Today Joa is filing his MOTION TO DISMISS #2 based on the theory of “Entrapment by Estoppel” and New Hampshire RSA 626:3 II.  These arguments are now in writing to preserve them for appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court should a trial be held and things not go our way.

Interestingly, Attorney George Wattendorf (who like I have said multiple times, has been very cool to work with) who represents the Hillsborough Police Department, has taken the position that Joa’s criminal trespassing is completely separate from his denial of the right to film.  We are of the opposite opinion.  This will be a judgement call for Judge Susan Ashley when we go to trial.

What do you think?

I would like to extend a huge thanks to New Hampshire Judicial Branch General Counsel Erin Creegan who awesomely took the time to hunt down the authorization forms we were looking for.  My experience in dealing with court staff and Judicial Branch officials has been nothing but stellar.  These people truly have wanted to help at every turn.

Joa and I have filed a Motion For Continuance due to not being finished collecting evidence for his defense.

Interestingly, these are a sample of the “Advance Notice Forms” that were approved by the Goffstown District Court where Joa signed things other than his name.  He was approved each time to film anonymously…  but the Hillsborough District Court ordered him to leave and had him arrested for filming doing the same thing.

Our defense lies in a theory called “Entrapment By Estoppel” and RSA 626:3 II.

The New Hampshire Courts should not have a disparity in how they authorize people to film court proceedings.  In having one, it creates situations like this.

The original trial date of 5/21/24 at 1:00PM will hopefully be rescheduled to July sometime.

We have some good news for once from the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office! After a long legal battle and multiple federal lawsuits, the FBI agreed to return our church property that was illegally seized on March 20, 2016. For those of you not familiar with the backstory, FBI Agents arrived at 73 Leverett Street on that day at 0600 hours and executed search warrant 16-MJ-36-01-06 against the Shire Free Church Monadnock. This raid occurred only two weeks after Minister Mark Edgington on Free Talk Live condemned the FBI for their strategy of running a website that resulted in the distribution of hundreds of thousands of pieces of child pornography to thousands of IP addresses while only making ten arrests. The sealed search warrant was presented in redacted form to the members of the church present for the raid, i.e. Minister Ian Freeman, Parishioner TJ The Spy, and Parishioner James “Robinhood” Cleveland. The warrant alleged that on or about February 20, 2015, someone using the IP address at 73 Leverett Street had accessed the website that was part of the FBI’s vast child pornography distribution network, in violation of 18 USC 2252.

The returned electronic items. Christmas came early!

TJ The Spy confronted the FBI Agents while naked to avoid being shot and immediately informed Scott Bailey, the lead investigating FBI Agent, that all three members of the church were invoking their right to remain silent and asking for legal counsel to be present. See the FBI raid and how to invoke your rights while naked here.  When you invoke your right to an attorney, law enforcement is prohibited from trying to question you until your attorney is present. Despite asking for counsel, one FBI Agent attempted to question the church members by calling them “pedophiles” and asking “You know what they like to do to kiddie-diddlers in prison, don’t you?” TJ responded that all three church members enjoyed the presumption of innocence under law and that a federal judge might think his question was a veiled threat designed to pressure, intimidate, or coerce a subject into waiving their constitutionally protected rights to counsel and silence. In other words, the Agent’s question would taint the voluntariness of any admission and rule the confession inadmissible. TJ then called the Agent an “unprofessional fucking asshole” for attempting to break the law with regards to the Miranda decision. The FBI proceeded to seize all the church members’ computers, cell phones, digital storage media, and cameras.

Fast forward to 2019. After multiple requests to the FBI for the property’s return were ignored, TJ The Spy filed a federal lawsuit pro se (without a lawyer) against the FBI alleging that the search warrant was technically defective under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 41(b).  Since the First Circuit Court of Appeals had already ruled the warrant invalid in another similar case, TJ asked the court for a judicial writ compelling the FBI to return his stolen computers. Faced with the prospect of having to defend an invalid search warrant in open court, the FBI agreed to return the computers belonging to TJ and Robinhood in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. The four computer items were returned unsearched and sealed in their original evidence bags.

A problem occurred when Ian Freeman attempted to get the rest of the church’s property back. Since the remainder of the seized items were owned wholly by the Shire Free Church Monadnock, only a licensed attorney could represent the church before the court. Bonnie Freeman retained Attorney Jared Bedrick from the Champions Law firm in Portsmouth who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the church.  Since the first search warrant was ruled invalid, the FBI applied for and was granted a second search warrant to purge the church’s property of any digital contraband. After much waiting, the FBI finally returned all but two of the seized items to the church. The FBI considers this case closed and no criminal charges will be pursued. Yet the possible goal the FBI might have had in this case, of tainting the reputation of Free Talk Live, the Shire Free Church and certain members, was likely accomplished in many people’s minds. So it is important to remember the fact that the allegations were never proven and no evidence was ever produced.

https://forum.shiresociety.com/t/free-talk-live-sponsor-roger-ver-arrested-in-spain-on-u-s-tax-evasion-charges/13808

On May 1st, Tony Schinella published an article on Patch.com reporting an accusation made by Francesca Potenza of Rochester against Elliot “Alu” Axelman. Schinella did not attempt to obtain a comment from Axelman or his attorney, which is standard practice in journalism. The article only told one side of the story and suffered from a number of inaccuracies. This will correct the record. 

