KEENE, NH – Since getting off the road with the Motorhome Diaries (MHD) late last October we all went our separate directions and began working on new projects, which is the impetus for this post.

Jason spent the winter in the San Francisco area and is now in Grafton, NH helping to get Agorist Acres off the ground and heading up the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund.  Adam returned to Jackson, WI and immersed himself in the poker world and, after being harassed by the local “authorities”, decided to found Cop Block, a badass pro-police accountability site. I went back to Arlington, VA and worked remotely as an Outreach Consultant with the Future of Freedom Foundation.

As you may recall, four months back we put our RV MARV up for sale, but in the end I ended up buying Jason out of his half.

In the spring I reunited with Adam and for almost two months now we’ve been in New Hampshire working hard on ironing out the logistics for our new project – Liberty On Tour (LOT):

Liberty On Tour is a dynamic project of two friends, Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller, who are touring 13 cities in 13 weeks in their RV dubbed MARV while advancing a message of voluntaryism. Along the way they’ll interact with a wide variety of individuals at meetups and other events, cover timely stories and relevant historical incidents and cover/engage in local activism. They hope to be an educational resource and bridge between those new to the ideas of liberty and those already involved.

So “What’s the difference between MHD and LOT?” you ask?  It comes down to the end-goal; the hoped-for content. With MHD, we put a spotlight on individuals and organizations and their tactics used to advance the freedom movement. With LOT we hope to get embedded with local pro-freedom activists, to learn, share and connect as well as cover relevant timely news and historical incidents and do more outreach to those not-yet exposed to the ideas of liberty.

We learned a lot while on the road with MHD and we plan to build on it. We’ve been working hard ironing out the logistics – our route, advertisers, point-people on the ground and giving MARV some TLC to ensure he’s road-worthy.

I’m confident that if you liked MHD you’ll love LOT. If you want to check out Liberty On Tour’s content you can do so via our website, Facebook page, YouTube page, Twitter profile or our Tumblr page. If we’re passing near you it’d be great to connect and either way, if you have ideas or leads for us to cover please let us know.

JACKSON, WI – A couple of months back we posted that we our RV, MARV, was set for the auction block. But, as happens in life, things didn’t go according to plan. Tonight we put our heads together to figure out how best to move forward with this issue. We decided that we’ll just put MARV on the market as-is. So, if you are interested in owning MARV shoot us an email (mail@motorhomediaries.com) with an offer or any questions.

Below are a couple of videos about MARV. The first was done yesterday in Jackson, WI. The second was done in Louisville. For more MARV-related info check out all content tagged with “RV-TLC” and his profile on our About page.

Again, email us at mail@motorhomediaries.com with offers and questions. Thanks in advance for your interest. Let’s find MARV a good home!

In the continuing Jones County saga, this past Monday the charges against me were dismissed. Yay! Much thanks goes to our very awesome and very thorough legal team.

More on this from the Laurel Leader-Call.

Just a reminder: it wasn’t myself, Jason or Adam who acted in the wrong on the side of the Interstate back on May 14th but the Jones County Sheriff’s Department officers and a Mississippi State Trooper.

Next step: Get the ridiculous charges against Jason and Adam dropped and proceed forward to hold accountable those who violated our rights.

Thanks again to everyone that’s supported us throughout this ordeal. I have no doubt that it’s emboldened others to stand up for their rights knowing such a community exists!

As was stated on our Freedom Watch interview last May and many times since, Jason, Adam and myself are seeking to hold accountable those from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol that violated our rights on May 14th.

As such, our awesome legal team recently submitted an intent-to-sue letter to the JCSD, MHSP and the Chancery Clerk of Jones County. I say “intent” because in Mississippi its mandated that those seeking to sue government entities must first inform them of their pending actions and then wait 120 days waiting until actual filing the suit (ostensibly to give the government entity time to review it and decide how to proceed).

Yesterday the Laurel Leader-Call, which serves Jones County and the surrounding area, reported on this legal action and today, issued a more-exhaustive write-up.

