Nick Ryder has published the latest video to show the arrests of 5 people in downtown Keene that took place on Sunday. It all began after one woman was arrested for drinking a beer on a City bench.
As of Monday Morning, all arrested activists except for Rich Paul and Ian are out of custody with pending charges. It is unclear why either is still in, or what they are charged with, but the most updated information will be found on our forum thread about this subject at http://forum.freekeene.com/index.php?topic=3564
Do humans have a right to sit in public and drink a bottle of water?
A glass of lemonade?
A can of beer?
Some people think we should not have a right to drink the latter, but how are they different? Who is more hurt because a woman drinks a beer outside as opposed to water?
Activists were arrested Sunday evening in Keene. A woman named Heika was arrested first for possession of an open alcohol container in The Square. Further arrests occurred when activists Meg, Wes, Ian, and Rich Paul did not back down from standing in front and behind the police cruisers trying to take Heika and others away.
Further arrests occurred at the police station for allegedly having an open alcohol container inside the police station.
About 40 people gathered at Palmer’s Tavern on Saturday, July 10, to show support for George Hodgdon, the 60-year-old bar owner who was arrested July 1 for allegedly misleading a police investigation of a bar fight.
Police said the victim of the April 30 assault was Deering Selectman John Greene, 31.
Greene’s reaction to the event: “People are going to say all kinds of things now to get out of trouble.” A large segment of the Hodgdon supporters were members of the Free State Project.
They parked a camper in front of the Route 114 bar with an electronic road sign attached. The sign displayed phrases including, “Weare The Public,” “Live Free Or Die” and “Don’t Tread On Me.” (more…)
This comic was inspired by a controversy over the Shire Society Declaration. The construction of the declaration was begun with a work by Libertarian author, L. Neil Smith. Many changes were made after a lengthy discussion, but they remain quite similar according to a number of people. I haven’t actually read the original work and I got turned off to the discussion for reasons described here. I did ultimately find myself in enough agreement with the final product to sign it. (more…)
Police in NH and around the country continue to arrest people for filming them, bad teachers in the UK, an undercover cop tackles a teenager trying to enter his own home, and Massachusetts passes a law that threatens to make much of the Internet illegal.
“No police scrutiny: Drop the camera and back away”
“Take care, New Hampshire, that you don’t let the police catch you using your cell phone or video camera to record their interactions with the public. You could be arrested and charged with a felony.”
“It shouldn’t be a crime to record public officials doing their jobs or to record public disturbances or other crimes. Doing so can be a public service. (Had someone taped the incident involving Christopher Micklovich and four off-duty Manchester police officers outside the Strange Brew Tavern earlier this year, that saga would not be dragging on and on.) But in New Hampshire it’s not only a crime, it’s a felony. This needs to change.”
Pretty easy editorial to agree with. What possible public benefit accrues from barring citizens from recording their interactions with governmental officials (particularly ones trained and authorized to use violence)? New Hampshire has some of the best and most professional police officers in the country, and as long as they stay that way they should have no reason to object to being recorded.
– Peter, Canterbury
Wow. Thank you Union Leader for such an awesome piece. The article is located here.
