by Garret Ean

May 25, 2011

A call to the Porcupine 411 service by Dave Ridley reports that he has been arrested by Nashua PD possibly for illegal recording. Dave makes the call from the Nashua police station where he indicates that he is awaiting transport to the Valley Street Jail in Manchester. It is unclear in Dave’s brief update what exactly he is being charged with.

According to Ridley, there is video of the entire encounter. Assuming the police do not destroy it, once the video becomes available, it will be posted here. Dave’s Porc411 call following the arrest:

http://nh.porcupine411.com/files/2011/05/2011-05-25_18-41-52.mp3

The arrest of one of New Hampshire’s best know independent videojournalists comes on the eve of a Senate hearing to clean up the state’s ambiguous wiretapping statute.

5/26/11 – 12:00pm: Dave is still being held at the Valley Street Jail without bail. Officials at the jail are refusing to reveal what exactly he is being charged with. He did release this Qik video live from the inside of the jail, and a new video which appeared on his youtube channel presents the latest information in the form of illustrated Porc411 calls.

UPDATE – 5:30pm: Dave had been released earlier today, and is being charged with criminal trespass. Latest details acquired from Free Keene.

5/27/11 – 12:00pm: Late last evening, the video of Dave’s being ordered to leave the Radisson and subsequently being arrested by one uniformed and one plain-clothes officer was released. Off camera towards the end of the video, Dave is grabbed in the crotch by Sergeant Denis Linehan of Nashua PD. Linehan has been featured in previous Nashua Telegraph articles as a vocal opponent of the Nashua 420 celebrations that occurred in Spring of 2010, where he stated support for rounding up activists in their homes outside of Nashua to charge them with any overzealous officer’s favorite charge: disorderly conduct.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6GqaUfaFLg4

This morning via Porc411, Ridley announces a demonstration to be held Sunday at 3:00pm near the front of the Nashua Police Station.

http://nh.porcupine411.com/files/2011/05/2011-05-27_09-52-06.mp3

5/31/11: A demonstration in front of the Nashua Police Department occurred Sunday, May 29 in opposition to the department’s arrest of Dave Ridley and assault on independent journalism. Free Concord coverage is here.

A video released yesterday from Ridley shows the report he was intending to make, before he was surrounded and consumed into the custody of the Nashua police. He asks New Hampshire democrats their opinions on how the opposition republican party is wasting state claimed resources.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZIdUAsUq7aw

8/27/2011: Dave Ridley was found not-guilty of a criminal trespassing charge in Nashua district court on Thursday, 25 August 2011. Article:

Not-Guilty Verdict in Ridley Trespassing Trial