Reminder: the State’s trial against me is Monday Morning at 9AM following a “We Will Record” Rally on at 7:50AM.

On Friday, September 23rd 2011 at around 8:30 AM I walked inside the Cheshire County Superior Court building and was attacked by two men employed by the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Department. My mission that morning was to record a hearing that was to take place at the court at 9AM. As part of my efforts to bring transparency to government, I often record inside government buildings. I find it especially important to focus my reporting on the judicial branch, which Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Lynn says is the “least understood branch of government.” No wonder if members of the press are made to feel unwelcome, or in my case unsafe.

It was my intention that morning to report on the goings-on of the court. Attempting to obey one of the court’s arbitrary rules, I approached the clerk of the court’s window to expeditiously file a motion so I could record the upcoming hearing. Unfortunately, before I could make it to the clerk’s window two men put their hands on me. They pushed me into a corner, placed me in handcuffs, and dragged me across the floor, all because I was in possession of a camera. Apparently freedom of the press doesn’t apply to Cheshire County Courts because of their unprecedented ban on all recording devices. Notably, though, State-owned cameras are not prohibited. The same camera that i’ve worn inside

At some point while the two men were stripping me of my freedom, I called out to the empty court clerk’s window, requesting a form that would grant me permission to record the hearing. No answer. After my hands were securely cuffed, I dropped to my knees and sat down, resolute to not provide any assistance to these strangers in their unlawful crackdown on cameras and violence against a member of the free press. It was clear to me that they were in the wrong; they were the criminals – not me.

I was in a great deal of pain as the man employed by the Sheriff dragged me across the floor by the handcuffs behind my back. But more pain and humiliation was ahead as the stranger and I descended a floor to the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Department.