Virginia Cop Block’s involvement will include making posts on our Facebook page concerning recent examples of Jury Nullification as well as individuals volunteering their time to hand out Jury Rights information outside of local court houses in the Richmond area.
The Fully Informed Jury Association’s National Press Release about this can be found here.
As many of you readers already know and understand, Virginia Cop Block is more than just a (decentralized) organization that aims to help hold Law Enforcement and the “Justice” System accountable; we also have a very heavy focus on educating individuals on their civil rights, which is why we created and launched the “Liberty Empowerment Project” a couple of years ago and raised money to print 10,000 “Liberty Empowerment Packets” which included information on the project itself, Virginia Cop Block, Individual Rights, Your rights when dealing with the police, Jury Rights and Helpful information when having to deal with going to court and handling various charges. Volunteers went person to person and door to door in local Richmond Communities handing out this information. The Project was a great success and we just so happen to currently be raising more funds to reprint all of that material. In addition to that project, we also leased out (short lease) two digital billboards in the RVA area that promoted the message of Police Accountability and Jury Nullification.
If you are interested in joining in on the outreach or for more information on the September 5th outreach see the Facebook Event.
There will be a major push this coming legislative session to get a Jury Nullification Bill passed, like New Hampshire recently did.
Fore more information on Jury Rights and Jury Nullification I recommend watching the following videos / reading the following articles:
I was due in Hanover Court on Monday June 23rd at 9:30 in regards to a Civil Lawsuit where Virginia State Trooper Melanie McKenney was/ is trying to sue me for “Defamation”. The small claims court room was in the basement of the General District Court. Virginia State Police Employee, Melanie McKenney failed to show up. My case was the first called, we told the Judge we would wait around for 15 minutes. After waiting with no appearance by McKenney, the Judge dismissed the case.
Now Today, June 26th, 2015 I receive mail from McKenney, that was a copy of a letter she sent to the Judge the day after our Court Date, apologizing for her absence and requesting/ submitting a motion to reopen the case. See pictures below. Read more
As the Police State continues to spiral out of control (nationwide of course but specifically here in Virginia), with little accountability, the rising militarization of the police along with continued police brutality towards individuals who simply utilize their First Amendment right to record the police, NEW, local, Virginia Cop Block Chapters are rising up! The demand for Public Servant accountability isn’t just within Law Enforcement Agencies, it’s public-sector wide, but most especially and concernedly in the “Justice System”. If you haven’t realized there is something wrong with our “Justice System” yet, you’re probably watching to much American Idol.
Whether it’s corrupt Judges (list goes on), corrupt cops (list goes on), or corrupt Prosecuting Attorneys (list goes on and on) the corruption is clearly rampant in the American “Legal”/ “Justice System”. With little accountability, due to farce “internal investigations” and “immunity”, the double standards and severe lack of accountability are rampant individuals nation-wide are seeing the genuine need for true accountability within the Law Enforcement and Justice System realm. Welcome the brand new Virginia Cop Block local chapters! Read more
Virginia Cop Block has created a sister Twitter account for the purpose of reporting through tweets and retweets, Police activity such as Speed Traps and Check Points.
The new Twitter Account is @VASpeedTraps. Of course, this is largely user-based, meaning, the more followers AND the more individuals tweeting speed traps they see to this new account, the more we can retweet and spread the word and let other folks know who are attempting to travel unmolested from point A to point B.
Try and be as descriptive & effective as possible within the 140 characters you have in your tweet.
Remember, the more followers and the more folks tweeting the speed traps they say at @VASpeedTraps, the more we can raise awareness and warn people of these revenue collections schemes so consider sharing this or the new account directly with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately “RVASpeedTraps” had already been created a couple years ago, which seems to be not used anymore. So when you’re posting your tweet, be specific to your City, County, Town, then Road/ Intersection/ Mile-Marker/ exit number, etc.
On March 17, 2014 I was served a “Warrant in Debt”. As you will see in the attached image, I’m being sued for $5,000 by Virginia State Police Trooper Melanie McKenney. Some of you readers may recall that two years ago I was pulled over by Trooper Melanie McKenney during Memorial Day Weekend when the Virginia State Police had many of their Revenue Generating Officers out on the interstates. I had described it as the second most aggressive traffic stop I had ever been involved in. She violated my rights and denied my right to record her by claiming my cell phone could be a gun – however the information and videos given to me through the FOIA Request showed that she knew it wasn’t a gun, in her words, “I don’t want myself on any type of YouTube or whatever.” If you are not aware of this incident and would like to see the article and videos of that incident click here.
