Multiple liberty activists responded to the scene after local independent journalist Jared Goodell posted the news that armed police were on Central Square. (Goodell’s personal facebook profile is quickly becoming a go-to destination for breaking news in Keene.) Keene police kept the initial call from the alleged hostage-taker off of their two-way radio system, in what was the beginning of a campaign to preclude the public from actually knowing anything about what was happening in their midst.
All people in the streets knew was the police were hiding behind brick walls, brandishing guns and observing the block of buildings that includes 39 Central Square. To their credit, the Keene police were not preventing people from taking the risk of walking downtown, but they were at the same time not informing anyone about the risk that may have been present.
When asked, multiple pairs of the officers surrounding the building would deny any knowledge of why they were there. Why lie? After I asked three sets of officers what was happening, I finally got the barest minimum of information out of Michael “Pepper” Kopcha. He admitted there may be a situation in the building, but again, gave no information as to what danger may be present.
There are arguments both for and against how they responded, but there’s no good reason to keep people in the dark about what is happening, especially if they want people to believe they are “serving and protecting” them. (more…)
The below was written by ‘shire inhabitant Michael Gordon about his experience walking into legaland and choosing not to admit guilt were none exists but to speak the truth.
Thanks to our friends at FreeKeene.com for filming and uploading the interaction!
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by Michael Gordon
dershope@gmail.com
I sit here at almost midnight approximately three days after I told myself I’d write something about this ordeal. I’m such a busy person. We got us up at 7am this morning. Our family has been going non-stop today just as we always do. The last few years I’ve been afraid of what would happen when my non compliance came calling. I know that if I’m afraid then I’ve lost. If they control my mind there can be no freedom. The amount of time it takes to earn $63 is much less than the time I must invest to not be afraid of this system. Its much simpler to pay the ransom demanded of me.
At first I was a nervous. As we began the conference I could see Scott was uncomfortable. Scott squirmed in his seat and made ticking sounds with his mouth. I’m sure the greatest tool we currently have for accountability there increased these feelings. Quickly I begin to feel more confident in what I was doing. No reason for me to be nervous. I’m not the one who’s doing anything wrong.
The first 45-seconds of the video Scott barely makes eye contact. Made ticking sounds with his mouth and wiggled in his seat. His body language says he’s uncomfortable. He’s uncomfortable because he knows what he’s doing is wrong. Or at least the limbic part of his brain does. A number of times Scott expresses sympathy towards my situation but admits well that’s how things are. What Scott fails to understand, he’s the enforcer of the aggressive acts against me. Around 4:40 Scott says he doesn’t blame me for not wanting to go to jail. Around 6:15 Scott states how unfortunate the consequences of my disobedience are. If he truly feels their unfortunate then why does he perpetrate them?
An important point I want to make, “we the people” are not free. How free can I be if I can’t travel unencumbered without having a piece of plastic on my person and a sticker on the vehicle I’m driving?
Wish me luck. I do not plan to pay the ransom against me. Each time I must appear I will be doing so under duress.
Keene now has a Bearcat (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck).
Does the world you want to live in include this militaristic vehicle?
Check out this stellar overview video put-together by YouTube.com/LightspeedLiberty, which compares the Bearcat to Keene’s Fire Truck #1 [*note, only slight alterations were made for this version].
The lie peddled over and over to try to assuage the vocal widespread opposition, was that the Bearcat was as a “rescue” vehicle. Seems as though Ken Meola and his cronies read a bit too much from Vladimir Lenin, who stated, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
Unlike our “protectors”, I think most of us are too smart to buy-into that misinformation.
Do you really think Keene residents would choose to pay-up to bring such a monstrosity to town??
Remind yourself, as the double-speak surrounding this issue and these institutions is prevalent – the folks who brought the Bearcat to town claim to protect you. That “protection” is done at the barrel of a gun. All Keene residents, whether they like it or not, are told “pay up” or else.
What if you’re not happy with the services rendered? How do you feel if you see a Keene police cruiser in your rearview mirror? Nervous? Anxious? Doesn’t that seem odd?
As well-intentioned as some employed at the Keene police department genuinely are, there’s no way the current policing structure can ever realize its very worthwhile goal (for a safe community). They simply lack the proper incentives.
To put it plainly, the lack of competition means there’s an oversupply of policing. And a lack of accountability.
We don’t turn to a centralized, top-down hierarchy to provide goods arguably more important than policing, such as food (without which, you’d sooner be in peril), so why believe a force-backed structure is necessary in this case?
If you think a move towards a more-militarized Keene isn’t ideal, expose yourself to some alternatives: http://CopBlock.org/Knowledge
Hopefully individual Keene police employees will think about this seriously and act aligned with their conscience, which I hope means that they’ll refuse to operate the Bearcat. That’d be a significant step. And admittedly it’d be a tough step to take, when in that “thin blue line” culture, but what does it same about ones character if opt to act according to the dictates of another rather than themselves.
As the saying goes – create the world in which you want to see. The Bearcat is here. But that doesn’t mean it has to get used. It’d be a powerful action that’d resonate with others if individuals in that environment choose not to unthinking comply, but to side with those they claim to serve and, I’d hope, with their own conscience.
That seems to me the best choice for us now, and for future generations.
The cure for evil and disorder is more liberty, not suppression.