The accusation was made by Francesca Potenza, a very troubled teenage girl in August 2023. She allegedly told her parents that she suddenly remembered that Axelman assaulted her in June 2022, 14 months earlier. According to her claims, the assault occurred on Saturday evening June 25 on the main field at Porcfest. Those who attend the annual event know that the field is always very populated, especially on Saturday evening; the culmination of the week-long festival. There were hundreds of people on the small field at the time the fictional incident occurred. Every year at Porcfest everyone in attendance goes to that field to take a group picture. Potenza, who was 14 years old in June 2022 according to court records, claims that Axelman physically restrained her and tried to kiss her as she struggled. She also claims that he touched her in inappropriate ways during the assault before she broke free and ran away. No one has publicly claimed to witness this happening although the field was crawling with people as you can see in the photo of the group picture taken during this time at Porcfest every year. She reported the fabricated assault 14 months later, in August of 2023. 

An Example of the Porcfest group picture. This one is 2017.

The allegation is preposterous on its face for numerous reasons:

1. In August 2023, the Potenza’s first told Axelman of the accusation via a classic extortion scheme, which is a felony. Peter Potenza, the father of Francesca, asked Axelman to meet him for coffee. Another individual joined Peter and ambushed Axelman with the allegation. They told the 30 year old paramedic that they would call the police and have him arrested on the spot at the coffee shop unless he agreed to sign a document agreeing to pay the Potenza’s $20,000. Feeling that his life and freedom were threatened, and knowing that no document signed under coercion/extortion would be legally binding, Axelman signed and left the coffee shop as soon as he could. He then called several lawyers and friends in law enforcement to ask how he should proceed.
2. There is zero chance that an assault could have occurred on the field on Saturday evening without others seeing and hearing it. As there were surely dozens of armed libertarians at that spot at the time, any man who sexually assaulted a girl would likely have been shot by at least some of the libertarians. Yet, nobody on Earth saw or heard any such incident on the field that night.
3. Francesca was drinking alcohol and ingesting cannabis and possibly other drugs on June 25, 2022, according to sources, who says they are prepared to testify to this under oath. 
4. Francesca suffers from anxiety, depression, anorexia, bulimia, and has suicidal ideation and has made plans to kill herself, according to sources willing to testify under oath. 
5. After the fictional incident in June 2022, Francesca voluntarily accompanied her mother to at least three public events which she knew or reasonably should have known that Axelman would attend (due to being liberty events in his neighborhood). Upon arriving at each event, Kelley Potenza (Francesca’s mother and a State Representative) and Francesca approached Axelman, said hello, and they each gave him a hug, according to witnesses. There is substantial evidence that Francesca had no fear or negative feelings toward Axelman throughout 2022 and 2023 until this idea popped into her head.
6. Francesca was desperate for attention and likely used this accusation as a means to attain it. According to sources close to him, she told Axelman at the 2022 event that she felt terribly deprived of attention from her parents because they always worked and never had time for her. 
7. After saying this in June 2022, Francesca’s sister’s anorexia and bulimia reportedly worsened. She was hospitalized in critical condition and was fed via tubes and IVs for an extended period of time at specialized pediatric hospitals. This further diverted attention away from Francesca and toward her sister in a massive way. The little bit of time that her parents did have for her were now spent speaking with doctors, insurances, therapists, and driving hours away to hospitals to bring and visit her elder daughter. It’s understandable that this caused terrible stress for all members of the family. Francesca likely received the biggest reduction in attention and likely received the least sympathy from relatives and friends, despite her watching her sister (practically her twin) suffering and possibly dying. 
8. No report was made by Potenza or any other person to Porcfest management, the police, the PorcRangers (event security) or Free Aid (event medical) at any time during or after the festival.
9. The Potenza parents spent the next few days harassing Axelman by phone and demanding that he comply with the “contract” that he signed. After realizing that Axelman had no intention of doing so, they called the police to file a restraining order against Axelman and began working to convince a prosecutor to bring charges against Axelman. 
10.  Francesca’s affidavits contradict each other and contain falsehoods, which is perjury. 
11.  The Potenzas then committed defamation by spreading falsehoods to others in the community in an attempt to destroy Axelman’s excellent reputation. 
12.  Axelman has never been accused of assault, violence, or any impropriety in his life. 
13.  As a critical care and flight-certified paramedic in numerous states and an instructor and FTO in medicine, Axelman has passed numerous federal and state background checks. As a paramedic, he is authorized to carry and administer controlled substances such as fentanyl and lorazepam to critical patients and places advanced airways, IVs, and conducts numerous other advanced procedures. His 12-year record in EMS is impeccable. 
14.  Alu has never been violent or harmed another person in his life. He teaches men, women, and children self-defense (including a free self-defense clinic at Porcfest) so that everyone could be prepared to defend themselves from any kind of attack. He is a very strong advocate for people to fight back and never let themselves be victimized. 
15.  An accomplished practitioner and instructor of BJJ/grappling, there is roughly a 0% chance that a person like Francesca could have escaped the grasp of Axelman if he were restraining her, which is what Francesca claims she did. 
16.  Francesca alleged in her affidavits that Axelman was very drunk and smelled of alcohol at the time of the assault. This is extremely unlikely. No witnesses saw him touch alcohol that night and he is not known to be a drinker. He also drove home from Lancaster that evening, which is a two hour drive in dark mountains. He then reported to duty at 8 am for his 24-hour shift on the ambulance without incident. 
17.  The article mentions that Axelman’s lawyer withdrew from his case. This is not entirely accurate, as Axelman fired him and found a better lawyer, who now represents him.
18.  The article mentions that bail conditions were amended by the judge. This is true; the judge loosened the bail conditions substantially at a recent hearing, including restoring Axelman’s right to own and carry firearms. 
19.  The seven charges are all misdemeanors and all stem from the one fictional incident, which would only be one crime (and not 7) if they were factual. 
20.  According to a source willing to testify under oath, Francesca is seemingly extremely troubled psychologically and in her short life of 14 years, she made at least one similar accusation of sexual assault by an older male, which was also apparently unsubstantiated.  
21. The article says that Axelman was released on $5,000 bail, which is not exactly accurate. After turning himself into the police, he was released on his personal recognizance without having to pay bail. 
22. While around 99% of the New Hampshire community recognizes that the allegation is ridiculous, a few of Potenza’s closest friends have supported them and conspired to defame Axelman. One example is Leah Cushman, who is also a State Rep. She spread falsehoods about Axelman assaulting young girls and began spreading the fabricated rumor that Axelman was a drunk who beat his wife violently, according to sources. On one occasion, Cushman sent Mrs. Axelman a barrage of texts and called her numerous times, to the point of harassment. She demanded that Kate Axelman call her to prove she was safe. After Kate responded that she was totally safe, Cushman frantically contacted Kate’s friends that she found on Instagram and other platforms to tell them to check on Kate to make sure she’s safe. Cushman shared the Patch article in the group chats for people to see. Cushman acted as if Mrs. Axelman was in imminent danger and contacted her and her friends in harassing fashion, purportedly to make sure that she was safe. 
23. Others have engaged in even more flagrant false defamation, and those lawsuits will likely begin after this case concludes. 

Kelley Potenza, State Rep and mother of the accuser

Interestingly, Free State Project board members have seemingly presumed Axelman to be guilty. Carla Gericke, de facto chairman of the board, implied on Twitter that Axelman is guilty long before a trial. She also banned him from FSP events, of which he was a major part (deputy director of EMS at Porcfest). Incoming executive director of the FSP, Eric Brakey has not responded to Axelman’s numerous requests over the past few months for clarification of the ban and the due process procedures used by the FSP. The board has not published minutes to their board meetings.

As Free Staters, I believe it is important to not act like the state. Always remember to presume someone is innocent until proof is shown that they are guilty. An accusation is not the same thing as proof. People who do not understand those basic things about freedom and ask real libertarians to come live in community with them, will fail.

Crypto users gathered at Little Zoe’s Pizza in Keene for Bitcoin Pizza Day 2019.

It’s been a crazy year with the largest gang in town cracking down on cryptocurrency! From the Crypto6 trial in our very own Keene NH to the arrests of developers writing privacy friendly tools like Tornado Cash. While cryptocurrency accepting businesses and end-users have nothing to worry about the US federal government is doing everything in its power and more to take out cryptocurrency businesses and the technology that underpins it. As was demonstrated in the Crypto6 trial (new NBC DocU series video just released) the truth and evidence are irrelevant. Tell a good story and that’s all the government needs for a conviction. That same playbook is now being used to attack (arrest) the developers of the self-custody Samourai Wallet. The way this wallet works is no different than any other fully self-custody wallet. It doesn’t connect to any centralized service. It’s built off standard crypto protocols and yet the federal government is fraudulently claiming it’s a ‘money laundering service’. No such service exists and as the sources are available (the government appears to have missed them) you can still download, build, and use the software despite that the government has censored the developers via stealing their website, domain, and so forth. If that is allowed to stand there will be no completely legal self-custody wallet developers left unmolested by the US government within the US or any foreign territory the tentacles arms reach.

Now they’re even trying to extend know your customer legislation to all your favorite cloud services (I’m no fan of the ‘cloud’, but government shouldn’t be undermining the privacy of everyone on bogus security grounds). No, I’m not just talking cryptocurrency cloud services either. Depending on how broadly the legislation is interpreted (and it is broadly worded) it may even mean you have to provide papers like in Soviet Russia for every online service you use. Get ready to hand over your papers to access YouTube. This would mean you have to give companies your ID/passport/social security number/and the like in order to do just about anything online. If it involves processing, disk space, or network resources which basically means anything and everything internet you’re going to need to ID (assuming the site or the user is in the US). This is the most draconian rule I’ve ever seen proposed anywhere in the world (and normally it’s places like communist China that have this even if not this draconian).

That said come join us for Bitcoin Pizza Day 2024 @ Little Zoe’s Pizza in Keene, NH. The event is scheduled for May 22nd at 5PM. The address is: 149 Emerald St, Keene, NH 03431.

Judge Susan Ashley has issued an ORDER that my appearance on behalf of Joa is allowed.

I have been filed documents with the Court that I imagine the Judge hasn’t reviewed yet, pending this order.  I have been doing so because time is limited as the trial scheduled for May 21st.

We’ve gone silent for the last few weeks while we’ve worked on collecting audio/video authorization forms from four different District Courts in New Hampshire.  Four courts have allowed Joa to film anonymously while the Hillsborough District Court had him arrested for doing it.  These documents and requests are still pending.

Joa has filed a Motion To Compel the Release of Criminal Records to have the Court order the State to release his criminal records for trial preparation as the prosecutor was reluctant to do so.  This is a normal procedure as there are very strict rules governing the release of these records.

I’d like to mention that the prosecutor has been nothing but a gentleman and actually helpful to me personally in explaining some lawyerly procedures to me that I wasn’t too familiar with.  I believe he represents the community of Hillsborough very professionally.  I unfortunately don’t have years of law school and mock trial preparation like he and other lawyers do, so I am most grateful to him.

The trial date is presently scheduled for May 21st at 1:00PM.

Around ~250 supporters turned out for Ian’s sentencing hearing between day 1 & 2 with some overlap

Ian Freeman, Minister of the Shire Free Church, Free Talk Live Co-host, libertarian activist, and major activist for peace and spreading cryptocurrency was arrested in 2021 during the Crypto6 incident where various libertarian and cryptocurrency activists were wrongly arrested and fraudulently defamed by the federal government. His arrest eventually led to a trial after refusing to accept a plea deal for crimes not  actually committed. Since then the district court has slandered his name and repeated lies. That is to say just about every other word if not more from federal authorities and prosecutors mouths has been a lie. Evidence presented didn’t align with the story told and for the most part if properly understood proved Ian’s innocence. The court seemed to agree to one degree or another with convictions on only ~8 of ~27 counts, one charge dropped entirely for lack of evidence, and a sentence that is less than half the minimum allowed. That is despite the crimes Ian was convicted of he’s been sentenced to a ‘mere’ ~8 years. Of course this is ~8 years too many given the fraudulent claims of the federal government, but none-the-less. Ian will likely serve 4 1/2 years with various good time credits.

While the trial is over the appeals are not and in the mean time the authorities have decided to move Ian from a jail in New Hampshire to a prison in Massachusetts. That is he is no longer at the Merrimack County Spiritual Retreat. He is now at the Devens Spiritual Retreat. Ian is in the low security part of the prison, so he’s got a room and cell mate. This is one up from the camp where Aria is housed. He can’t just walk away as might be possible if he was in the camp (not that he would).

So here is what we’re going to do. We’re going to write Ian Freeman at every opportunity. Send him print outs of things you find interesting that he can read. Send him letters about what is happening around New Hampshire. Let him know what the media is saying about him. Let him know what we’re doing and how we are doing. Have you been pushing for New Hampshire independence? Has there been progress in that arena? Let Ian know! It’s not likely he’ll be able to read about this stuff in the mainstream media.

To write to Ian Freeman address your envelope as follows:

Ian Freeman
Register # 34755509 Unit JA
Federal medical center, Devens
PO Box 879
Ayer, MA
01432

I don’t know if color is allowed, but at the prior jail writing in crayon could lead to rejected mail. I would suggest sticking to printed pages or pages written in ink. Mark each page like so: title (letter 1), your name (John Smith), and page # out of x pages (page 1 of 3). This way Ian can tell whether or not he got all his mail and if the pages get out of order he can reassemble them. You should avoid staples and inclusion of other materials as this might lead to the mail being rejected.

As always, assume that everything is going to be read by the prison authorities, not all your mail may get received, and any response may not get returned to you.

And one last thing… Ian is not actually the only caged activist in prison right now over the sale of Bitcoin. We shouldn’t forget that Aria is also serving an 18 month sentence for selling Bitcoin as well. She is another of the Crypto6. You can find out how to write to her at https://www.ariadimezzo.com/ (Aria has been released to a halfway house as of May 9th, 2024).

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).

I am grateful to Judge Susan W. Ashley for her correct interpretation of District Court Rule 1.3D…  the rule that allows non-lawyer representatives to appear and litigate for another in a criminal case.  Find her ORDER here.

It’s worth noting that Judge Ashley is the Deputy Administrative Judge for the Circuit Court.  You cannot achieve that position without knowing the rules front to back.

Find my required response to her ORDER here.

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).

Due to having filled out the court recording notice form multiple times prior in the same fashion as he did the day of his arrest, Joa informs the Court that his defense to the charge of Criminal Trespass is “Effect of Ignorance or Mistake” due to prior grants of permission to film after filling out the form “anonymous” by similarly situated court facilities.

The statue that specifies that defense is here.

Find the notice sent to the Court here.

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).

Joa moves to dismiss his Disorderly Conduct charge due to the fact that there are no witnesses to his alleged conduct other than law enforcement officers.  Find that here.

The Attorney representing the Hillsborough, NH Police Department, Attorney George Wattendorf, has officially objected to my representing Joa.  He strikes me as a nice fellow.

Here is his objection.

Here is my response.

*UPDATE 03/19/24*

The State’s complaint for criminal trespass is here.

The State’s complaint for disorderly conduct is here.

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).  The case is also publicized pursuant to Part I, Article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution as an attempt to “reform” the government by informing the public of the facts of the case.

Recently an activist named Joseph Hart, who goes by the name Joa, was arrested for filming in the Hillsborough, NH Circuit Court-District Division.  Joa is a past host of Free Talk Live and a freelance journalist who has a popular YouTube channel called Breaking The Flaw where he posted a video about his arrest.

I will be defending him as his non-lawyer representative.

Here are the first filings in the case, apologies that my scanner is not working 100%.  I’m working on getting that fixed.

• NH Circuit Court-District Division Rule 1.3(D) Statement
• Appearance
• Power-of-Attorney

As always, I welcome your feedback…  good and bad.  You’ll notice I didn’t redact my phone number or address on these forms.  This is because I believe in standing publicly behind what I do.  Though I am not a lawyer, the People of New Hampshire paid to train me in the ways of the law and system and for that I believe I owe them a modicum of transparency, accessibility, and loyalty.

