Dancing for Liberty in Washington DC

by | Jun 8, 2011 | 4 comments

Photo from the Sunday Washington Post!

 

It’s starting to seem like whenever I go on vacation from the Shire, I am presented with the most amusing activism opportunities.  Saturday was an great example of this.  Staying just a few hours away from DC, I couldn’t resist hopping a bus and attending the Dance Party at the Thomas Jefferson Monument in Washington, DC.

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Concord Monitor Reports on Manch Mass Arrests

by | Jun 8, 2011 | 2 comments

The Concord Monitor’s report focuses on Garret Ean of Concord, who is a blogger at FreeConcord.org and was arrested in the mass arrests of liberty activists outside Manch PD on Saturday. Thanks to Matthew Spolar for the story:

A Concord activist was among eight people arrested at a protest outside the Manchester police station this weekend.

Garret Ean, a 22-year-old Pleasant Street resident who lost a race for a House seat last year, was charged with disorderly conduct at a Saturday afternoon protest that called for more accountability within the Manchester Police Department.

Ean said the protest, organized by copblock.org, a law enforcement watchdog site, was held in reaction to two recent headlines: an attorney general’s report clearing off-duty officers in the beating of a man outside the Strange Brew Tavern and the shooting of a man during a standoff last month.

“We felt someone was needed to bring it to Manchester PD’s attention that there are people who do want to hold them accountable for their actions,” Ean said yesterday. (more…)

LOT Drops in on MPD

by | Jun 8, 2011 | 3 comments

Here’s the full post from Liberty On Tour, with lots of detail.

Just after 8am yesterday morning, Beau and I left MARV and walked to Manchester District Court, where Ademo and Wes Gilreath were to be arraigned for allegedly engaging in victimless actions this past Saturday at a pro-police accountability rally held at the Manchester PD.

Just after noon, we left with Ademo (free(r) on personal recognizance) but without Wes, who had an outstanding warrant for a failure appear per charges levied upon him for sitting on a cruiser last year in Keene that was transporting Heika Courser to jail. Wes will spend the next 20 days at Cheshire County until his court date unless his bail of $1000 can be paid. (more…)

City Council Doesn’t Care In Manchester

by | Jun 8, 2011 | 15 comments

I went to the Manchester City Council meeting this evening, along with about 35 others in support of Manchester activists speaking out about the unjust arrests and stolen properties from Saturday evening. There were several differences in the way their meetings were held as opposed to Keene (such as the mayor didn’t say a word to anyone addressing him), and I must say I found their attitudes and overall demeanor disgusting and unprofessional.

At the meeting, anyone was allowed to speak about any topic of their choice for 3 minutes, but one had to sign up before the meeting began.  An alderman/woman (aka city council member) then called people up one by one to speak. Not one alderman looked directly at the speaker, and in fact often rolled their eyes, ruffled through papers, or chatted amongst themselves. The mayor himself appeared tired and unwilling to listen to the citizens of Manchester voicing their concerns.

On the other hand, the people that spoke about Saturday’s arrests did a splendid job. They raised a lot of great points about how far is too far, police accountability, and using tax payers’ money to arrest people chalking and not showing identification (neither which are illegal). Many people that had their cameras or phones confiscated for “evidence” (why is beyond me as they have their own surveillance) spoke out and kindly asked the city council to tell the officers to return their property. The speakers were professional, eloquent, and I personally was very impressed! (more…)