by Ian | Aug 22, 2022 |
Karen Sue Steele, Hates Independence, Originally from MN.
A real-life Karen is targeting the “Independent Thirteen”, the thirteen courageous state representatives who earlier this year voted against killing CACR 32, the NH Independence constitutional amendment. Karen Sue Steele of Atkinson NH has sent in a complaint to the “Ballot Law Commission” demanding the state reps be removed from office and barred from ever running again. She emailed her complaint his weekend and Secretary of State David Scanlan forwarded her email to all the state reps involved with an invitation to the upcoming commission meeting on Wednesday August 24th, 1pm at the Archives and Records Management building at 9 Ratification Way in Concord. All reps who have been identified in her complaint are allowed to speak at the meeting, which is open to the public. Pro-independence activists will rally outside the building starting at noon.
Karen’s email to the Commission says:
I would very much like to get on the agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting, August 24, at 1 pm in Concord.
It is my assertion that the following people are no longer eligible to hold office in NH and thus are unqualified to run for office as they are in violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 3.
1) The seven (7) members of our NH House of Representatives who sponsored a bill to secede from the United States of America: 2022-2243/CACR32 – “Providing that the state peaceably declares independence from the United States and proceeds as a sovereign nation” and
2) The 13 members of the NH House of Representatives voted to not ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate) or kill the bill/NH Constitutional Amendment.
Given the overlap, there are a total of 14 individuals who should not be allowed to run for or hold office in New Hampshire.
Karen’s wrong, of course. Regarding her first-numbered point, the state reps in question did not sponsor a bill to secede from the United States of America, as anyone who actually bothered to read CACR 32 would know. The bill was a proposed constitutional amendment that, if passed by over 3/5ths of the state house and senate, would have placed a question on the ballot for the people of New Hampshire to decide on whether or not to declare peaceful independence from the US. Passing CACR 32 would merely have caused a vote of the people, and if over 2/3rds voted yes, then the constitution would have been amended to add the following to Article 7 of the NH Bill of Rights:
[Art.] 7-a. [Independent Nation.] New Hampshire peaceably declares independence from the United States and immediately proceeds as a sovereign nation. All other references to the United States in this constitution, state statutes and regulations are nullified.”
State Rep Mike Sylvia Speaks on the State House Floor about CACR 32
Second, we’ve heard her ridiculous claim that the US Constitution’s 14th amendment prohibits what the heroic NH reps did, from loyalist state rep Brodie Deshaies at the public hearing on CACR 32. However, as Mike Sylvia – CACR 32’s prime sponsor – previously argued, the 14th amendment only prohibits office-holders from “engaging in insurrection or rebellion”. Anyone who bothers to actually look up those terms in a dictionary, would see they both involve violence against the state. Obviously a proposed vote of the people on a constitutional amendment to peaceably exit the US isn’t violence in any way, so it will be interesting to see how the Ballot Law Commission rules on this at Wednesday’s meeting.
We knew the loyalists to the Empire would be making secession a major issue this election season, which is great news! The more attention independence receives, the more people in New Hampshire will consider peaceful secession for the first time. The more people on the fence will be convinced to join us. I’m grateful that Karen brought this complaint as either way the Ballot Law Commission decides will make things more exciting. If they rule to disqualify the reps from office it could lead to an appeal to the NH Supreme Court and if they rule to keep the reps in place then it’s official that the reps were indeed working within the system’s own rules by proposing the amendment, which means Karen and her ilk will be even more frustrated.
