Police | Free Keene

Raw Footage of Police Station Hotbox

by Ian | Sep 28, 2009 | 38 comments

If they wouldn’t have arrested Evan, this never would have happened. Today, cops ignored the cannabis celebration completely. Here’s the raw footage of yesterday’s mass hotboxing of the Keene police’s lobby!

Video News Coverage Roundup

by Ian | Sep 28, 2009 | 3 comments

We’re still waiting to see the WBZ Boston coverage, but here are a couple of videos from WMUR in Manchester and the Keene Sentinel.

Also, here’s more coverage from WKBK’s Brad Ryder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-4mHLo1viM

Keene Sentinel Covers Police Station Smoke-In

by Ian | Sep 28, 2009 | 9 comments

POt They arrested our friend, so the cannabis celebration was brought inside the Keene police lobby yesterday, as the Sentinel’s Anika Clark reports:

Supporters of marijuana legalization took their fight with a law directly to the law Sunday as they lit up in the Keene Police Station lobby.

They puffed. They cheered and laughed. They left. But not before one of them yelled at a department employee who was working behind a front window.

One of the rally-goers had just been released without being charged, after being arrested for smoking what he said was nothing more than mint leaves. But activist Sam A. Miller said, “What they smoked inside the police station today, that was real. … I could tell from the smell.” (more…)

2nd Arrest Made at 420 Protest – No Charges

by Nick Ryder | Sep 27, 2009 | 12 comments

Police arrested and soon released a protester named Evan downtown on Sunday afternoon. He was let go after the police realized he wasn’t actually in possession of marijuana.

Lt. Shane Maxfield continued his undying urging of activists to “work within the system.” I was taught in school that democracy was defined as “Majority rule with minority rights.” When the rights of minorities are stripped by the majority, democracy falls apart, and the time, money, and effort needed to win back just one measly right is so extreme and so costly, that activists often burn out before one victory.

The system is broken when it proves is has unlimited purview in controlling the private lives of citizens. The system is broken because it has no restrictions. The system is broken because 1000 people stealing from or enslaving 100 is not moral, even if they voted.

The system is broken, Shane. Stop following immoral orders.

420 Participant gets hit by a car

by Meg McLain | Sep 27, 2009 | 3 comments

During one of the many 420 events held in Keene Central Square this week, a skateboarder was the victim of a hit and run. Although the driver was aware she had hit the young man, she drove off without checking to see if her victim was ok. Keene Police, who were present to observe the peaceful demonstrators rejecting their authority, witnessed the accident from a sidewalk less than 10 feet away. Instead of offering assistance to the victim, or stopping the driver from fleeing the scene, they decided to waste more of the young man’s time and harass him for getting in the way of traffic.

*Note: I am unaware of the validity of the statement that the car had run a red light. I did see the accident, and the skateboarder was crossing the street in a less than safe manner; however, I don’t believe the police did the correct thing in reaction to this accident.