When I ran for High Sheriff a decade ago I did so under the premise that I’d be extremely available to my constituents if I were to win.  Along those same lines I make myself available to any member of the public who has questions or commentary about what legal activism I’m working on.

Feel free to text me, e-mail me, or write me a snail mail letter about the case.  If you work in the legal profession and have suggestions, those would be warmly welcomed!  When I defended Jason Talley I had anonymous lawyers contacting me offering advice and ideas I never thought of.  To them I am still grateful.

Truthfully I don’t talk on the phone very often (I work a lot), so if you call I probably wont answer.  No disrespect intended.  If you’d like to talk text me first and we can set up a time to discuss the case.

Stay tuned as this case progresses.  I will provide you with all documents involved for your personal judgement and critique.  All hearings will be videotaped and made available to you here as well.

FreeKeene.com is not just about the City of Keene (I have nothing to do with Keene, NH), it is New Hampshire’s Liberty Activism Destination!

Expect many updates.

The long-held monopoly on the practice of law by licensed attorneys has indeed served to protect individuals requiring legal services from malpractice, but it has also served to protect the State from true challenges to its authority and practices.  Sometimes the system and its players are what should be lawfully challenged in court… but those beholden through tens of thousands of dollars in education investments to the good graces of judges may find themselves in a position where they cannot properly defend their clients.  This is why in New Hampshire I believe RSA 311:7, the prohibitor on allowing lay individuals to represent individuals, should be eliminated and the NH Bar Association’s monopoly on the practice of law dismantled.

As many of you may already know, I am not a lawyer.  I am a former law enforcement officer who has spent many hours studying law and listening to judicial oral arguments in efforts to better understand the American legal system and its function.  In 2011/2012 I was authorized to represent a journalist named Jason Talley in front of the Cheshire County Superior Court for charges stemming from his mere possession (not use) of a camera in a common area of a court.  Jason and I “won” the case together by attacking the system and individual judges for misconduct.  A licensed lawyer who regularly practices law in front of these judges most likely would be apprehensive to do the same out of fear of retribution from the very people who can control their law licenses or liberty interests of future clients.

As it stands now, a person of “good moral character” can practice law in New Hampshire so long as they don’t do it “commonly.”  What does “commonly” mean?  It seems to mean whatever the judge of the day thinks it means.

I believe this prohibition needs to be struck down…  and I believe this prohibition is in direct conflict with the New Hampshire Constitution, specifically Part I, Article 10.  That’s right…  it is my position that the NH Bar Association and NH Attorney General cannot monopolize and prohibit individuals from practicing law if they are intent on “reforming” the government through the codified Right of Revolution.

It is undeniable: The State of New Hampshire was founded by rebels.  Rabble rousers who were rousing rabbles.  They clearly had concern that future government might twist into the type of institution that they had fled from: a government that offers special protection to some, but not all, citizens.

In State v. Jason Talley, Jason and I roused a few rabbles of our own by arguing that certain judges within the New Hampshire Judicial Branch were a class of men that were being afforded special levels of protection from accountability.  If unsubstantiated these arguments could have landed Jason and I in jail through contempt proceedings. We weren’t tossed into a jail cell though… because these arguments and allegations were factual.

I made these arguments on Jason’s behalf and ultimately secured the case being dismissed.  As I mentioned above, a licensed attorney may have been reluctant to make such an argument out of fear of reprisal…  and Jason may have been unjustly been found guilty and had his liberty stripped from him.

The Right of Revolution, Part I, Article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution, authorizes the reformation of government if certain conditions are met.  How better to peacefully reform the government than to practice law and challenge the system when it is acting contrary to the public interest?  If that constitutional amendment doesn’t allow the respectful and proper formulation of legal arguments for a consenting litigant then what possibly could it ever stand for?  Is it just words on paper that government authorities would rather just ignore than honor?

Well, I intend to find out.

To New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella: I do apologize to you as an individual human being (you’re probably a really decent guy) as for the headache I am going to bring you.  This was before your time and was absolutely not your fault.  But…  you’re the man in charge now.

Just look around on X or Facebook on any given day…  New Hampshire is going through a revolution.  I say we keep the revolution peaceful, lawful, and on paper in intellectual arguments filed in the court system…  and at the ballot box.

I encourage everyone to watch the following video to refresh your recollection of what happened nearly thirteen years ago.  A man named Ademo Freeman has his rights violated and as a result of that Jason Talley had his rights violated.  This was unacceptable then and remains unacceptable now.  The State of New Hampshire Judicial Branch has to swallow the reality they have created for themselves: they are above the law.

Violence isn’t the answer to injustice in the world.

Reasoned, respectful, and civil debate in the court system is.

Stay tuned for updates as the case is filed and progresses!

Please be kind to each other in the comment section.  You don’t have to be kind to me though, you can let me have it with both barrels if you feel so inclined.  The ironic part is, though you may attack me, I’m standing up for you and your right to challenge the system if accused of something unjust.

Recently here in the federal prison that I currently call “home,” there was a fight between two miserable, awful human beings known around the unit as the Nazi and the Swindler. Even more recently, Granite State Watch released a list of anti-democracy extremists; I am on that list, and it brought much joy to this, the eighth month of my eighteen month prison sentence, to know that I struck such a profound fear in them that even the rattling of my chains echoes in their minds. Of course, Granite State Watch is correct in their assessment; I am an anti-democracy extremist. When all the cards are laid on the table, it’s shown that they, too, are anti-democracy extremists. Most people are.

