Homeland Security nabs Free Stater from home

[DadaOrwell2]

Homeland Security nabs Free Stater 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 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.

 

[GTSteve03]

Not much going to get you on the Government's bad side faster than trying to cut off their life-blood extortion money.

 

[LAK]

I wonder what creative interpretation of law will be used against him in a federal court.

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http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[TallPine]

at least this fellow is not paranoid anymore ....

 

[ID_shooting]

"I wonder what creative interpretation of law will be used against him in a federal court."

Trespass on federal property? By his own admission, he did not have legitamte business, was there to disrupt the daily workflow, and had been given ample warning.

Toss the book at him IMHO.

 

[ilbob]

Trespass on federal property? By his own admission, he did not have legitamte business, was there to disrupt the daily workflow, and had been given ample warning.

Its a public building. If you can't throw smelly bums out of the library, how can your toss out a guy who is peacefully protesting and NOT disrupting anything at all. The disruption, if any, was caused by the excessive use of force by the goons who arrested him.

 

[Coronach]

One cannot just walk into any building in America and wander around, regardless of purpose. The building itself may be public (that's a "may", it might not be), but I assure you the IRS office space itself is not. The "creative" law that will be used against him is 'criminal trespass' and probably a bench warrant for failure to appear in court (the latter being a guess, but a reasonable one).

Unless I'm missing something, he was not wronged. In fact, he got precisely what he wanted.

Mike

 

[Phetro]

The building itself may be public (that's a "may", it might not be), but I assure you the IRS office space itself is not. The "creative" law that will be used against him is 'criminal trespass' and probably a bench warrant for failure to appear in court (the latter being a guess, but a reasonable one).

Unacceptable. The People OWN the government. Those are OUR buildings. The government has been allowed to give itself far too much power...now it protects itself from its owners?!

 

[Coronach]

By that definition, one should be able to wander into a Peacekeeper silo on a sightseeing tour.

I agree with you in very general principle, but the specifics and realities are quite a bit different.

Mike

 

[dracphelan]

"He wanted to convince me that they weren't the bad guys."

Then they shouldn't have arrested someone for peaceful protest.

 

[Sindawe]

By that definition, one should be able to wander into a Peacekeeper silo on a sightseeing tour.

I agree with you in very general principle, but the specifics and realities are quite a bit different.

Of course not. One does not normally conduct business in a Peacekeeper silo. You'd have to call ahead to make an appointment, give those stationed at the silo time to tidy up a bit before visitors show up. (only partially tongue-in-cheek)

 

[Lupinus]

By that definition, one should be able to wander into a Peacekeeper silo on a sightseeing tour.

I agree with you in very general principle, but the specifics and realities are quite a bit different.

I believe a run down little office above the post office is a weeeeeee bit different then something filled with a ton of classified toys and things that make a really big boom.

The man wanted to hand out a piece of paper on goverment property. They wanted to shut him up less one of the goverments little collection agents might agree with him.

Nothing to see here people, move along

 

[Ira Aten]

Quote:
"Its a public building. If you can't throw smelly bums out of the library, how can your toss out a guy who is peacefully protesting and NOT disrupting anything at all?"


To answer your question, they can do it (Unconstitutionally) by totally denying all of the God Given Rights set forth in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

 

[ccwolff]

For a protest don't you need a permit?

Somebody should tell him that if he wants to protest he will need to fill out the appropriate paper work in triplicate then wait 6-8 weeks for the .gov to then deny him permission due to some lame (but "legal") reason.

Man,doesn't this guy know anything about how the system works?

I do give him an A+ for his effort though.

 

[Coronach]

If he wanted to stand outside of the building on the (public) sidewalk and hand out flyers, shout, chant, sing songs, whatever- fine. If he really just wants an opportunity to hand out propaganda and get his message out to the employees, he can do it just as effectively from that location. Doing so inside of the building is a different (and I further posit that he had no intention of being as "undisruptive" as he claims). The idea that the government cannot, as a general rule, limit people from accessing its property is utterly absurd. If you don't like the missile silo analogy, take any other vital (in your opinion) government function and think really hard about what giving unlimited public access to the persons/places/things that perform that function really means.

But "we the people" own that property? Fine. Exercise your rights as owners, via the legislature, into granting yourself access to it. Good luck. To me it is the same general idea as military or diplomatic secrets; I loathe the idea that my government might lie or keep facts from me. I loathe the idea that I might not be allowed to go someplace and see what's in there. But I'm aware that some things should be secret, just as some places should not be public access.

Right now, I think I'm going to amble down to the White House and go see what Dubya has in the fridge. I own the building, and I paid for the beer that's in there.

Mike

 

[Lupinus]

actually the pres gets bill every month for his personal food stuffs and what not that the kitchen whips up for him. State dinners and what not are covered, but his personal chow he still has to pay for

 

[c_yeager]

I do believe that Russell Kanning's job is getting arrested, while doing things that can be twisted by his own press department as being totally reasonable.

http://realidrebellion.blogspot.com/2005/06/russell-kanning-arrested-in-manchester.html

here is a nice picture of how he looked when he was arrested in this latest incident (i can't get the pics posted in the OP to work)

he seems pretty happy

My views on the man's cause have nothing to do with the fact that I do not have a whole bunch of sympathy for people who *want* to get arrested. You can't really say that he was unjustly imprisoned when he did everything in his power to make that happen.

He should have a right to go to jail if he really wants, afterall our tax dollars paid for that building too.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Byebye 1A.

I guess you can't freely speak about grievances regarding the government anymore.

 

[JohnBT]

"Byebye 1A.

I guess you can't freely speak about grievances regarding the government anymore."

