Originally from Free Keene:

A crowd of about one hundred people gathered to celebrate the 4/20 holiday at 4:20 PM in front of the State House in Concord this evening. This year’s event was hosted by the N.H. Teapot Party, covering for the usual organizing by the 420 Foundation. Rich Paul, founder of the 420 Foundation and outspoken opponent of the war on drugs, was convicted on Thursday afternoon by jury on multiple counts of cannabis distribution. He remains detained while awaiting sentencing, and today marked the first annual celebration without Rich since the rallies began in 2010.

Updated Sat, 2013-04-20 13:16

Rich Paul, the founder of the daily “420 at 4:20” events, was found guilty in a jury trial today of four counts of distributing marijuana and one count of distributing LSD.

It appears that the FBI has been trying to infiltrate the Keene Activist Center (KAC). In April and May of last year, Special Agent Philip Christiana of the FBI, working with New Hampshire Drug Task Force officers Trooper Charles I. Newton, undercover James C. Mayers, Barry Hunter, and a handful of others, used a “confidential informant” by the name of Richard James DuPont, Jr., to set up at least four buys with Rich in the hopes of coercing him into wearing a wire into the KAC. DuPont himself was a heroin dealer who, according to his own testimony, snitched on six other people, at least three of whom were subsequently arrested. When Rich was finally busted, rather than coöperate with the FBI, he promptly went public with the FBI’s attempts at turning him into an informant on other liberty activists.

Additional details including Rich’s account of the FBI’s interview of him can be found at the links below.

Rich was jailed at the conclusion of the trial pending sentencing and is currently at the Cheshire County jail. You can write to Rich in jail using the Mail-to-Jail service. He has not been sentenced yet, but could serve up to 81 years in prison.

Below are links to extensive coverage on Free Keene and other media. We’ll update this page as more coverage is posted.

• NHJury.com feature article.
• Examiner: Rich Paul rejects spying on friends, seeks jury nullification.
• VICE: Eighty-one years for weed?
• Free Keene:
  • Rich Paul’s full trial video
  • Rich Paul trial audio, day 3
  • Rich Paul found guilty – juror admits, “We didn’t want to break the law.”
  • Rich Paul trial: Live updates.
  • Trial audio from day 1 of State v. Rich Paul.
  • Hearing on motion to restrict recording of witnesses in Rich Paul’s trial.
  • Vice and the Examiner cover Rich Paul’s story.
  • Rich Paul refuses plea offer of no jail time.
  • Lew Rockwell blogs about Rich Paul, the FBI, and Keene.
  • Rich Paul’s story, part 1: Activist entrapped, blackmailed by FBI!
  • Police to release heroin dealer to bust cannabis dealer?
  • 420 celebrations are back daily in Central Square!
  • Rich Paul facing 81 years in prison for cannabis distribution, refuses plea deal – trial April 16 @ 9 AM.

Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 4:20 PM.
New Hampshire State House.
Concord, New Hampshire.

As seen on Free Keene, the Concord Patch wrote up a nice report on this year’s 420 rally:

Advocates of marijuana legalization gathered at the Statehouse on April 20, to push their cause, march in the plaza, and even fill the Hall of Flags with anti-drug war lyrics to the tune of Christmas carols.

The rally—420 at 4:20 on 4/20—was a collection of advocates, users, and other “liberty-minded” individuals, pressing their belief that drug laws are more harmful than good and that they should be allowed to smoke if they want to.

The next big rally will be held on November 5, 2012 at the Concord, State House.

• From Free Keene:—
  

  Well over 100 turned out for a 420 celebration at the Concord State House, now in its third year! The Shire Choir performed several “Chronic Carols” inside the state house, while plenty of cannabis was smoked in front of the building as State Police looked on. Thanks to the police for doing the right thing and standing down and allowing peaceful people to be free.

• From Free Concord:—
  

  This year’s 4/20 rally in the capitol plaza was more modest in size than the previous celebration, but the crowd’s enthusiasm for the cause of liberty did not feel lacking. A small crowd gathered at 2pm for the Free Concord litter pickup. Back at the State House by 3:30, rally-goers and independent media began creeping in. Speechifying by local activists on an open bullhorn preceded and followed the announcement to “smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em” at 4:20. A few individuals visiting town for the rally were selling bottles of water and bags of chips in defiance of laws against such peaceful exchange. Before the State House closed at 5:00pm, a crowd of around thirty caroled in the lobby for an audience of about eight state troopers and security guards. Despite a somewhat greater presence of state law enforcement inside the State House, there was no uniformed presence in the courtyard for the duration of the rally. Attendance is estimated to be near one hundred.

• “A Weeda Claus 420” video by “MikeforLiberty”.
  

  Rally to end prohibition at State Capitol in Concord, NH. A group of 100 liberty-loving individuals gather in support of the freedom to control their own bodies. Peace, Love and Christmas carols.

• “420 Rally Concord, NH” video by “gramrastag”.

The 420 at 4:20 rally will be held today in Concord on the State House lawn.

Shortly before, at 2pm, activists will be holding a litter pickup around Concord.

Bags and gloves will be provided. For the celebrations after the litter pickup, you may want to bring chalk, musical instruments, signs, or anything else that you think would contribute to the peaceful atmosphere.

See you there!

We’ve created new versions of this year’s flyer: There are now “4-up” versions, which are designed to be printed on one sheet and then cut into four separate flyers, and all the flyers now have a QR code on them for smart phone users to be able to quickly browse to this website merely by taking a photo of the flyer with their phone.

You can download PDFs of the flyers here.

We’ve created two flyers for the upcoming 2012 State House rally. One is entirely black and white, and the other, for you with color printers, has a green pot leaf to make the flyer more attention-getting.

The flyers are full 8½×11″ sheets. We recommend printing them “4-up” so you can get four times the flyers.

You can download PDFs of the flyers here.