely Agora Valley that did very well this year. That said, even Grissom agreed the FSP should let go of trying to organize the campground and focus on their event production alone. Let the market self-organize again in the camp/RV area.
Heroic Open-Air Drug Market at Porcfest 2019
Aside from the centrally-planned failure of Agora Valley, the rest of the 2019 Porcupine Freedom Festival went off well and received rave reviews. The Paxtons did a great job of bringing balance back to where Porcfest wasn’t just a family vacation spot – with approximately 200 kids and teenagers in attendance – but also a great party. This year there was a naked guy down at the campfire at night on at least a couple of occasions that I saw, along with a topless young lady, plus an amazing open-air drug market.
During the final night’s Free Ross auction to benefit imprisoned liberty hero and founder of the Silk Road underground market, Ross Ulbricht, there were two vendors set up just outside on a couple of picnic tables right next to each other. One vendor offered items for sale on a whiteboard such as “not mushrooms” and “not pot” while the other seller’s blackboard offered shrooms, flower, and edibles. It even included a shout-out to #freeross.
The little things like that made this year’s Porcfest feel like Porcfests of the past, but what made this year’s Porcupine Freedom Festival historic was what happened at the end of the Free Ross auction. After two hours and well over $10,000 had been raised from bidders on dozens of donated items, two activists donated a couple of eighth-of-an-ounce containers of cannabis to the remaining auction items. The auction was run by Mancamp founder Jay Noone and since he doesn’t have a auctioneer’s license, the entire event was civil disobedience. Noone then made Porcfest and likely New Hampshire history by auctioning off the cannabis to two lucky winners including me and the his assistant, Angie. What fun! (more…)
