Support Pete Eyre and Ademo Freeman vs. Greenfield, MA; Bogus Wiretapping Charges

On July 18, 2011, Pete Eyre and Ademo Freeman, crew members of Liberty On Tour and bloggers for Cop Block, will begin trial on felony wiretapping, resisting arrest, and trespassing charges.

Solidarity + Direct Action = Justice

The charges stem from an incident in July of 2010, when they were attempting to post bail for Rich Paul, who had been arrested the day before, at the Franklin County jail. Pete had initially also been facing felony firearm/ammo and VIN manipulation charges as the result of an illegal search of their vehicle, affectionately dubbed MARV, but those charges were dismissed earlier this week.

Here is a fairly short rundown of what happened that day:

"On Thursday, July 1st 2010 Pete and I headed into the Franklin County Jail to bail out Rich Paul, who had been arrested the day before. We were initially told that we could not film in the lobby by Franklin County Sheriff’s but later were told we could do so. We left and 15 minutes later returned with the bail money and Pete’s ID but were then told that we were not permitted to film on the property. We stated that public officials can be recorded while conducting their duties, that no one in the building had any expectation of privacy and that we had our cameras as a means of protection as well as accountability for everyone involved. It was those with badges who then took action against us for standing our ground and doing what we believe is right – actions that did not harm anything.

Sgt. Todd M. Dodge placed myself and Pete under arrest without disclosing what we were actually being arrested for. We were taken to the Greenfield Police Department where we were abused, finger printed, photographed, stripped and had our personal possessions stolen from us. The police, under the watch of Sgt. Dodge, threw us into a cage without blankets, a phone call or telling us exactly what we were being charged with. The jail, with concrete floors, was extremely cold. We were monitored via a camera in the ceiling. We did anything we could to keep warm and to occupy our minds/time. We did chants of ‘no victim no crime,’ sang songs, preached libertarianism and even did a workout.

Finally after 12 + hours in our cages we were taken to court to face a judge. We finally learned what our charges were: felony wiretapping and resisting arrest for us both Pete also has felony firearm/ammo and VIN manipulation charges."

For more detailed information you can:

1. Review the huge Meta post, which covers every blog, video and document(s) pertaining to their case(s).
2. Watch the “Greenfield, MA” playlist (25 videos) featured on CopBlock.org’s YouTube channel.
3. Watch the 27-min documentary style video that covers everything from July 2010 to February 2011.

In reality, the charges are one of many instances over the past few years in which police have arrested people for filming them in order to avoid being held accountable for their actions. The misuse of wiretapping laws to prevent video taping has been one of the prevalent methods employed recently in several states.

The Members of Liberty On Tour

Not only were these wiretapping laws obviously never meant for such a purpose, but courts on all levels and throughout the country have consistently found that there is no expectation of privacy in a public place and therefore no restrictions on filming someone. Police and other government employees themselves often cite this when justifying surveillance policies, such as red light cameras.

Furthermore, courts have also found in numerous cases that people have the right to "resist an unlawful arrest even to the point of taking an arresting officer's life, if necessary." so if there is no valid reason for someone to be arrested, then there is no reason that they should be punished for resisting that arrest.

If you have a problem with the police abusing their powers and then twisting laws around to eliminate any evidence of that abuse (as you should) and the future impact it can have on citizens' ability to prevent those abuses, there are several things you can do to support Pete and Ademo:

Help get the word out

• Share the above content on social media sites and/or your own blog, if you have one.

• Email local news outlets (Western Mass preferred but also Eastern, like Boston), Radio stations and bloggers. They’ve created a Press Release and Media Packet to make it easier for you to share. Otherwise standard emails or phone calls encouraging other media outlets to share their situation with their audience is greatly appreciated.

Call the local officials involved in the case

• Jeff Bangston – (District Attorney prosecuting us) 413.774.3186 - ask him to do what’s right and dismiss their charges.
• Todd M. Dodge – (arresting officer, Greenfield Police Department) 413.773.5411 ext. 1415 - ask him to think about his rights-violating actions.
• William F. Martin – “Mayor, Greenfield” – 413-.772.1560 - ask him to make a public statement against their treatment/charges.