Get real. He can say what he wants, he just can't do it where people are trying to work. The 1st Amendment doesn't say you can do exactly what you want and where you want and when you want. You have grossly misinterpreted the meaning.

And this is not the kind of publicity the free state project needs.

John

 

[Cesiumsponge]

From the article and forum snippets, the entire story doesn't sound entirely complete.

He can say what he wants, he just can't do it where people are trying to work.

I don't see where he actually successfully disturbed the peace, tresspassed, etc. According to information we are provided through one news article and forum posts of people that were there with him (unless you are privvy to something we aren't), it never stated he successfully handed out flyers and caused a disruption to workers, nor was asked to leave the premises by the proprietors of the property, etc. However, -someone- called the cops on him, and it doesn't say exactly who. If the owners or workers called the police (Homeland security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed up too?) then it was definitely unwise to go against the grain since they made their wishes clear.

It simply states he walked in towards a flight of stairs leading to the proposed office and was arrested before he actually accomplished anything. He did this twice and got a free trip to the local station and was released both times. He wasn't charged with tresspassing, disturbing the peace, or anything weapons-related.

That is where the published article ends. The forum snippets from eyewitnesses claims "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."

Then...well our information tapers off since we don't know what he is facing charges for now. Keep in mind he never went back to the office to protest after he was released the second time. Then, he gets arrested the next day at his home by Federal agents...or IN his home, as the wife states.

"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.

 

[Destructo6]

I believe a run down little office above the post office is a weeeeeee bit different then something filled with a ton of classified toys and things that make a really big boom.

That description should be, "...run down little office with names, social security numbers, addressess, tax information, etc. of vast numbers of private citizens inside..." Do you think that changes things a little? I don't know about you, but I would consider that sort of information rather sensitive.

 

[LAK]

Coronach

One cannot just walk into any building in America and wander around, regardless of purpose. The building itself may be public (that's a "may", it might not be), but I assure you the IRS office space itself is not. The "creative" law that will be used against him is 'criminal trespass' and probably a bench warrant for failure to appear in court (the latter being a guess, but a reasonable one).

That's creative enough. Having had police powers on federal property and worked in the wider public domain - and in between where the jurisdiction overlaps - I fully understand all these and other points.

Did he in fact intend to commit a criminal act? Areas of public access and office space are too distinctly different things. I do not see anywhere stated that he intended to invade areas out of public access.

The problem here is the creative interpretations as applied to different folk in variations of the same theme. And the applications thereof. There are so many overlapping subjects here that it would be impossible to see this to any objective conclusion on here. But the bottom line is that the federal gov has closed, or is closing, just about any avenue of effective peaceful protest concerning any matters that concern a great number of very key issues.

And come on for goodness sake; all the guy wanted to do was pass out some pieces of paper. If the IRS is such a legitimate entity, engaged in truely legitimate business, with the good faith of all it's employees, there should be very little to fear in letting this guy serve his papers and quietly leave.

Laws are written and passed in theory for good and necessary reasons - exercizing them all the time "just because we can" as it were is not always the best idea in the spirit of the original good intention and reason.

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http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[JohnBT]

"And come on for goodness sake; all the guy wanted to do was pass out some pieces of paper."

First, the guy probably called the cops on himself.

Having worked for a state agency for more than 30 years I can tell you that our waiting rooms and offices are not public in the sense that any old soul can just hang out or make speeches or pass out copies of their favorite political or religious tracts. They will be asked to leave and the police will come if we call. You want to set up your soapbox, take it outside.

The offices beyond our front desk are full of confidential medical, legal and financial information. We have clients who are working hard to get back to work and they don't need some clown, or group of clowns, interrupting us even for a minute.

I can hear it now, "Oh, but it's only one man and he would only be there a minute or two." Okay, and then tomorrow there would be somebody else and then a group. Nope. Take it outside. We're busy.

You know, he could have called the office manager and asked to be put on the agenda for the next staff meeting. He could have just mailed the dern things, too. Nope, he wanted to be arrested.

John

 

[hillbilly]

I'm not buying that this is an abridgement of freedom of speech at all.

Here's why not.

I teach at a public college. The entire campus is "public property" very much in the same way that the IRS building in the story above is public property.

If Fanning, or anyone else wanted to come to campus and protest or hand out leaflets or chant or sing, they'd be able to do so.

They'd be best served by contacting the administration and announcing their intentions to do so, or else security is going to come check them out to see exactly who is doing what on the campus.

However, if Fanning, or anyone else, wanted to go inside a building and walk into a classroom to protest, hand out leaflets, chant, sing, or whatever, that's a whole different ballgame, bubba.

If Fanning came into my classroom with his little act in the middle of my class, I'd probably deck him.

Security would come get him. Local police might even show up.

Standing out on campus protesting....fine and dandy.

Going into a building to harass the workers in their offices or the students in their classrooms during working and class hours.....unacceptable.

Of course, this view will make me a jack-boot-licking statist in the views of certain "libertarians" on this site.

hillbilly

 

[LAK]

LAK

Did he in fact intend to commit a criminal act? Areas of public access and office space are two distinctly different things. I do not see anywhere stated that he intended to invade areas out of public access

...........
JohnBT

The offices beyond our front desk are full of confidential medical, legal and financial information. We have clients who are working hard to get back to work and they don't need some clown, or group of clowns, interrupting us even for a minute

And of course; we would not want some clown passing something like a piece of paper to one of those hardworking IRS clerks at a lobby reception desk - interrupting the flow of those trillions of dollars freely donated by all those hardworking American people - to build that great big, warm, wonderful global socialist dream. The big plantation. Now. Would we.

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Http://ussliberty.org
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