Unofficial History of Drama in the Free State

[ForumTroll]

I guess she got a job. Not in NH, though:

http://www.ropesgray.com/amandaphillips/

[ForumTroll]

Awesome.  Think she'll be at porcfest? 

Look out for The Chin.

[sillyperson]

Behold, this is how you lose hearts and minds. And yes, poison the well for others who are not acting like jackasses.

I'm not a free-stater anymore, that name has been trashed by antics like this. Ironic that many of these people don't call themselves "Libertarian" anymore, isn't it?

http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2010/04/28/news/local/free/id_399035.txt

Free State protest ties up police
*
By PHILLIP BANTZ
Sentinel Staff
Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
When a car collided with a college student walking in downtown Keene on Sunday evening, a Marlborough police detective had to investigate the incident while N.H. State Police troopers interviewed the victim.

On most evenings, Keene police officers would have handled the accident, which resulted in minor injuries. But they were busy processing a dozen people who were accused of trespassing at the new Cheshire County jail in Keene.

The arrestees – all were charged with trespassing and one was charged additionally with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia – have ties to the Free State Project and one of its offshoot groups, Free Keene.

The Free State Project is an effort to persuade 20,000 people to move to New Hampshire and participate in activism or run for political office. Project members are particularly active in Keene.

The Free Keene website states that the “Trespassive Twelve” circled the jail building several times, attracting the attention of some inmates, and police. “No Trespassing” signs are posted on the property.

Ian “Freeman” Bernard, 29, a Keene resident who was among the protesters, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the group was rallying for N.H. Free Press publisher Russell Kanning. Kanning is jailed for nonpayment of child support.

Bernard added that he and the other protesters also wanted to “raise the spirits of other men and women in prison there.”

The gathering drew a rather large police response: the Keene Police Department sent an entire shift, four officers and a supervisor, to the jail. Marlborough police sent Detective Steven E. LaMears. Swanzey police sent an officer. The N.H. State Police sent two troopers. Finally, three corrections officers from the jail joined the group.

Additional state troopers were called to cover the city of Keene while city officers dealt with the protesters, who were eventually arrested, processed at the Keene Police Department and ordered to appear in court at a later date.

The protest consumed significant police resources, creating a ripple effect in some area towns with limited resources, LaMears said.

“These smaller towns require state police coverage, so who’s going to cover them?” he said.

While Keene police officers were processing the 12 arrestees at the police department, a 19-year-old college student, Brittney Frank, was crossing Main Street in Keene when a car hit her, LaMears said.

Because city police had their hands full booking the protesters, LaMears was called back to Keene to investigate the collision while state police troopers interviewed Frank at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, where she was treated for a leg injury.

The driver of the vehicle that hit Frank, Almut Yakovleff, 56, of Alstead, told LaMears she was headed north on Main Street in her 1997 Honda Civic when the college student stepped in front of her car and entered a crosswalk, LaMears said.

It was nighttime, Frank was wearing dark clothing and Yakovleff said she didn’t see her until it was too late to stop the car, according to LaMears.

He has closed the crash investigation and will not be filing any charges or traffic citations against Yakovleff.

After he was done investigating the collision in Keene, LaMears tried to catch up on a logjam of other calls that were delayed while he was dealing with the situation at the jail, he said.

But before LaMears could make a dent in the backlog, he was sent to another call that ended in a drunken driving arrest that dragged on for six hours. The driver fell when she stepped out of her car and punctured her chin on a rock, LaMears said. He had to wait in the hospital until the woman was treated for her injuries and released.

LaMears said he spent most of his next shift chipping away at all the calls and cases he wasn’t able to address Sunday.

“It’s just a time delay,” he said. “You keep getting a backlog. This time it took a day to get out of that backlog.”

The ripple effect on police resources was an unintended consequence of the protest, Bernard said. And besides, the protesters should have been left alone, he said.

“There was no one being put in danger. There was no victim,” he said. “Even if the cops had to respond, they certainly didn’t have to send the entire squad out.”

The protesters who were arrested will likely request trials in a bid to clog the already-strained court system, Bernard said.

“I don’t expect anyone to take a plea,” he said.

[sillyperson]

Comments form the article. Of course, congnitive dissonance being what it is, the freak-staters will rationalize away these peoples' opinions.

Note that this is not cherry picking; all these comments were in one contiguous block

Zap  wrote on Apr 28, 2010 1:28 PM:
" These "freebies" want their freedom but they sure don't want their responsibilities!

