Earlier today I made public my raw footage taken the day of the police brutality protest outside of Manchester PD on June 4, 2011. The video begins around 4:20 in the afternoon with myself offering chalk to the small crowd gathering across the street before I take an exploratory walk into the police station. I spend the next few minutes inside, talking with civilians at the police department and watching out of the window as the protest swells. The chalking gets well underway while I am still inside, and police approach the crowd, but do not intervene. Time passes, some chalking spreads to the walls of the building, and the police reappear, this time ready to write tickets under the city’s vague graffiti ordinance. Moments after two chalkers are approached, they are arrested upon not immediately presenting identification. Once they are dragged inside, an order is given to start taking cameras from those present outside. Keeping my distance, I try to get as close as possible to get footage of the camera grabbing without becoming victimized myself. Shortly thereafter, two more arrests happen inside while my camera runs on the action outside. The last few moments of my video portray a more relaxed scene, as some of us present converse with officers stationed outside about everything from the events of the day to the morality of modern policing. After the sole battery I owned at the time exhausted, the final four arrests, including my own, would occur.
For the public record, here’s fifty-three minutes of unedited footage from the scene of the Chalking 8 incident.
One year ago today, myself and seven neighbors became the Chalking 8, when we were arrested at a protest outside of the Manchester police department on various charges. Three of the eight quietly plead out to a violation charge, simply to avoid having to finance a court battle over a criminal charge. Representing myself without an attorney at trial, I was able to beat two criminal charges. Ademo Freeman and Wes Gilreath were found guilty of chalking the Manchester police station, and while Ademo has a superior court trial pending, Wes sits in Valley Street jail, not just for the chalking charge, but also for having missed an earlier court date in the process, which was called ‘contempt of court’. He’s been incarcerated since January, and will hopefully be released in the coming weeks.
Kate Ager had a jury trial in May, in which she was found guilty of resisting arrest for what three officers testified was a one to three second delay of the arrest. She was not tried in superior court for the charge under which she was arrested (disorderly conduct) a charge which she was found guilty of at the non-criminal violation level of in district court, thus making the arrest charge itself ineligible to be heard by a jury. The full trial was filmed by two videographers, myself and Ian Freeman. You can see my full trial video in four parts here, and Ian’s footage here.
Yesterday Ademo posted to Free Keene and Cop Block an update on his case. His jury selection and trial dates were sent in an odd envelope to a random address from the court, and the prosecutor is trying to use the government’s error to prevent him from receiving a jury trial. The Cop Block post with video is here.
Today’s rain makes it a less than ideal day to chalk the police in anniversary. Keep an eye on Free Concord for more coverage of the Chalking 8 case.
It’s been brought to my attention that the FBI has been snooping around the Keene area for several months. First they called in a fellow Free Keene blogger (who asked not to be identified) and asked him if violence was advocated amongst those who frequent the Keene Activity Center. The Free Keene blogger clearly told them they had the wrong people and that if violence was ever advocated, it would be rejected as a means to the end by any real “Free Stater” (a term I use only as a way to identify a group, it should be understood that ‘free staters’, like everyone else, are individuals responsible for their own actions and thoughts).
Top this off with a few sketchy visits from new movers, who I now believe to be FBI agents or informants, and it’s almost comical – if not so scary – how pathetic the FBI’s attempts are at infiltrating the Keene Activity Center (KAC). One guy, ‘Michael’, came to the KAC for a visit (which is typical of new movers) and after a long conversation – where I asked him directly if he was an agent of the state (he said he was not) – it was decided that “Michael’s” views are not acceptable to those who frequent the KAC and he was asked to leave. He has never attempted a return but it should be noted that this man may still be trying to infiltrate liberty groups.
Fast forward a couple a months and the FBI – Phil Christiana – decides to interview another liberty minded person, Rich Paul. Known for his self ownership activism, relating to the war on drugs – particularly marijuana – Rich was targeted for allegedly making voluntary exchanges of substances the government deems illegal. Funny thing is, Phil and the state agent that was assisting him didn’t even care about the drugs. What did Phil and the FBI want? They wanted Rich to wear a wire into the Keene Activity Center. (more…)
Earlier today I made public my raw footage taken the day of the police brutality protest outside of Manchester PD on June 4, 2011. The video begins around 4:20 in the afternoon with myself offering chalk to the small crowd gathering across the street before I take an exploratory walk into the police station. I spend the next few minutes inside, talking with civilians at the police department and watching out of the window as the protest swells. The chalking gets well underway while I am still inside, and police approach the crowd, but do not intervene. Time passes, some chalking spreads to the walls of the building, and the police reappear, this time ready to write tickets under the city’s vague graffiti ordinance. Moments after two chalkers are approached, they are arrested upon not immediately presenting identification. Once they are dragged inside, an order is given to start taking cameras from those present outside. Keeping my distance, I try to get as close as possible to get footage of the camera grabbing without becoming victimized myself. Shortly thereafter, two more arrests happen inside while my camera runs on the action outside. The last few moments of my video portray a more relaxed scene, as some of us present converse with officers stationed outside about everything from the events of the day to the morality of modern policing. After the sole battery I owned at the time exhausted, the final four arrests, including my own, would occur.
One year ago today, myself and seven neighbors became the 
