CD Evolution Director Ian Freeman posted the following video and blog post at FreeKeene.com which details the outrageous behavior by employees of the Keene District Court that resulted in the caging of our peaceful friend, Beau Davis. His crime? Wearing a hat, which we covered previously.

The good news: The numbers of liberty-oriented people moving to and getting active in NH are growing, and those willing to take a risk are increasing. There is strength in numbers, and the more of us there are that are willing to laugh at the aggressors as well as noncooperate and disobey, the more they lose their precious legitimacy and control. The robed man in this video, Edward Burke, desperately attempts to flex his power by attempting to clear the courtroom.

The bad news: Burke is largely successful at clearing the court. With the exception of the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund’s Jason Talley and myself, at least a dozen activists dutifully leave the room, some slower than others, but ultimately they all reluctantly clear out. All of this after Burke merely “asked” them to leave. Of course, the men with guns misinterpret what Burke says, and crank up the intimidation. My pointing this out to those leaving was insufficient to convince them to stay.

Everyone has their own personal reasons to leave, and I would not question individual circumstances. Everyone has a time when it will be right for them to say “No”. Learning to noncooperate takes time and effort, and I’m certainly a novice myself, but Talley and I as well as Pete Eyre, who stayed the longest of the group that left, have some experience at it.

More good news: Witness the scene outside in the court lobby. It was only a few years ago where seven activists were arrested in this very same lobby by Keene Police and charged with “Disorderly Conduct”, the aggressors’ favorite catch-all. Now, in 2011, the lobby is loaded with people – the numbers are larger than before, and when Keene police show up, they are unwilling to do anything more than have a chat with activists. This is progress, and kudos for the activists for making a stand here – not to mention for recording despite the unsigned order on the wall that for years has banned recording video in the lobby.

Back to the earlier scene in court, though. What would have happened if everyone in that courtroom stayed? After all, the robed man clearly wasn’t willing to pick anyone out to target them for removal. If he wanted a specific person gone, he could have made that happen, but he figured he’d try to get everyone to go. It worked, but what if it didn’t? He had left the courtroom, so in theory no one there could be charged with contempt (bailiffs don’t have this “power”), as he had not threatened them with it, as he did earlier with Beau over the hat. He told Beau that if he comes back into court after his “recess” and Beau still had the hat on, that he would be charged with contempt. The crowd was given no such ultimatum. They were only asked to leave so Burke could continue the sham hearing without being laughed at.

Sure, the handful of security guards could have arrested people under direction of the Sheriff’s captain Trevor Croteau, but that would have been a time-consuming hassle and would have resulted in another dozen trials for the already overburdened court. Of course, that hasn’t stopped them from aggressing in the past, as in 2010 a dozen of us were arrested for trespassing at the jail, but that was AFTER more than 30 people left the jail grounds once they heard that the police were en-route. What if all 30 had stayed? I bet no one would have been arrested.
Numbers are the critical factor in achieving liberty. Because only a minority of activists are willing to risk caging at this time (of course, everyone interacting with violent bureaucrats is constantly at risk, but some things are riskier than others), we need larger pools of activists so the numbers of those who refuse to obey will grow. Right now there are probably a few dozen total known activists in this area. I look forward to the day when that court is packed with 100+ people and most of them refuse to do as is “asked”.