Interestingly, Karen Sue Steele is quite the busybody around Atkinson, Danville and Rockingham County, as anyone with the ability to search the internet could discover. Also, turns out that Karen’s not from New Hampshire, originally hailing from La Crescent, MN. Many of the most ardent big government supporters in New Hampshire are not natives. I wonder if Karen is willing to debate Alu Axelman about independence for NH. He has yet to be able to find any loyalists to talk publicly about their viewpoint. Alu also covered the news about Karen’s attack on the state reps in his detailed article at the Liberty Block. If you’d like Karen to debate this publicly, she helpfully included her contact information in her public complaint. Be kind if you decide to reach out:
Karen Steele
4 Pebble Brook Road
Atkinson, NH 03811
603-362-8850 – home
978-857-6048 – cell
karen.sue.steele@gmail.com
The loyalists are desperate and don’t realize what they are up against. NH Independence is already surprisingly popular amongst NH inhabitants, with nearly one in three supporting New Hampshire being an independent nation and 52% of republicans. See the details on the recent, first-ever Survey USA poll results here.
The recently-formed NH Independence PAC has called for supporters of an independent New Hampshire to gather for a rally starting at noon on Wednesday August 24th, outside the State Archives at 9 Ratification Way (formerly 71 South Fruit Street) in Concord prior to the start of the Ballot Law Commission meeting at 1pm. They will then attend the meeting in support of the brave state reps who are under fire from this literal Karen. Hope to see you there!
by Ian | Aug 3, 2022 |
Nobody
In a recent post here at Free Keene, Chris Waid presented his notes from the sentencing hearing for Nobody as a, “Big win for Mr. Nobody“. This is ridiculous spin. For those who didn’t hear the news, my co-defendant Nobody was recently sentenced to “time served” of approximately six months in jail as well as $2,100 in fines and fees, a forfeiture of $10,000, and two years’ probation. He had taken a plea to one count of “wire fraud”, despite not having defrauded anyone. Like the other Crypto Six defendants, he was intimidated into a plea deal by the threat of further charges.
Whether or not he took the plea and even if he went to trial and “won” on every count – as Aria and I are hoping to do – it would not be a “win”. As Mark Stevens put it in his book, “Adventures in Legal Land“, whenever you are targeted by the state, it is a loss. Even if you “win” and defeat the charges, you still lose your time. You still lose your ability to focus on things that are actually important to you instead of focusing on a criminal trial and the stress of bail conditions and the government’s axe hanging over your head. Basically, when they bring charges against you, you are going to lose – the only question is how much?
In Nobody’s case, he went through a horribly and unnecessarily violent pre-dawn raid on his home, spent several months behind bars, most of a year on restrictive bail conditions, and now is having his personal finances decimated. He has nearly nothing left after paying their extractions, is now a federal felon for life, and is still under multiple probation restrictions for two years. All of this damage has been brought upon him simply because, as he described it, he was convicted of, “contempt of bank”. It’s great that he doesn’t have to go back to prison, but this is not a win.
In other Crypto Six news, the remaining two defendants, Aria DiMezzo and me, have had motions filed by our defense attorneys, including a motion to dismiss the “money transmitter” charges, a motion to block the prosecution from using blockchain analysis experts, and a notice of a “public authority defense”. The hearing on these motions is set for September 1st at 9:30am at Concord Federal District Court Church.
by Ian | Jul 22, 2022 |
Despite having even more people at previous hearings for the “New Hampshire Nine“, this week a robed woman at the Concord District Sham Court Church ordered all of the audience out after a CO2 meter alarmed during a hearing on the NH9’s motion to dismiss. During that time, an infamous bailiff named Peter Hamilton laid his hands on Terese Grinnell and there was much commotion. The robed woman could not understand how her kicking people out of the court was a violation of their right to witness the supposed “public” courtroom happenings, but eventually was persuaded to allow people back in and open the courtroom doors.
It was ridiculous. One bailiff claimed the CO2 detector had been placed in the court last week, while another claimed it was last August. A review of footage of the prior hearing in April does reveal the device was present, but it’s inconclusive as to whether it was on. Regardless, a quick web search shows that CO2 isn’t considered dangerous until 5,000 Parts-Per-Million (PPM). In this video, the bailiff appears to shut off the device when it alarms, then less than ten minutes later, he powers it back on and it reads around 958 PPM, so presumably it was set to alarm at 1,000 PPM. According to the WI DHS, the worst that would happen up to 2,000 PPM is complaints of drowsiness or poor air.
