adventures in the free state: Two Hundred Activists and a Committee

Down below somewhere is video of the opposition rally and the subsequent City Council public hearing (starts about 5 minutes in) regarding the acquisition of a ManBearPig-- er, I mean BearCat, the "Homeland Security" grant-subsidized (so, your money, regardless) armored attack truck (the manufacturer's description, although the cops prefer the rather more innocuous "rescue vehicle," which isn't exactly prominent in the militarizing marketing materials for some reason) by local law enforcement's Special Operations Unit, in Concord, NH, 8/12/2013. Lots of really good -- and ultimately empirically effective -- testimony. By somebody's count, 4 (including the cops) in favor, and 44 opposed. What ever would Andy Taylor think...? From the Facebook Event:

The City of Concord is holding a public hearing on whether it should accept a $258,000 DHS grant for a militarized, armored vehicle called the BearCat (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck).

When Concord approved the application for a DHS grant, it stated: "Groups such as the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges."

This represents an extremely disturbing trend among police departments towards militarization and intimidation of peaceful, non-violent activist groups. If approved, the Bearcat will be used in 20 local communities, including Plymouth State University.

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