40+ people, a good portion Keeniacs, gathered in Manchester’s Victory Park today to hold a 4:20 cannabis celebration mid-winter in honor of Big Mike. He was arrested for brushing up against an MPD undercover officer. Big Mike has been imprisoned until the trial in April because he’s using his so-called right to remain silent and refusing to give up his name. Our blogger Sam was imprisoned for 58 days for the same thing last year. Disobey, and you stay in their cage.
Here’s BikerBill‘s excellent coverage of the events in the park. Hopefully someone else got footage of the entire MPD being called out later on at the jail…
More from the Keene-inspired activists in Manchester, who have experienced their first civil disobedience arrest in recent memory. More video may be coming, but for now here’s the scene as described by liberty activist Joe Skinner:
Two Activists Arrested in Manchester for a 420 Celebration.
Saturday January 16th 2010 was an unseasonably warm day in the New Hampshire region. Because of this my roommate Mike and I figured it would be a perfect day to go, live free and hold an impromptu 420 celebration at Veteran’s Park in down town Manchester. Celebrations like the one we were planning that morning were held throughout the late summer and fall in both Keene and Manchester, NH. These celebrations, in which the participants partake in the public and open consumption of cannabis, were left completely unmolested in every instance of them occurring in the Manchester area. That is until that Saturday in January.
Around 4:00 PM Mike and I arrive on scene, close to the corner of Elm and Central in down town Manchester. We did not expect a large turnout because of the short notice, so we sat down smoked a cigarette and figured we’d just wait around until the hour arrived to do the public consumption and leave. We had done this dozens of times a few months earlier and it all seemed almost routine that afternoon. By the time it reached 4:20PM there were a total of six of us that had gathered, three of which were actually participating in celebration.
As we were passing around a marijuana cigarette (and may I mention, not hurting, nor bothering any passersby) two gentlemen who were wearing jeans, fleece jackets and baseball caps, entered the circle and asked if we were smoking. As we were not there to hide anything we acknowledged what we were doing without even giving it a second thought. At that moment the two men identified themselves as police and stated that we were observed to be smoking marijuana in public and that we were being detained by the officers. (more…)
It was the end of December 2006 when Free Keene quietly launched. Today, we have over 23,000 visits per month, over 1,100 facebook fans, the busiest liberty activism forum in the state, and have helped little Keene truly become New Hampshire’s Liberty Activist Destination. New people every week are posting their intentions to move in our forum. When are you coming to Keene?
This was a record-setting year for the number of movers to Keene as well as the numbers of activists put in jail. The more the state gang lashes out against peaceful activists, the more people will come here to help us Free Keene! (So thank you, Ed Burke and Eli Rivera!) More people armed with video cameras and audio recorders are arriving every month and things are only going to get more difficult for the aggressors. Their days of coercive control are numbered, and the number will shrink when you arrive!
Thank you to our wonderful bloggers and thanks to all who read and participate on this site. Have a happy, safe and fun New Year’s Eve! See you in 2010!
My parking ticket saga continues (see the other parts here), as today while at court to support Kurt I was “served” by the friendly Peter “Sturdy” Thomas of the Keene police. Here’s the complaint he foisted upon me, alleging I committed a “VIOLATION” of city ordinance 94-152 B1. As you can see, the original was completely illegible so Sturdy took the time to trace over most of it for me – such service! Basically they are claiming I parked at an expired meter and didn’t pay for the meter.
I’ve been meaning to post my correspondence about this incident with the Keene police’s parking bureau head, Ginger Reyes, and this gives me the perfect opportunity. (I believe she’s the angry-looking blonde parking enforcement person so many Keeniacs are unfortunately too familiar with.) Here’s the situation. (more…)
KEENE – Don Primrose is opening a temporary cold-weather shelter for the homeless on Tuesday — whether the city approves or not.
The 50-year-old Sullivan man recently became an advocate for six men living in a shack behind a local shopping plaza when the city cited the men for building, health and fire code violations.
Primrose, a farmer and retired contractor, said he has rented space in a commercial building off Main Street to serve as a temporary shelter for the homeless.
The Hundred Nights Shelter will be open until March, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily, he said. There will be 16 beds, mostly in one room, with some beds in two or three smaller rooms. There will be a toilet and sink, but no shower facilities or other amenities.
“It will just be a safe, warm place to sleep for the night,” Primrose said.
He said when he approached city officials with his plans yesterday morning, he was told he would have to go through the planning and zoning process. But, by the end of the day, he was told he may not have to go through those steps, depending on how the planning department interprets what he is doing.
“The need is now,” Primrose said. “I understand there may be penalties, there may be hard feelings or confusion on the part of the city, but I believe there is a need right now . . . we are going forward.” (more…)
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that for weeks now there have been two Social Sundays gatherings. One was at 3pm a local sports bar and the other starts at 5pm at Abunara, Keene’s Middle Eastern Cultural Club featuring fine food, Turkish coffee, fresh juices and hookah pipes.
The market has spoken. The sports bar was devoid of activists today and Abunara was hopping! The earlier gathering will be dropped in favor of focusing on the 5pm event at Abunara. The owners there welcome liberty activists and have offered us special deals. The food is fantastic and the atmosphere is much brighter and far more comfortable than the bar. We’d love to have you come out and join us every Sunday at 5pm for socializing and now gaming! Many people are bringing their favorite board, party, and strategy games and staying and hanging out for hours. People do tend to arrive earlier than five, but considering 4:20 events will be returning in a few months, it makes the most sense to say it starts at five. Tonight it went well past 10pm with a Monopoly slugfest involving Free Keene bloggers Dale and Richard!
So come on out Sundays starting at 5pm at Abunara in the Center at Keene on the West end of Gilbo Ave., right next to Rick’s Ice Cream! Please be aware that Abunara is a private club. If you don’t know any Free Keeniacs who are members and are brand new (you can always get to know us by posting on the Forum!) you can either buy a year membership for $20 or you can walk in and ask a member get you in free as a guest. Just let it be known you’re there for Free Keene’s Social Sunday. See you there!
UPDATE- For those with smoke-related concerns, come on by and check this place out. They are VERY well ventilated. No tobacco is smoked in Abunara unless it is in a hookah, and it’s nothing like a cigarette or cigar smell. In fact, unless you are right next to it, it’s difficult to detect.
It was the end of December 2006 when Free Keene quietly launched. Today, we have over 23,000 visits per month, over 
My parking ticket saga continues (
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that for weeks now there have been two Social Sundays gatherings. One was at 3pm a local sports bar and the other starts at 5pm at 
