However, for reasons yet unknown, it’s being claimed by new FSP president Matt Philips that keynote speaker Edward Snowden requested there be no recording by audience members. Free Keene blogger and NH native Garret Ean recorded anyway and released it here yesterday.
Why would Snowden try to restrict recording when hundreds of people would be attending with recording devices, including, likely some undercover federal agents? I tweeted at Snowden today in an attempt to get a comment and received no reply thus far. According to the organizer of the Liberty Forum in an unofficial facebook post, there was some agreement to allow the FSP to record the event and have Reason.com (whose editor Nick Gillespie conducted the interview with Snowden) release it via their YouTube.
Many in the liberty community are on an all-out attack against Garret for making the recording, and me for refusing to pull it down. One even called for “Free Keene” to be banned from all FSP events. Hilariously, that ban would include FK blogger JJ Schlessinger, who is the video professional the FSP hired to record the event. He called Free Talk Live Tuesday night to inform our audience that he is currently editing a high-quality five-camera HD shoot of the Snowden talk.
NH mainstream newspapers are now picking up the story of this latest FSP schism. Here’s the first two headlines, posted online and appearing in print today:
The founder of the Peaceful Assembly Church, Pastor John Connell was one of the earliest movers to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. He was well known and loved among the liberty community and was truly a man who walked the walk when it came to advocating and embodying peace. He truly was an inspiration.
John was known for his peaceful demeanor, infectiously jovial personality, regular attendance at activist events including jury nullification outreach, excellent guitar playing, and his regular updates sent via Porc 411.
At least as far back as 2011, the government in Grafton continued to deny John’s church a tax exemption, despite the fact that the Peaceful Assembly Church is an actual church building and that regular services were held there. Though he faced ongoing frustration with the town government, John never soured personally. He remained steadfast and of peace.
John was a true example to those of us who ultimately founded the Shire Free Church, which was highly inspired by John and the Peaceful Assembly Church. We will continue to carry on his message of forgiveness and mission of fostering peace in his absence.
After ten years of service, Shire Free Church minister Mark Edge is leaving the airwaves of Free Talk Live, where he spent eighteen hours per week on-air creating entertaining radio with a variety of co-hosts and callers.
Now, he’ll no longer be behind a microphone on Free Talk Live and will be spending an indefinite period of time with his family each night. He is leaving it in listeners’ hands to decide when he can return to the show.
During the Chalk Wars of 2014, we were introduced to an unsavory character in town named Justin Paquette. The Boston native was accompanying James Michael Phillips when Phillips attacked a peaceful man for chalking in downtown’s Central Square, knocking him into the fountain and causing serious injury. While Paquette did not commit the attack, he was definitely pals with Phillips, grabbed at people’s cameras (attempted assault), and threatened people, claiming gang affiliations.
Now, Paquette is in the news again. Today’s Keene Sentinel features his mugshot and an article alleging that he robbed the West St. Circle K and the Winchester St. Sunoco early this morning, while brandishing a knife.
UPDATE 5pm 2015-12-11 – The above paragraph is in dispute. A local business owner familiar with Justin Paquette says that the Paquette in the photo below from the Chalk Wars is not the same Justin Paquette who was arrested for robbery this morning.
The War on Chalk continues nationwide with tonight’s arrest of Cop Block founder and Free Keene blogger Ademo Freeman. Ademo has been arrested in Shawnee, KS on a felony warrant purportedly for “criminal mischief” charges over chalking the Noblesville, IN police department a couple of weeks ago. Ademo is expected to be arraigned on Monday and whether he’ll be extradited to Indiana remains to be seen.
The Noblesville PD chalking incident happened the day before Ademo and Brian Sumner kicked off the Cop Block Mobile Accountability for Cops (MAC) tour. According to their post about the incident, Cop Blockers visited Noblesville police department and used liquid chalk to write various messages directed toward and about the police. Later on, they are threatened by multiple Noblesville cops in a parking lot – see the video here. The gang members detain Ademo and Brian for a quarter-hour and claim that one of “their group” used real paint during the chalking outside the PD.
Now Ademo is in Johnson county jail in Kansas on a felony warrant. As a result, requests for calls to the jail and PD rang out on Facebook. Initially, the jail denied having him and police on the phone played games like one claiming his first name was “deputy” (I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard that one.):
Should you wish to call the jail and/or police and express yourself, here are the numbers: Shawnee PD: 913-631-2150. Johnson County Jail: 913-715-5100. Here’s the agency that issued the warrant, Noblesville PD: 317-776-1588
If you think the massive call flood that these arrests trigger is awesome, then imagine what it would be like if those people willing to call a jail in favor of setting someone peaceful free from captivity were instead willing to move to the same geographic area. Imagine the cop blocking that could be possible. Rather than call the jail, you could go there with others. You could even go to the homes of the people who kidnapped Ademo. Ademo moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. Here are 101 reasons why you should consider doing the same thing.
I got a sad letter from my attorney this week. He informed me that the Supreme Court of NH upheld the lower court’s decision to deny my application for a license to carry a handgun discreetly. You can read the decision here:
