A peaceful candlelight vigil in Gov. Sununu’s Newfields neighborhood resulted in multiple fines being issued and one alleged arrest. I guess we’ll find out if the new anti-‘picketing’ ordinance we reported on this morning is legal or not.
At least one reporter, Chris Maidment, occasionally of GraniteGrok.com but more recently writing for NH Journal, was on the scene (for NH Journal).
According to reporting Maidment published earlier today, spokesman Ben Vihstadt, said the Governor’s Office had nothing to do with the ordinance.
I suppose that’s possible. Newfields select board member Michael Sununu may not have received a jot of input on the ordinance from Chris Sununu. And we can accept that at face value except for one thing.
After months of being accused of ignoring the constitution and people’s rights and liberties, are we to assume New Hampshire’s Governor knew nothing of the ordinance proposed back on December 8th in his own town?
The ordinance is clearly anti-free speech, but no one in the governor’s office thought to point out how bad the optics are under any circumstances?
Now add that this is a guy (Gov. Sununu) who has been tossing out liberty suppressing executive orders like candy at a parade. That guy sat on his hands while his own town crafted, debated, and passed an anti-political protest ordinance because of protests in his neighborhood.
He knew and did or said nothing.
He could make a phone call or had a personal conversation (with appropriate distancing). Hey, I get it Newfield’s, my neighbors are complaining, but it doesn’t look good. Even if you think there’s wiggle room in the RSA, it looks and sounds unconstitutional.
Heck, he could sign another executive order except that he doesn’t have to – we have Constitutions for these things, which both Gov. Sununu and Newfields clearly ignored.
And now they’ve fined an entire vigil (with one arrest) for walking around with candles in a residential neighborhood.
You truly are a bunch of sequestered, clueless, ruling class a**holes, and I hope you suffer a righteous global PR nightmare over this because you deserve that.
Update: Chris Maidment has confirmed that he was fined along with the others (free press, sure) and there was one arrest -Skylar Bennett.
