Pumpkin Fest 2014: Dozens of Staties Attack Three Innocent, Teen Students
Ryan McLellan and his friends never hurt anyone or destroyed any property on the night of Pumpkin Fest 2014. However, that didn’t stop dozens of state police from swarming and attacking the three young men as they attempted to go to the Campus Convenience store on the corner of the block where their dorm was located. Earlier in the day and night there were riots in the neighborhood, but by the early morning hours when Ryan and his friends were attacked, there was nothing happening.
Well, I shouldn’t say nothing. Their neighborhood was being occupied by a very large group of armed men who were in a mood to order around and kidnap anyone they darn well wanted. Here’s the original video I released at the time, which shows the arrests and surrounding scene in full. Just minutes prior to their attack, but before the huge throng of state police had been brought in, I had been in the exact same place as the young men. Though the cops who were there at the time prohibited me from crossing into Winchester St., (for no apparent reason other than arbitrary control), they did not tackle and arrest me, like was done to Ryan and his friends.
Sadly, despite his being a clear case of police abuse and having an attorney willing to take the case to trial and beyond, Ryan took the plea deal, having a nonsense “resisting arrest” charge conditionally nolle-prossed in return for his guilty plea to “disorderly conduct”. These are two of the police’s favorite charges to throw at someone who they don’t like, but has otherwise done nothing wrong.
They were going to the convenience store. It was past midnight and they were hungry. When told to “GO HOME!”, they seemed confused – after all, they had committed no crimes, and further, there were other normal people walking down Winchester St, so why were they allowed to walk somewhere but not Ryan and friends?
When they didn’t turn immediately and high-tail it out of there, the thronging mass of state police officers pounced and violently took the young men to the pavement. A parent of one of Ryan’s friends said:
“My son has had 2 MRIs bad concussion lives with headaches everyday, dislocated his shoulder, sprained ankle and bruised the inside of his mouth from kneeling on his face.”
During sentencing, judge Edward J Burke fined him $1,000 suspended for two years on condition of good behavior, gave him 50 hours of community service, and lectured him as though he were somehow as bad as the people who had committed violence or property destruction, despite him never being accused of doing any such thing!
It was sad to watch. If you’re ever facing criminal charges, especially in the case of police abuse – please consider not taking the plea deal. Taking the plea only encourages more bad behavior from the police and “justice” system like this and ensures you’ll never be able to challenge what they did to you.
Finally, before you accuse me of being anti-police, remember it was my video I gave to Keene police that led to the capture and conviction of people who actually committed violent and property crime during the Pumpkin Fest riots. I am fine with the police going after real criminals, but not peaceful people like Ryan and his friends.
Last week the write-up CopBlock works to keep police in check, authored by Alexa Ondreicka, went live at The Keene Equinox, which has the tagline, “The voice of Keen State College.” Below are some experts from the piece
more comments from Ian Freeman about his motivations and actions to help create a peaceful community
a recount from a student filmed by someone active with Keene Cop Block during his interaction with strangers wearing badges
comments by Amanda Guthorn, the director of campus safety at Keene State
By: Alexa Ondreicka
For years, videos have been floating around the internet exposing police officers in every way possible.
While there are many different viewpoints surrounding the actions of the police force, students at Keene State College in particular are being thrust into an entirely separate situation with the implementation of CopBlock every Friday and Saturday night.
CopBlock, according to member Ian Freeman, is a “decentralized organization—meaning nobody’s in charge of anybody else—that exists worldwide.”
Freeman noted that holding police accountable for their actions is their main focus, hoping to expose police officers who target people for “victimless crimes,” such as open container violations or possession of marijuana.
CopBlockers expose these police officers by video-taping their interactions with the people they are targeting and then placing the videos online for the public to see.
Graphic by Sean Crater, webmaster, Keene Equinox
“A primary sort of weapon we use against the police is the video camera,” Freeman explained, “Police accountability is the focus of CopBlock, and the best way to hold them accountable, we’ve found, is through the public’s eye.”
Freeman said, “A CopBlocker can’t be there every time the police are behaving badly. It’s your responsibility to protect yourself and the best thing you can do is record your interaction. I’ve seen cameras change how a police-encounter goes more times than I can count. And usually changes it for the better.”
He continued, “That’s all it takes—to have a concern for the people around you. And trying to create an environment where the police behave better, hopefully, and that fewer people get hurt, and fewer peaceful people will get arrested.”
