The video below shows Ian being ordered arrested by Mr. Burke within a minute of walking into the room and within seconds of Ian opening his mouth to speak. Free speech, be damned. Then Ian is led into another room where nothing can be filmed or audio recorded. Public trial by one’s peers be damned. Then Ian is sentenced to 90 days for one of the most vague and sweeping of charges– contempt of court. Just punishment be damned. He got 3 days for the charge that he was there to answer for, a code violation for failing to force his tenants to remove their couch from their yard.

I got the feeling Mr. Burke and his violent enforcers were disappointed. My suspicions seemed to be validated that he had plans to arrest a lot more innocent people that day when an unusual announcement was made before he entered that anyone who didn’t stand for him would be subject to “sanction”. I happened upon one of his enforcers on election day who expressed his eagerness to “cuff me himself” when he saw me in public and said he’d recognized me from court. I’ve attended several trials to support my liberty activist friends and I never stand for those given the title “judge” by our unaccountable monopoly governments. When I asked what he would be arresting me for since I haven’t broken any laws, he left me with the cryptic answer of “You’ll see.” Now it seems clear to me what Mr. Burke and his thugs seem to have been planning for weeks– to use threats backed by real violence to crush the wills of anyone who would dare to question whether their “system of justice” is actually anything of the sort.

I’m tired of hearing how this is about a couch. One of the most irrelevant things about this story is the couch. Another rather inconsequential part of this story is the couch enforcer. The couch enforcer was the pebble that started an avalanche.  This case will be a classic for demonstrating the gun in the room, for showing the growing escalation of violence that must back even the most trivial of an authoritarian government’s demands against those who won’t obey, like a parking ticket or a questionable code violation.

Ian was brutally silenced by that arrest. The members of their court monitor our activities. It’s easy to do. Our communications and our activities are rather overtly open to the public. We like cameras. We like speaking openly out in the light of day. Scheming and secretiveness are not parts of our nature. The members of the court knew the questions Ian was going to ask. They had plenty of time to prepare answers. Ian was silenced because he was about to ask a series of questions that would be very difficult for their court to answer and sound reasonable. He was going to ask questions that would make people think, possibly make them see the courts in a very different light. He was about to ask those questions on camera for video that would be made into a documentary.

To Mr. Burke, thank you for showing the violent nature of monopolistic governments. Thank you for helping to wake people up to the fact that arbitrarily established institutions of consolidated power do not consolidate morality or truth. Thank you for demonstrating why no system can work when there is no one to watch the watchers. Thank you for crystallizing the inherent paradox of expecting a supremely powerful monopoly to be accountable to anyone, how there can be no meaningful checks and balances on power from the inside of a monopoly on violence. Thank you for showing us that you are accountable to no one; certainly not to the citizenry that you ostensibly serve. Thank you for pointing out the gun in the room. Thank you for being one of the most effective recruiters for the Free State Project and particularly for the liberty movements to the Keene area. It’s unfortunate that you had to do it at such a cost to the occupants of the Keene area who had their hard-earned money confiscated, ostensibly to do things like protect them from violent criminals. Instead their stolen money is being used to apply hugely disproportionate punishments to innocent people in order to protect your facade of authority.

Let this be fair warning to anyone who thinks they may want to work for real liberty and justice. Expressing your true beliefs openly and honestly in this country can make you a target to the people with a monopoly on violence. If you aren’t prepared for the potential consequences, tuck your tail between your legs and hang your head low, particularly on public the state’s property. Hand over your money when they demand it. Kiss their boots when they demand it. You don’t have to mean it, but you have to act as if you do. After a while you will start to believe it. In the meantime, perhaps you can give a convincing performance. As for me, my acting sucks.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, walking by the jailhouse said to Thoreau through the window, “Henry, what are you doing in there?” To which Thoreau replied, “The right question is, Ralph, why are you out there?”