I don’t simply mean the Socialist and Communist leftists clamoring for a dictatorship of the proletariat, although, as they’re commonly used, “dictatorship’ and “democracy” would be mutually exclusive. I also don’t mean the anti-democracy representatives who voted against CACR32, thereby prohibiting New Hampshire voters from voting on a ballot question, although those state reps who voted against it, in literal terms, voted against democracy. Instead, I mean only to point out that anyone of reason who has been educated past the third grade is likely to be staunchly anti-democracy, because democracy is stupid.

No person of sense would poll the ignorant masses for a medical diagnosis, or help with any problem of significance. The average person is simply not educated or equipped to answer most specialized questions, but, because of the Dunning-Kruger Effect and sheer incompetent arrogance, they not only will give a terrible and incorrect answer, but will then vigorously defend that wrong answer when assailed by facts and logic. We saw this during the Covid-19 pandemic, when suddenly everyone was an expert virologist, biologist, and epidemiologist overnight, all without any education or training whatsoever. And nearly everyone among this hitherto unknown mass of doctors with their wildly differing “expert” opinions was willing to fight and defend whatever their dumbass opinion happened to be. The side calling me an anti-democracy extremist was, in fact, the side that coined the term “Covidiot” to describe such people.

It shouldn’t need to be pointed out, but the ones the left calls “Covidiots” vote, and one vote cast by an idiot cancels out entirely a vote cast by an intelligent person. Imagine some respectable citizen taking several hours from their busy life to contemplate and research the issues, reach an informed decision, learn about the candidates, and then proudly cast their vote in an election, only for it to be nullified by a slack-jawed yokel whose entire political ideology is “I ain’t wearin’ no face diaper!” So, yes, I must confess a substantial degree of disdain and contempt for any political system that, as a matter of foundational policy, weighs these two people and their opinions, and finds them to be equally worthy of consideration and application.

Further, it does not matter where one falls on the political compass; the most common perspective is that the opinion holder is correct and, as deviation from that opinion increases, so does the stupidity required to disagree with the first person’s obviously correct position. Someone who disagrees only slightly is “only a little stupid,” while someone who diametrically opposed is a mouth-breathing troglodyte unworthy of being considered human.

What does any of this have to do with the Nazi and the Swindler? It dawned on me, the day that I learned about Granite State Watch and their list, that the Nazi and the Swindler are the perfect symbol of presidential elections, especially in recent years. Here are the two absolutely worst human beings we can find. One is a large, old, overweight, vile, racist, homophobic bully who more or less prides himself on those characteristics, and he is fighting a smaller, older dementia patient who may or may not understand where he is and who may or may not be pooping his pants. As South Park said, it’s always a big, giant douche and a turd sandwich. It’s always a Nazi versus a Swindler.

All this said, the United States isn’t a democracy. It is a constitutional republic that uses the democratic means (e.g., voting) to ostensibly achieve its ends. Without the ability to Google things, I believe it was Winston Churchill who said something like, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for the others that have been tried.” Just as the constitutional republic was meant to be a “government that governs least,” because it was recognized that all government is evil and horrible (Yes, even the American government), democracy was never thought to be good, but was instead only the least terrible option available at the time. We shouldn’t be so enamored with our own supposed greatness that we lose perspective on how awful the system is.

Even with the much-touted “checks and balances” of the system, there has been created an invincible and virtually omnipotent administrative state, a government by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, and the supposedly powerful people, such as Senators and Presidents, are at best powerless figureheads who cannot effect change any more than a brave fool could use a paper fan to drive away a hurricane. Yet even the uselessness of the offices does not open them to the public at large; candidates are carefully screened and selected, only after after a lifetime of service and fervent loyalty to the system and the duopoly controlling it. Knowledge of this apparatus is so widespread that the most common response, when I secured the Republican nomination for sheriff of Cheshire County in New Hampshire in 2020, was, “How did this happen? Why didn’t the power structures that control candidate selection keep Aria out?”

When the average person praises democracy, they are expressing love and admiration for this nightmarish administrative leviathan that allows them to cast their vote, as equals to idiots, in a contest between a Nazi and a Swindler, when the outcome has no measurable impact anyway. To suggest that we only need “more informed” voters, better candidates, more transparency, or whatever other platitude one wants to toss out, is to suggest that we need only a better fan to divert the hurricane.

As politicians and law enforcement leaders spin their wheels trying to get ahold of the fentanyl crisis, those of us in the drug policy reform movement have long had the answer to solving the overdose issue: legalize, regulate, and educate.  Treat drug abuse as it should be: a medical condition, not a criminal justice one.

To say that the Drug War has been an abject failure is to simply be a broken record repeating the message that we’ve been saying all along.  President Joe Biden’s administration funded $42.5 billion dollars for drug control for fiscal year 2023.  This was a complete waste of your money, just like all the years before it.  Were the enforcement of drug laws making a difference the following overdose statistics would simply not exist.

The police keep doing the same thing they’ve always done…  and the deaths just keep on rising.

As the title of this blog suggests, and I challenge you to refute it, our current drug policy supported by law enforcement and political leaders would rather have people die than be dependent on a narcotic.  The long solution to saving money, reducing crime, saving lives, and reducing addiction, has been to open public opiate clinics where addicts can get the drugs they need to function in society.  Yes, we should spend taxpayer dollars on giving maintenance doses of drugs to people with opiate use disorder rather than spending money on prosecuting and incarcerating them.  Addicts would no longer have to attack innocent people through robberies, burglaries, and theft to get money to acquire the drugs they need to function.  Innocent people would be protected from crime.  Sick people would be helped with the ultimate goal being drug free.

