July 31, 2006: Russell arrested

[Kat Kanning]

I got one photo of them throwing him down:

[Dave Ridley]

<< Kat, is there anything those of us not in NH yet can do to help?>>

if kat has nothing better, i have some action items.  basically phone calls you can make.  other action items you guys can think of?

[d_goddard]

So all the charges were b/c he charged or pushed his way through the guys or was there something else?

As I understand it, yes.
The one charge that got dropped is the one they would have got him on if there had been no pushing/force used on his part: the distributing of pamphets.

Denis I'm PM'ing you about the recording stuff. I do it all the time.

Thanks, FTL_Ian beat you to the punch, by a few seconds

[Minsk]

Well, now that I have a reason to leave a message... Not something I would do, but that just means I doubly admire the courage of it. Best wishes to Russell and Kat. And may the consciences of those who arrested him yet get the better of their owners

He also said they do indeed read the Forum, and he wishes like hell that he could post sometimes. Come on, we'd love to hear from you!!

Actually, it might be a good idea to hand out privacy guides to the state workers. Allowing them to communicate without fear of identification or repraisal would be a good way to invite the freedom-minded into the community. (Though, honestly, who wants to work for an employer who restricts your freedom of association?)

Maybe a quick guide similar in content to the communication privacy section of bushwacker's writeup: http://libertarianactivism.com/blog/#115329374191993481 (originally linked from http://bbs.freetalklive.com/index.php?topic=7792.0)

And a really easy approach: Anonym.OS, burn to CD and hand out, which prevents any evidence being left on their home computers. http://sourceforge.net/projects/anonym-os/ (The paranoid could even unplug their hard drives while running it...)

Not sure if it's really worth pursuing. I'm quite a long way from having boots on the ground, and have trouble trimming my technical jargon, so am not a good one to take point. If there is in-state interest I will be happy to beat ideas around in a new thread.

[Caleb]

well ... I decided to break my forum respite ... 

Can we get a group of people who will fast along with Russell for moral support.  I will be fasting (a juice/drink fast, my work is strenuous enough I can't just do a water fast) for as long as Russell is imprisoned by these thugs.  May the Lord bless and keep him.  My prayers are with him and his family.

Consider donating to the KFP. (88 Sparrow St Keene, NH 03431.  Please make checks out to Kat Dillon.) I will be making a weekly donation to the KFP, to help keep it going in his absence.  I will also offer to donate my weekends to distributing the copies until Russell can return.  Guys, Russell and Kat ARE the KFP!  Can we keep it going for him???

If you are sitting on the fence and are considering moving, please give it some extra thought.  We sure can use your help battling the evil feds.

And if you are a federal agent reading this, we KNOW you're not the bad guys.  We know that you, like all of us, are caught up in the system.  It is getting very bad.  We're trying to save our homeland.  We're not your enemies.  Remember that.  We don't hate you, but we do wish you'd quit your jobs and take a stand for liberty and justice.  Remember, there is a higher law than the one you work for.

Caleb

[Dave Ridley]

also gave union leader your number kat, are you ready to take a call?

[FTL_Ian]

well ... I decided to break my forum respite ... 

I knew you wouldn't make it.  Hah!

[Kat Kanning]

also gave union leader your number kat, are you ready to take a call?

If Russell can stand jail, I guess I can stand a phone call from the press.

[Mrs. Concious]

A man has been arrested for attempting and failing to give away a piece of paper on the "peoples' property".

Said man may have tens of thousands of his dollars taken from for attempting to give away paper.

America is done.

[Dave Ridley]

National version of news release

Homeland Security nabs Free Stater from home
  Leafleting campaign triggers forced court appearance

From NHfree.com
Keene, New Hampshire
July 31, 7:00 p.m.

For the third time in the last four days, Keene resident Russell Kanning finds himself in Federal custody.  The 36-year-old libertarian activist isn't in trouble for selling drugs, threatening officials or endangering anyone.  Instead, he's the target of Federal wrath because he attempted to enter the Keene IRS office with?a piece of paper. 

Last Thursday, after announcing his intensions publicly, Kanning appeared in front of Keene's IRS branch wearing overalls and a straw hat, clutching a pitchfork in one hand and a leaflet in the other.   His intent was to enter the IRS office - sans pitchfork - and hand the leaflet to any government employees working there.   

"I want them to quit their jobs," he said, referring to the one or two IRS agents who staff this part-time office on Keene's Main Street. His flyers contain a form which he is asking IRS agents to sign, pledging they will stop working for the agency because of what he considers the evil things it funds.

