MANCHESTER RESIDENT FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST POLICE

As reported in the Manchester Express:

MANCHESTER RESIDENT FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST POLICE

Gun-rights advocate demands police receive new civil rights training

By ANDREW J. MANUSE, amanuse@manchexpress.com

In a June 20 letter to Manchester Police
Chief David Mara and Mayor Frank Guinta,
Wilson Street resident Ryan Marvin alleges
that police violated the Constitutional
rights of his friends and him during an incident
earlier this month, and he demands a
public apology.

The letter, which Marvin says is “a complaint
against the Manchester Police Department
and Mayor in his capacity of chief executive
of the city,” demands a “full, public
apology” for the incident, which took place
on Sunday, June 8.

On that date, police records show that police
responded to a call at 6:45 p.m. from an
unnamed person who was concerned about
“teenagers” walking with a gun. In reality,
Marvin, 24, who was unarmed, was walking
“peacefully” toward his home in the
area of Lake Avenue, with friends visiting
from Gainesville, Fla., including Roxanne
Schulman, 21, also unarmed, as well as
Neal Connor, 21, and Alexander Villacampa,
21, who were carrying their guns in holsters,
Marvin said.

Article 2a of the New Hampshire Constitution
and the Second Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution gives citizens the right to “bear
arms.” State law also give citizens the right to
openly carry guns in the Granite State without
a permit and prohibits cities or towns from
passing more restrictive laws.

The police record shows that Marvin and
his friends were detained for 43 minutes
and that their gun registration numbers were
checked. Marvin and his friends have said police
searched their pants pockets, too, which
they say was a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s
Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable
searches or seizures.

In his complaint, Marvin said police detained
him and his friends “with no reasonable,
articulable suspicion that any of us were
or would be involved in a crime,” which violates
RSA 625:6 (all offenses defined by statute).
He said police also violated the gun laws,
in addition to RSA 633:3 (false imprisonment),
RSA 653:1 (official oppression), and
43 USC 1983 (civil action for deprivation of
rights), among other laws and rights.

Marvin has already set up a July 16 meeting
with the mayor to discuss the incident. The
mayor has declined to comment on the issue,
referring the matter to the police department.
Police Chief Mara has said last week that he
would order an investigation of “the facts and
circumstances” surrounding the incident if a
complaint was filed.

“If we find that our officers acted inappropriately,
we will take appropriate action,” he
said last week.

In his complaint, Marvin requests that Guinta
and Mara publish a letter of apology in local
newspapers in Manchester and Gainesville,
Fla., even if they must pay for the letter to run.
He also requests that the Police Department
retrain all patrol officers on New Hampshire
citizens’ right to bear arms, the state’s license
to carry law, and all laws relative to unlawful
detentions, searches and seizures. Finally, he
asks for a new Police Department policy to
terminate officers who “repeatedly unlawfully
detained any citizen simply for lawfully exercising
his or her Constitutional rights.”

In his letter, Marvin says he will file a civil
suit in state and/or federal court against the
city and police department if his requests
are not met. He also says he will file a complaint
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
but only if “absolutely necessary to
stop these abuses.”