January 16, 2010 was an abnormally warm day for New England. At approximately 2:30 in the afternoon I told my room mate I would probably call into the Porc411 hotline to schedule an impromptu 420 celebration. He went ahead and did it and we had a small group of 6 people show up at Veterans Park at 4:20. No protest, no signs, just a group of friends enjoying each other's company.
After the consumption of the cannabis we were approached by two individuals that asked if we were smoking pot. It was difficult to here exactly what they said because of the traffic on Elm Street but I asked them if they were smoking pot or they thought we were smoking pot, as we don't try to hide what it is we do there. One guy asked for identification and we knew then the two men were plain clothed Manchester police officers.
I refused to provide identification, as I never carry any on my person. I repeatedly asked one of the officers if I was lawfully required to provide any identification to them (as I didn't believe I was required to) and he wouldn't answer my question. I assumed this meant that no, in fact, I was not lawfully required to provide identification because the probable cause to detain suspects was pretty weak. He asked to search my person and I informed him I don't consent to searches.
A friend who was there did consent to a search and the police found some paraphernalia. They proceeded to place him under arrest. I continued to inform the other people who were there that they weren't required to answer the questions which hurt the feelings of the police. By this time, there were at least 7 Manchester police on the scene.
The raw video of what happened next as I was finally told I was free to go can be seen here but you can see the quicker version turned into a parody from the folks at the Freedom Movement below.
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