Adam Kokesh arrested in Texas

[Anti Federalist]

Today Adam Kokesh Filed Papers Seeking the Libertarian Presidential Nomination. Then He Was Arrested on Drug Charges.

http://reason.com/blog/2018/01/16/ad...ug-charges-wit

Brian Doherty|Jan. 16, 2018 8:55 pm

Adam Kokesh, longtime anarcho-libertarian activist who first came to public prominence with Iraq Veterans Against the War in 2007 and was later a big Ron Paul supporter, today filed the paperwork necessary to officially seek the U.S. presidency. He is hoping for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.

Adam Kokesh FacebookAdam Kokesh Facebook

He also had his RV pulled over twice by Texas police, and was arrested the second time.

A video of the second pullover that led to the arrest can be found on Facebook (and is embedded below). It shows highway patrol officers instructing Kokesh to shut off his camera at the point a police dog, off-camera, was said to have "alerted" to the RV. Kokesh was pulled over for driving 74 in a 65 zone, according to one officer in the video.

According to the Texas ACLU, the police do not have the right to demand a citizen stop videotaping willy-nilly though they have the loophole I'm sure they'd summon here regarding "truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations." The ACLU notes that "Professional officers, however, realize that such operations are subject to public scrutiny, including by citizens photographing them."

Jacob Sullum at Reason in a classic 2013 cover story demolished the probity of the "dog alert=suspension of Fourth Amendment rights" line of thought and practice.

A spokeswoman for the Wise County Jail confirms Kokesh is in their custody on four charges, one related to possession of under two ounces of marijuana, two related to possession of another controlled substance she was not able to specify, and one for "tampering and/or fabricating evidence with intent to impair" a police investigation. He will likely be arraigned and have bond set tomorrow.

Ben Farmer, the Kokesh campaign's chief strategist, says in an email that "we don't know any more than you do at this time about the charges or the circumstances of his arrest. We do find it suspicious that Adam was pulled over twice within an hour of formally announcing his candidacy for President. Particularly, since he just came off of a 4 month, cross-country tour in the same vehicle without being pulled over once the entire time."

I reported on one of Kokesh's previous brushes with the law, based on videotaping himself with legally forbidden weapons on federal property, back in 2014. He got off with two years probation then.

[Schifference]

Sounds like he is off to a great start!

[Raginfridus]

Celebrity can only do him well.

[Zippyjuan]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

A spokeswoman for the Wise County Jail confirms Kokesh is in their custody on four charges, one related to possession of under two ounces of marijuana, two related to possession of another controlled substance she was not able to specify, and one for "tampering and/or fabricating evidence with intent to impair" a police investigation.

[timosman]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

What happened to the jerk who was normally handling Zippy's account? Any chance you will be permanently assigned to this?

[Zippyjuan]

What happened to the jerk who was normally handling Zippy's account? Any chance you will be permanently assigned to this?

Thank you for your informative contribution to the discussion.

[RJB]

I am all for legalization etc., but if you are an attention getter like Kokesh, the wise thing would be to lay off the stuff while attracting attention.

[sparebulb]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

We have a new Number 2.



I'm guessing that this one is a skinny, sexually repressed, pinch-faced, Evan McMuffin type that watches gladiator movies.

[timosman]

Thank you for your informative contribution to the discussion.

Ok, I get it. Your time is too valuable. Can we at least be assured the next schmuck will be paid a decent wage? We've had a stream of underachievers recently and I suspect it was caused by budgetary constraints.

[Raginfridus]

What happened to the jerk who was normally handling Zippy's account? Any chance you will be permanently assigned to this?

Donate to his patreon if you want him to keep posting.

I am all for legalization etc., but if you are an attention getter like Kokesh, the wise thing would be to lay off the stuff while attracting attention.

10, even 5, years ago? Sure. Today? People seem to want celebrities and personalities. I think voters like the controversy more than ever.

[Madison320]

What happened to the jerk who was normally handling Zippy's account? Any chance you will be permanently assigned to this?

I don't see anything out of character. Jeff Sessions is a republican. Zippy is just doing his job.

[DamianTV]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

Jeff Sessions obviously has never read the 9th or 10th Amendments of the Bill of Rights.

JUST SAY NO! TO JEFF SESSIONS!

