Free Speech Trial

[Dreepa]

What a terrific group of folks... Kat and Russell for facing down the unknown with fine composure... Caleb and Lauren you guys cracked me up walking in with those pitchforks... Defender of Liberty for handing over his armaments. John and Aaron for the flags and everybody who took time out of their busy lives to show solidarity. Those people at the Courthouse were not ready for us, I bet we were the topic of conversation at lunch.

One of the best shindigs I've been to with the NHunderground... we are developing our 'esprit de corps'.

I am damn proud to stand by any of ya'll... Semper Fidelis.

Agree 100%.  I was smiling the whole time I was driving home.

[cathleeninnh]

No drama, some confusion. Sorry. The best story was the gathering of supporters and the discomfort of the uniforms.

Cathleen

[Kat Kanning]

I walked into the courtroom late.  They'd just finished calling everyone's name and asked if there was anyone who came in late, so I told them my name.  The judge said that the prosecutor had dropped the charges and I was free to go.  Russell was a little later cause he got stuck dealing with the metal detector to get in.  He went in and couldn't get their attention.  Finally I got the guy to talk to me and he said the charges against Russell had been dropped to.  So we left with half the courtroom

[Lloyd Danforth]

Great!  Congratulations!

[slim]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have demonstrated that we can win even on the goverments ground that we paid for 

[Recumbent ReCycler]

It was so great to drive up to the courthouse and see all those people there.  Thanks so much for coming today!  I think it will help them think a little about doing it again, since it turned out to be a hassle for them, dealing with protesters and all.

Tim checking in his arsenal was hilarious....and the pitchforks sounded like it turned out well, too, though I didn't see it.

arsenal?  Heck, I was holding back.  I left one gun and my sword in the car, and a lot more guns at home.  Too bad I couldn't join you guys in the after event photos.  I was busy getting harrassed by the Manchester PD.  They threatened to not return one of my guns and made me wait at the desk for a long time before they would return my guns.  When I turned in the Sig and the KelTek, it looked like they were having a hard time trying to unload them, so I went ahead and unloaded and field stripped the other 2.  They didn't know what to think of my Stinger Pen Gun.  The pen gun was what they gave me the most trouble about.  Since they apparently didn't know what exactly it was or how it worked, they told me that before they would return it to me, they had to get confirmation from the ATF that it was legal.  A couple cops ganged up on me to try to push my buttons and/or to try to get me to say something that could get me into trouble.  One of them raised his voice at me while asking why I had four guns.  Instead of answering him, I indicated that I didn't break any laws.  Before I left, he told me that he reported me to the ATF and that they were going to try to find something to charge me with.  He said that if he can find a city ordnance that I was in violation of, he would send a summons to my house.  They appear to either be totally ignorant of the law, or they were trying to use intimidation to discourage the exercising of one's rights, although I suppose it could be a combination of both.  I handed my video camera to Mike Fisher soon after I found out that the officers were delaying the return of my firearms.  We didn't get much video, but we did get some audio.  There is a lot of background noise, so some of the conversations were difficult to hear.  I will try to clean up the audio and type up a transcript of the encounter.  I will also try to upload the audio so that anyone who wants to can hear what was said.

[Dreepa]

Def.... did they have your name?

[Dreepa]

So I got there about 8amish.  There were 4-5 of us milling about.  Aaron broke out the Gadsden flag.  A cop said... Hey you can't protest there.  He asked us a few times.  Then asked us if we were together.  Aaron yelled loudly, 'I came alone' and started marching because you could not stand still and protest.  We stood there and said we are waiting for friends. People started coming in dribs and drabs. 8 people, then 10, then 12. Still no K&R.  The cops said that Roger couldn't have his signs up against the wall.  If you were protesting you had to keep moving. 2 Flags and a pitchfork were on the move.  Defender showed up with some great protest signs hand fans. I mean it was a hot day.  He handed the fans out.  They had the RSA laws, 'FREE SPEECH zone etc.  They were awesome. People were looking.  More people showing up.So K&R show up about 8:30ish.  RIght then 2 bike cops roll up and ask who is in charge. 'no one' answered several people.  They told us to not protest in front of the building. They started yelling at Biker Bill for not moving while he had a sign.  Bill said he was fanning himself.  The cop said something to the effect of I can arrest you and we can let the courts decide. (Kind of ironic because isn't that why we were there).  Well K&R were going in the building so some stayed outside and many of us marched into the building.  I was stuck in line behind DofLib... it was like 'GetSmart'  A gun here and a gun there.  It was pretty funny.  The cop asked me why I had two phones. Up we marched to the room.  By the time we got there Kat had already come out and said the charges were dropped.

[John]

This news needs to go across the land.

The news was reported to the Free Talk Live word by Dave.

I didn't get to here the call because my computer got knocked out for a while when a - very nice - storm rolled through the area, but I'll listen to it later.

I'm sure the report was great because Dave is good that way. Thanks Dave.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

Yeah, they had my name because they had my concealed carry license.  On my way to the entrance of the court house I stopped and talked to a police officer who was standing next to the building.  I asked him if there was a check in procedure for handguns, and he said that there was.  When I got to the desk in front of the metal detector, I asked what the check in procedure was for checking in handguns.  The guy said "you have to give your gun to us".  I was thinking, well duh, I knew that much already.  I placed my Sig on the counter, pointing toward me (unlike a lot of people, I know that my gun will not go off by itself, so I had nothing to fear).  An officer took it and started struggling with the slide.  I then took out my KelTec and placed in on the counter.  The officer said "You have more than one gun?!?!".  The look of shock on his face was priceless.  Another officer picked it up and started struggling with it.  I went ahead and unloaded the other two guns before placing them on the counter because I didn't want to risk having my .22s broken when they were trying to unload them.  They now have my name, address, and phone number.  They don't scare me.  I just find it annoying when police officers try to enforce nonexistent laws and violate their oath to uphold the constitution at the same time.  That type of behavior has wasted a lot of my time over the last 13 years.  The hand fans only cost me about a nickel each to make, so I will probably be using them for other political uses.

[Tom Sawyer]

 

The hand fans where also a great idea.

[Dreepa]

The hand fans only cost me about a nickel each to make, so I will probably be using them for other political uses.

Money well spent!

[Kat Kanning]

Man, defender, that's awful!  I hope they don't continue hassling you.   

[KBCraig]

I don't presume to speak for Russell & Kat, since they were the ones facing this, but it's very irritating that even when they dropped the charges, they did so in a way that forced you to go to court, disrupt your day, travel 3 hours round trip, make arrangements for "what if I go to jail?", etc., etc.

It's like they found every possible way to punish you, without imposing legal punishment. The dropping of charges could should have been handled over the telephone. 

Kevin

[John]

The hand fans

Those (in my mind) are "collector items" in the Liberty movement.    Great job!  Thank you for that fun.
Not to mention the image of Mel Gibbson surrendering his weapons (one after another - and in this case, pitchforks included) as he (in this case they) enters Bartertown in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."

Truth is strange sometimes . . . LOVE IS STRANGE TO!  But, we just love Freedom.
There is nothing quite like a public - and PEACEFUL - display of this kind of LOVE!