– Alexander Berkman
As more raw, relevant videos are uploaded to YouTube.com/Fr33manTVraw they will be added to the playlist embedded here.
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Keene, NH – a college town of 25K – now has a Bearcat (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck).
Despite much community opposition, the so-claimed “authorities” brought to town a militaristic vehicle. On an early, rainy Saturday morning (2012.12.08) it was unveiled.
Can the acquisition of an armored vehicle by a group of folks who claim to have a “legitimate” right to initiate force a good thing?
Perhaps the key question to ask yourself – is the trend seen here in Keene and elsewhere, toward a more paramilitary police – conducive to the type of community in which you want to live?
We all want to live in a safe, prosperous, dynamic society. Perhaps the current top-down monopoly isn’t the best means.
The purpose of capturing and posting this content is ultimately to share ideas. For more: http://copblock.org/knowledge
Last night after my Blogtalk Radio show, Voluntaryism Volunteers, I traveled to the local 24 hour convenience store in Peterborough, NH, which is the town I live in. While chitchatting with the clerk, a man came into the store. He looked quite frazzled and sunburned. The clerk and I were talking, when the man stated vociferously that he hated New Hampshire and was moving back to Ocala, Fl. I commented that I had just moved to NH from Tampa, Fl. He then proceeded to relate the following story:
Earlier that night, he was traveling home from work, he works at a farm. He had just worked 14 hours straight, he was tired and sunburned. He swerved a bit on the road and aPeterboroughpolice officer pulled him over. The officer accused him of using drugs and the man told him that he was just tired and hungry from working so long. The man then told the officer that he had an unloaded gun locked in his glove compartment. The officer then harangued him about the gun, telling him he needed a permit to have the gun. The man stated that he did, in fact, have a conceal carry permit issued inFlorida. The officer kept harassing the man over the gun. The officer then ordered the man out of his car and then proceeded to tear it apart with the consent of the man. He was released without further detainment or arrest.
After I heard the man say he consented to the search because “I had nothing to hide”, I recoiled and told him that he should never, ever consent without knowing his rights. I then told him about knowing your rights and to google knowing your rights. I had a brain-dead moment and should have told him about www.flexyourrights.org! (Thanks to Julia for helping me with remembering this site!) He stated nonchalantly that he would think about it. I told him that he should learn this for himself and then pass it on to everyone he knows. He shrugged and said he would think about it.
On another note, Sunday evening after PorcFest, I gave a potential mover a tour ofPeterborough. He and I discussed the police inPeterborough. He stated that he heard glowing remarks about my fair city’s police department. I have never, in the little over 4 months that I have lived there, had any run-ins or even interactions with the police. I mainly see them at night and at festivals. I have only seen the police at traffic accidents, not one pull over yet, in Peterborough, at least.
Dublin police are another story altogether! Yesterday on my way home, I was talking to my mom on my cell phone. I had my speaker ear buds in and was holding my phone in one hand. As I passed the rotary in the heart of Dublin(which is an uber tiny town), a police officer noticed me and jumped in behind the car directly behind me. The officer then proceeded to follow me to the Peterborough town line, where he slinked back to his lair! LOL! I have noticed over the last few months, that, outside of Keene, I see the most cops in Dublin, NH. It seems this tiny town needs a lot of revenue to support it.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I saw a sticker on the back of a green minivan that stated: Proud Parent of a Soldier. As I drove behind this vehicle for several miles, I wondered if this parent actually understood just what message he or she was sending. My mind kept seeing dead Afghani, Iraqi, Pakistani, etc…men, women and children lying dead in the streets and in hospitals. My mind also went to the pictures of American soldiers gleefully urinating on dead Afghanis, the horrid Wikileaks video of the helicopter crew excitedly gunning down men, the torture and sexual abuse of Abu Ghraib, the burning of Korans. I know that I am not the only one who interprets nationalistic messages this way.
However, let me be clear. I once was a member of the US military and I once interpreted these nationalistic messages with visions of the American flag, the bald eagle, Stars & Stripes, the pledge of allegiance, and the list goes on and on! I would hear the national anthem and tears would come to my eyes. What glorious difference enlightenment brings!
After realizing I was just a dupe and a guinea pig to the sick, power hungry politicians, my viewpoint changed dramatically. I see how nationalistic tendencies destroy people and families, hell, the entire social system; and not just “American” people and families. The sole purpose of the military should be to protect the people, not to engage in endless wars for profit and population control, i.e. defense, not offense. I hope that more and more people start to see the way I do now, not like I used to.
As I write this, we are only one week away from the ultimate in nationalistic holidays (at least for the US), “Independence Day” aka the 4th of July. This is a day to indulge in the orgiastic displays of flags and stars and stripes, of fireworks, hot dogs, apple pie. Parents will put American flag shirts on themselves and their kids. Parties with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs will be had poolside in much of theUS. And on this “independence day” I will be thinking of Bradley Manning, the innocent dead civilians of the hundreds of wars fought throughout time, and true freedom from government oppression.
Do mankind a favor and disassociate yourself from the indoctrination of nationalism and join me for Anarchy Day! See Kal Molinet’s site: www.liberateRVA.com he was my inspiration for this! Wear black and display signs of peace for one and all to see! I know there will be pushback, but keep your thoughts positive and love one and all, especially those that “hate” you! Peace and Love to All!