So almost two years later VSP Trooper Melanie McKenney is suing me for “Defamation”.Read more
By now, most readers of Virginia CopBlock have heard the story about the injunction against Nate Cox, ‘Mo Karnage’, the RVA Wingnut Collective, and filebin.net. Yes, the Richmond Police Department actually issued an injunction against an internet domain. Yes, internet domains are inanimate objects incapable of uploading or transmitting data without human action. Filebin.net is a tool of the digital age, no different from a phone, computer word processor, or blog.
RPD’s injunction demonstrates the lengths that governments will go to prevent transparency. With their injunction, RPD is frantically trying to hold back the free flow of information made possible by the digital age. This injunction demonstrates how governments fear the loss of the mainstream media’s monopoly on the news. New media venues like YouTube and podcasts, online news sources like examiner.com and American Daily Herald, and blogging tools like WordPress and BlogSpot destroy the status quo by allowing anyone, anywhere to become reporters.
Reporters need access to write their stories. Finding sources and doing real research takes time. Attending press conferences and going to lunch with government officials is quicker and easier than developing sources and running actual investigations. In the past, local police could control their public image by cozying up to the five or size news outlets in an area. Activist blogs like CopBlock and CopWatch break the stranglehold on investigative journalism.
The injunction represents a deliberate act to suppress a free press. RPD officials understand that independent journalists don’t have the funds to pay for a drawn-out court battle. RPD leaders hope to create enough pain for Virginia CopBlock and the RVA Wingnut Collective to prevent these groups from continuing in their activism. Suppressing these groups would make it harder for future independent journalists to work.
The injunction is a gauntlet thrown in the path of independent journalists. The injunction has a chilling effect, deterring other activists and journalists from demanding government transparency. The injunction is not a matter of the specific files released, nor is it a matter of confidentiality. Ultimately, the injunction is about the need for governments to maintain their status quo of secrecy.
This is a guest post from CopBlock.org Co-Founder, Pete Eyre. It’s a fantastic overview of what’s going on with the Court Orders/ Litigation situation that happened on Friday.
Two days ago we posted to copblock.org Anonymous LEAK: Richmond PD Internal Information Published Online, a repost from Virginia Cop Block founder Nate Cox, which itself was a repost of links posted by RVA Wingnut, to download 2,000 documents leaked from a criminal outfit known as “Richmond Police Department.” It was unknown at that time the content of all those documents but in an effort to bring-about accountability through transparency, readers were encouraged to download and help sift through the information.
Cox described RVA Wingnut as:
primarily is a Anarchist Collective in Southern Barton Heights whom are affiliated with and to Cop Watch outreach & activism – as well as Virginia Cop Block
Cox had communicated to me that the RVA Wingnut folks had been visited by individuals who sought to intimidate them into censoring the information. Today they posted that “It looks like the RPD files that we linked to were taken offline at some point today.” And later added, “It appears that the police have now taken all the files down.” The early afternoon of Friday, Nov. 16th, 2012 the same individuals, or some of their comrades, visited the house where Cox’s mom lives. They videotaped the property. This information came from a concerned neighbor. Then the house owned by Cox’s Grandmother was paid a visit. A tenant there explained that she didn’t feel comfortable taking their paperwork. Then this group of suspicious characters visited Cox at his work. That interaction happened around 4pm on Friday, Nov. 16th, 2012. It was streamed live by Cox to his qik.com/natecox [to download http://copblock.org/apps]. The paperwork Cox was given was an “Order” [viewable in-full below]
prohibiting (1) Defendants from continuing to make the Confidential Information available to the public; and (2) requiring that the Defendants return to the Court any copies of any portion of the Confidential Information.
