To My Captors

by | Nov 23, 2008 | 21 comments

I spent the entirety of last weekend in the Cheshire County jail. I want to thank the Sheriffs who cuffed and transferred me as well as the Corrections Officers in the jail for their professionalism and courtesy. I made it clear that I did not intend to resist and you made it clear that you did not want to hurt me. I respect you for the level of humanity you treated me with, considering the system itself is inhumane. There may be a few bad guys among you, but I could not identify them during my brief stay. Also special thanks to Lieutenant Kevin Clark for allowing me a personal phone call when the in-cell phone wouldn’t work with my girlfriend’s cell phone.

Unfortunately, while I’m sure you all do your best to do your job as instructed so you can keep food on your family’s table, you should know that what you are doing as part of your job is wrong. Many of you already know this. In fact, the superintendent of the jail, Richard Van Wickler, is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (more…)

Charges Dropped Against FreeKeene’s Toby and Ian!

by | Nov 23, 2008 | 10 comments

Radio TowerThis just in from KPD’s Sgt. Eli Rivera: He is dropping the unlawful assembly charges against Toby and I! Here’s some speculation as to why. Perhaps they realized they had no case. The regulations clearly state that permits are only for those that intend to exclusively use certain “public facilities” like electricity for a specified period of time in a specific location. Therefore, even under their own rules (and ignoring the pesky Constitution, of course) it’s quite clear that simply assembling in a public place does not require a permit.

Perhaps another reason they decided against it was because they felt as though too many activists might come out and refuse to stand for “justice” Burke in protest of his recent crackdown on courtroom sitters. (more…)

Selective Enforcement For Undesirable Speech

by | Nov 8, 2008 | 9 comments

On Sunday, October 26th, a bunch of different folks interested in promoting liberty gathered (assembled, if you like) in Keene, New Hampshire’s public Railroad Square for what was commonly referred to as The Freedom Festival. A week later, I did this interview with some locals who have been performing for tips in Railroad Square for about 10 months. They’re considering the name Z Squared but haven’t decided yet. I wish them well and hope the police continue to leave them unharassed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM872g-Ww8I

Here’s a little more about Freedom Fest. Two bands decided to show up and provide entertainment and there were a number of booths up for people interesting in learning more about various freedom movements in New Hampshire, including yours truly and groups like NH Common Sense, NHLA, New Hampshire Free Press, The Red Amendment, and The Liberty Scholarship Fund. I know I’m forgetting someone. About an hour into the event, police showed up and started asking individual participants if they had gotten a permit to be in this supposedly public place. The term “public property” seems like an oxymoron to me. Property implies the ability to exclude others from the use of that property. Therefore, the enforcers “own” public property; not us. The Freedom Festival is just another demonstration of this fact.

The band I interviewed in the video has been playing unharassed for about 10 months in the same location, usually using the public power. In case you think this is an issue of size or numbers, there’s no evidence to support that. There’s nothing about size or numbers in the ordinance that was the supposed reason we were being ordered to leave under threat of citation or arrest. Also the police were going around to each booth or band and asking for a permit, most of which were no more than one or two people, no different than the band playing for tips a week later, so by their own actions, it was not about numbers. The Z Squared band has gotten occasional noise complaints from local businesses but the police decided to pardon them. I think it’s silly, frankly, to complain of noise in a business district in the middle of the day in a location that’s known for having live bands and other public events, but the point is Freedom Fest got no such complaints from locals apparently. The police were asked if anyone had complained and the only answer seemed to be the enforcers themselves.

The laws are weapons in the hands of the people in power. You have free speech on supposedly public property IF they like you and IF they don’t mind what you’re saying.

Keene Cops Attempt Crackdown on Peaceful Festival Attendees!

by | Oct 30, 2008 | 12 comments

RiveraIf you’ve been watching the blog here at FreeKeene.com, you’ve no doubt already seen the multiple Ridley Report entries covering the Keene Police’s attempted crackdown on the Fall 2008 Keene Freedom Festival. Liberty activists and other members of the public were enjoying themselves at Railroad Square this past Sunday. Several organizations were doing outreach, there was a gambling table, live music by the Josh Noone Band (Here’s a live recording of “hypocrisy” from Freedom Fest.) and others, and lots of socializing and networking going on. Then, about an hour into the event, “city prosecutor” Elizer Rivera, showed up in a police uniform with three of his associates, “detective” William Sargent, “lieutenant” Jay Dugay, and “officer” Matt Griffin. Griffin was observing from across the street, while Sargent acted as the silent heavy. Dugay at least had a friendly demeanor even though he was threatening all of the attendees with arrest allegedly for illegally assembling without a permit. In the video footage, you can see I got him to laugh when I caught him saying something particularly silly. Dugay clearly would rather have been doing something else, but is not willing to refuse to follow bad orders.

Moments after their arrival, the police were surrounded by activists, many of whom were armed with video cameras or audio recorders. Even though Dugay claimed that they were responding to an alleged complaint and were investigating whether the Freedom Fest attendees had a permit or not, Rivera’s actions contradicted Dugay’s statements. (more…)