As many readers of FreeKeene.com are aware, Ademo Freeman’s physical body is now caged. His crime? Well, there is none, as ‘crime’ implies a violation of the law. Ademo did not do that — he did not cause harm to another person. He is, however, guilty of violating legalese — the arbitrary, convoluted dictates penned by some busy bodies and enforced by an unthinking chain of their colleagues.
Cop Block founder and Free Keene blogger Ademo Freeman has been arrested while driving in Lebanon, Ohio by Ohio State Police. Despite Ademo not consenting to a search, trooper Jeffrey Martin claimed that because he allegedly smelled the odor of cannabis, that he had probable cause to search.
After that road pirate interaction, in which over 20 pounds of cannabis were discovered in the vehicle Ademo was driving, he was threatened with the prospect of spending decades caged. After weighing his options, on April 10th of this year, Ademo took a plea deal. The ‘distribution’ charge hanging over his head was tossed and he pled guilty to possessing cannabis. He’s due to be free(r) on November 27th of this year.
Border Patrol Agent Salutes Camera at NH Internal Oppressive Checkpoint
On Friday, several Forkfest 2018 attendees drove an hour South of Roger’s Campground to I-93 around Woodstock, NH – the site of the repeating temporary internal Border Patrol immigration checkpoints. Based on activist reports, the checkpoint appeared to have been operating that day from noon until 7pm. As is typical of these checkpoints, they were stopping every car to ask occupants if they are “US Citizens“. They also had a dog they were walking up and down the line of waiting cars.
As it turns out, a car full of people with video cameras wasn’t welcome in their secondary screening area. After one agent orders me to pull into their secondary screening for refusing to answer questions, his commanding officer intervenes before I can even cross over a single lane of traffic, and even apologizes for not wasting more of our time with their invasive screening! In hindsight, I should have told him to apologize to all the cars without camera-toting occupants for wasting everyone’s time with their oppressive police state checkpoint. Here’s the ridiculous video:
No one in the car was planning to answer the agents’ questions, given one has a right to remain silent (that the US Supreme Court has now required be invoked in police encounters). Obedience to tyrants only encourages them. Besides, as someone who believes in liberty, I don’t believe in government borders. Peaceful people should be allowed to enter a free country. Of course, we all know by now the United States is not a free country, and in fact has been dropping on the various international freedom rankings.
Also this weekend, NH Libertarian Party candidate for US Congress NH-2, Justin O’Donnell also traversed the checkpoint while live streaming to facebook. His friend in the passenger seat obediently answered the agent’s inquiry while O’Donnell debated with the agents, ultimately admitting to having been born in Boston, MA. Prior to this, the agent threatened to detain O’Donnell until he answered the question. (more…)
Yesterday morning I took a trip to the NH Secretary of State’s office in Concord and was the first candidate from any party to file for the NH Senate District 10 race. It was also my first time in the dozens years I’ve lived here that I’ve been able to actually file as a Libertarian! In 2014 and 2016 I ran as a democrat in the gubernatorial primaries, since at that time it was insanely difficult for the Libertarians to qualify for ballot access. Thankfully, all that changed after the 2016 election, when (probably thanks to the awful Trump and Hillary choices at national) the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire regained full ballot access status on par with the two big parties, for the first time in two decades!
As a result of this change, hopefully you’ll be seeing more Libertarian candidates on the ballot this year than ever. My campaign platform is the same as it was when I ran for governor:
End All Prohibition of Victimless “Crimes”
Secede from the United States
Make Taxes Voluntary
As before, I will not be accepting campaign contributions. This is a decentralized campaign. If you want to support it somehow, that’s up to you. I appreciate your support, in whatever way you choose to express it.
My goal with the campaign, as always, is to give voters the option to choose freedom and communicate the ideas of liberty in any media appearance, debate, or wherever I’m given the opportunity to do so. As a principled voluntarist, I advocate for the Non-Aggression Principle, which means that I believe that aggressive force should not be used against peaceful people. I’ll be explaining that during the campaign and what it means when applied to government, which is an agency with a monopoly on aggressive force. (more…)
New Keene District Court Judge Erin B McIntyre Smacks Down Prosecutor
Keene, NH business owner Christopher Waid received a parking ticket when he was downtown in late 2017 and immediately went to the parking department in the city building to demand his right to a trial. While inside the building, he received a second ticket on his car! He also immediately filed for his trial on that one. The double ticket trial was slated for early April and would involve two of the three Keene parking enforcers, meaning they couldn’t be on the streets victimizing other peaceful motorists if they are sitting in a courtroom! Even if Chris had lost the trials, just keeping the enforcers off the streets for a couple hours is a win on its own.
Chris entered the Keene District Court to face down the charges on April 9th and emerged victorious, with both tickets dismissed by new Keene judge Erin B McIntyre. (Longtime district court judge Edward J Burke is recently semi-retired and is only doing fill-in work.) Chris brilliantly challenged both parking tickets on technicalities. The first ticket was thrown out by McIntyre because the location of the alleged offense was not correct and the second ticket was tossed because parking enforcer Linda Desruisseaux lazily cited the wrong section of city code. Many judges would have simply allowed the prosecutor to amend the tickets upon request but McIntyre wasn’t letting the prosecutor have any slack! The exasperated Keene police prosecutor, Eleanor Moran, upon the second dismissal vowed she’d be filing a motion to reconsider, however she never did, according to court records. Here’s the full trial video:
There are a couple of important lessons here. (more…)
Now, the gigolo-turned-television star-turned voluntaryist talk show host and now published author has made the move to New Hampshire!
When I asked him to comment on what pushed him over the edge to deciding to move over 2,700 miles for more freedom, he said, “Your talk at Anarchapulco 2017 first sparked my interest. I ended up meeting [then Free State Project president] Matt Philips the next day and he invited me to speak at PorcFest. That got me intrigued. Then I was invited to speak at FreeCoast Fest and Liberty Forum. With my involvement in crypto and the ability to really ‘live it’, along with people I liked asking me to make the move. I just decided to go for it. I’m glad I did.”
Here’s the first episode of Vin’s show that he’s released since making the move where he and his co-host cover moving to NH, cryptocurrency, psychedelics, and liberty as a spiritual evolution. Great show! Welcome home, Vin.
P.S. You’ll be hearing more from Vin this week as he’ll be guest co-hosting Free Talk Live with me and Mark Edge this Tuesday evening from 7-10pm Eastern. You can listen live at Free Talk Live’s site, or watch our video feed via the LRN.FM Twitch.
Here’s the final video from the series of videos from this year’s 4/20 Rally in Concord, NH at the state house steps where a lone state trooper walks up and attempts to intimidate the peaceful cannabis users into leaving a place where they have a right to be by bellowing, “If you’re smoking marijuana here you need to leave… move out now!”
A few inexperienced attendees begin to make an exit but most of the crowd stays in defiance. After being greeted by state representatives who were attending the event including Dan Hynes, the lone trooper tries again with a much more timid, “If you’re smoking marijuana, please move off the property.”
No one leaves. While he could have written tickets for anyone smoking the now-slightly-decriminalized cannabis, he instead exits the scene, never to return.
For those keeping track, this is the first time in nearly a decade of 4/20 rallies at the state house steps where any such intimidation was tried. At previous rallies, all participants were risking misdemeanor possession charges, yet no one was ever arrested. This year was the first where decrim for under 3/4 oz has been in effect.
Thanks to Garret Ean of Free Concord for capturing this on video.
