Cop Block founder Ademo Freeman was recently sentenced to 60 days in a cage by “Judge” Burke, an employee of the City of Keene. His so-called crime was for speaking out against the mistreatment of his friend, fellow Cop Block strategist and blogger Pete Eyre. Pete transcribed the following letter Adam wrote from jail and posted it to CopBlock.org:
To the best movement in the world,
First, I’d like to say THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart every last one of you rock! With Pete’s insane arrest and with my crazy jail sentence – it has all been one hell of a ride.
People have partaken in call floods, operated websites, conducted media blitzes (to mainstream and social networks), created videos, wrote letters, changed profile pics and much much more. Again, thank you all.
Though from what I’m able to hear from inside Cheshire Co. Jail there are some questions about what to do now? As well as the occasional back and forth about what tactics to use? Before I get into what I’ve asked people to do, I want to make one point: WE’VE ALREADY DONE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART! (AND VERY WELL IMO)
To me, highlighting (and having it on video) the fact that a person can be assaulted, dragged from a room and caged for wearing a hat is the main focus. Yet, I was also caged for speaking out (and I’ll choose better words next time) against such action – which only reinforces that violence of the state. I’ve heard these videos have tens of thousands of views, made several blogs and even Yahoo news. Great job everyone – pat yourself on the back! You’ve made people more aware.
It’s a sad fact that sometimes (more times than not) civil disobedience leads to a cage (jail) and people we love are left to do the time. I’m well aware of this every time I engage the state and/or its agents. For me, the lessons learned by those videos and the inspiration they’ll bring to others (due to everyone’s hard work) is so much greater than the 60 days I’ll do in this cage.
If everyone wants to go back to their normal lives or other forms of activism for the rest of my sentence I’m ok with that. I promise I won’t be mad at you. Thanks to everyone who wrote letters, made donations to my commissary (Heika, M7 and George) and sent me books – I’ll get through this BS sentence with no problems. This is the life of an activist and my days are NOT lost here. I spend my time keeping a diary, writing letters and blog posts (for when I’m released), talking with jailers/inmates and taking visits from friends/family. I’ll be back before you know it!
Though I have asked a few activists to do some things for me, since I’m limited in here, and if you have time I’m sure they’d like some help:
- write/call Burke – ask him to reduce my sentence and try (I know it’s hard) to be more polite to him than I was [each Tue. Heika will hand-deliver all letters/emails sent to her to Burke: Heika Courser, 20 Forest St., Keene, NH 03431 or luvburke2liberty@yahoo.com]
- share the videos and post from Pete’s and my arrest [see http://copblock.org/freepete & http://copblock.org/freeademo]
- write or visit me [Adam Mueller, Cheshire County D.O.C., 825 Marlboro Road, Keene, NH 03431]
But the last thing I want is people fighting over what to do or feeling like you’ve failed because I’m still in jail. I expect and am prepared to be here for 60 days. In fact I’m proud to be here because I know I stood up for what’s right.