Let the folks who work at Richmond PD know censorship and intimidation isn’t cool
Richmond Police Departmenthttp://www.richmondgov.com/police/ 301 South Meadow Street Richmond, VA (804) 646-1412Those who signed the “Order”Travis A. Sabelwski and Justin M. Sizemore (804) 344-3400 Illegible “circuit court judge” B.M. Dean
Today Mo Karnage and Nathan Cox were served with injunctions from the Richmond Police Department. The injunction documents were very vague, and seemed to be about the files recently linked to by Mo and Nathan on 2 websites- Copblock and Wingnut. The defendents are listed as Moriah Kahn (they can’t spell), The Richmond Wingnut Collective, Nathan Cox, Filebin.net, and Does 1-10 . . . Important to note, is that typically injunctions are served by a process server. To have multiple cops hunting you down (they went to Nathan’s work, home, and mother’s home as well as Mo’s home, mother’s home, and friend’s home), some wearing tactical gear, is a pretty obvious intimidation tactic. We are working on getting scans of the injunctions to post online for your viewing pleasure. The City of Richmond Police Department is labeled as the plaintiff. The injunction doesn’t say which files are the ones in question, just all of them. It appears that the police have now taken all the files down.
Connect with Virginia Cop Block and support their efforts
Breaking News from Brandon Raub’s Legal Counsel at The Rutherford Institute:
“For Immediate Release: August 21, 2012
District Court Refuses to Stop Transfer of Marine Brandon Raub to Salem Psych Ward, 3 Hrs. Away, for Posting Political Views, Song Lyrics to Facebook
CHESTERFIELD, VA— Special Justice Walter Douglass Stokes for the General District Court for the City of Hopewell, Va., has denied an emergency motion filed by attorneys for The Rutherford Institute to stop former Marine Brandon Raub from being forcibly transferred to a psychiatric facility more than three hours away from his family, friends and legal team. Raub, who was arrested, detained indefinitely in a psych ward and forced to undergo psychological evaluations based solely on the controversial nature of lines from song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games which he posted to his private Facebook page, is being transferred from John Randolph Psychiatric Medical Hospital in Hopewell to the Veterans Hospital in Salem, Va., on the other side of the state. Raub was arrested on August 16, 2012, and has since been detained against his will due to alleged concerns by government officials that his Facebook posts are controversial and “terrorist in nature.” Rutherford Institute attorneys are challenging Raub’s arrest and detention on the grounds that the detainment order was procedurally improper, the result of an unlawful detention, and was based entirely on statements made by Raub that constitute protected free speech under the First Amendment.
“This is not how justice in America is supposed to work—with Americans being arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights, forced to undergo psychological evaluations, detained against their will and isolated from their family, friends and attorneys. This is a scary new chapter in our history,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Brandon Raub is no different from the majority of Americans who use their private Facebook pages to post a variety of content, ranging from song lyrics and political hyperbole to trash talking their neighbors, friends and government leaders.”
Brandon Raub, a former Marine who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was detained by FBI agents and police officers at his home in Chesterfield County based upon the nature of content posted to his Facebook page in recent months. Like many Facebook users, Raub uses his FB page to post songs lyrics and air his political opinions, as well as engage in virtual online games with other users. On Thursday, August 16, police and FBI agents arrived at Raub’s home, asking to speak with him about his Facebook posts. They did not provide Raub with a search warrant. Raub was cooperative and agreed to speak with them. Without providing any explanation, levying any charges against Raub or reading him his rights, law enforcement officials then handcuffed Raub and transported him first to the police headquarters, then to John Randolph Medical Center, where he has been held against his will. Outraged onlookers filmed the arrest and posted the footage to YouTube.
In a hearing before Special Justice Walter Douglass Stokes on August 20, government officials again pointed to Raub’s Facebook posts as the sole reason for their concern and for his continued incarceration. Ignoring Raub’s explanations about the fact that the FB posts were being read out of context and his attorney’s First Amendment defense, Stokes sentenced the former Marine to up to 30 days’ further confinement in a psych ward and signed a court order for Raub’s involuntary admission to the Veterans Hospital in Salem. Rutherford Institute attorneys are in the process of filing various emergency motions and procedural appeals to challenge Raub’s detention.”
The Liberty Empowerment Project is scheduled to HIT THE STREETS of inner-city Richmond AUGUST 6th!