Help out financially

• Normally they send those who donate $20 or more a Cop Block T-shirt but this week, until the conclusion of their trial, if you donate $15 you’ll get your choice of an “Am I Free To Go?” or “I don’t talk to police. I record them” shirt.
• Donate for a video Intro/Outro or Power Power Post (your org’s banner at the end of their post $25 – see here for example).

Attend Court Events

• Friday, July 15th at 6pm – “Know Your Rights” presentation; Green Fields Market, 144 Main St., Greenfield, MA
• Monday, July 18th at 8am – trial – District Court Greenfield, MA (see event here)

Censorship Sucks, Mmkay. So Does Stealing People's Homes...

Last week, Liberty On Tour posted a video about a man named Jay Noone, who was facing the threat of having his house stolen by tax extorters working for Palmer, MA. The video primarily features Pete Eyre of Liberty on Tour and Ian Freeman, a blogger at FreeKeene.com and radio host at Free Talk Live, attempting to question local officials about the pending seizure of Noone's home.

Predictably, the local bureaucrats weren't too keen on answering those questions and mostly it's a video of them hiding from Pete and Ian. However, it wasn't enough just to avoid the questions during the taping. Apparently, one of them complained to YouTube and had the video removed. Unfortunately (for them), they obviously have never heard of the Streisand Effect or they might have known that trying to censor stuff sometimes ends up putting it all over the internets.

So here is the video:



Feel free to download it here or one of the six other times I linked to a version of it in this post and post it on your own YouTube channel, if you have one. In fact, I encourage it. Stick it to the Man!

Watch this Video and Tell Me if You See a Felony Being Committed

Watch the included video and judge for yourself if even a crime, let alone a felony, was committed.

Recently, Ademo Freeman, one of the crew members of Liberty On Tour, the founder of Cop Block, and someone I consider a personal friend, attempted to ask a judge in Keene, NH. about the reasons behind the prior arrest of Beau Davis, another Liberty On Tour member, for wearing a hat. The video of the exchange, posted below, was originally published here after it was finally recovered from police custody.



As a result of those questions, asked in a calm and even respectful manner (Ademo addresses him as "sir" at one point), Judge Ed Burke from the Keene, NH. District Court not only had him arrested, but charged with a felony known as "Improper Influence" I've linked to the definition of that charge (twice), so that you can see what it actually entails. Nothing within that definition applies to what happened that morning. He ended up spending two days in jail and was forced to post a $5,000 cash bail, and is due to start trial on those felony charges on Thursday July 7, 2011.

The fact that Ademo was arrested at all for simply asking another person a few questions is an abuse of authority by Judge Ed Burke. Beyond that, the fact that the charge being pursued is actually a felony is an outrage in its own rite. If you have any sense of decency and justice, you should oppose this blatant misuse of power by a judge that is out of control and clearly in the wrong.

This next video was made before the release of the original footage and gives an overview of the issues involved, as well as some other improper (anti-recording) measures local authorities have attempted to implement aimed at preventing members of the Free State Project in Keene, NH.from holding those officials accountable for their actions.

If you are offended by Judge Burke's abuse of his power, as you should be, please take a moment to call the prosecutors for this case and let them know how you feel about it:

Chris McLaughlin – District Court DA – 603.357.9815
John Webb – Superior Court DA – 603.352.0056

Were Your Father's Cops Really That Much Better?

Me in all my glory

A month ago, during a pick up football game, I took off down the field at a full sprint, flew past the player defending me, and settled into the endzone for what should have been an easy touchdown. The quarterback threw the ball in a perfect spiral directly into my chest, which it promptly bounced off of and landed in the arms of that previously vanquished defender, who had by then caught back up to me. 

Shortly after that, while playing defense, I tore a muscle in my calf landing me on the couch for a week straight and keeping me on the sidelines for a month (so far).


