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But first -
meh, lawyers... An old vegan homeless guy can't even sing a Bob Dylan song these days without ten copyright lawyers popping out from behind the bush... The music needs to be cleared, and that costs money. So...
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When did you get let out of jail Mr. Libman???
Here's the full story...
FIRST ARREST:
I was forcefully removed from Tent City on Thursday,
June 26, at about 8:00 AM. I practiced what I call "non-violent non-cooperation" by laying on the ground and "going limp" - I was dragged into a police car without any conscious muscular effort to either assist or resist the police officers. This arrest was captured on video by Minister Steve, and subsequently
posted on the Tent City Facebook Page [YouTube].
As always (ex.
last year's May 1st census), I've answered all their questions truthfully and politely. Upon arrival I was dragged out of the car, through the Lakewood police station, and remained laying on the floor for about two hours, until they told me I was free to go. During this time it was made clear to me that I will be immediately arrested and (as they've put it) "thrown in the cell with Bubba"
[NSFW] if I was to ever return to the location of Tent City. At least one of the officers also joked that I would have been more cooperative had I been pepper-sprayed (which I've still never experienced). When told I was free to go, I got up and walked out of the station, with escort, refusing to sign or accept any paperwork.
I then went to Lakewood Town Square, and stayed there, with some brief interruptions, until my next arrest. I've learned that immediately after I was removed from Tent City, my tent had been bulldozed, and its entire contents trashed - I've lost all my possessions except the clothes on my back. I wasn't even wearing shoes or eyeglasses, and I wasn't allowed to enter the public library barefoot. That same Thursday night there was a Lakewood Township Committee Meeting - I went there and told the mayor / committeemen that I believe my Rights had been violated, and that I will be holding a perpetual protest at Lakewood Town Square.
I've then spent the next two days rallying at Town Square, and the next two nights sleeping in the middle of the Town Square - laying on a mat, with a protest sign next to me, and with many photos posted to Facebook in real time. For some durations of time I was joined by other Tent City supporters, and at other times I was there alone.
SECOND ARREST:
On Saturday,
June 28, also at about 8:00 AM, I was approached by four police officers while I was sitting on a mat on a step at the edge of Lakewood Town Square, using my phone, with my protest sign standing next to me. I managed to post
a couple of photos of the officers before being handcuffed, but there was no one around to video-record the arrest.
I again practiced "non-violent non-cooperation", same way as before. This time they brought an ambulance onto the Town Square, strapped me to a wheeled gurney, and transported me several yards to the Lakewood Police Station. After about two hours in a holding cell, I was transported to Ocean County Jail on Hooper Ave in Toms River. I continued to practice "non-violent non-cooperation" during the admission process, but agreed to selectively cooperate with things that I considered to be in my interest: shower, medical check-up, and going to the medical unit due to high blood pressure. I've selectively signed some medical forms, but refused others. As I had previously announced to all my friends, I wished to refuse bail and also refuse to pay all other fees, including to make an outgoing phone-call from jail.
During my entire incarceration, I've also refused all food and all beverages other than water, but I agreed to take medication that was effective in lowering my blood pressure. I've told them that I would gladly take a multivitamin supplement and a calorie-free salt / electrolyte supplement (sodium chloride + potassium chloride + sodium bicarbonate), but they did not provide me with either. On July 2nd the doctor ordered a blood sample and told me that they will start with intravenous forced-feeding "tomorrow". On the morning of
July 3rd I had a video-phone appearance before the Lakewood judge, who had them release me - just before the forced-feeding was to take place.
The release process took several hours. I cooperated to a large degree. I was fingerprinted and handed a ticket along with my phone. I was back at Lakewood Town Square for more rallying by about 3PM, broke my fast at exactly 6 days, stayed there until it started raining, and moved to a rented room later that night.
COURT DATE:
The following court information should already be public. I do NOT encourage people to come to the courthouse. Seriously. This isn't the time...
My court date is on
July 31, 9:30 am; Judge Scott J Hasen, Lakewood Municipal Court (room 2000, 231 Third St, Lakewood, NJ 08701). I've been told it will cover charges from both of my arrests: "trespassing" at Tent City (June 25),
"illegal camping" (ordinance 3-24) at Lakewood Town Square (June 28), and "abstraction of justice" for going limp during both arrests.
I feel no responsibility at all to be there, or to prepare a "defense" (aside from what I've already written repeatedly online for over a year). It's their crooked game - I feel no responsibility to play it. I know better than to try to represent myself - legislative rituals are a game that cannot be understood through logic or by analogy to any normal practical experience; a travesty to reason, where English words can have completely different meaning... And, needless to say, I feel no trust in any "public defender", paid by the very system that I am challenging!
I recently got word that an ACLU lawyer is interested in representing me pro-bono - will see if that will work out... As I've written previously, the ACLU has many statist ideological flaws, but every individual lawyer is different. If this lawyer is also interested in overturning the Welfare/Police State encroachment of the anti-homeless laws, confronting the hypocrisy of so-called "public land" (from which even the "neediest" "members of the public" are bulldozed), defending the right to non-violent non-cooperation (i.e. going limp during arrest), etc - then maybe we can work together...
A couple of weeks in a building with a toilet and a bed has done Alex a world of good! [...] He seems full of life and is even talking about working to support himself. [...]
Everything in your post is stupid and false and reeks of functional illiteracy.
You probably do less real intellectual work in a week than I do in an hour. That is the only work that has value, I can build a robot to do everything else.
It was 6 days - six days during which I've felt freer than in a long, long time... I am so looking forward to my next stint in jail, when the time comes, and the next, and the next!
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