A HUGE THANK YOU to the numerous amounts of individuals who’ve donated/ invested in this project to advance the ideas of Liberty and Non-Aggression, combined with Police Accountability, Juror’s Rights/Jury Nullification and the Never Take a Plea Deal Concept. We have already raised the money we needed for the printing of the SIX pieces of literature which makes up the contents of the packets. Last week, we received the last of the 60,000 pieces of literature that will make up the 10,000 packets; and over the course of the last 4 days we’ve already stuffed more than 3,000 of the bags with the literature! Currently we still need to raise at least $325 to entirely finish the fundraising of this project. If this is your first time reading about the Liberty Empowerment Project, for further information on it and to see the actual break down on the cost(s) of the project visit the original post here.
The following video is the latest video update on the project:
A Press Release is being drafted up and will be going out to the local media no later than Tuesday, July 31. Virginia Cop Block, as always is looking for people who want to get MORE INVOLVED. If you want to help disseminate these packets in Richmond with Meg McLain & myself (Nathan Cox) we would LOVE your help! Remember the goal is to disseminate these 10,000 packets within a 30-45 day period, largely distributing them during the Monday – Friday time frame. If we can’t hit the streets one of those days whether it’s weather related or not, it will be made up for on the weekends. Also, if we get a number of volunteers who want to help but can only help on Saturday’s, we can organize outreach on those days which would help make a big impact! Towards the middle/end of this upcoming week there will be a Liberty Empowerment Project Update #2 which we’ll publish the actual names of the communities/neighborhoods we will be targeting in Richmond along with more details about them.
Thanks for your continued support and please contact us via this website or our facebook page with any questions, comments or concerns OR if you’d like to help and be more involved with Virginia Cop Block!
And just in case you didn’t see the original video about the Liberty Empowerment Project:
To educate people about their rights, and empower them to be active in the protection and preservation of liberty.
Goal:
The creation and targeted distribution of 10,000 educational packets consisting of literature on the following subjects:
-The Philosophy of Liberty/The Nonaggression Principle
-Police Accountability/Know Your Rights When Encountered by Police
-Never Take a Plea Deal Concept
-Jury Nullification
We feel these subjects are the most critical to convey to the public; as they offer the most direct, immediate, and individually beneficial results in dealing with the ever expanding police state.
How it’s going to work:
To start every morning we will be handing out this literature in front of various court-houses and police stations from roughly 8/ 8:30am – 10/ 10:30am – which allows us the chance to then go into the neighborhoods mid-morning, keeping in consideration residents who may be late sleepers, or not “morning people”. We will target everyone out in the street, sidewalks, pedestrians as well as go door to door handing out literature, and if not home leave the literature in a bag hanging on the door handle. We will be on foot doing outreach, educating an activism 8-10 hours a day. If we encounter anyone whom we get a very positive reaction out of we will ask to do a quick video interview (and will try and do this as much as possible.) We will also make a quick 2-5 minute AAR (After Action Review) video at the end of each day explaining what we accomplished for the day, if we ran into anything positive or negative, police, etc. At the end of every week we will make a 5-10 minute AAR video covering/ releasing anything not included in those daily updates. We will be making live/ real-time updates throughout the week. EVERYTHING will be transparent.
Materials Included:
-The Philosophy of Liberty (trifold brochure)
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is the fundamental message behind our movement. This brochure breaks down the principles behind liberty in a very easy and eye catching manner and it also is paralleled with a brief explanation of the Non-Aggression Principle. Statism is running rampant in this country and educating people on these basic principles is a MUST if we want to see further growth in the Liberty Movement.
-Police Accountability/Know Your Rights (4″x6″ flyer & business card)
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The Country has literally become a Militarized Police State that has very little accountability. It appears the police have thrown their oaths out of the window and have chosen to “serve and protect” Lobbyists, Law Makers, themselves & The State – Instead of the people whom are coerced to pay for their “services”. It’s been my personal, second hand and thirty party experience that many people whom are encountered by the police simply DO NOT know their rights, and because of this they are either victimized by police abuse or misconduct OR they are taken advantage of and get locked up or some sort of citation simply because they incriminated themselves by talking or allowing for a search of their person or property. We MUST educate and empower people. The literature we plan on handing out from this comes from CopBlock.org and VirginiaCopBlock.Org. It explains the mission of Cop Block, being police Accountability, it encourages people to film the police, most especially their interactions with the police as well as educating individuals on what to do/ not do and say/ not say when talking with the police.
