By Matt Agorist
Last week, police, in their efforts to keep the world safe from a dangerous plant, arrested Jeffrey Pendleton for possessing a small amount of cannabis.
He was then locked in a cage last Wednesday after a Nashua District Court judge had set his bail at $100 cash. Unable to pay his extortion fee for possessing a plant that is legal in some form in 23 states, Pendleton, 26, was found dead in his cell five days later at 2:45 on Sunday.
“There appeared no indication that Mr. Pendleton was in any form of distress,” said Superintendent David Dionne. The Manchester police are now investigating his death.
An autopsy was scheduled for Monday. However, the results have yet to be released publicly, leaving some questioning the circumstances of his untimely death — especially considering his outstanding history of activism against police abuse of the homeless.
Pendleton is no stranger to police in the area as he had won settlements for civil rights violations from both the Hudson and Nashua police departments last year. Pendleton won a settlement of $7,640 from Hudson after he was unlawfully arrested for standing on public property holding a sign that read, “Homeless and Struggling.”
After that debacle, Nashua paid Pendleton $10,315 after he spent 33 days in jail for walking in a park adjacent to the Nashua library after police forbade him to do so.
His death comes exactly one year to the date after Nashua signed the papers agreeing to settle the claims and avoid a suit.
“We will deeply miss Jeff,” said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire who represented Pendleton in his two cases.
“He knew there were people like him out there having similar interactions with law enforcement,” Bissonnette said. “He wanted change, whether if for a black person or simply a poor person out of work.”
In a statement on Monday, the ACLU referred to Pendleton as a “defender of constitutional rights.”
According to the Union Leader, Pendleton was discovered inside his cell during a head count that takes place during change of shift. Jail officials are reviewing video and speaking to inmates to piece together a timeline of Pendleton’s last hours. He said the door to his jail cell was closed when he was discovered.
This tragic case highlights the immoral nature of the state’s war on drugs. Pendleton had harmed no one, yet he was kidnapped, locked in a cage, and subsequently died without freedom because agents of the state, whose job it is to enforce unjust laws, put him there. Meanwhile, actual crimes continue to go unpursued, uninvestigated, and unsolved — after all, arresting poor people for a plant is far easier and profitable.
Matt Agorist is the co-founder of TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. He is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist
THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS AND BAIL FOR THE POOREST OF POOR IS WHOLESALE SLAVERY!!
THIS MAN’S DEATH DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN!! CAUSED BY GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF THE POLICE!! AND A OVER-PUNITIVE JUDICIARY!
How else are we going to keep violent blacks locked up unless we make their crack- and weed-smoking a jailable offense?
Because commies like you love a police state. Move to North Korea with your worthless big government bullshit. You don’t deserve to live in a free country…
You are not very good at recognising sarcasm are you?
WHENT RIGHT OVER HIS HEAD!! LOL!!
Unfortunately knifemare is incapable of most things. Had to leave him a similar message on Xrepublic.
“I would use profanity, but you would not understand.
Sarcasm is making fun of the cops you d*** s***.
Why not use google and finds out what the * you are talking about.
You must be the only person in the whole of USA who failed the Police selection for being too stupid.”
Still, mustn’t mock the afflicted.
“Still, mustn’t mock the afflicted.”
So THAT’S why comedians are avoiding the college circuit………
I thought it was because of the sign “Please don’t tease the animals” but I guess it depends on which college you are referring to.
Every country in this world is free .. if you have money.
WE CAN LOCK YOU UP INSTEAD….LOL….
Died in police custody = murdered by police.
Yeah, who needs evidence!
The police never need evidence, they just point and execute. F*ck them, and f*ck the America-hating Nazis who support them…
How is “evidence” relevant?
Because even when the police are captured on video murdering people they still get off about 98% of the time.
You’re homeless but yet you can afford weed? America…
Because nobody ever gives their less fortunate friends a nugg to tide them over…
Maybe he was homeless b/c he had cancer or another disease, chronic pain etc, helped by cannabis and he could afford to pay the black market price for cannabis but not also to pay rent. I am disabled b/c of 10 years of chronic pain, living for free in somebody else’s house. I will get some more money soon, and at the same time my state will have non-psychoactive cannabis oil available to eligible patients (me) and you can bet I will use the extra money to pay for the cannabis medicine, not to rent my own place. Once I have recovered from this disease I will get my own place.
You know that the real shame of all of this, is that its a freaking weed, will grow anywhere, and there should be absolutely NO regulation or criminality associated with it. Further, part of making it a “crime” was the lawyers changing the definition of the term “drug”; look it up in an old Bouvier’s Law Dictionary and you’ll see that the definition of a drug required that it be “man made”.
10s of thousands killed by FDA approved drugs; how many FDA agents are doing time for assisting in commercial murder? There’s your sign………..
It’s easy to afford the small distractions, when the major responsibilities are beyond your grasp.
…and THAT is a description of our ENTIRE political body, dealing with small distractions when the major responsibilities are beyond their ability to ignore their Masters commands. (Not us.)
Sounds like they killed him.
After reading this article and seeing previous encounters, I’m really wondering, just what was the actual cause of this mans death? Seems strange that he had previously spent 33 days in jail with no problems, but died in 5 days this time.
Maybe he slipped and choked on a bicep.
Do I ever have a story about Homeless ! It`s not the Right time to share, But I will share it ONE DAY !!
Sounds dramatic.
The war on drugs is just a way the gold collar scum have of keeping the little guy from any real games.
It is another waste of tax money and an example of big gubberment failure.
Cops are always willing to beat the crap out of these homeless types.
Move to Colorado and imbibe for the health of it.
FIRST you gotta “Believe’ white skinned male PIGS of NH, that the “pot’ was ON HIM TO BEGIN WITH, and NOT “Planted” evidence BY THE euro-Caucasian white skinned male PIG, itself!
CAMERAS for EVERY mothaFukin “on duty” PIG in ameriiiiSCUM, IMMEDIATELY!