[eleganz]

Kokesh has a really bad reputation with the people who have been around him in the past.

[AZJoe]

Good quote by Lawrence Vance at LewRockwell.com :

According to a new report issued by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch, “Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined.” On any given day in the United States, “at least 137,000 people sit behind bars on simple drug-possession charges.” This in spite of the fact that medical marijuana is legal in 29 states, recreational marijuana is legal in 8 states, and the possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in 21 states. As I recently stated: “No one should ever be arrested, fined, or imprisoned for possessing a plant the government doesn’t approve of. Not in the land of the free.” Want to eliminate half of the cops in the United States? End the war on drugs. It is, after all, a war on freedom.

[pcosmar]

Publicity stunt.

I could buy "set up" on once.. but not twice.

[RJB]

10, even 5, years ago? Sure. Today? People seem to want celebrities and personalities. I think voters like the controversy more than ever.

I think I was trying to politely call him an attention whore.

[sparebulb]

Publicity stunt.

I could buy "set up" on once.. but not twice.

I can't quite describe it, but there is something very, very odd about Kokesh's behavior.

[oyarde]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

I see nothing that the Feds would have any control over drugs .

[Working Poor]

I can't quite describe it, but there is something very, very odd about Kokesh's behavior.

I can describe it he has made a fool of himself. I was hopeful that he could do something good but he has made some very stupid choices. He could have used his anti war stance and his good looks to take him far. Instead he has drawn attention to himself as a drug addict and a idiot.

[loveshiscountry]

Jeff Sessions would love to see all people like that thrown in jail for as long as possible. Drugs should be illegal and states should not have the right to choose which laws they want to ignore or enforce.

Freedom should be legal and states should not have the right to abuse the rights of the individual.

[euphemia]

Freedom should be legal and states should not have the right to abuse the rights of the individual.

That still would not have made Kokesh wise.

[Origanalist]

I can describe it he has made a fool of himself. I was hopeful that he could do something good but he has made some very stupid choices. He could have used his anti war stance and his good looks to take him far. Instead he has drawn attention to himself as a drug addict and a idiot.

I agree, personally I've never understood why people rally around this guy.

[dean.engelhardt]

My opinion of Adam has changed in the last 10 years. He goes out of his way to find unjust laws to get arrested over. I suppose we should thank him for highlighting laws that are anti-liberty, but Kokesh getting arrested again is getting old. I still think it would be good for our country if he gets elected to some office and has a legitimate platform for liberty.

[Schifference]

Being an ass does not preclude any Democrat or Republican from holding office.

[Wooden Indian]

Adam has a card for medical marijuana and I've seen him show it in the past to out of state LEO.

Thing is, Texas does not recognize prescriptions out of state and even charged a 70 year old man recently.

"That can lead to situations like that faced by*a California grandfather*who was traveling in Texas to visit his granddaughter, who has Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The 67-year-old made several mistakes:

-- He openly admitted to having a pot pipe in his car. That gave police probable cause to search his vehicle.

-- He was carrying four ounces of prescribed marijuana and edibles in the trunk of his car and thought that it was okay because he'd been using the drug as a prescription now for 10 years.

The senior citizen now faces two felony drug charges."

http://www.kriegerlawfirm.com/blog/2...of-state.shtml

[angelatc]

I agree, personally I've never understood why people rally around this guy.

He's a super nice guy. Thats not enough to get him elected though.

[dannno]

Publicity stunt.

I could buy "set up" on once.. but not twice.

Could be he got pulled over once, they suspected he had something and didn't have a dog and they had to let him go, he was probably asking if he committed a crime, was free to go, etc..

Then they may have notified the police in the direction he was heading to pull him over again and bring a dog?

[dannno]

Instead he has drawn attention to himself as a drug addict and a idiot.

Lol, nobody under 50 calls people who use weed "drug addicts", I don't think they found coke or heroin on him... probably some cannabis concentrated, although I know he likes the mushrooms and the molly as well those are not addictive substances.

[shakey1]

Another case of the man keeping us down.

[oyarde]

If he got the libertarian presidential candidate slot he would have the record I think for most arrests at that position . Might also set a new low on votes for that spot too .Looks like I may have to write in Oyarde again .