"the group was rallying for N.H. Free Press publisher Russell Kanning. Kanning is jailed for nonpayment of child support." "

Perry wrote on Apr 28, 2010 1:32 PM:
" Really? Did anyone read the REASON for the protest. To free a man who hadn't been paying child support. Talk about poor judgment. Why would anyone waste their time on someone who doesn't do all he can to care for his children? Disgusting. "

K  wrote on Apr 28, 2010 1:55 PM:
" My concern is that the Free staters we there protesting the arrest of a Dead Beat Dad.. The man was in jail for not paying child support he deserves to be there till he decides to take responsiblity . Also tech. the Jail is NOT a public place.. If there are NO tresspassing signs and you are there then you are breaking the law . The only reason to be there is to visit someone there , or if you are employed there or if this is your temp residence otherwise there is no need to be loittering . Which is also breaking the law... These "free staters" are causing more problems then they are helping ... Go back from where you came... "

Dan wrote on Apr 28, 2010 2:14 PM:
" Why didn't they just take them all and put them behind bars at the jail. They knew they were trespassing as the signs are obvious. This is just a sorry bunch of individuals who have nothing better to do with their lives than cause trouble. We don't want your so called free state here so get out. "

GoAway FreeStaters wrote on Apr 28, 2010 2:30 PM:
" They should be called free loaders, milking the system and costing tax payers thousands. Rallying for someone jailed for refusing to pay child support?! You all need to get jobs and get lives. "

[ForumTroll]

LOL, so you're rationalizing the arrest the "trespassers" because people should be pissed at us? LOL, Denis, you'll use any statist abuse of fellow anarchists as an excuse to further your argument that politics is the only way to the Free State. I can't believe you're also using The Press' usual lack of attention to detail.

Quit whining and start blaming the government and reporter thugs that are hurting us. Fucker.

[anarchir]

Wow thanks for being a free-stater while you could Denis. You have always been SO supportive of other free-staters and what they are doing.

[One two three]

So these people were arrested for no reason.  The signs said you have to leave the private property if you are asked.  Maybe some one was asked, but I wasn't asked.  I left anyway because when I see 12 cops walking my way I tend to walk away.

Denis is correct about this being bad RP.  What is even worse, Dale seemed surprised that this was bad PR.

[Cognitive Dissident]

Notice how the paper claims the departments are stretched too thinly, and have "limited resources," which caused their idiocy of harassing the demonstrators to have a real impact on their ability to do "real" work, when expected.  This sounds vaguely familiar to an issue that people claimed wasn't an issue--that the bureaucrats will claim they need more staffing, because of the Free State Project.

Count on it to be a real (as in political, not practical) issue.

Addendum:The "protesters" also should have thought about how "nonpayment of child support" was going to look before they copped to protesting over Russell Canning's incarceration.

[hellbilly]

Very bad planning by the police there. They sent the whole, or the majority, of the cops to process trespassers?

[anarchir]

In sum: the event where they were arrested for trespassing was easily seen as misguided in its purpose, and overall seemed to be a failure at achieving good press.

[TimeLady Victorious]

Very bad planning by the police there. They sent the whole, or the majority, of the cops to process trespassers?

Maybe Keene doesn't have a very large police department to begin with...

[One two three]

Notice how the paper claims the departments are stretched too thinly, and have "limited resources," which caused their idiocy of harassing the demonstrators to have a real impact on their ability to do "real" work, when expected.  This sounds vaguely familiar to an issue that people claimed wasn't an issue--that the bureaucrats will claim they need more staffing, because of the Free State Project.

Count on it to be a real (as in political, not practical) issue.

Addendum:The "protesters" also should have thought about how "nonpayment of child support" was going to look before they copped to protesting over Russell Canning's incarceration.

Actually, the police departments have greatly expanded in NH over the last 5 or so years.  It is pretty amazing.  NH used to have near the least amount of cops per capita and now it is still in the lower half, but no where near the least. 

[John Shaw]

Notice how the paper claims the departments are stretched too thinly, and have "limited resources," which caused their idiocy of harassing the demonstrators to have a real impact on their ability to do "real" work, when expected.  This sounds vaguely familiar to an issue that people claimed wasn't an issue--that the bureaucrats will claim they need more staffing, because of the Free State Project.

Count on it to be a real (as in political, not practical) issue.

Addendum:The "protesters" also should have thought about how "nonpayment of child support" was going to look before they copped to protesting over Russell Canning's incarceration.

Actually, the police departments have greatly expanded in NH over the last 5 or so years.  It is pretty amazing.  NH used to have near the least amount of cops per capita and now it is still in the lower half, but no where near the least. 

So what you're saying is that places where a bunch of freestaters congregate are places where the government grows?

[TimeLady Victorious]

Very bad planning by the police there. They sent the whole, or the majority, of the cops to process trespassers?

Maybe Keene doesn't have a very large police department to begin with...

43 welfare queens.

http://forum.freekeene.com/index.php?topic=2349.msg32886#msg32886

Yeah I don't consider policemen to be "welfare queens." They're actually contributing to the society they live in.

How is a bunch of idiots protesting the incarceration of a deadbeat dad contributing anything to society?

[Bill Brasky]

I'm not even gonna fuckin say anything.