Archive for Liberty Empowerment Project

National Jury Rights Day: September 5th Local Outreach

Written by: Nathan Cox

Virginia Cop Block is supporting and will be involved with Fully Informed Jury Association‘s “Jury Right’s Day” this coming Friday, September 5th.

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:



NY Times Article about Jury Nullification.
FlexYourRights.org article on Jury Nullification.
The Tenth Amendment Center Article on Jury Rights.
Truth-Out Article about Jury Nullification.
TheNation.com article on Jury Nullification.

The Liberty Empowerment Project Concludes Full-time Effort

Last week concluded Virginia Cop Block’s “Liberty Empowerment Project”, well at least the full-time effort behind it. We finished up the last two days in Oregon Hill and Hillside Court.
Each morning we started about 8:30am outside of a court-house, handing out packets to folks going into court. We primarily did outreach at the John Marshall Court House and the Manchester General District Court House, with the exception of Henrico County’s Court House off Parham Road on the last day of the project. Read more

Liberty Empowerment Project Update #2 – Day 3!

Day #3 of the Liberty Empowerment Project is now complete! We handed out another 700+ Liberty Empowerment Packets today which totals us at about 2000 or slightly more within the first THREE days!
Today was pretty eventful in our outreach and I’ll briefly explain why.

We start out every morning doing outreach in front of various court houses from about 8:30-9:30am. This morning we were located at Manchester General District Court located a few blocks from the intersection of Maury and Commerce St. A week from yesterday, Tuesday July 31 we were at this court house and were eventually told that we couldn’t be on the court house property handing out that information (still unclear of what we’d get charged with, likely soliciting, but I’ll push them on the issue next time and figure out what law they are claiming I’m breaking) so we stayed on the sidewalk. Today we didn’t have any issues at the courthouse, although we did notice one of the deputies came outside to see where we were located. Right about 9am we spotted Joe Morrissey and he told us that he’d take our packet as soon as he got out of court roughly 15 minutes later. Which we did! Meg McLain, briefly spoke with him and gave him a Liberty Empowerment Packet and included her business card. Later in the day she received an email from him about the material that was given to him. Below is the screen shot from that email.

After we left the court house we finished up handing out packets in Mosby Court and that surrounding area, as well as Oliver Hill Apartments. From there we went into Fairfield Court where we got a great response from people in that community! As I was turning around on the first street street we went down to head back to get more supplies I noticed a guy in a car. As I walked by the car I noticed a shortwave radio in his lap. His windows were rolled up and immediately asked him if he was the Police. He wouldn’t roll the windows down and did not give me a clear answer, so I took a couple pictures of the car as I walked around to the driver-side door. To my new friends in Fairfield Court, if you see this car/ this license plate know that this alleged police officer failed to ID himself and threatened to arrest me for simply asking him to identify himself. Continue to photograph and film the police at every possible chance you get. It’s for your own protection as well as the protection of anyone victimized by the police. It’s the only way to hold our public servants accountable.

Under Cover & Unmarked Richmond Police Car. Officer failed to ID himself.

After walking away from this car, we noticed a high level of police presence in the neighborhood for the next couple of hours. As I was dropping off some literature to some folks sitting on their front porch Officer Deane Waite who had already circled the block and noticed me and my colleagues helping with outreach pulled over to the curb as I was walking away from the house. This video is video of my first encounter with Officer Deane Waite.

Officer Waite later pulled my vehicle over as I was driving a few streets over from where it was originally parked (as we were making progress in the neighborhood). He thought I may or may not have ran a stop sign because after I made a right onto the street I was proceeding on, a vehicle came up quick on my rear and honked the horn (which he witnessed). Which is ironic, because I had just seen nearly the same thing happen at the intersection while I was walking back to my car, because the street that I was making a right on didn’t have to yield or stop at that intersection, although just behind me on the street I was turning on was a semi-sharp turn that people going fast would likely come up fast on someone just making a turn from that stop sign that I did. Anyways, He pulled me over and hit the blue lights just as I was popping my trunk and getting out of my car. I got out my car and closed the trunk and the rest of the conversation you can find in the video below.

We continued to have great conversations with folks until we left the community a couple hours later.

PRESS RELEASE: Virginia CopBlock’s Liberty Empowerment Project to hit the streets of Richmond August 6 with 10,000 informational packets

******************** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *******************

Virginia CopBlock Announces Liberty Empowerment Project

The Liberty Empowerment Project begins community outreach August 6th.

Richmond, VA – Virginia CopBlock activists, Nathan Cox and Meg McLain, announced the inauguration of the Liberty Empowerment Project for Monday, the 6th of August. The Liberty Empowerment Project is a grass-roots outreach program dedicated to educating people about the principles of individual rights. Project organizers want to empower people to protect and preserve their liberty.

Virginia CopBlock founder, Nathan Cox, intends for the Liberty Empowerment Project to serve as a vehicle for communicating about issues relating to liberty, non-aggression, victimless crime, police accountability, as well as issues relating to the issues of juror rights and the rights of indicted individuals. Cox and McLain envision their project as a peaceful solution to both the rising cases of police misconduct and civil liberties violations nationwide, as well as a means to de-escalate the aggressive violence affecting many of the inner-city and rural parts of the metropolitan Richmond area. The Liberty Empowerment Project focuses on the dissemination of a series of informative pamphlets designed to present the principles of freedom in a concise, easily accessible format.

About the Liberty Empowerment Project:

The Liberty Empowerment Project is an alternative to more traditional forms of activism involving electoral politics. Project graphic designer and co-organizer, Meg McLain, contrasts their project with the great deal of time and money spent on political campaigns. McLain describes the Liberty Empowerment Project as an affordable opportunity for liberty activists to have a direct and immediate impact on the freedom of individuals in the Richmond area.

The Liberty Empowerment Project is an entirely grassroots project presented by Virginia CopBlock; created by activists Nathan Cox and Meg McLain of Mechanicsville. Virginia CopBlock is supported by subscriber donations and advertisements contained within the pamphlets. The Liberty Empowerment Project is not associated with any political party or candidate.

Additional information about the Liberty Empowerment Project can be found at http://virginiacopblock.org/liberty-empowerment-project/ .

Nathan Cox can be reached at:[email protected] – WhoIsNateCox.Com

Meg McLain can be reached at: [email protected] – MegMcLain.com
Read more

Liberty Empowerment Project UPDATE #1

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:

The Liberty Empowerment Project

Mission:

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)

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Liberty Empowerment Project UPDATE #1
http://virginiacopblock.org/171/liberty-empowerment-project-update-1/