As journalist and videographer Sam Dodson was screaming from another room, David Krouse and other activists were ordered to leave the lobby of the allegedly public Keene district court. Krouse sat down and remained peacefully noncooperative. For this, he was arrested and charged with “disorderly conduct”. Last week he was sentenced to six days in the Cheshire jail and that sentence began this morning, as activists gathered to see him off.
Cheshire sheriffs (uniformed men with guns and tazers) are searching the streets of Keene for the peaceful NH Free Press publisher, Russell Kanning. Below you’ll see video that Lauren Canario captured of her husband Jim Johnson successfully refusing to provide ID when asked:
Tack on another $250 to the thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on imprisoning Keene liberty activists thus far in 2009. For his dastardly crime of “disturbing” the soil in central square (see video of the arrest) in an attempt to plant some tomato seeds earlier this spring, Cory “AnarchoJesse” Maloney will likely be ordered to jail for three days. The robed man at Keene district court, Edward Burke, rejected Maloney’s legal argument which centered around their rule exempting agricultural tilling from the definition of “excavation”, saying he didn’t believe it was the legislator’s intent to override the city ordinances. The city’s ordinance apparently also says that one needs a permit to “disturb” city property. Maloney was found guilty and $120 demanded of him. He indicated he would not be paying and Burke suggested he think about it for a few days, because the only other option is 3 days in Chez Westmoreland. At over $30,000 per year to imprison people in NH, that’s more than $250 stolen tax dollars for three days. Add that to the over $6,000 already spent imprisoning peaceful activists so far this year.
How much more will they spend on this draconian punishment? How many more peaceful people must have their freedom stolen from them before this tyranny ends?
We know the government people read this blog. If you are one of them, how many more people will you hurt? Isn’t it possible what you’ve been participating in is wrong? That is, imprisoning peaceful people who haven’t harmed others?
I forgive you, and ask you to please stop playing your role in this violent system. Do the right thing.
We expect video of the trial to be available later here at FreeKeene.com
Nobody forgets the arrest and imprisonment of Sam Dodson, held for 58 days without trial after his arrest on April 13 of this year. What many are likely to forget though, is the insanity that ensued afterward. When activists were ordered out of the Keene District Court lobby following his arrest, six stayed against the orders of Eli Rivera. The below links contain the accounts and videos from that day:
Most of the activists staying behind were 100% quiet and out of the way. Two were cited while standing in a corner of the room. Two more were arrested after remaining seated on a nearby bench the entire time. All of them accused of “Disrupting the orderly conduct of business in a public or governmental facility.”
Over the past 3 months since this incident, each activist has handled his charges slightly differently: from motions for recusal, to motions to strike charges, to a witness list 16 people deep.
Where does it all lead to? It all leads to July 27th, at 1:30pm at the Keene District Court. Five of the six “disorderlies” are scheduled for trial at the same time. How such a thing will be processed with almost exact witnesses for each trial is yet to be seen. We don’t know what exactly to expect come next Monday, but we’d love for YOU to come find out with us. While the trials will be recorded and posted, the best thing would be for you to come out and see first-hand the show trial they are going to put on for a bunch of people who were arrested for standing in a public place.
Very little information is known to anyone but the police so far, but a friend named Andrew was arrested this morning – probably a little before 8:40a – and is still being held at the police department. Fellow friends and liberty activists are at the police station trying to find out why their friend is being held captive. The only information the police are giving is that Andrew was arrested for not answering questions that police were asking. It is also known that Andrew said things like, “Stop arresting me, assholes,” but it in unclear whether the law enforcement officers were overreacting to “harsh” language or whether that language was itself a reaction to the police’s actions.
As of Monday July sixth, the people calling themselves the “State of New Hampshire” have imprisoned another videographer at the Cheshire jail. This time it’s Dave Ridley from RidleyReport.com. He’ll be spending six days in Chez Westmoreland because he dared to use his freedom of the press and record video in the lobby of the Keene district court. Videographer Sam Dodson spent 58 days in the same facility for recording video and then using his alleged right to remain silent. Sam, also a blogger here at Free Keene, was arrested at the arraignment forced on Dave. Now having been forced into a trial and found guilty, Dave has turned himself in (under their threat of violence, of course) for a six day sentence. Nearly twenty liberty activists came out and had a picnic and sign-waving rally on the jail grounds. The prisoners were pleased to see us, as always.
Total cost to jail peaceful activists in Cheshire county so far in 2009? At over $30,000 per year to imprison people in NH, Dave’s six days, Sam’s 58, and Andrew Carroll’s nine, that’s at least $6,000. How much they spent on all the bureaucracy (police, court, sheriffs) to get them in jail is another question entirely. Either way, it seems that mass civil disobedience and noncooperation are keys to freedom (plus education and enlightenment) and that when more disobey and say no, it will begin to cost the violent monopolists more and more. May they one day see the error in their ways!
As journalist and videographer Sam Dodson was screaming from another room, David Krouse and other activists were ordered to leave the lobby of the allegedly public Keene district court. Krouse sat down and remained peacefully noncooperative. For this, he was arrested and charged with “disorderly conduct”. Last week he was sentenced to six days in the Cheshire jail and that sentence began this morning, as activists gathered to see him off.
Tack on another $250 to the thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on imprisoning Keene liberty activists thus far in 2009. For 
We know the government people read this blog. If you are one of them, how many more people will you hurt? Isn’t it possible what you’ve been participating in is wrong? That is, imprisoning peaceful people who haven’t harmed others? 
