Abductors free George Donnelly

The police hate being filmed -- usually for good reason. It exposes their misbehavior

A phone call to Jim Babb at about 4:45 CDT this evening, Wednesday, May 13, found Babb en route to George Donnelly's home with Donnelly in the seat beside him. Babb had just picked up Donnelly after his release from federal prison in Pennsylvania.

"They singled me out for special treatment," Donnelly told the Libertarian News Examiner. He sat in a cold holding tank for hours and was, purposely he believes, the last person to be processed. Then he was given the archetypal orange jumpsuit and placed in "the hole" for the night.

George Donnelly, a Fr33 Agent contributor and Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) activist, had been shooting video of a peaceful FIJA outreach project Tuesday with friends and fellow libertarians Julian Heicklen and Jim Babb when he was jumped by US Marshals, forced to the pavement, had his camera wrenched from his hands, and hauled off to jail.

Libertarians responded fast and forcefully to the illegal abuse of Donnelly. Not only were his actions clearly within his human and Constitutional rights but a Department of Homeland Security document makes it clear that taking photos on federal property is not illegal.

Libertarians performed admirably online in getting the word out and publicizing Donnelly's illegal seizure. It's impossible to cover all of the news and websites in the spontaneously formed "Free George" movement so the following must serve as a sampling.

The Ideas & Minds website posted a full page Free George Action Alert that featured photos and quotes from the Libertarian News Examiner article, "Fed Marshals violently arrest FIJA activist, violate DHS policy" along with links to the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund and such Free State websites as New Hampshire Porcupine (audio announcement) and Free Keene among many others.

"Bile," who barely escaped a similar fate last fall and currently has a lawsuit in the works ("Manhattan Libertarian sues fed cops for illegal arrest") reported the story on his "Blog of Bile."

The news even crossed the left/right political divide when it was reported, and decried, by the liberal AlterNet.

FIJA, direct benefactor of Donnelly's jury outreach efforts, posted the news top center on its home page. "FR33 George" posters were seemingly everywhere on the net. The Libertarian News Examiner is hoping to get a full report from Donnelly in the near future.

Original report here



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