Homeland Security nabs Free Stater from home
Leafleting campaign triggers forced court appearance

From NHfree.com
Keene, New Hampshire
July 31, 7:00 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/...hp?galleryId=74

Permission is granted to publish them at will.

Thanks for the update Dada. I'm very excited about this, and hopefully the word gets out. Russell is a personal hero of mine, and I hope you tell his wife that. Thanks.

thanks for the kind words dk! will pass them on. u in state, or inbound? Or just out there?

NH: Feds to hold "Outlaw Leafleter" till September

From NHfree.com
8/1/06
Concord, New Hampshire

Feds to hold Free Stater till September
Leafleting attempt at IRS office triggers summary conviction

Still wearing the shorts and T-shirt he had on when Homeland Security agents came through his door, Keene resident Russell Kanning sat in front of his accusers Monday and built a paper airplane.

"He refused to cooperate," says his wife, Kat Dillon. "I'm so proud of him."

Appearing in Concord District Court Monday afternoon, Kanning faced five Federal charges for attempting to enter Keene's IRS office during business hours and hand out a "quit your job" flyer. But no one seemed thrilled to have him in the courtroom.

After refusing an attorney, the libertarian activist - who normally wears glasses - squinted at court officials and shivered in the cold chamber but otherwise appeared to be in good spirits.

"Government prosecutor was totally playing softball," writes one of one of the six NHfree.com activists who rushed to the courthouse after the arrest but asked not to be named in this article. "Palmer and the ICE guy (the arresting officers) seemed to like Russ. I know that will sound crass, since they did arrest him."

The Federal prosecutor asked Inspector Palmer, a Homeland Security agent, what Kanning was carrying while outside the IRS offices.

"A pitchfork," replied Palmer, triggering grins from Kanning's supporters and some of the officials.

Kanning, who had dropped the pitchfork before attempting to enter IRS offices, did not face charges related to the "weapon," or for leafleting outside. Charges instead centered on his attempt to physically enter the IRS office with his leaflet despite police warnings.

"I got the impression that the basic issue was that there was expected to be a 'disruption' of the business that day," continues the unnamed activist, who quizzed agents after the hearing.

In planning the event on the NHfree.com forums, Kanning had indicated he might indeed eventually go to the IRS and disrupt operations, but that he would not do so before August 3.

"The judge told Russ he had a constitutional right to question the witness," writes the activist. "Russ asked Palmer if he'd quit his job, which was a nice touch."

Halfway through the hearing a bailiff pointedly seized Kanning's paper airplane.

The judge eventually convicted Kanning on four of the five charges, and asked the 36-year-old when would be a good day for him to come in and face sentencing. Kanning replied that he would not come back on his own. The judge then ordered he be held without bail until sentencing on Sept. 6.

Kanning now sits in Strafford County Jail in Dover, New Hampshire. He is a member of the Free State Project (www.FreeStateProject.org), a movement aimed at recruiting libertarians to New Hampshire.

For additional late-breaking details, or to learn how you can support Russell, visit the NHfree.com forums at

http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4640.0

we had a demonstration for russell at the jail last week... turnout was 18 people and one pistol

News flash:

Russell is free!

http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4885.0

Sentenced to time served, no fine, no probation.

Great news Orwell! I'm from NC by the way.

"If the government makes a practice of imprisoning just men, then the only place for a just man is in prison..."

I like the guy, but he sealed his fate by declining to show up for court. That essentially justified (from a legal perspective) the department's actions.

Only if taken into a vacuum. If he was convicted of a legitimate crime, and refused to show up for sentencing, I would agree with you. His conviction was bogus; therefore, nothing was justified.