gls
08-21-2009, 11:59 AM
http://freekeene.com/2009/08/19/keene-inspired-activist-enters-police-station-with-marijuana-in-hand/
“Big Mike” arrived in New Hampshire this week and made good on his promise to bring Keene’s brand of civil disobedience activism to the Manchester area. My understanding of the story is as follows. After calling the police chief to announce his intentions, he walked around a Manchester park for a couple of hours asking people why marijuana is illegal, while holding a bud of it in his hands. No police showed themselves to enforce their statutes, so he proceeded to the police station and had a chat with the secretary, requesting an officer come talk to him about the issue, making it quite clear he was possessing the illicit plant material. After waiting in the lobby for over 30 minutes, he and the other activists decided to call it a day. No officers came over to talk to him, despite the fact that one was in visual range of him, as you can see in this low quality, raw video of the occasion. Hopefully better coverage will be released soon.
YouTube - Activists enters police station with marijuana. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Xv7LSbI4k&feature=player_embedded#t=75)
Comment by BigMike
August 19, 2009 @ 11:53 pm
A couple of things I want to add…
I started at Victory Park, talked with people for about 45 minutes or so. No police showed up so I decided to try talking to people outside the police station. Talked to a few but there wasn’t much traffic.
One of the activists suggested just walking around downtown so we headed to Elm Street and stayed outside of city hall while I spoke to people for about an hour. No police.
We then headed to the Manchester district court and talked with a few people. No police.
At this point it was hot, we had been at it for hours and I decided to just go inside the police station. I had been asking the question “Do you think people that possess marijuana like this should go to jail?” so I told the secretary what I had been doing and was hoping to get to talk to the chief about his views on marijuana possession.
The chief wasn’t in all day and likely didn’t hear the voicemail I left him this morning so I assume that’s why no police showed at Victory Park.
The response from people I spoke with was overall positive. I wasn’t keeping track but I’d say about 15-20 said no, you shouldn’t go to jail. 10-15 either said no comment (even with no camera running) or they didn’t have an opinion on the subject.
Only one woman angrily said yes they should go to jail but, in all fairness, she was walking out of city hall and could have been in a bad mood for any number of reasons.
My point wasn’t so much to get arrested, it’s to challenge the law. If my only intent was to be arrested I’d consider today a failure.
But I think what happened was a success. First, nobody called the police. Hats off to the residents of Manchester that looked at me like I was nuts but failed to notify the authorities that a peaceful guy was on the loose in the city with a plant.
Second, with the exception of Sgt. ‘Roid-Rage who screamed at an activist for sitting on a counter, the Manchester police did what I’d hope they would do more often and chose to ignore me. Maybe the cameras had an impact. Maybe it was the group of activists that showed up to support me. Maybe they were spending their time going after actual criminals. But they saw the pot and did nothing.
It was surreal.
There is a second video where I show them the bud again and ask if I should come back another time with my marijuana. A different lady with a big smile tells me to come back anytime. So nice of her.
YouTube - Activists reschedules pot protest with bureaucrat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqEyFUmESmA)
Jraxis will have a longer clip he’ll be posting pretty soon. I’ll give the link when it’s up. Joe used his phone to send the footage to qik but had technical difficulties.
I was going to return today but after giving it some thought I think it would be better to send the chief a letter requesting an appointment where, hopefully, he’ll answer some of my questions on camera.
Yes, I’ll bring the pot with me and we’ll see what happens when I lay it on his desk. Details to follow soon. Thanks for your support Keeniacs. I think some Manchies are gonna start stepping up to the plate.
“Big Mike” arrived in New Hampshire this week and made good on his promise to bring Keene’s brand of civil disobedience activism to the Manchester area. My understanding of the story is as follows. After calling the police chief to announce his intentions, he walked around a Manchester park for a couple of hours asking people why marijuana is illegal, while holding a bud of it in his hands. No police showed themselves to enforce their statutes, so he proceeded to the police station and had a chat with the secretary, requesting an officer come talk to him about the issue, making it quite clear he was possessing the illicit plant material. After waiting in the lobby for over 30 minutes, he and the other activists decided to call it a day. No officers came over to talk to him, despite the fact that one was in visual range of him, as you can see in this low quality, raw video of the occasion. Hopefully better coverage will be released soon.
YouTube - Activists enters police station with marijuana. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Xv7LSbI4k&feature=player_embedded#t=75)
Comment by BigMike
August 19, 2009 @ 11:53 pm
A couple of things I want to add…
I started at Victory Park, talked with people for about 45 minutes or so. No police showed up so I decided to try talking to people outside the police station. Talked to a few but there wasn’t much traffic.
One of the activists suggested just walking around downtown so we headed to Elm Street and stayed outside of city hall while I spoke to people for about an hour. No police.
We then headed to the Manchester district court and talked with a few people. No police.
At this point it was hot, we had been at it for hours and I decided to just go inside the police station. I had been asking the question “Do you think people that possess marijuana like this should go to jail?” so I told the secretary what I had been doing and was hoping to get to talk to the chief about his views on marijuana possession.
The chief wasn’t in all day and likely didn’t hear the voicemail I left him this morning so I assume that’s why no police showed at Victory Park.
The response from people I spoke with was overall positive. I wasn’t keeping track but I’d say about 15-20 said no, you shouldn’t go to jail. 10-15 either said no comment (even with no camera running) or they didn’t have an opinion on the subject.
Only one woman angrily said yes they should go to jail but, in all fairness, she was walking out of city hall and could have been in a bad mood for any number of reasons.
My point wasn’t so much to get arrested, it’s to challenge the law. If my only intent was to be arrested I’d consider today a failure.
But I think what happened was a success. First, nobody called the police. Hats off to the residents of Manchester that looked at me like I was nuts but failed to notify the authorities that a peaceful guy was on the loose in the city with a plant.
Second, with the exception of Sgt. ‘Roid-Rage who screamed at an activist for sitting on a counter, the Manchester police did what I’d hope they would do more often and chose to ignore me. Maybe the cameras had an impact. Maybe it was the group of activists that showed up to support me. Maybe they were spending their time going after actual criminals. But they saw the pot and did nothing.
It was surreal.
There is a second video where I show them the bud again and ask if I should come back another time with my marijuana. A different lady with a big smile tells me to come back anytime. So nice of her.
YouTube - Activists reschedules pot protest with bureaucrat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqEyFUmESmA)
Jraxis will have a longer clip he’ll be posting pretty soon. I’ll give the link when it’s up. Joe used his phone to send the footage to qik but had technical difficulties.
I was going to return today but after giving it some thought I think it would be better to send the chief a letter requesting an appointment where, hopefully, he’ll answer some of my questions on camera.
Yes, I’ll bring the pot with me and we’ll see what happens when I lay it on his desk. Details to follow soon. Thanks for your support Keeniacs. I think some Manchies are gonna start stepping up to the plate.