Baltimore Activist and Blogger Arrested, Streams SWAT Team Standoff Online (Audio)

Tonight he has been taken into custody by police after a 5 hour standoff at his home where he broadcasted the kidnapping live to listeners worldwide.

It is said that the average American commits three felonies a day just in their day to day financial transactions.

With that being the case, if you ruffle enough feathers and the “powers that shouldn’t be” decide to come after you, they aren’t going to have to look too hard to find something to harass you about, regardless of what you do in your free time.

This is the situation that James MacArthur seems to have found himself in, with a SWAT team being sent to take him away because he failed to appear for a court date, a court date that he says he was never notified of.

I personally have experienced the problems in the Maryland court system with mail not getting to where its supposed to go, so the version of events that he is presenting is highly likely.

According to The Baltimore Sun:

“A Baltimore blogger wanted on a court-issued warrant refused to come out of his home for hours, broadcasting his discussion with a police negotiator live on the Internet before turning himself in peacefully.

Frank James MacArthur, 47, was taken into custody outside his home in the 600 block of McKewin Ave. at about 11 p.m. — timed, he said, for local news stations — after a standoff lasting more than five hours and which involved the department’s SWAT team.”

In all reality MacArthur is guilty of no real crime, but he has apparently disobeyed some of the state’s laws and commands.

According to media reports, the only reason he is wrapped up in the system is because of trumped up gun charges dating years back.

I say trumped up, because any gun charge where someone has not been shot at, is a trumped up charge.  MacArthur’s so called offenses were not violent and he is not a violent person.

It is obvious that he has been targeted because of his activism and his outspoken attitude towards authority.

He has been relentless on issues of police brutality and legal oppression, and has probobly been an annoyance to the department for years.

In addition to his local activism MacArthur also runs baltimorespectator.com and a radio network through that website.

At about 11 p.m. MacArthur agreed to exit his house and surrender to police, playing a recording of Rep. Ron Paul’s farewell address to Congress.

“Folks, this is it. This is James MacArthur. I”m going out peacefully. I’m going to put a (music) clip in place and after that it will just be dead air.”

MacArthur said before ending his broadcast. “I thank everybody for listening. I ask some of you don’t abandon me after this. I have absolutely been railroaded. I’m going to need some help after this … those with legal expertise. We don’t need this kind of stuff to go on … This is a bunch of nonsense.”

The Intel Hub will be following this story closely and we will be investigating the case further.

We will keep everyone updated as more information becomes available about how we can help and how James is doing.

The live broadcast of MacArthur’s standoff with police and discussion with negotiators can be found below:

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J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance, a staff writer and reporter for The Intel Hub and host of a show called Voluntary Hippie Radio.