No Freedom to Travel in Keene
Wednesday, 07 March 2007
By Kat Kanning
Last night men with guns stopped us and attempted to steal our money and
threatened to steal our car. I guess it would have been a routine highway
robbery aka traffic stop, except my husband, Russell Kanning, doesn't have a
driver's license. Russell doesn't want a driver's license. He says he doesn't
need the government's permission to drive. The piece of paper from the
government doesn't make him a better or worse driver. In fact, he's the safest
driver I've seen.
As we were leaving our weekly Keene Free Press meeting, one of our
buddies told us our headlight was out. It hadn't been out earlier in the
evening. It was late so we couldn't fix it that night. On the way home, when
a Keene policeman stopped us and demanded his equivalent of "Your papers
please, citizen." Russell said that he didn't have any papers. He told the
policeman his name and where we lived. He wouldn't give him the social
security number he's renounced using.
(More)
When Russell pointed out that having us stopped in traffic (people were
having to go around us in the dark) was much more dangerous/disruptive than us
driving home with one headlight, the officer acknowledged it. When the officer
walked away to radio in his info, Russell said he wanted to go home and
suggested leaving. The officer said that wasn't a great idea. I talked him
out of the idea as I didn't really want the thugs shooting at us.
When the highway robber came back, he said he was going to take Russell
with him. Since the guy had a gun, Russell went with him, despite just wanting
to go home. I got out of the car too and the other office ordered me back in a
couple times. I ignored him and he dropped it. Russell said he wasn't paying
any bail or fines, and for me not to bother to come get him tonight. (This was
kind of funny since a topic of conversation at dinner had been 'making the
police state unprofitable'.) Officer #2 threatened to take our car if I didn't
have a driver's licence to drive it home. They let my daughter, Kira, and I
drive off after checking that I had a license, which I'll have until it
expires. I won't renew it because of Real ID.
At the police station, they asked Russell some more questions, some of
which he answered, some of which he didn't. He didn't get fingerprinted and
didn't sign anything. They let him go right away, telling him he had to show
up in court. He told them he wouldn't willingly come to the court.
Presumably, they'll issue a warrant for him after his court date, which we
don't know when is happening.
On the way to and from the police station, we saw several other people
pulled over on traffic stops in sleepy little Keene. It's the beginning of the
month, so it looked like the Keene Police were getting their quota of revenue
out of their highway robbery.
When Real ID national ID card is implemented, there are many people who
have said they're also going to refuse to have a driver's license. If that is
true, there will be many people going along the same path as Russell.
Hopefully, his willingness to stand up to them now will make it easier for
those of us who follow. The question is, do we have the right to travel
without the permission of the government? Russell Kanning says, "Yes, we do."
I agree with him. Nazi Germany showed us clearly what happens when the
government decides who can travel and where.
Last Updated ( Friday, 09 March 2007 )
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