It seems pretty clear the device was installed specifically to give an excuse to repress the right of the people to observe particularly popular court cases. The situation was especially absurd given the robed woman – who is supposedly so concerned about CO2 – was wearing a mask over her face the entire time.
The infamous bailiff, Peter Hamilton
The hearing itself was fairly dull as the attorneys for eight of the nine, excluding Frank “Footloose” Staples, made their arguments that there was no disruption at the executive council meeting prior to the arrests of the peaceful activists. They played surveillance video provided by the prosecution, but the audience could not see it due to it being on a laptop. Footloose says he will release it when he’s provided a copy, as he is a pro-se defendant, so he should get all discovery in the case. He was the only defendant not participating in the motion to dismiss, as he says he wants his trial.
The defense attorneys’ argument is that given there was no disruption prior to the arrests of Footloose and Grinnell, the other arrests were essentially “fruit of the poisoned tree” and should all be thrown out. Before the hearing ended, prosecutors did drop the charges against one of the nine, admitting she should not have been arrested. The prosecutors are claiming there was disruptive behavior prior to the arrests, so the video is now in the robed woman’s hands and she will take it under advisement and issue a ruling later. Meanwhile, a status conference is scheduled in the case for October 7th at 11am. Stay tuned to Free Keene for the latest on the New Hampshire Nine.
by Ian | Jun 30, 2022 |
It was about ten degrees Fahrenheit at around 6am on March 16th, 2021 when dozens of armed agents from the FBI, IRS, USPS, ATF, and Keene Police swarmed onto the duplex containing the Free Talk Live studio. They smashed in windows and a front door, set off explosions, flew in drones, and held multiple peaceful bitcoin activists at gunpoint. Simultaneous raids were being conducted in multiple other locations, with six people arrested in total. They were since dubbed “the Crypto Six” by supporters.
One had her charges dropped and three have taken plea deals despite never harming another human being. Two remain, facing hundreds of years in prison for completely victimless, made-up financial “crimes” regarding bitcoin.
Now, more than a year later, the FBI has returned the surveillance DVRs they took from the property. This is some of the footage taken at the scene of the Free Talk Live studio in Keene, NH:
by Ian | Jun 26, 2022 |
I had the pleasure of speaking from the main stage at Porcfest 2022, the biggest, sold-out Porcfest ever. My speech was about the history of Free Talk Live and the FBI’s obsession with the Free State Project, specifically agent Phil Christiana. Thank you to Dennis Pratt and the rest of the Porcfest crew for having me back!
Here’s the full speech and Q&A:
Thank you to Jim Babb for speaking out years ago and Rodger Paxton for laying the groundwork for having me back to Porcfest.
by Ian | May 19, 2022 |
Skylar Bennett aka Savage Truth 603
Skylar Bennett, aka “Savage Truth 603” was arrested in December 2020 at New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu’s house during what was intended to be a candlelight vigil. Simultaneously, nine other people were ticketed for violating an unconstitutional town ordinance against “picketing”. So far, all the people charged with picketing have been found “not guilty”.
Skylar, who faced trial for not just “picketing”, but also “disorderly conduct”, and “criminal trespass” earlier this month, has been found “not guilty” on all charges!
It’s an amazing victory and proof that the state’s targeting of the activists protesting at Sununu’s home is so illegal that not even the lowly district court judge can rule in the state’s favor.
You can watch the full trial from the courthouse in Brentwood, NH below:
At least two other people remain charged with “picketing”, one who was the last of the Nine ticketed in December, and one man charged with it during a “honk brigade” event in 2021. Stay tuned to Free Keene for the latest on the “Newfields Nine”.