Of course, in 10 or 20 years (probably 30), once my football days are over for good, you probably won't hear a lot about that pair of catastrophes. Instead, you'll most likely hear about the two touchdowns I caught earlier in that game. Or even more likely, I'll tell you about that 90+ yard interception return for a touchdown I had earlier this year, during which that picture to the right was taken.

Howard Zinn (right), arrested for not wanting to kill innocent people.

History has a way of glossing over the bad stuff in favor of the good ol' days. That is especially true when the one doing the story telling is also the one involved in all the negative stories. Even more so when those stories inspire a deep sense of shame.

I was recently reminded of this particular tendency of  human nature to remember things much better than they actually were when a friend of  mine mentioned to me that he once thought Anarchism was "way out there." However, now he was beginning to reconsider because of all the instances of police brutality and abuse he's seen recently. In particular, he was shocked by the recent arrests of members of Food Not Bombs in Orlando for the "crime" of feeding hungry people. Specifically, because it was the "locals" that were doing the arresting.

A lunch counter sit-in at a North Carolina Woolworth's

It isn't uncommon for people to have the image of the "friendly neighborhood cop" in their mind when they think of policemen of the past. That foregone day when the local cop patrolled his beat, knew everyone by name, and protected the residents from those bad guys that wanted to do them harm.

Unfortunately, these memories are nothing but illusions or at best selective memories. In many ways, the cops have indeed gotten worse. By way of standardized training and selective recruitment with a heavy tendency toward veterans and/or people with aggressive personalities, the modern police force has become much more nationalized and militarized. As a result, they are more willing to use force in any given situation and less likely disobey illegal or immoral commands.

The inevitable response by the State's enforcers.

However, as much as that is true, the only real difference between now and then is a matter of degrees. The thugs beating people in the streets at anti-war protests during the Vietnam war and spraying school children with fire hoses during the civil rights era were locals. Officer O'Malley, the friendly neighborhood beat cop of yesteryear might have taken it easy on Sean, the local hellion, but he knew what had to be done when some uppity nigger refused to step down from the lunch counter at Woolworth's or some dirty hippie decided to burn his draft card and there were no shortage of cops willing to do it.


As the saying goes, the cops are the tip of the State's spear and the tip is the part that does the real damage. To believe otherwise is to forget the truth of what really happened and create a fantasy world based on those glory days that never really were.

 

Las Vegas Wobblies Rally Against Chipotle in Support of Exploited Farmworkers (pics)

Click on any of the pictures for the full-size images

During the weekend of November 6-8 members of the Las Vegas Industrial Workers of the World, in conjunction with Food Not Bombs Las Vegas and Southern NV ALL, attended the Living Without Borders encuentro sponsored by the United Coalition for Im/migrant Rights (U.C.I.R.), which was held at UNLV. On the final day of the encuerto, we took part in a demonstration against the Chipotle across from campus organized by MEChA de UNLV in support of the Student/Farmworker Alliance (S.F.A.) and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (C.I.W.) and other farm workers who often work very long hours for wages that average below the poverty level.

The LV IWW, along with Fellow Worker Paul Lenart from the Reno IWW, rallied with other groups from the encuerto in solidarity with fellow workers being exploited by agriculture suppliers in Florida and throughout the industry. The demonstration was for the most part uneventful and garnered some support from passing cars and bystanders. However, at one point a group of Metro policemen (at least 10) descended upon us to preserve order by demanding to know who our leaders were and arrogantly declaring they were going to "teach us how to protest" so they wouldn't "have to" arrest anyone. Things got a bit tense after we responded that we didn't believe in hierarchies and therefore had no leaders and Paul informed the officer who was trying to tutor us on protesting that we weren't required to walk in a circle, as his lesson plan called for us to do. Not long after, a Metro sergeant arrived, spoke to us briefly, agreed that we didn't need to walk in a circle, wished us luck, and told the other Metro officers to leave. The rest of the morning was once again pretty uneventful and rather fun in general. In addition to displaying signs to passersby, we also provided people entering or exiting Chipotle with printed information about the C.I.W.'s grievances, resulting in several instances where potential customers turned away.

