In this video Derrick and I (Rapsher) discuss and partake in Robin Hooding. One of our motivating factors is, like most people in the community, we’ve been compromised into paying various fees associated with driving. Robin Hooding is one way we believe we can neutralize our karma for paying a criminal agency. So, we’re not personally getting our money back, but we are preventing others in the community from having their money stolen from them by the city with parking tickets. We encourage you to do this in your city, or just come to Keene NH and join in the fun here.
Tag Archives | Free State Project
Union Leader: Court tells police to let the public videotape
Photo by Anton Lee of ShirePhotography.com
From UnionLeader.com, the newspaper with the largest circulation in New Hampshire:
CONCORD — Police in several communities in New Hampshire have arrested people videotaping police officers, but according to a ruling from the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, the arrests violate their First Amendment rights.
The ruling in the case of Simon Glik, a Boston attorney arrested for filming Boston police officers arresting a man on Boston Common, states: “Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs.’”
And the court ruled “a citizen’s right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public place is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment.”
In New Hampshire, citizens have been arrested for recording police officers performing their duties — including several publicized cases in Weare, Nashua, Manchester, Portsmouth and Keene.
For the past three legislative sessions, bills have been introduced to make it clear citizens have a right to record police officers performing their duties in public places, but to date none have become law.
Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 145, which is still in the Senate Judicial Committee after it passed the House this session. The Senate will act on the bill in January.
Baldasaro said Tuesday: “I think the ruling is a win-win for law-abiding citizens. In my opinion, it is unconstitutional to stop people from videotaping police in public places.”
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Fenton Groen, R-Rochester, said he will propose an amendment that changes police officers to all public officials, requires the person doing the recording to notify police or public officials they are being recorded and clarifies that the recording is the private property of the person who made it.
Baldasaro noted there are a number of communities in the state where cell phones have been confiscated after videotaping police in public places.
One publicized case involved Carla Gericke of West Lebanon, a member of the Free State Project, who recorded a Weare police officer during a traffic stop for speeding.
She was charged with felony wiretapping and disobeying a police officer. The charges were dropped and a judge ordered police to return her cell phone.
Two other members of the Free State Project were also charged with wiretapping violations after they recorded traffic stops by Weare police.
On Tuesday, Weare Police Chief Gregory Begin said he was not aware of the First Circuit’s ruling and could not comment on it.
In Keene, other Free State Project members have been arrested for making recordings in the District Court.
Keene Police Chief Kenneth J. Meola said the First Circuit ruling would not mean any change for his department, because it is legal in New Hampshire to record police in public places.
The First Circuit ruled unanimously in Glik’s favor. A Boston District Court had dismissed or thrown out three charges Boston police filed against Glik: violating Massachusetts’ wiretapping statute, disturbing the peace and aiding in a prisoner’s escape.
Glik filed suit in federal district court, claiming his arrest violated both his First and Fourth Amendment rights. When the court ruled in Glik’s favor saying, “this First Amendment right to record the activities of police officers on public business is established,” Boston police appealed the ruling.
TALLEY’S TAKE
I scooped the Union Leader on this story by several days and I’m glad to see this opinion by the 1st District Court getting the coverage it deserves. I think it’s great that a reporter called up the Weare Police Department Chief Gregory Begin, who said that he “was not aware of the First Circuit’s ruling and could not comment on it.”
Ignorance of the law shouldn’t be an excuse if you’re a law enforcer. They, more than anyone, signed up to participate in a system that subjects them to man made legislation. Plus, they enforce this “law” so it should apply them them as well. The most paramount being the very first amendment to the Constitution, which they swore to uphold. As is usually the case, instead of protecting rights, law enforcers violate them in obvious ways. See: camera snatching and wiretapping.
Some politicians are hoping to tinker with their laws:
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Fenton Groen, R-Rochester, said he will propose an amendment that changes police officers to all public officials, requires the person doing the recording to notify police or public officials they are being recorded and clarifies that the recording is the private property of the person who made it.
Radley Balko has this take on why one might not want to tell law enforcers that they are being recorded:
If you’re recording a cop beating the hell out of someone, it isn’t difficult to see why there might be some problems with a law that requires you to make it obvious to the cop that you’re doing so.
But I prefer to tell public servants that they are being recorded and I’d like for them to get used to it.
420 Celebrants Converge on the Nashua Police Department (21 May 2010)
Nashua, NH – After witnessing undercover law enforcers DiFava and MacIsaac kidnap three 420 celebrants, as reported on previously, Shire activists travelled to the Nashua Police Department to get some answers.
It was there that we met Louis’s mom, Denise, who didn’t hold back her opinion when talking about the Nashua Police Department and their treatment of her son. Earlier in the day, after 4:20PM, Louis was singled out and kidnapped by Nashua Law Enforcement. Questions remain why out of over 100 mostly caucasian celebrants, undercover law enforcers DiFava and MacIsaac targeted one of the few black men in attendance. Actions like this help perpetuate the belief that the war on drugs is racist.