To be fully transparent we’ve uploaded the Tort Claim in its entirety which you can view here. At the end you’ll notice Motions to Dismiss for each of us, which are scheduled to be heard on March 8th.

We are confident that justice will prevail.

For a complete overview of this incident check out this post.

ARLINGTON, VA – Last March Jason Talley and myself split the cost of a 2000 Four Winds Hurricane. As many of you know, that RV was soon dubbed MARV and became the fourth and best-looking member of the Motorhome Diaires (especially after his transformation into a rolling billboard for liberty).

Over the next seven months MARV traveled to 43 of the lower-48 states so that his crew (me, Jason, Adam Mueller and, for short stints, Allison Gibbs and Ryan Maddox) could interview and share the stories of activists, policy scholars and others advancing the ideas of liberty and bring us to meetups in 55 cities to network such folks.

But MARV was more than just means to get from point A to B. MARV helped to connect and grow the liberty community, putting people in touch who might otherwise never meet and introducing the ideas of liberty to receptive minds for the first time. And MARV helped disseminate different strategies and tactics, enabling us to learn from each other and have a greater impact. In the end, MARV helped to underscore why we’re so passionate about this movement, causing many of us to redouble our efforts.

So, though the title for this post isn’t 100% accurate (prior to being handed over to his new owner MARV will accompany the Liberty Caravan) it’s with a bit of heavy-heartedness that we announce that MARV will soon be put up for sale on eBay (March 4-14th). While there are many pros and cons to this decision one obvious benefit for us is that we’ll be able to allocate the capital now tied-up in MARV to other projects.

We thought the earlier we announced MARV’s pending sale the more eyes we’ll get on the auction, hopefully increasing MARV’s chance of finding a good home. If you have any specific questions about MARV or his sale, feel free to leave a comment or email us: mail[at]motorhomediaries.com Questions about MHD or future projects will be addressed at a later date.

More Information About MHD & MARV

• http://motorhomediaries.com
• http://youtube.com/motorhomediaries
• http://facebook.com/motorhomediaries

While on the road we were fortunate to cross paths with a great number of the current and budding luminaries in the liberty movement, many of whom shared their signatures, quotes and well-wishes on MARV’s guestbook (his ceiling).

• More pictures of MARV’s guestbook (scroll down)
• More “Pictures of M.A.R.V. as he crosses the country“
• More pictures of some of the great “People we’ve met Along the Way“
• More MARV-related posts/videos

ARLINGTON, VA – When in the Pacific Northwest I received an email from Scott Barton, one of my former colleagues at the Institute for Humane Studies which put on our radar the secession movement in northern California/southern Oregon known as the Free State of Jefferson. I immediately emailed Brian Petersen, listed as the contact person on the site, and we nailed down a date for an interview. Despite having a set-back with MARV while heading his way, Petersen generously rescheduled and we were able to visit him on his beautiful property, with Mt. Shasta in the background.

In this video he shares some of the reasons he and many others in his area advocate for secession (emphasizing the peaceful nature of the movement) and gives an overview of the process as outlined by the U.S. and California Constitutions. As is clear, Petersen is a good guy – someone I wouldn’t mind having as a neighbor – he basically just thinks that it doesn’t makes sense that the folks hundreds of miles away get to call the shots about things in his area. I tend to agree.

On a random related note – a few weeks ago when at the Students For Liberty’s Mid-Atlantic Conference another attendee posed a question to the lecturer about the geographical size of an area able to be effectively governed, specifically mentioning California. I happened to be wearing the State of Jefferson hat given to me by Peterson, and was able to point to it and share a bit about the movement there with those present. Pretty cool.

NMissCommentor.com just broke the news of our lawyers filing a motion to dismiss our charges on appeal:

Since last May, I’ve been writing about arrests in Jones County, Mississippi of several travelers who write on the site MotorHomeDiaries.Com.  They were stopped while passing through.  They were arrested under a typically wrongheaded and vague use of the disorderly conduct statute, charged with failure to follow the lawful order of a law enforcement officer.  They were convicted in justice court and then appealed to County Court, where they will get a de novo appeal (for non-lawyers– an appeal where the appeal court starts from scratch, a complete do-over, rather than just reviews what previously happened).