Doctors would want to administer less drugs, black market drug dealers want to administer more.

We could put the cartels out of business overnight.  We could stop funding wonderful organizations like the Taliban who profit off illicit opium sales.

This, of course, means that we would have to shift away from what the police and politicians currently want.  That is that people should be dead rather than dependent on a drug.  It is a cruel policy that costs lives when in contrast we could be saving lives and reducing addiction by simply having doctors and nurses provide the narcotics people need to sustain themselves.  Opiate use disorder is a legitimate medical condition that should be treated by medical professionals, not by law enforcement officers with handcuffs and cold jail cells.

Legalizing drugs has never been about the fact that all drugs are a good thing that people should use.  To the contrary, I think all people should steer clear of opiates the best they can.  Legalizing drugs has been about the fact that drugs are too dangerous to be controlled by the low-life criminal element of society and that having professional medical staff administering drugs would reduce death and disease.

President Biden: you can heal our world and correct the policy mistakes you have supported in the past.

Dismiss Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta and replace him with Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann.  Repeal the federal “crack house” statue, 21 USC 856, that prevents overdose prevention centers from opening.

Harm reduction is the future.

-/-

Please note that I have begun moderating the comments.  I don’t mind comments that demean, disrespect, or hate on my opinions that I share here… but the comments in the comment section were people attacking each other. 

FreeKeene.com is a community of voluntaryists/libertarians that talk about their ideas and liberty activism.  Please try to keep it respectful to each other.

New Hampshire’s legislature has again voted on a measure which would let the NH electorate vote in a referendum on independence from the U.S. In 2022, very similar legislation received:
– 13 votes by state reps.
This time, the bill received:
– 24 votes by state reps.

Initially it appears few mainstream media have reported the latter number or the increase. But you can see the vote here for confirmation; this is the legislature’s official channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQHnyO93Vng
The vote occurs at 5:08:00

Here is the report on the less-successful 2022 effort: https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-house-secede-united-states/39400488?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot#
Around that time, a scientific poll by SurveyUSA indicated 42% support for an independence referendum, among NH residents…another under-reported number:
https://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=f4ec3bab-2167-4e8e-ab64-671c1b4a5ddd

New Hampshire State House

A constitutional amendment proposed this session (CACR 20) would give the people of New Hampshire the power to fight back against the dangerous and reckless spending of the federal government. In the last 100 years the U.S.federal government has only managed to balance its budget once! By comparison New Hampshire not only cut taxes, but even reduced it’s budget during a time in which all the other states were spending recklessly (that is during the recent economic shutdown that was COVID). As an independent country New Hampshire could do better and CAC20 would give the people the right to vote on an amendment that would declare independence if the federal government continues to increase our indebtedness.

No matter how people actually vote on this constitutional amendment our legislators sending it to a vote of the people would be an act that sends an important message to the federal government: Stop stealing our money or we’re out. This bill would enable voters to declare New Hampshire an independent country IF and only if the United States continues to entangle New Hampshire in a debt we will never be able to pay back. The declaration of independence from the United States empire would only occur if both the citizens of New Hampshire voted yes to pass the constitutional amendment AND the federal governments debt hits $40 trillion. It is also essential that the house and senate conduct a roll call so we know which reps favor democracy and freedom and which reps just pay lip service to it.

The committee hearing on this amendment saw more than 50 individuals come out in support of it and only one person testify against it. I’m not even sure that is correctly framed as my recollection is they had a neutral stance on the amendment. As the committee didn’t listen to it’s constituents and placed the amendment on the consent calendar it’s now up to you to tell your reps to pull this bill off of the consent calendar and do a role call vote. This will give us the power to vote out reps who do not support democracy and the freedom of their constituents to vote on this important issue.

In conclusion please tell your rep to pull CACR 20 off of the consent calendar and support it in a roll call vote!

To find out who your state reps are and their contact information you can utilize this handy tool:

https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/

Austin’s border militarization is wrong; so is U.S. interference. NH should divorce both governments.

(Above) New Hampshire independence advocates rally before a hearing on secession legislation (Photo by Joa Orga).

In a memorable sci-fi moment, elderly politician Chrisjen Avasarala warns interstellar envoy James Holden of danger. She expects a murderous local faction will try and get him on their side. “Do not,” she says, “put your dick in it.”

Those of us in America who advocate a “national divorce” should consider her advice – and historical precedent – before we “jump to the side…of Austin’s aPARtheid.” Every state and empire involved with this ugly confrontation will lie, steal, cheat and at least occasionally kill. That’s what states and empires do, even when they’re not trying to build the next Berlin Wall or accrue millions of destitute migrants at taxpayer expense. So how should Concord react? How should secession advocates react? It, and we, should let the non-aggression principle be the guide.

Within the limits of practicality, we should:

– Support the human rights, of every member, of every party, to this conflict.
– Oppose every act of aggression committed by every member of every party to this conflict.

Ignore the faction; focus on the action.

So what aggressive misdeeds have been committed? Well, walking to Texas from Mexico without papers…is not an act of aggression. Making taxpayers help or harm migrants *is* an act aggression. Both D.C. and Austin have committed both acts.