The C.I.W. is a community-based organization composed mainly of Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. They have been organizing workers in the agriculture industry since1993 to fight for fair wages, better working conditions, and more respect from bosses, among other issues. Since 2001, they have been using targeted boycotts of fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and other large tomato buyers to encourage them to agree to pay one penny per pound more for tomatoes and other produce directly to the workers who picked them. The resulting increase is minimal for the buyers (25 cents/box), but could increase the average farmworker's wages by 2/3's of the current approximate salary of $10,000/year. In the recent past, such boycotts have successfully led to agreements with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Whole Foods Markets to participate in C.I.W.'s penny-per-pound program, as well as agreeing to require that their suppliers respect the rights and safety of farmworkers. In spite of marketing themselves as a socially responsible business and promising customers "Food with Integrity," Chipotle has repeatedly refused to sign those same agreements with C.I.W.

Uncle Sam Goddamn by Brother Ali

This might just be the most kick ass song ever recorded. It's a show tune, but the show ain't been written for it yet. Hopefully, a team of writers somewhere is working on that.

2738 Soldiers Died On the Final Day of the First World War So That the Time and Date of the Armistice Would Look Really Cool

Today is Veteran's Day, which of course originates from the anniversary of the day the Armistice that ended the fighting during World War I was signed. One of the things you hear constantly during the coverage of Veteran's Day commemorations is that the Armistice occurred at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Technically that's correct because the Armistice didn't take effect until 11 AM, but the truth is that the Armistice was actually signed shortly after 5 AM the morning of the 11th of November. However, for symbolic reasons the announcement of the Armistice was delayed until 11 AM.

During that delayed ending, fighting continued and in many cases even intensified. Some commanders, knowing the war was within hours of ending, ordered their troops to attack the other side in one last stab for personal glory and bragging rights. The rational for others was even less reasonable. Many allied artillery units continued firing upon German targets in order to avoid having to haul the left over ammunition away. In one particularly heinous instance, General William Wright of the American 89th Division ordered his men to capture a nearby town so that they could use the shower facilities there after the Armistice took effect. There were over 300 unnecessary casualties during the resulting battle. Even in instances where commanders didn't order their forces to engage in a last minute, ego inflating skirmish, the simple fact that the cessation of fighting was delayed resulted in soldiers dying who otherwise would have lived. Just one such example is Augustin Trebuchon a French soldier who was killed by sniper fire at 10:45 AM while delivering a message to his fellow soldiers that soup would be served after the cease fire.

All told 10,944 casualties, including 2,738 killed, were recorded between the time the Armistice was actually signed and the time it went into affect. A lot of people died for no other reason than so that the official Armistice could be recorded as the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. That is admittedly much cooler sounding than the 5th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, though.

Update: Via Anarchologs I came across another post on this subject at Roderick T. Long's Blog. His post includes a link to "World War I Wasted Lives on Armistice Day", a somewhat long and well written article that contains many more details about that final day of unnecessary combat.

Billy Jack as an Anarchist Metaphor (with video)

Recently after one of the organizing meetings for Food Not Bombs Las Vegas, Charles "Radgeek" Johnson and I engaged in a conversation with a friend who has attended the A-Cafe several times over the past few months. At one point, the issue of an Anarchist society's ability to defend itself against a statist country was discussed, with the contention that the Anarchists would be unable to defend themselves against an attack by the army of an invading state. More specifically, our friend was of the opinion that Anarchists would be unable to organize themselves in order to fend off such an attack without an hierarchical structure of leadership.

I brought up the Ukrainian Revolutionary Black Army during the Russian Revolution as an example of a force organized along Anarchist, bottom-up principles that was very capable of standing up to statist forces. Another example that was mentioned was the Workers' Committees of the Spanish Civil War, as well as various instances where guerrilla warfare has proven effective against rigidly organized forces.