They’ve filed a series of interesting motions to dismiss raising flaws in the arrest affidavits.  The first notes that an essential element of an arrest for possession of beer in a dry county requires showing when the county held an election on whether the county would be dry.  The other motions are more interesting, because they highlight the common police misunderstanding about disorderly conduct arrests– police officers think they can tell someone to do something, and when they don’t, arrest.  One of the arrests was based on an order to put down a video camera.  Period.  The other affidavit alleges that the offense was committed “by arguing with the officer, refusing to put his hands behind his back, and by taking an aggressive stance toward the officer.”

The offense requires a refusal to follow a lawful order of an officer under circumstances that a breach of the peace was either intended or unlawfully risked by the defendant’s conduct where the officer had authority to then and there arrest any person for a violation of the law.  This is three distinct elements, two of which can’t possibly have been met, according to the motions:

1) Refusal to follow a lawful order– here the “arguing” and the video camera have first amendment implications

2) where it could cause a breach of the peace– the video camera affidavit is risible on this point.  I suppose the “taking an aggressive stance toward the officer” allegation is an attempt to meet this standard.

3) the officer has authority to arrest.  This doesn’t mean the general authority of an officer to make an arrest, it requires that there must be something happening then and there that is about to give the officer authority to arrest someone– a fight or the like about to break out (or already occurring).  An officer and a couple of guys standing on the roadside doesn’t meet this standard.

The motions are really clear in the way they break down the requirements and due process problems of  disorderly conduct charges.  There’s some caselaw in there, too; should be interesting reading for anyone who deals with misdemeanor charges.  Here are the motions.

ATLANTA, GA – Last month when wrapping-up our travels in the Bay Area we had the opportunity to connect with freedom fighter Angela Keaton. Not only did she make time for us in her busy schedule but she later joined us at our last meetup on the beach. As you’ll see in the video, Angela doesn’t mince words. She tells it like it is.

If what Angela stated in this video caused you to think I encourage you to learn more by going to Antiwar.com, listening to Antiwar.com Radio, and checking out MHD’s interview with Daniel Lackmacker: “Why War is Immoral,” recorded when we were in Chicago a few months ago.

ARLINGTON, VA – As I type from my basement apartment over 800 miles separate me from Adam (in WI) and 2,600 miles stand between me and Jason (in CA). Despite our geographical separation and the conclusion of the on-the-road portion of MHD we’re not done yet! We’ve each had more time to become involved in other projects (some on our own and some collaborative) but we’ll continue to post fresh content here each Monday.

In the coming weeks expect to see our own thank-you/wrap-up, new video interviews (with folks such as Angela Keaton of Antiwar.com and Brian Petersen of the State of Jefferson) and updates about the progress our book and documentary. Today, we share with you an interview we did this weekend with Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio. It was truly a pleasure speaking with one of the leading minds in the Voluntaryist movement.

On another note, if you happen to be within driving distance of St. Louis I encourage you to join Jason, Adam, myself and other lovers of liberty at the inaugural Liberty on the Rocks, St. Louis meetup on Friday night and the Missouri Blogosphere Event on Saturday hosted by the Show-Me Institute. They should both be excellent venues to meet good folks and share ideas.

ASHEVILLE, NC - When at our Portland meetup I was pleasantly surprised to put a face with a handle I’d only known online – that of Liberty Pile. I first crossed paths with Liberty Pile when I was working at a now-defunct anti-State organization and was excited to get to know him and learn more about the tactics of he and his crew utilize to grow the freedom movement.

In this video – which as you’ll see, includes only his shadow and voice, a first for MHD – Liberty Pile touches on the site he manages with the same name, tactics he and other Portland-based freedom activists utilize and the importance of self-education to be an effective communicator.