Keene Man Arrested for Gardening in Central Square

Keene Man Arrested for Gardening in Central Square
Sat, 04/11/2009 - 16:46 — katkanning

Jesse Maloney of Keene was arrested today for attempting to garden in Central Square. Maloney had this to say about his civil disobedience:

"Last Thursday, the Keene City Council passed a… piece of legislation… wherein they gave 5,000 dollars to a group so they can do a “feasibility” study for a local co-op. Now, of course there is nothing wrong with a co-op by its own nature; they’re a great resource for individuals to attain healthy, local food. However, the price is not worth it. 5,000 dollars hijacked from citizens and individuals who may never even pick up fruit from this venture, 5,000 dollars stolen from the neighbors of these leeches. As much as I try to be unsurprised by the actions of the State, they reasoning here is just mind-blowing– take money that isn’t theirs for a project they’re not even sure will pan out for an idea they insist will be “good” for the community when they don’t even have the data to support that!

So, I’m going to go out to Central Square of Keene this weekend to prove a point– that you don’t need to use government money (that is, stolen money) to make a great project for the community come to realization. I plan on working from sun up to sun down on the grounds of Central Square, tilling the land and planting seeds for a community-accesible garden on public land. No cost will be incurred by the city or the locals, and the garden will be open to all who want to add their own labor or donate to defray the costs of my labor.

I don’t have much to add to this, because I think it all speaks for itself. Government is doing something stupid, something inefficient, and I’m going to demonstrate how you can do these things right in front of their offices, how this all works without incurring costs onto an unwilling populace."

Lt. Maxfield of the Keene Police said the charge was "excavating without a permit". He claimed that Jesse would be hitting buried power lines with his hoe. Maloney was released with a $120 ticket. He plans to contest the charge in court.

Video of arrest:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVcV-QaHfNA