WHhat do you bearpitters think of this...
"Unidentified Flying Objector" charged, jailed over I.D./patdown refusal
From NHfree.com
Manchester, N.H.
6/11/05
Right on schedule and true to his word, 35-year-old Russell Kanning of Keene, New Hampshire attempted to board his flight at Manchester Airport Saturday...without showing I.D. or submitting to a pat-down.
The "Unidentified Flying Objector" and 15 of his supporters found themselves slightly outnumbered by police, TSA "suits" and FBI agents, at least two of whom surveyed Kanning's home all morning and politely followed his car to the airport.
Entering the security checkpoint clutching a Bible and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, Kanning spent four minutes conversing with security and state troopers. A TSA employee stood in the metal detector to block his way. Kanning showed his boarding pass and requested passage to his flight but refused to show I.D., remove clothing or submit to a patdown.
"That's the way it used to be done; we fought 40 years of Cold War without needing those things," said his wife Kat Dillon, who watched with mixed feelings from twenty feet away. "But now we have all these alphabet agencies that take more of our money; they still stop our pilots from arming themselves and still don't protect us very well."
Six media representatives including a Manchester TV crew documented Kanning's progress - or lack thereof - as state troopers flanked him, held him loosely by the arms and escorted him away from the checkpoint. After Kanning promised them he would continue peacefully trying to board his flight until arrested or allowed to do so "the pre-911 way", officials placed him under arrest and took him to a small "law enforcement center" near the airport entrance.
Mike Fisher, a friend of Kanning's who witnessed the arrest, says the bearded NHfree.com activist was charged with criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor. Then they transported him to Rockingham County Jail, where he will remain for at least two days...until arraigned at Derry District Court Monday morning. Fisher says his understanding is that the Class B charge means no there will be no additional jail time for Kanning. Fisher himself is no stranger to civil disobedience. He earned statewide notice last month for performing a manicure without a license - in front of the licensing board. His penalty - a Class A misdemeanor charge and a 30 day suspended sentence - was harsher than Kanning's.
Harsh or not, Kanning's sacrifice is meant to draw attention to what he calls an out of control "papers please" approach forced on travelers by government. He's urging Washington to end its involvement in airline security, pointing out that D.C. commandeers billions for it while making it difficult for pilots to arm themselves and using bailouts to prevent airlines from being held accountable.
"In a free country," he adds, "you do not need government permission to travel."
Liberty-related activity has been on the rise in New Hampshire since the state was targeted for migration by a libertarian group, the Free State Project, in 2003. So far at least 107 activists have moved here. Kanning is a member of NHfree.com, a loose-knit network set up by local Free Staters and conservative/libertarian New Hampshire natives. It works to reduce government and currently runs the state's most active political forum, where the next arrest is already being planned.
Other media coverage:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional...articleid=88968
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_...EMPLATE=DEFAULT
Info on the libertarian migration to New Hampshire:
www.FreeStateProject.org
www.NHfree.com