She’s a principled Libertarian who hosts a weekday afternoon talk show on LRN.FM named “The Call to Freedom“. She’s on the show daily from 4-7pm including the 5pm “Crypto Hour” which features her expertise on the subject of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. (You can watch it via the LRN.FM Twitch channel or listen at LRN.FM.)
The last-minute filing was thanks to the Libertarian Party of NH re-attaining major party ballot access on the level of the republicans and democrats for the first time in over two decades. That means that the party executive committee has the ability to appoint a slate of candidates to fill any races for which no one had yet filed or won enough write-in votes in the primary election. Parties have one week from the primary date to file such a slate.
It’s an interesting approach and throws a surprise libertarian challenger into a long-stale county sheriff’s race that has been a re-match for several terms between incumbent democrat Eli Rivera and longtime republican challenger Earl Nelson.
Aria DiMezzo, LPNH Chairman Chip Spangler, and Robert Call outside the NH Secretary of State’s Office
DiMezzo claims she’s going to be doing real campaigning and has already launched her campaign website which includes her opinions on ending the entire war on drugs. She admits to being a former opiate addict which means she’s got an insight into the world of drug addiction and the insane War on Drugs not shared by her republican and democrat competitiors. As she points out in her essay,
“Each addict has their own unique reason that they turned to drugs as an escape, and the only way to help any of them, if they decide they want help, will be individually and personally. There is no easy, convenient, one-size-fits-all answer. The folly of simplistic solutions like “Arrest them!” is that it allows us to feel like we are doing something about the problem, but we aren’t–at least, not anything beyond exacerbating it.”
DiMezzo, on her campaign site, also calls for the immediate release of peaceful, “victimless criminals”. She tells me she’s more than happy to do media interviews and appear at any local events to which she is invited. It’s refreshing to finally have a principled freedom-advocating candidate for which to vote in the upcoming Sheriff election this November 6th.
Robert Call and Aria DiMezzo standing outside the state house in Concord.
In addition to the surprise appointment of their first-ever candidate for Sheriff in Cheshire County, Keene’s Ward Four (Cheshire District Seven) has also received a libertarian challenger to democrat newbie Sparky Von Plinsky in the form of former Keene mayoral candidate Robert Call. Call is a free sofware advocate and programmer who lives in Keene. Curiously, his democrat challenger Von Plinsky is a former NSA agent. It should be an interesting race!
That gives the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire more candidates on the general election ballot in Keene than the Republican party who could only scrounge up one candidate for just the Ward 5 election. In order to help keep major party ballot access status, the libertarian candidate for Governor, Jilletta Jarvis must receive at least 4% of the vote. If you’re tired of government ruling your life and always growing more expensive and more demanding, you finally have a choice. You can vote for the multiple libertarian candidates that will be on your ballot in the general election on November 6th. Remember, if you’ve never voted before, New Hampshire allows same-day voter registration. Here’s a City of Keene webpage with information about where you should go to vote.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for interesting libertarian campaign news.
MPD patrolman Ryan Olsen prepares to assault software programmer and father Jeremy Kauffman.
Originally streamed to his social media profile live, Jeremy Kauffman of LBRY.io has been arrested for “Disorderly Conduct” by a Manchester police officer for simply trying to leave his home. The Manchester police state descended on Kauffman’s neighborhood to conduct a homicide investigation in a home at 332 Hanover St., which is apparently near where Kauffman lives. Apparently this included preventing all the neighbors from simply leaving their own properties, a lot like being locked down in a prison by the guards.
Kauffman, a respected software engineer and entrepreneur currently CEO and founder of the decentralized blockchain-based media protocol called LBRY.io recorded the threats and eventual attack by Manchester Police’s patrolman Ryan Olsen on his smartphone. In the approx two minute video, Kauffman is in his driveway and explains to the viewer that he is being kept in his property against his will by the arbitrary detention by MPD. He is not told he’s a suspect in the homicide investigation but is being prevented from leaving to pick up his son.
When he merely walks down his driveway to investigate what is happening near his own home, Kauffman is threatened by officer Olsen who tells him to “go back that way” and when Kauffman asks on what law he’s basing his orders, Olsen says “I’m not gonna tell you again.” When pressed to cite the statute, Olsen pulls out the old police catch-all, “Disorderly Conduct“. Seconds later, Olsen leaves his post across the street, shouting at Kauffman, then manhandles him after telling him repeatedly to “walk back please”. Please? Is this a request or an order?
Olsen arrests Kauffman, charging him with a “Class A” misdemeanor version of “Disorderly Conduct”, which means Kauffman will be facing down up to a year in jail for his heroic non-cooperation with the oppressive Manchester police state. He was released on PR bail pending arraignment in Manchester District Court.
Despite the awful arrest by the terrible Manchester cops – the worst gang in the state – it was refreshing to see some courageous activist video by a Manchester area activist. Kudos to Jeremy for doing a great job standing up for his freedom to travel and proving that when the police state comes down, we’re all just in a big open air general population prison cell. If only we had more activists like him. May his example inspire others to stand up to the police state. Freedom was never won by begging.
Related news: Keene Cop Block has just released our new updated-for-2018 know-your-rights flyer! It’s a simple rundown of individual rights when dealing with the police. It is intended for distribution across New Hampshire, but may also be useful to other areas. It’s informative and keeps-it-simple. 2018 Edition: Front Side / Back Side. I’ve handed out several hundred of these in just the last two weeks around Keene State College and the students really appreciate the information.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for developments in this case.
Gilles Bissonnette, the head attorney for the New Hampshire ACLU gave an excellent presentation to a packed room in Concord, NH this week. He talked about what CPB (Customs and Border Patrol) internal checkpoints are legally allowed to do, how far out of bounds they’ve been going, and what you can do when you’re there to non-cooperate. He fielded many questions from an engaged and interested audience. Here’s full video of the presentation:
Think you have a right to privacy? Think again. These bureaucrats think they own your dog and will prosecute you over a $4 dog license in New Hampshire to prove it. Cop Blockers Michael and Angie Gordon of Alstead took a ticket for an “illegal” unlicensed dog to Keene District Court. They lost, but made the bureaucrats work to get their coerced money. Kudos to them for standing up against the oppressive police state where not even dogs are safe from state regulation. Here’s the full video:
Vehicle inspection is nothing more than a racket for auto shops being operated by the people calling themselves the “State of New Hampshire”. As Free Keene blogger Conan Salada points out during his testimony at trial this week, the auto repair shop he went to gave him quotes for what Conan determined were unnecessary repairs in order to pass the vehicle inspection. This happens to people all the time and allows unscrupulous auto repair shops to take advantage of ignorant drivers.
But wait, don’t we need mandatory yearly inspections to keep cars as safe as possible on the roads? Actually, no. Not all really cold states have mandatory vehicle inspections and there’s no evidence those states’ roads are any more dangerous. Turns out, the market handles safety just fine.
Meanwhile, the crime gang known as the State of New Hampshire continues to prosecute and convict people for taking care of their cars how they want. Here’s the full trial video from this week in Keene District Court. Conan is ultimately found guilty and sentenced to a little community service:
Border Patrol Agent Salutes Camera at NH Internal Oppressive Checkpoint
On Friday, several Forkfest 2018 attendees drove an hour South of Roger’s Campground to I-93 around Woodstock, NH – the site of the repeating temporary internal Border Patrol immigration checkpoints. Based on activist reports, the checkpoint appeared to have been operating that day from noon until 7pm. As is typical of these checkpoints, they were stopping every car to ask occupants if they are “US Citizens“. They also had a dog they were walking up and down the line of waiting cars.
As it turns out, a car full of people with video cameras wasn’t welcome in their secondary screening area. After one agent orders me to pull into their secondary screening for refusing to answer questions, his commanding officer intervenes before I can even cross over a single lane of traffic, and even apologizes for not wasting more of our time with their invasive screening! In hindsight, I should have told him to apologize to all the cars without camera-toting occupants for wasting everyone’s time with their oppressive police state checkpoint. Here’s the ridiculous video:
No one in the car was planning to answer the agents’ questions, given one has a right to remain silent (that the US Supreme Court has now required be invoked in police encounters). Obedience to tyrants only encourages them. Besides, as someone who believes in liberty, I don’t believe in government borders. Peaceful people should be allowed to enter a free country. Of course, we all know by now the United States is not a free country, and in fact has been dropping on the various international freedom rankings.
Also this weekend, NH Libertarian Party candidate for US Congress NH-2, Justin O’Donnell also traversed the checkpoint while live streaming to facebook. His friend in the passenger seat obediently answered the agent’s inquiry while O’Donnell debated with the agents, ultimately admitting to having been born in Boston, MA. Prior to this, the agent threatened to detain O’Donnell until he answered the question. (more…)