-Don’t Take the Plea Deal (trifold brochure)
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The idea behind this initiative is that if enough people (not necessarily a majority) STOPPED pre-paying their pre-payable traffic “violations” (or any victimless crime for that matter) and insisted on battling it out in court even if the likelihood of being found guilty is still imminent, the idea is to CLOG the system. Who knows how many people, probably countless amounts pre-pay their tickets, or go to court and inter a “Plea Deal”. Take a second and think about this, if you’ve ever been in a court room, you know they are already backed up with all sorts of cases and there are always delays and they have an increasingly harder time trying to manage their dockets because of how many people they coerce into these unpleasant appointments with the State. Imagine If more and more people stopped prepaying those tickets, and stopped taking plea deals and exhausted the State by fighting for their innocence. The Court system would be shut down, they’d have to figure something out.. or stop arresting/ issuing citations for so many people. The Fact of the matter is non-violent offenders make up more than 60 percent of the prison/ jail population. Nonviolent drug offenders now account for about one-fourth of all inmates, up from less than 10 percent in 1980. FACT: There are 2.1 MILLION people caged up in a Prison — or in Jail, awaiting trial. FACT: More than 40% of the prison population are African American despite African American’s making up only 12% of the American Population. The U.S has about 5% of the world’s population, yet 25% of the world’s prison population
-Jury Nullification (trifold brochure)
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To educate individuals regarding their full powers as jurors, including their ability to rely on personal conscience, to judge the merit of the law and its application, and to nullify bad law, when necessary for justice, by finding for the defendant. When every American juror is aware of and permitted to exercise all of his and her rights, the final judgment of law will return to where it was always intended to be located…in the hands of the people. Once again our jury system will function as our country’s founders intended it to function as people’s final check against the government’s tendency to encroach upon the rights of its people. Jury Nullification is another effective way and essentially our last resort to restore the republic, to salvage and take back our freedoms and to strike the root of the State.
How to make this project possible:
I (Nathan) initially thought of this idea or similar version of it, near the beginning of this year or late last year but it was for a 6-12 month plan, plus I was working two jobs. Now that I lost my full-time job (about 4 weeks ago) I have the opportunity to do FULL-TIME Activism. This idea I have, the project I’m pitching is for ONE MONTH of Full-time 40+ hour a week educating, outreach and activism. Meg McLain along with myself will be on the street of Richmond, targeting inner-city neighborhoods, residents, etc combined with a number of “part-time” activists/ educators whom are eager to help as well.
Expenses: All donations will first go to cover material expenses, then personal expenses.
Materials
Philosophy of Liberty (trifold brochure) x 10,000: $463
Don’t Take the Plea Deal (trifold brochure) x 10,000: $463
Jury Nullification (trifold brochure) x 10,000: $463
Virginia CopBlock (business card) x 10,000: $139.15
Police Accountability/Know Your Rights (4″x6″ flyer) x 10,000: $261.88
Cover (4″x8.5″ flyer) x 10,000: $301.92
Bags (6″x9″ clear bags w/ handle) x 10,000: $209.60
TOTAL = $2,301.55
Personal
Cell Phone (Verizon): $109.38
Car Insurance (Progressive): $85.92
Rent: $700
Electric (avg of last 3 months): $115
Water (avg of last 3 months): $69
TOTAL = $1,079.30 (does not include things like gas, food, etc…)
GRAND TOTAL = $3,380.85
Ad Sales:
To help fund this project, we have come up with several different ad options. These spots will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. Print ads range from $25 to $500, depending on size and location. Please see images for size/price options.
If you would like to support this project, donations can be made here:
Here are current AD spaces available: (ALL SOLD OUT) unless otherwise stated, ADs can be purchased for $50 (1.75″ x 2″ – “small”) or $100 (3.5″ x 2″ – “large”) till AD space is filled
-Philosophy of Liberty (trifold): $300 worth of AD space available (SOLD OUT)
-Don’t Take the Plea Deal (trifold): $400 worth of AD space available (SOLD OUT)
-Jury Nullification (trifold): $200 worth of AD space available (SOLD OUT)
-Police Accountability/Know Your Rights (4″x6″ flyer): $100 AD space (SOLD OUT)
-Cover (4″ x 8.5″ flyer): $500 for full page (SOLD OUT)
