The property stolen by the organized gang from a business in downtown Keene in broad daylight on Wednesday, May 7th, 2014, totaled into the tens of thousands of federal reserve notes. And though a couple of the thieves tried to hide their identity with masks, they seemed pretty smug – one even donned a shirt emblazoned with the message “Believe in Heroes.”
Many inhabitants, patrons of the business, and others concerned about the brazen violation of rights, were present and let the criminals know of their disapproval.
This is ultimately about ideas – the individuals captured on film wearing badges of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Keene Police Department outwardly act as if they alone are not culpable for their actions. That they’re “just doing their job.”
That seems more like a defensive mechanism to prevent themselves from actually having a conversation and thinking about the implications of their own involvement. Not just those harmed at that moment – in this case the business owner and employees and those who engaged in consensual interactions, but themselves, as acting to advance inherently conflicting ideas (that justice can come from coercion) will only compound internal contradictions.
Fortunately, the draconian sweep didn’t invoke fear and paralysis into the owner of Phat Stuff, who has since noted “we are going to use this tragedy as motivation to rebuild…bigger and better than it already was”.
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!
_____________________
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.
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.