1) Washington made this showdown possible by using income taxation to seize the earnings of Texans. It then redistributed some of the stolen property to so-called “illegals,” artificially increasing the number of migrants and creating more resentment toward them. It has actively fostered immigration problems. Where in the U.S. Constitution is such a redistribution of wealth to immigrants authorized? Even if authorized, would it be right?
2) Where, in its constitution, is D.C. empowered to prevent Texans – even Texas goons – from restricting immigration themselves? To restrict Texas citizens from owning or acquiring certain firearms they may deem useful for self defense in a time of crisis? How many hundreds of pages of gun laws does D.C. impose on Texas?
3) Where is D.C. empowered to make New Hampshire taxpayers underwrite its actions against Austin? To tax New Hampshirites and give their money to random immigrants?
4) Has everyone forgotten the extent to which D.C. has destabilized Latin American countries over the years, including the 2009 coup in Honduras?
5) Should D.C. be allowed to get away with its pause on Texas natgas permits? Do these constitute economic sanctions which would raise prices in New Hampshire?
6) If D.C. doesn’t follow its constitution, why does Austin have to follow it? Why does New Hampshire?

Having raised these concerns:

A) The Texas government’s attempt to militarize part of its border with Mexico is an act of aggression against the many Texas taxpayers who disagree with such measures. It is also an abuse of migrants who wish to exercise the inalienable (if not yet recognized) human right to travel on public roads without government permission.
B) Austin imposes some gun control of its own on Texas. This limits the ability of Texans – and migrants – to exercise legit self defense against violent criminals. Like Kiev, Austin has experienced a rush of brains to the head on this matter and gun laws there have generally been loosening.
C) Austin, at least on occasion or by accident…does direct some welfare payments to undocumented migrants.
D) State sovereignty is desirable as a hedge against Washington, its over-taxation, its no-win wars. But Texas’ rulers have picked a dirty issue upon which to make their stand for such sovereignty. This issue likely won’t stand the test of time. If the trends of the last 500 years continue, by 2100 it will be widely understood that no human being – or sentient being – is “illegal.” It will become obvious that no peaceable person or person-equivalent should be told which region of the earth they may visit…that none should be forced to get permission from an earthly nation-state before they can travel. Those alive today who hold the popular view favoring guarded borders and travel papers….will likely be regarded like slavers or Jim Crow enforcers. In 1860 it was a commonly-held belief in the United States…that one human being should be able to enslave another based on ethnicity. Now it is a commonly-held belief that one human being should be able to severely restrict the movements of another based on nationality and “papers.” The two beliefs are not wildly different. Someday those who hold the second belief will probably be almost as disgraced as the slavers of 1860.
E) Since 1865, Austin has tamely acquiesced in nearly every Unionist genocide and torture chamber spree, from Wounded Knee to Bagram Air base. But it’s going to make a stand over..not being able to build its own border police state at taxpayer expense? Is there some reason Austin can’t just get out of the way, letting private citizens defend property or aid immigrants as they see fit in accordance with common rules of decency?
F) Arguably, constitutionally…Austin was correct in the 1860s when it claimed Washington had little authority to keep Texas in the union. Other states supported Austin’s position. But the stain of slavery blotted out all.
G) Arguably, constitutionally, Austin was correct in the 1960s when it claimed that D.C. had little authority to enforce the Civil Rights Act. Other states supported Austin’s position. But the stain of segregation blotted out all.
H) And arguably, constitutionally, Austin is correct in the 2020s when it claims D.C. has little authority to prevent local immigration control. Other states are supporting Austin’s position.. But the stain of border militarism may, in its turn, blot out all.

The most regrettable misdeed hasn’t been committed yet. That would be the use of deadly force by Austin against D.C.’s enforcers…even in “self defense.” Any such act of political violence by Texans during this standoff…would be an inexcusable breach of everything Dr. King – and to some extent Texit leader Daniel Miller – have taught the world in the last century: An autonomy-minded region’s chances of political success against established central government…drops by 3x if the autonomists start using deadly force. Washington understands this, and there is probably some risk of a false flag event where D.C. attacks itself and makes it look like the Texans did it.  Maybe now is a chance for Texit folks to play some constructive or mediative role reducing tensions between Austin and Washington…so that their peaceable secession drive can continue in an orderly way.

During the 19th century, New Hampshire had a nonviolent independence movement which opposed both the expansionist wars of the Union…and slaver cruelty of the South. This movement was mostly forgotten, because the secession “success” of Southern slavers damaged all subsequent efforts at full independence for the states. But what if New Hampshire had declared independence in 1850 to protest slavery? Or the invasion of Mexico? Or all the Federal abuses at once? What if it at least had put secession to a vote? Setting that example might have kept independence alive through the decades as an active possibility for the states, disconnected from the taint of Fort Sumter and Confederacy.

NH has the ability to set such an example, and we have done it. In 2022, NHexit put legislation in front of the whole State House which would have let all New Hampshirites vote in a referendum on independence. In 2024, we brought almost exactly the same legislation forward and it made it into a Newsweek cover story. We do these things to show how plays for autonomy can be orderly, clean and even friendly. We do them to mainstream secession as Quebec and Scotland have done. But mainstream or not, New Hampshire independence is the root-striking answer to all grievances outlined above. We don’t belong in the same empire with D.C. and its on-again-off-again manipulation of migrants as political cannon fodder. We don’t belong in the same empire with Texas and its razor wire.

When India left the British Empire, no one imagined the two would part peaceably and that over 70 years of happy relations would follow. But that is what occurred. So it can be with New Hampshire and the increasingly troubled states of this continent. Change is coming fast. Once we are disentangled from our unhappy marriage with Austin and D.C., we can finally have a shot at normal friendly relations with both.