After I became a CopBlocker in September of 2013 , I noticed a spike in liberty activist and CopBlockers being assaulted. Even with clear evidence on video on multiple occasions. Keene Police insist on dragging their feet and or do absolutely NOTHING. The assault by a Keene State College student last September on myself was directly in front of the very Officer who sparked the attack. We later found out, that particular officer was the assailants coach on the Keene State College Lacrosse Team . The assault on Robin Hooder of Keene James Cleveland by Nick Mcallister a well known homeless man with a big history of violent behavior and also well known by the Police . After I was sitting in Rich Pauls Bail hearing and watching a video that clearly shows a violent assault on Rich Paul , and hearing Rich’s Lawyer get angry at the fact that no one was charged on the assault. I had to establish a pattern Keene Police, looking past illegal violent activity towards CopBlockers or Free Keene activists and want to repost all videos related to this and start a call flood for justice. Keene Police is showing the public that it is ok to attack us on sight without any consequences from Police . This needs to be dealt with now. Here are videos to prove assaults with no action from the Police.
On August 16th, 2012, a town employee for the Town of Winchester filed a Federal Lawsuit for civil rights violations.
Daniel Rapucci Vs Winchester Police Dept.
Co. Defendants
Plaintiff:
Daniel Reppucci
vs
Defendants:
Cheshire County, Cheshire County Sheriff’s Department, Richard A Foote, Kelvin Macie, Gary A Phillips, Christopher Roberts, Unknown Employees, Winchester Police Department and Winchester, Town of
Case Number: 1:2012cv00316
Filed: August 16, 2012
Court: New Hampshire District Court Concord Office
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights – Other Civil Rights
Cause: 28:1331 Federal Question: Other Civil Rights
The reason I’m posting this injustice on Keene Cop Block is because one of the defendants is former Cheshire County Deputy Sherriff Kelvin Macie who was fired and rehired by Keene Police Dept. See KPD Employees.
Kelvin J. Macie
accreditation specialist
kjmacie@ci.keene.nh.us
603.357.9813 x7037
By reading court documents and litigation it seems to me that Kelvin Macie illegally used his position to do an unauthorized favor type investigation for retaliatory purposes on behalf of Winchester Police Chief Gary Phillips.
This habit of Keene Police covering for officers and hiring family members of other Keene Police officers (Kyle Macie nephew of Kelvin Macie) after they’ve been let go from other departments for disciplinary reasons needs to stop. Keene Police Chief Kenneth Meola needs to resign along with all the upper brass. Not to mention at least two County Road Pirates are former KPD retirees, also these two former KPD employees were promoted just weeks before their retirement, Darrell Madden and Eli Rivera.
This whole thing was set off by former Sheriff Richard Foote who later turned in his resignation due to a lawsuit filed by a female officer Jackie Parker who is now a police officer in Pembroke, NH. Officer Parker filed a lawsuit against Winchester PD and reached an undisclosed settlement and court records were sealed. You can see details of this story also on http://winchesternhcorruption.blogspot.com/. This is one corrupt little police department and it’s a wonder why Keene Police would hire someone involved in all this .
Keene Police received an award on March 23rd of 2013, it’s a CALEA accreditation for outstanding professional standards and conduct. After reviewing the Police Chiefs annual report, I saw that most of complaints filed are “unfounded” and/or “no action taken.” Is there an incentive for Keene Police to hide the complaints and put on paper that most of all complaints are unfounded? After seeing Keene Police on hundreds of calls and hearing firsthand accounts on specific officers, I started to raise my eyebrow and wonder how almost all the complaints are unfounded. I started to dig on the Keene Police Website and found a huge incentive for this. The CALEA Accreditation Award for excellence. In my opinion based on some facts, not only from video but firsthand accounts, I believe that this “unfounded” thing is based on a lie and that Keene Police painted a false picture on their own department. It’s really funny how 60% of all complaints are for unprofessional conduct, and they receive an award for excellent conduct .
Some people may feel protected by Keene Police but for the most part most do not. Again Matt Griffin and his illegal tactics tries to intimidate me on March 8th 2014 by repeatedly shining his service flashlight in my face after I ask him not to. I thought this was Officer Macie but due to flash blindness I was mistaken. I found out by Sgt. Chris Simonds that the officer was Matt Griffin. I filed a complaint on Griffin and 1 hour later Amish Paul and I (Centurion) saw Griffin in his cruiser heading toward town. Griffin saw us at 12:30 am March 9th on West St and he U turned his cruiser and he followed us at 22 MPH. We stopped at a Gas station for 30 minutes and he pulled across the street and he sat in his cruiser for 30 minutes. Retaliatory behavior from KPD is bad routine these Cops are getting into. Especially Matt Griffin, Benjamin Nugent and Sgt. Jason Short. But Matt seems to be the worse as past videos have shown.
