“Despotism and Defiance” Symposium Moved to Monday, August 14 in front of Las Vegas Federal Courthouse

Lysander Spooner University’s “Despotism and Defiance” Symposium was scheduled for Saturday, August 12 at “Camp Liberty” in downtown Las Vegas.

However, yesterday, on August 11, Las Vegas police arrived in massive numbers at the location and demanded that the venue be closed due to “code violations.”

People at Camp Liberty were unlawfully detained and told that “the owner” had reported them as squatters. (It was apparently an illegal false police report by government trusters seeking to perpetuate government control of higher education.) (A lawsuit over the unlawful police action is in the works.)

Lysander Spooner University has decided to move the event to Monday, August 14, on the public sidewalk in front of the U.S. federal courthouse on Las Vegas Blvd in downtown Las Vegas. The conference will begin as soon as court in the case of United States v. Bundy, et al. is adjourned for the day. (No one knows when this will be, so please everyone arrive early to attend trial at 9:00 a.m.)

Trial in the case ended abruptly last week when a federal judge ordered defendant Eric Parker off the witness stand for saying he looked “up and to the right” during events in Bunkerville, Nevada on April 12, 2014. (The judge in the case has indicated that only a ‘mere presence’ defense is available to Parker; he may not mention any surrounding circumstances that led to his presence, his concerns or his behavior; and although pictures show him prone with a rifle positioned in a direction where there were government agents, he is barred from defending himself from ‘assaulting federal agents’ charges by explaining the conduct of the agents).

Supporters of Parker have asked that hundreds of people come to show support for Parker and others on trial.

We will piggyback on this rally in front of the federal courthouse. Some speculate that prosecutors may seek a mistrial early on Monday. Many others predict that court will proceed normally with codefendant Scott Drexler on the witness stand. If so trial may not adjourn until 5:00 p.m.

In any case, Lysander Spooner University will present an all-star cast of scholars and lecturers on the sidewalks outside immediately after court ends on Monday:

Featured speakers include:

Andrea Parker, wife of Eric Parker
John Lamb, LSU professor of journalism
Shelly Shelton, Tony Shelton, and Fayth Shelton, Nevada freedom advocates
Deb Jordan, of the Pete Santilli radio show and Guerilla Media
B.J. Soper, Oregon constitutional activist
Shari Dovale of Redoubt News (who has recently joined LSU as professor of news journalism)
Brand Thornton, minister and constitutional scholar
Maureen Peltier, former Army vet turned liberty activist
James Landin, of Camp Liberty

This event will be in the tradition of William Penn‘s historic Quaker sermon on the streets of London after government authorities padlocked his church and forbade him to lecture in the Quaker religion in 1670. Penn preached to a crowd of hundreds on the streets outside the church and was arrested for preaching to an unlawful assembly. When jurors found him not guilty, the tyrannical courts ordered the jurors locked up. A habeas corpus petition led to one of the greatest precedents in Anglo-American history: Bushels Case, which ruled that no juror may ever be punished for his verdict.

Be there! Free of charge!