http://www.todayonline.com/world/quirky-world/parking-meter-robin-hoods-provoke-citys-ire
Cleaveland and a group of friends took to the streets with pocketfuls of change and began shadowing the city’s three parking enforcement officers, stuffing coins in expired meters before they could issue US$5 (S$6.23) tickets.
They call their practice “Robin Hooding” and, in just over four months, the group claims to have spared motorists more than 2,000 tickets in the city of some 23,000.
Cleaveland, 26, is a member of a group called Free Keene, which subscribes to the libertarian principle of smaller government.
“I could go talk to the city council at every meeting but, to me, actions speak louder than words. I can go out and try to save people and reduce the number of tickets.”
The southern New Hampshire city’s government does not share Cleaveland’s view. This month, it filed a suit in state court against him and five others, seeking a restraining order to keep them at least 15 metres from parking enforcement officers.
The suit accuses Cleaveland and five others of videotaping, taunting and intimidating its parking meter personnel.
The alleged behaviour includes chasing officers on bicycles, shouting insults and accusing them of stealing people’s money. One officer became so stressed that he complained of heart palpitations and began having nightmares about the group, according to court papers.
The Free Keene movement is part of the Free State Project, a group that has sought to get 20,000 libertarians to settle in New Hampshire, a state already known for its limited government and which has no sales or income tax.
They would leave a card on the windshield of each “saved” car that says: “Your Meter Expired! However we saved you from the king’s tariff! — Robin Hood & The Merry Men.”
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