An Epic Day in Court for Pete and Ademo

by | Jul 18, 2011 | 19 comments

Photo Courtesy Masslive.comWOW. Copblock and Liberty on Tour‘s Pete and Ademo went to trial today on felony “wiretapping” charges and “resisting arrest” in Greenfield, MA. (Click for extensive background info.) Over fifty supporters turned out! The courtroom was literally full with liberty-loving friends and associates of Pete and Ademo. Before trial, the “trespassing” charges were dropped, which was the original reason for arrest, but as we have seen, that never stops them from continuing prosecution.

Unfortunately, electronic devices were forbidden from the courtroom, with the exception of Jason Talley, who was the anointed one allowed in with a video camera. He was also allowed to bring in his tablet computer, which they decided that he can not bring in for the final day of trial, tomorrow. Why? Probably because he did an awesome job of videoblogging the trial, including classic moments showing what the atmosphere in court was like. Here’s a quick video showing one of SEVERAL instances of the audience erupting into applause for Pete and Ademo.

Besides that, the audience also laughed multiple times, and the court security and robed man did nothing. In addition, multiple hats were worn in court, and nothing was done. Nothing was also done about the applause, even though the prosecutor asked the robed man to stop it.

It was amazing.

Numbers make a difference. (more…)

Ademo: The Verdict Doesn’t Matter

by | Jul 17, 2011 | 2 comments

AdemoAdemo writes at Copblock regarding his feelings surrounding tomorrow morning’s trial:

I can’t speak for Pete, but for me, the outcome of our trial on Monday doesn’t matter – we’ve succeed at making our point. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to go to jail (who does?) but my conscious is clear. I know without a doubt that Pete and I didn’t harm anyone (though one officer claims he was ‘scratched’ when arresting us – yep, a scratch – lock us up now!) nor did we damage anyone’s property.

To me, we’ve already “won” (for lack of a better word) by making an impact. We’ve personally met 100?s of people here and brought the issues of police accountability to the streets of Greenfield without the local paper, city officials or other major forms of distributing information. Instead, we’ve – with on the ground activism and outreach – distributed thousands of fliers, DVD’s, business cards and shown people how effective (and scared) a camera is when interacting with police, especially when they’re doing (or have done) wrong.

Folks in the downtown area of Greenfield are consistently stopping Pete, Beau and myself to thank us for highlighting the our issue here. Several have gotten, or are talking about getting,  cameras of their own, with plans of using them for police encounters in the future. Others have continued the Robing Hooding that we introduced them to on our last visit to the area.  Even a current Greenfield Police Officer bought one of our shirts and said, “You’re doing valuable work.”

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Big Greenfield Update

by | Jul 17, 2011 | 0 comments

Copblock‘s Ademo and Pete ask the meter maid in Greenfield some tough questions and get some sad answers:

The guys encounter Greenfield police officer McCarthy, who appears to be stalking Ademo’s parents:

Update for 7/14: (more…)