On this date ten years ago, two artsy Boston residents faced down a militarized police bomb disposal unit, who were accusing them of faux terrorism, and took the opportunity to shift a discourse dominated by paranoia into one revolving around hairstyles of the 1970s.
The United States was in a transitional period in the years following the September 11th attacks. The military industry, both at home and abroad, had found its justification for massive expansion through the impending fear of another devastating attack on civilians by a malicious, and presumably foreign, entity.
Following a morning of alerts, warnings, and hyperbolic reactions to glorified lite-brite displays in Boston, the media prepared to depict the first public images of the mysterious humans allegedly responsible for the panic. As the youths emerged from the courthouse with a lawyer in tow and graciously opened up a press conference, it was clear that journalists had expected different personas from the “suspects”, as one perceived a failure on their part to be, “taking this seriously”.
Social media is abuzz as video has been shared of Kristopher Kristolaitis being attacked by police Sunday night at Mr. Mike’s convenience store in Winchester, NH. According to an interview for Free Keene with Kristolaitis, his assailants included officer Michael Paul Laska of Winchester Police, as well as corporal Joshua Murray of Hinsdale police and a third as-yet-unidentified officer. Both Laska and Murray are former Marines. The victim says that WPD’s Laska was the hothead in the video, shouting at the frustrated, angry crowd at one point to “GET BACK!”.
Witnesses say Kristolaitis was arguing with another man, Billy Hillock, when someone called over police. Police eventually responded once Winchester firemen came over to see what was going on. Apparently the firemen were there already on an unrelated situation. As Hillock attempted to leave, police questioned him and let him go, prompting Kristolaitis to ask why. (Hillock is an auto mechanic who happens to work on Winchester PD’s cruisers. Things that make you go hmm…) A Hinsdale officer then asked him his name, to which he responded by saying he’d provide once the officer explained why he let the other man leave. During this interaction, officer Laska approached Kristolaitis from behind and handcuffed him on one wrist without ever telling him he was under arrest. The witness says this is when the video begins. (more…)
Liberty Lobby‘s Darryl W Perry and other libertarians converged once again on the New Hampshire state house and legislative offices last week for more testimony on various bills. Here are some video highlights as well as full hearings:
First up, liberty democrat Elizabeth Edwards’ HB 287 would merely create a study committee to look at decriminalization of prostitution, but NH police and prosecutors packed a two-hour hearing to plead with the house criminal justice committee to stay ignorant and reject even STUDYING the issue! Luckily, there were some stalwart advocates of freedom also in attendance who spoke in favor of the legislators having more information, not less. Here’s the full hearing video:
Last night around midnight, an NH state trooper pulled over some young men just outside the LRN.FM studio in Keene, NH. The officer must be new to the force, as there are about a dozen liberty-oriented folks who live on this street corner, which means that at any time of the day or night, it’s likely someone is awake and will notice. Renee and I spotted the pullover and after getting on some warm clothing, given it was about zero degrees Fahrenheit, we immediately responded. Here’s the video:
As we approached the scene, we heard the officer badgering a guy in the back of the car about ID. As I understand it, it’s not a requirement for anyone in a car except the driver to show ID, so I told the officer he doesn’t need to be asking for that information. Pretty much right as we arrived, he went back to his cruiser. I then approached the driver and asked if he was okay with us recording the scene. He was. (more…)
Tuesday morning the saga of UBER Grandma came to a close at Portsmouth district court. Stephanie Franz’ trial was scheduled for seven tickets she’s received since October of 2015 for the horrible crime of driving people places without a government permission slip. Rather than thank her for providing the service of getting drunk people home alive (and stopping them from driving themselves home drunk), the “City of Portsmouth” gang decided to ticket her seven times for a total of $6,500! $500 for the first ticket, $1000 each for the rest.
The city’s argument for threatening the sweet grandmother and other UBER drivers with such ridiculous fines was the claim that more stringent background checks than what UBER provides are necessary to keep passengers safe. However, this argument is obvious garbage, as the city only regulates drivers who charge for their services. If a convicted murderer were to offer rides for free, the regulations wouldn’t apply. Portsmouth’s anti-ride-sharing regulations, passed in Summer of 2015, were created to protect the existing taxi oligopoly. That’s what regulations are really for – not to protect consumers as the government claims, but to protect the established businesses from innovative competition.
Despite the constant attacks by both the police and the cabbies, UBER Grandma was not deterred. She kept driving in civil disobedience to the city’s protectionist ordinances, knowing she had harmed no one, and in fact had helped many people get home safely. She’s a hero for continuing to stand up for her right to do business without asking for permission! (more…)
State Representative Amanda Bouldin, Founder of Shire Sharing and “Liberty” Snitch
Free State Project early mover and now State Representative Amanda Bouldin has done a lot of good in her activist career. She created Shire Sharing, which for years, has fed hundreds of families in New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving holiday. She also created the Narcan bill that has helped save lives of opiate addicts across New Hampshire.
However, like many politicians, it turns out she’s a coward… and worse, a snitch.
You never know who is going to break under the pressure of the state. It could be your lover, your brother, or your “friend”. However, one might expect more from a libertarian, who should know better. One would be wrong.
State Representative Kyle Tasker Faces 60 Years for Victimless Crimes
In the over hour-long interview (click for redacted PDF transcript) she throws Kyle, whom she describes as her “friend” under the bus and reveals much of what she knows about his cannabis-dealing business. She also gossips about various state reps, claiming Libertarian candidate for Governor Max Abramson is the most hated in the state house.
She rolls on fellow liberty state rep Pam Tucker, claiming that Kyle named her as one of the state reps he’d sold cannabis to, in addition to an unnamed elderly rep in the state house parking garage.
After talking about how she was his “friend” and wanted to help him she says this about Kyle:
“He seemed like he was trying to be more legitimate than it deserved to be. Is what I remember thinking about it. That he. Um. He seems to derive some. Um. For sense of self-worth from doing it. You know what I mean? Like, he felt important. And. He also felt, um, invincible. Like, um, when he was using his vape in the State House, they said – you can’t do that in here; you’re going to get in trouble. And, he showed me, like, on-line, um, like, on his IPad, or something, ah, the law. It apparently says that the State House is, like, this bubble of immunity. I don’t know. So. I was, like, okay. It’s not? So, Seth thinks that Kyle is really stupid. “
by a malicious, and presumably foreign, entity.