But Homeland Security agents, as well as some from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stood ready to defend this tiny office from the dangerous flyer.  They told Kanning if he attempted to enter the office (situated above Keene's main postal facility) they would arrest him.  Kanning chatted with them briefly, then informed them he would not be able to comply with their orders and slowly moved forward toward the IRS section of the building.  Agents then gently cuffed him, transported him to Keene Police Department and released him.   

Kanning then immediately went back to the IRS office, got arrested again, released again, and vowed to return for a third visit at noon on August 3.  He also declined to appear in court.

So on Monday, July 31 around 10:30 a.m., Federal agent seized him again, this time inside his home, this time not so gently.

"They just came in and threw Russell to the ground and took him," says Kanning?s wife Kat Dillon in a hastily composed web forum message on NHfree.com.   

Dillon says Kanning was transported to the Federal Building in Concord and forced to appear in court at around 2 p.m.  But she says other than the initial roughhousing on the living room floor, agents have been fairly polite so far

"The guy who was in charge on Thursday came by...apparently just to chat with me," she writes from a friend's computer near the courthouse.  "He wanted to convince me that they weren't the bad guys."

However Dillon says she is angry that her husband could be arrested simply for trying to hand a leaflet to a public official on public property.

"In case it isn't clear," she writes, "the issue is that the federal government has gone bad...It's imperitive that good people refuse to cooperate with it."

Kanning is a member of the Free State Project (www.FreeStateProject.org), a nationwide movement aimed at recruiting libertarians to move to New Hampshire.

Events have moved forward very fast since this news release was composed. You can read the latest details on the NHfree.com forum at

http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4640.0

Copies of the Dangerous Leaflet are at

http://www.republicofnh.org/brochure.pdf

Photographs of today's arrest:
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4640.0

Photographs of the July 27 arrest:
http://www.soulawakenings.com/underground/tikiwiki/tiki-browse_gallery.php?galleryId=74

Permission is granted to publish them at will.

Contact info:  Dave Ridley  603.721.1490,  Kat Dillon/Russell Kanning (if freed and available)  603.357.2049

[aries]

The the flight risk thing... when people tell me "you will have to show up blah blah..." I would just say "okay" and accept to myself that I would not be there. No need to tell them because you know that provokes a reply.

I'm glad Russell did so well in court.

I'm also kind of wondering if we should take more precautions with NHFree, such as moving the CD board somewhere else where only members that we know in person can view, that way the police don't figure out our action plan at every step of the way.

Kat, if you could communicate with Russell that I and the other board members are keeping him in our thoughts and prayers and wish him the best. And make sure he doesn't get too skinny in jail 

He also said they do indeed read the Forum, and he wishes like hell that he could post sometimes. Come on, we'd love to hear from you!!

And to this and any other agent - I implore you to look for a job that doesn't force you to do things against your will, especially when those things are to use force on others. If you can agree with the philosophy of non-aggression, not being an aggressor towards those who are not aggressive towards you, or taking orders to be an aggressor, please, look for a new job. Sometimes the most heroic thing you can do is sacrificing your job security for your moral convictions. If you know you can't post here but have something personal to tell us, you can feel free to email me (from an anonymous address from hushmail.com if you like) at mcovey(at)gmail.com and I will post it on your behalf. Nothing you write will be used against you or your employer, nor will they be notified that you wrote it.

[FTL_Ian]

I'm also kind of wondering if we should take more precautions with NHFree, such as moving the CD board somewhere else where only members that we know in person can view, that way the police don't figure out our action plan at every step of the way.

This will not prevent inflitration.  This was discussed in another thread.. we'll continue to plan openly.

[Revmar]

Let them listen.  Maybe, just maybe, some of them will learn just who they work for.

They live here too and someday they will be affected by the thuggish system they now support. 

[aries]

I'm also kind of wondering if we should take more precautions with NHFree, such as moving the CD board somewhere else where only members that we know in person can view, that way the police don't figure out our action plan at every step of the way.

This will not prevent inflitration.  This was discussed in another thread.. we'll continue to plan openly.

Members who have met eachother in real life? I think that would do a decent job of making it secret, simply for planning things so that the police aren't one step ahead of us.

I met several members here at Porcfest who could vouch, Ian of course you're all set having a radio show and all. Just so not every random schmuck off of Google can see a post by russellkanning that reads "I'm not going to show up to my court date."

I don't like being exclusionary so I'm trying to think of a way that could just keep posts that would be used against us private.

[aries]

Let them listen.  Maybe, just maybe, some of them will learn just who they work for.

They live here too and someday they will be affected by the thuggish system they now support. 

Imagine if several NH resident federal police joined the FSP and changed jobs