The perceived flaw with the examples of the Black Army and the Spanish Revolutionaries was that in both cases they were eventually defeated by an alliance of statist forces, due to being vastly outnumbered. In the case of the Black Army there were as many as six separate armies opposing them at any given time, while the Spanish Anarchists were left alone against communists, fascists, and nationalists within Spain, which were supported by the governments of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin from outside Spain. Yet both groups held out for some time and achieved several significant victories during their respective periods.*

So, this is where the Billy Jack reference comes in to play. Anybody that has seen the movie (has anybody not) is aware that Billy Jack was one of the biggest bad asses in movie history, who routinely pummeled anyone that transgressed against his group of outcasts and undesirables (which was just about every scene). However in the end, he meets his match when pretty much every guy in town surrounds him in a park and one of them eventually manages to crack him across the back of the head with a stick.

So the question would be, does the fact that Billy Jack eventually loses to an enemy with far superior numbers somehow invalidate the fact that he was more than able to defend himself, even at times when he was outnumbered to a lesser extent?

The fact that we are surrounded and vastly outnumbered by the State and its supporters is a serious issue that necessitates caution for us outcasts and undesirables within the Anarchist movements. However, it is no reason to conclude that we are incapable of defending ourselves without the State, in spite of obvious evidence to the contrary. Nor is it a reason to throw our hands up in the air and concede defeat without even trying. We can learn from the mistakes of the "Billy Jacks" of the past (try to stay out of the park) without accepting slavery as an inevitable circumstance.

*I realize that this is an extreme simplification of the subjects, but I didn't want to engage in a fifty page history lesson just to make what should be a rather simple point.

Live Free or Go To Jail: Irony, Logic and the Government

I've been working to put together another blog that will be based on ideas to eliminate many personal expenses and make money in non-tradition ways in order to lower your tax burden without starving or going to prison. Having settled on some variation of "Live Free or Die" as a title to maintain an Anarchist theme, I was searching for images to use on the blog when I came across a bit of ever-present Government logic.

You can read the full case here, but I'll give a short summary so you don't have to wade through all that. Back in 1974, a Jehovah's Witness named George Maynard decided that the New Hampshire state motto, "Live Free or Die," contradicted his religious beliefs and began covering it up on his license plates. Not long after, one of the loyal servants of the State of New Hampshire cited Maynard for violating the state statute against altering license plates. In spite of the court's sympathy with his stance, Maynard was given a fine that was suspended as long as he behaved himself from now on. Maynard was soon cited a second and third time and ended up serving 15 days in jail after refusing to pay the fines, as well as being given a six month suspended sentence. Subsequently, Maynard successfully sued in federal court to have his conviction overturned on First Amendment grounds of freedom of speech and religious freedom.

But that wasn't the end of the story. New Hampshire was so determined to enforce freedom (or death) upon George Maynard that they appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court. To their credit, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decision by a 6-3 vote. However, the fact that the State of New Hampshire couldn't recognize the obvious irony of jailing someone for not displaying a slogan advocating freedom even at the cost of one's own life amazes me.

AFAN's 23rd Annual Black and White Party on Meefers.com

My latest article on Meefers.com is a review of the Annual Black and White Party, which was held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas. The fundraiser, which is sponsored by Aid For AIDS of Nevada (AFAN), raises money to fund treatment and assistance for individuals suffering from HIV and AIDS in the Southern Nevada area.

An uncommon rainy day in the Vegas area created some early excitement for the organizers, who had to move the entire event from the traditional poolside setting to the Joint within the Hard Rock. In spite of that, it was a great show that might have actually benefited from the change in venue. There was lots of great food by top chefs, plenty of great entertainment, and over $100,000 was raised for an important cause. All that was included for the $35 admission, plus for a small additional donation attendees were given the opportunity to have their picture taken with either Penn and Teller (longtime supporters of AFAN) or Charo, who performed like she had just stepped out of a time machine from the 70's. You should definitely mark this on your calendar for next year.

The article can be viewed here:
"In Spite of Rainy Day, AFAN's 23rd Annual Black and White Party Raises $100,000"

**Update**
The Public Relations rep for AFAN has informed me that they actually raised $120,000 once the final tally was counted, which was a record for the amount raised by the Black and White Party.