During the lengthy trial, the state called several police witnesses to testify that in order to keep James safe from a gunman who was threatening to take his own life, that they needed to arrest James and put him in a cage for two years. Of course, the police really wanted to keep themselves safe from James’ camera and were willing to crush the supposed freedom of the press to do so.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the verdict when it’s available.
Darryl W. Perry tweeted live from James Cleaveland’s trial this morning. James is facing two years in prison for recording the police at the scene of this Summer’s suicide. Here are those tweets in reverse chronological order:
Darryl W. Perry @DarrylWPerry · 2h 2 hours ago
Burke to take the case under advisement #Robinhood
Darryl W. Perry @DarrylWPerry · 2h 2 hours ago
Prosecutor objects to Burke watching video provided by #Robinhood
Darryl W. Perry @DarrylWPerry · 2h 2 hours ago
Burke hasn’t opened the envelope containing video evidence #Robinhood (more…)
The Keene Sentinel recently featured an anonymous editorial about the Colbert Report on Robin Hooding. I have heard the idea behind such unsigned editorials is that all the editors agree with the content. If that is the case, then this response is directed at all of them.
The most objectionable part is that the Sentinel’s editors continue to attribute some kind of ridiculous hive-mind to the bloggers at Free Keene:
To its credit, the group has received the segment with a sense of humor and, presumably, the outlook that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
The Sentinel’s editors do not know what each blogger at Free Keene thinks of the Colbert Report. I don’t even know. Neither I nor the Sentinel have polled this site’s dozen-plus bloggers to find out their thoughts. So, the statement the Sentinel’s anonymous editors make is inaccurate. An accurate statement would be to name specifically who at this website has received it with a sense of humor. I happen to be one of those who enjoyed the Colbert Report (nor was I surprised by it – we expected to be skewered), but my view is not necessarily shared among all the bloggers. Unlike the Sentinel, every post at Free Keene is attributed publicly to its author, so there’s no confusion.
The Sentinel’s anonymous editors may not appreciate the “absurdity” of the Robin Hooders‘ efforts to save people from parking tickets, but multiple employees of the paper have thanked the activists for saving them – so obviously the anonymous editors do not speak for 100% of the Sentinel staff.
After arresting Janelle Westfall, 18, for underage possession of alcohol, Seastrand allegedly told her she could avoid charges if she went into the police station basement with him and did a nude photo shoot.
Of course, none of the money being given to Ms. Westfall is coming from Seastrand – it’s the taxpayers who are on the hook for his actions. He is protected from responsibility by the system. Prosecutors will not prosecute him. You can bet that if any gun-toting non-cop threatened a young lady and demanded nude photos that person would be fully prosecuted. It’s good to be in the government gang!
The big question is – how many times has Seastrand pulled this move and gotten away with it prior to this incident? I doubt it was his first time using his power to intimidate girls into taking off their clothes.
Make no mistake, these three criminal charges against me were not ‘dropped’ by Gilford Police Chief Bean-Burpee and his prosecutor Sergeant Eric Bredbury, they were dismissed by a New Hampshire Circuit Court Judge after a full hearing. In spite of having months to review the law and the facts, the Prosecutor refused to drop the charges or even propose a plea, but rather continued to seek a conviction to justify the State’s violation of my First Amendment right of free speech, and my unlawful arrest.
I was fortunate enough to be experienced in the legal system, and also had the determined, talented, and effective counsel of Mark Sisti and Jared Bedrick of Sisti Law Offices. But what about those who have none of these advantages? One of the most troubling aspects of this experience is having to face the fact that, out of the millions of people arrested every year in the United States, many are unlawfully arrested, maliciously prosecuted, wrongfully convicted, or pressured to plead guilty just to get it over with. Having a jury of one’s peers is supposed to be a check on this system, but NH law precludes a jury trial for a defendant if he is not facing possible incarceration.
Last weekend, he struck again. This time against a peaceful homeless-awareness chalking event on Central Square. Members of the Unitarian Universalist church had come out and traced outlines of their bodies to bring awareness to the 42 deaths of homeless people in New Hampshire in 2014. According to a report by the Keene Sentinel’s Martha Shanahan and Alyssa Dandrea, shortly after the event an unidentified man came out of a local business and attacked the chalkings with a brush and water. Despite being confronted by witnesses who asked him to stop, he continued his destruction.
Homeless Awareness Chalking: Pre-Attack Photo by Susan MacNeil
I reached out to witnesses in the case and showed them a picture and video of local chalk hater Matthew Schmidt in action and they confirmed that yes, it was him. I wasn’t surprised, of course, but I wanted to wait until I’d confirmed it with the witnesses rather than post an article speculating it was him. So, consider it confirmed.
Does Schmidt hate homeless people? Does he hate artwork? Does he hate children? He sure seems to have plenty of hate, for whatever reason. I hope someday he finds peace.
I recently found out that the Berlin Police Department has submitted a grant application for a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck (BEARCAT). You may recall the Keene Police requested and received a similar armored vehicle after citing Pumpkin Fest and the Clarence Del Mar marathon as reasons for the needing a vehicle to be used to fight terrorism. And more recently, the Concord PD claiming “Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges,” in addition to organized groups, it cited “several homegrown clusters that are anti-government and pose problems for law enforcement agencies.” When asked to provide documentation of the “daily challenges” presented, the Concord City Clerk responded that there were no such documents.
In North Country, the Berlin PD’s application, which is full of spelling errors, cites 1) proximity to Canada; 2) terrorists coming in from Canada; 3) Carl Drega; and 4) Nathaniel Kibby as reasons for needing the vehicle. (more…)
