Watch Police Call In Backup For Veteran Paying Ticket In Pennies

By Jack Burns

Manchester, NH — Stories about citizens paying their taxes with pennies aren’t new. But how Billy Spaulding of Manchester paid his parking ticket with pennies might be a first, since he was packing a sidearm while doing so.

As The Free Thought Project has stated before, “police need you to break traffic laws” because writing tickets and receiving funds from doing so is a considerable revenue generator for police departments. It’s how police states maintain their control over the citizenry.

Manchester police didn’t take kindly to Spaulding’s form of payment, and according to reports, called in a SWAT officer to deal with him. At first, the police told Spaulding he should take his form of payment to the bank to get bills instead of pennies.

“You don’t have a bank account?” one officer asked.

Spaulding responded by saying he didn’t. Whether it’s true or not simply doesn’t matter. Spaulding had every right to pay his extortion fees in pennies. According to U.S. Law Code 31.5103, “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.”

Spaulding had a friend record the scene. Although the recording does not start and stop at the beginning and the end of the encounter, it does show police intercepting Spaulding, asking him to find some other form of payment, and then telling his friend he has to stop recording because he didn’t announce he was going to do so.

Refusing to allow the two citizens to record themselves paying a parking fee, is considered a violation of one’s First Amendment rights, so long as it does not interfere with the official duties of the officers. Spaulding may have recourse to file a lawsuit for both issues; refusing to receive his form of payment which resulted in his occurring additional expenditures, and his friend being forced to stop recording.

Recently, an activist by the name of Phillip Turner won a judgment in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled he does (and so does every citizen) have a right to film police.

Entering a courthouse or a police station while being armed is also not illegal in New Hampshire. Spaulding knew that as well, but he reportedly had to take his grievance to the Sheriff’s department before he was allowed to go back to the court house and pay his parking ticket in pennies.

Spaulding may have, however, missed an opportunity to have his ticket nullified. Upon having presented his form of payment, and having witnessed his payment refused, he could have asked a judge to dismiss his $75 ticket. The judge would likely have done so, being fully aware that the Coinage Act of 1965 allows all forms of U.S. currency to be used for payment.

After leaving the sheriff’s office, Spaulding once again presented his $75 worth of pennies as payment for his ticket at the county courthouse. The clerk, having been notified by the sheriff to receive the former Marine’s payment, didn’t seem all too pleased to be doing so. Nonetheless, Spaulding passed through the glass window separating the two individuals, a grand total of 7,500 pennies and a $5 bill just in case he or the clerk miscounted.

Below is the video of this epic encounter.

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Jack Burns is an educator, journalist, investigative reporter, and advocate of natural medicine. This article first appeared at TheFreeThoughtProject.com