This sparked heroic resistance by several activists including David Krouse and Catherine Bleish who were also arrested that day. David blocked the car the undercover law enforcers were attempting to use to transport their victim, Louis, while Catherine stood firm attempting to keep the agressive Nashua men accountable with her video camera.
Weeks later there were more arrests made of Mike Tiner, Jim and Lauren Canario. In the case of “Big” Mike, several Manchester Law Enforcers drew their guns and entered a normally peaceful home.
Now is a good time to remind everyone that all of this was sparked by the kidnapping of a young black man who was simply enjoying a marijuana cigarette with over 100 liberty activists on a beautiful day. No one was harmed until undercover law enforcers DiFava and MacIsaac singled out Louis and assumed, incorrectly, that Shire activists would allow such a blatant act of agression stand against a person acting peacefully.
Instead, as you can see in these videos, Shire activists boldly travelled to where their allies were held and Shire Independent Media, including Talley.TV, covered it. Many of these activists brought their signs, marijuana, and desire for justice to continue the 420 celebration in and around the headquarters of the Nashua Police Department.
Joining them was Richard Onley who wasn’t at the earlier celebration. After hearing about the aggression by the Nashua Police Department he left the Free State Project’s Liberty Forum with fresh photocopies of a version of “Someday, Someday Soon” that he modified for the Shire. They were passed out among the activists in the lobby of Nashua PD and the next episode of Talley.TV will feature this performance.
Music: “Sister Surround” performed by The Soundtrack of our Lives.
Questioning an Undercover Cop in Nashua
I’m currently editing video that I captured over a year ago on May 21st 2010 at the Nashua 420 Celebration after moving to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. It shows two local undercover law enforcers, DiFava and MacIsaac, kidnapping a young black man as part of their war on drugs. The enforcers quickly found themselves surrounded by concerned members of the Shire community, many with cameras. DiFava and MacIsaac testified against Mike Tiner during his trial at Nashua Superior Court and the above video picks up after Mike was found guilty.
Here’s what Ian posted at Free Keene.com:
Jason Talley of Talley.TV and the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund and I follow an undercover officer from Nashua PD with our cameras as he leaves his hiding spot in the police-friendly “Courthouse Pizza” (across the street from the court building). We pepper him with questions before he can escape in his buddy’s police cruiser. This is an excellent example of how more activists with cameras can make a huge difference – we were able to chase after this cop and others stayed behind at the pizza place to keep an eye on the rest of the cops.
Could I have handled myself better? I believe so. I’ll be submitting interview requests with DiFava and MacIsaac and I hope to be able to sit down with these two undercover law enforcers so we can learn what motivates them to kidnap peaceful people.
NH Speaker O’Brien on “compelling people under threat of violence to give us their money”
Bill O’Brien, the newly elected Speaker of the New Hampshire State House, recently spoke with Talley.TV about various issues including the Free State Project, the peaceful people who were recently aggressed against by the state, why he thinks government is necessary, and what he believes should happen to those who choose to opt out of compulsory government “services.”
The new Speaker of the State House told Talley.TV that “this is an opportunity to rethink government.” O’Brien isn’t the first politician to use such rhetoric. Former Vice President Al Gore “Reinvented Government” and Governor Cuomo is currently leading a “Government Redesign” in New York State. Unfortunately, the idea of government achieving its goals without resorting to violence is never on the reformists’ table.
The new speaker deserves a lot of credit for being honest about the true nature of the State. He says: “I understand what government does. It goes to people and says, ‘give me your money or we will cause you to go to jail.” But O’Brien does not see the threat of violence as a problem, and continues, “Certainly we have to organize as a society. There is some compulsion in some instances where you have to go to people and say we need money to run this government.” According to OBrien, the government’s use of violence is not only permissible – it’s necessary.
The location of my interview with Mr. O’Brien was the Grafton County Courthouse in Haverhill, NH where the State is accusing my Free Grafton friend and neighbor Robert Constantine of growing illegal plants. They want to “organize” Bob into a cage for the crime of owning himself. I have no use for a system that takes peaceful people like Bob and turns them into prisoners.
Speaker O’Brien told Talley.TV that “Communities as a whole will rise and take care of their friends, family and neighbors and we don’t have to have a strong centralized government in Concord that has to answer all of those needs.” Nowhere is that more clear than in Free Grafton, where a growing voluntary community hopes to replace coercive town “services” with ones that are based on consent.
O’Brien claims that New Hampshire Government is premised on volunteerism, and offers that he and other law makers don’t make much, if any, money. I countered that those government employees who enforce immoral laws – such as judges and police – get paid well, as do political operatives. And since taking office, Bill O’Brien agreed to pay Greg Moore $75,000 annually to be the new “House Policy Director.”
