Earlier this week, Pete and Garret took a trip just north of the Police Accountability Tour stop in Chicago to followup on an incident in Skokie, Illinois that occurred this past Spring, but did not receive attention until earlier in October. On March 10, Cassandra Feuerstein of Chicago was arrested on a DUI charge in Skokie and was in the custody of the village’s police force when she sustained a serious injury to her face. Requiring reconstructive surgery, the installation of a titanium plate, and resulting in persistent numbness and vision problems, Cassandra sustained the injury as a result of being shoved face-first into a concrete bench by Skokie officer Michael Hart. Why was it that such a serious injury required seven months for there to be action taken?
Only after a civil suit was filed and the video of the incident released publicly was Michael Hart’s status with the department changed, as he was placed on desk duty. Following the video’s publication, there was public outcry for criminal charges to be filed, which they finally were approximately two weeks later. At that time, Hart was suspended, with pay, as the trial is pending.
The person responsible for prosecuting Hart is state’s attorney Anita Alvarez, who is infamous for both advocating the criminalization of video recording the police, as well as suggesting that three youths who had confessions coerced out of them and were exonerated for the rape and murder of a woman may have still been culpable despite DNA evidence tying the crime to a known serial murderer. One cannot expect a monopolistic service such as police and courts to police themselves, but it is clear from the rhetoric Alvarez and others involved employ that they cannot simply sweep the incident under the rug. (more…)
I must say, the first-ever Keenevention worked out splendidly, thanks to over 100 great attendees, speakers, volunteers, and VIPs! As promised, the conference focused on activism and our speakers consisted of Free State Project early movers and of course liberty-loving NH natives. As FSP early mover and superactivist Carla Mora expressed on the Keenevention 2013 facebook event,
“This was one hell of an inspirational liberty event. It was very different from ones I have attended in the past…we are doing something right if we are surrounded by these people.”
One attendee told me that he’d never seen such in-depth panels. Our activist speakers and panelists were outstanding, interesting, and informative. Jay Freeville said Keenevention was the,
“First liberty convention I’ve ever been to where I’ve actually wanted to go to more speakers/panels because they were consistently interesting enough to hold my attention!”
In addition, Keenevention was intimate, but yet still large enough to be diverse with people attending from as far away as Wisconsin, Canada, Ohio, and Virgina. The over 100 Keeneventioneers not only watched great speeches and panels, but also conversed, dined together on-the-town, and participated in various activism and social activities. You can the rest of this post via the full article at Keenevention.info!
According to the Sentinel’s election rundown, turnout among the city’s 16,598 registered voters was 12 percent. Put another way, that’s 88% of people who are registered to vote that decided that the election wasn’t important enough to bother. Despite the claims of those who advocate for controlling their neighbors, the Keene election is hardly a mandate against liberty. It’s the same as always: a superminority of people are the ones who decide the winners and those people are usually those who support “the state”. Everyone else is too busy with important things like their lives.
Clearly, despite the excellent slate of liberty-oriented candidates, the average people of Keene did not fear freedom so much that they decided to come vote against us. Turnout this year was nothing unusual. Alternately, they did not desire freedom so much that they decided to come out and vote for us. Most people are in-the-dark as to what is happening here. Only the politically aware are likely to vote in municipal elections, and politically aware people tend to be those who wish to control others, hence, the easy wins for aggression-supporting candidates.
Surely the political class is resting easy with their victories, however, they should keep in mind that should the “sleeping giant” of average folks awaken, it would only take 2-3% of the population of Keene to come out and vote for liberty to completely flip the tables. For instance, I got 10th place out of 10 in the at-large race. However, I’d have needed only 700 votes to have made 5th place and won a seat on the council. 700 is about 3% of Keene’s 23,000 population. What could motivate those people to actually vote? Your guess is as good as mine.
P.S. Thanks to all those who voted for liberty-oriented candidates!
The city of Keene has been introduced to a new verb called “robin-hooding.”
According to local activists and members of Free Keene, “Robin-Hooding” is their reference for “One who saves another from getting a parking ticket,” Ian Freeman said. Ian Freeman is a member of this activist group. He said that Free Keene isn’t really an organization or company, just some individuals coming together to help out their fellow motorists. (more…)
While Pete Eyre and I continue the 2013 Police Accountability Tour, updates from the changes at the Weare police department stream out of NH. The Concord Monitor has the story on WPD’s new police chief imported from New Haven, Connecticut, which was the subject of its own FBI raid in 2007. The Monitor story discusses some of the negative attention drawn to Weare police under the reign of previous administrations, wherein civilians were legally attacked and threatened with felonies for recording police. Multiple individuals have their own lawsuits against the department for the infringement on their right to document public officials.
Linked below is an update from myself and Pete produced shortly after touching down in Chicago, where our stay promises further adventures in accountability.
How many of us have been told by police employees that the reason they must take such aggressive actions is to “make it home to my family”? That mindset, according to Threat Management Center founder Dale Brown, is flawed. Instead, those tasked with protecting others – those who take a salary to do so, should have as their highest priority the safety of others.
Incentives matter. Police, as currently structured, will never provide protection, justice or be accountable. Dale Brown and his colleagues at Threat Management center are proving that these services are better supplied through consensual interactions.
RELATED RESOURCES
[website] Threat Management Center The objective of our organization is to make the world safer by denying the opportunity for violence to take place. By using tactical psychology, tactical law, and tactical skills, we create conditions which, by design, are not conducive for violence. V.I.P.E.R.S. Threat Management emphasizes the use of deterrence, detection, and defense to achieve non-violent outcomes.
[website] Police Accountability Tour The Police Accountability Tour, on the road from mid-August until December, will maximize police accountability by facilitating connections and collaboration among those who know that badges don’t grant extra rights, and through skill sharing and the capturing and dissemination of relevant content. This tour will help further connect individuals involved with Cop Block, Cop Watch, and Peaceful Streets groups as well as all police-watching groups and people around the world, so we can together advance a reality free from institutionalized violence. (more…)
she sustained a serious injury to her face. Requiring reconstructive surgery, the installation of a titanium plate, and resulting in persistent numbness and vision problems, Cassandra sustained the injury as a result of being shoved face-first into a concrete bench by Skokie officer Michael Hart. Why was it that such a serious injury required seven months for there to be action taken?
The person responsible for prosecuting Hart is state’s attorney Anita Alvarez, who is infamous for both advocating the criminalization of video recording the police, as well as suggesting that three youths who had confessions coerced out of them and were exonerated for the rape and murder of a woman may have still been culpable despite DNA evidence tying the crime to a known serial murderer. One cannot expect a monopolistic service such as police and courts to police themselves, but it is clear from the rhetoric Alvarez and others involved employ that they cannot simply sweep the incident under the rug. (more…)![1380660_245553415599436_919297990_n[1]](https://i0.wp.com/keenevention.info/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1380660_245553415599436_919297990_n1.jpg)
