News releases about Russell Kanning

[Dave Ridley]

Here are the news releases put out by NHfree.com regarding Russell Kanning's arrest


From NHfree.com
Keene, New Hampshire
7/27/06

Homeland Securitiy arrests Keene man at IRS office

Keene resident Russell Kanning is on a mission. Wearing overalls, a straw hat and carrying a pitchfork, the thirty-five year old libertarian activist is out to expel the "Internal Robbery Squadron" from his city. And, despite his lack of sophisticated weaponry, he has triggered quite a response from Washington.

Plain clothed officers and uniformed Department of Homeland security agents were present in force to meet him at noon today as he appeared outside Keene's tiny IRS office with a half dozen supporters. But it wasn't so much his pitchfork or his friends that had agents concerned; it was his handful of...flyers.

"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.

Kanning, who has openly refused to pay IRS taxes since the 90s, says he wanted to draw attention to the "evil things" the IRS bankrolls  He says he is most upset by the use of tax dollars to underwrite Iraqi occupation. He also says he was inspired to action by the arrest this May of Plainfield resident Ed Brown, a prominent Constitutionalist and tax resister.

When Kanning entered the building, authorites quickly interposed themselves and told him they would arrest him if he tried to enter the office itself.

"I think we could call it tilting at windmills," he joked.

While bantering with the perplexed agents, Kanning offered each of them a flyer, which each refused, then slowly walked toward the single flight of stairs leading to the IRS section of the building.

Officers then quickly, but carefully, placed his hands behind his back and cuffed him.

Activists from NHfree.com, including a professional videographer, crowded in to document the event but were elbowed back by agents. They then placed him, his straw hat and his overalls into a DHS squad car minus the pitchfork but grinning at photographers.

He ended up being booked at Keene Police Department, then released around 3 p.m. Kanning then returned to the IRS office and walked straight toward the door, whereupon he was cuffed again, booked again, and released again, this time, as before, on charges of disorderly conduct.

He says either he or a mysterious person known as Shorty Dawkins will be returning to the "scene of the crime" tonight.

At a "post-arrest party" in Keene, the atmosphere was jubilant.

"I never got to talk with the IRS workers," Kanning says, still grinning "but I did get to ask some Homeland Security guys to quit."

For the latest details on this unfolding situation, or to post questions, visit the forums at www.NHfree.com

[Dave Ridley]

Homeland Security nabs Keene resident from home
  Leafleting campaign triggers forced court appearance

From NHfree.com
Keene, New Hampshire
July 31, 6:45 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 intentions 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.  Kanning listed the Iraq occupation and arrest of Plainfield tax resister Ed Brown as events that drove him to action.

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 imperative that good people refuse to cooperate with it."

Events have moved forward quickly 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 (7/31):
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4640.0

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

Permission is granted to publish them at will.

Contacts:  Dave Ridley 603.721.1490,  Kat Dillon/Russell Kanning (better sources of info than me if freed and available)  603.357.2049

[Dave Ridley]

From NHfree.com
8/1/06
Concord, New Hampshire

Feds to hold Keene demonstrator till September
  Leafleting attempt at IRS office triggers summary conviction

Still wearing the shorts and T-shirt he had on when Homeland Security agents came through his door, Keene resident Russell Kanning sat in front of his accusers Monday and built a paper airplane.

"He refused to cooperate," says his wife, Kat Dillon. "I'm so proud of him."

Appearing in Concord District Court Monday afternoon, Kanning faced five Federal charges for attempting to enter Keene's IRS office during business hours and hand out a "quit your job" flyer.  But no one seemed thrilled to have him in the courtroom. 

After refusing an attorney, the libertarian activist - who normally wears glasses - squinted at court officials and shivered in the cold chamber but otherwise appeared to be in good spirits.

"Government prosecutor was totally playing softball," writes one of one of the six NHfree.com activists who rushed to the courthouse after the arrest but asked not to be named in this article. "Palmer and the ICE guy (the arresting officers) seemed to like Russ. I know that will sound crass, since they did arrest him."

The Federal prosecutor asked Inspector Palmer, a Homeland Security agent, what Russell was carrying while outside the IRS offices. 

"A pitchfork," replied Palmer, triggering grins from Kanning's supporters and some of the officials. 

Kanning, who had dropped the pitchfork before attempting to enter IRS offices, did not face charges related to the "weapon," or for leafleting outside.  Charges instead centered on his attempt to physically enter the IRS office with his leaflet despite police warnings. 

"I got the impression that the basic issue was that there was expected to be a 'disruption' of the business that day," continues the unnamed activist, who quizzed agents after the hearing. 

In planning the event on the NHfree.com forums, Kanning had indicated he might indeed eventually go to the IRS and disrupt operations, but that he would not do so before August 3.

"The judge told Russ he had a constitutional right to question the witness," writes the activist.  "Russ asked Palmer if he'd quit his job, which was a nice touch."

Halfway through the hearing a bailiff pointedly seized Kanning's paper airplane.

The judge eventually convicted Kanning on four of the five charges, and asked the 36-year-old when would be a good day for him to come in and face sentencing.   Kanning replied that he would not come back on his own.  The judge then ordered he be held without bail until sentencing on Sept. 6.

Kanning now sits in Strafford County Jail in Dover, New Hampshire.

For additional late-breaking details, or to learn how you can support Russell, visit the NHfree.com forums at

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

Contacts:  Dave Ridley 603.721.1490,  Kat Dillon 603.357.2049

[Russell Kanning]

thank you

[Dave Ridley]

no,   thank YOU!