Speaker O’Brien invites you and me to “participate and work to change the system” so we can “work to lower taxes.” He adds, “it’s open to anyone that wants to participate in the system.”
I will join with Speaker O’Brien in working to lower taxes but I don’t need to work within his coercive system in order to accomplish that. I can stop paying most taxes right now, and so can you.
When O’Brien was asked about the growing number of people moving to New Hampshire for “liberty in their lifetime” as part of the Free State Project, he replied “I wish there were more.” He pointed to the recent election of legislators who are members of the FSP. O’Brien says of Free-Staters: “They are responsibly participating in expanding liberty in New Hampshire and that’s a great thing.”
Also discussed were the peaceful people currently being held captive in New Hampshire cages. O’Brien told Talley.TV: “I think we really need to look at that.” New Hampshire Republicans promised to rein in government spending if elected so I asked about the cost savings of freeing these prisoners. O’Brien calls it an ongoing concern and states: “I don’t want people who are committing victimless crimes to not be in jail because we can save money; I don’t want them in jail because they haven’t harmed other individuals.” When I followed up, asking if this would be a priority, he answered, “The priorities are going to be the fiscal issues.” O’Brien must have overlooked the significant cost savings that would take place if peaceful people were no longer held captive in New Hampshire cages. Entire State prisons could close.
The Speaker was insistent that “We all have an obligation to participate in society. One of the ways is paying taxes.” But when I asked about opting out of a violent system he warned me and Talley.TV viewers that opting out “could be miserable if they catch up with you.”
“They” is the government and if you don’t pay for the crimes they commit against peaceful people, you could be thrown into one of their many cold cages.
Speaker O’Brien agreed that he’d like for people who opt-out of his system to be left alone, but acknowledges that if we are to have a government, people would be compelled “under threat of violence” to give them our money.
Thanks to the Kinks for the use of their song “Well Respected Man” and to Talley.TV producer Bob Constantine for helping “get it done.” Thanks to Anton Lee and Graham Nadig for use of their photography. This report from the front lines of freedom was sponsored by FreeGrafton.com, the place to live free.
Meet the Shire Activists featured in episodes of Talley.TV at Porcfest 2011. Save 20% off Porc Fest registration and merchandise by using the discount code PF2011TBEAR at registration.porcfest.com.
Thanks for supporting CD Evolution at PorcFest
As Brian Travis mentioned, the CD Evolution Jailbreak Fundraiser at the Porcupine Freedom Festival was a huge success. We raised over $1,000 that will go to support the good people who break bad laws.
I’d like to thank the many people who made it happen starting with the Fabulous Michelle Seven. M7 and her kids, Aziza, Omar and Faisel as well as Robin and Tommy Mozingo worked hard to erect the jail, provide refreshments for the prisoners and much much more. Michelle came up with the idea for a jailbreak fundraiser which drew a big crowd and garnered a lot of supporters from PorcFest attendees. She also recruited the following donors who contributed goods and services to the CD Evolution raffle:
- Free Patriot Press donated 3 books and a PorcFest hand towel
- Scott Geyer donated a t-shirt and a private swing dance lesson
- Bob & Karen Emory of Del Valley Silver donated three ounces of Silver
- Tennyson McCalla of Thinking Liberty donated a private photo shoot
- Savannah’s Last Biscuit donated $5 meal coupons
- Tarrin Lupo donated a set of porcupine earings
- Ballantine Soap donated two bottles of plum wine and awesome gift bags
- George’s Famous Baklava donated ten $1 coupons and two trays of baklava
- Aziza Seven donated one free 30-minute private voice lesson
- The School Sucks Project donated a free t-shirt
- Free State Project donated a bumper sticker, beer cozy, name tag holder
- Chartarum’s Melissa Shaw donated a hand-knit black and gold scaft
- Hunter donated 10% of profits from the sales of bags of ice, bundles of wood and pre-ordered group photos.
- Jason Osborne of Sakal Cai who drove the party wagon to the jail and exchanged beer for donations.
- Sam Dodson donated three ounces of silver
- Brian Travis donated a custom Manchester Brewing Hawaiian-style shirt
Please consider trading with these wonderful supporters of CD Evolution.
We are also very thankful to our “prisoners” for being good sports. We asked Sam Dodson, Lauren Canario, Mike Tiner and Sovereign Curtis to join participate because of their all-star status in New Hampshire’s Civil Disobedience movement. Each spoke about their experiences in saying no to the State and inspired the large crowd.
In addition to Sam, I’d like to thank the other board members and Brad Jardis who showed up to speak to the crowd about the importance of supporting CD Evolution.
Finally, thanks to everyone who donated to the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund at PorcFest. If you weren’t at PorcFest but would like to support the good people who break bad laws, you can still donate online.
