Dave Ridley, State House Stalker

It's hard to imagine that sign was necessary. 

That's Dave Ridley. He's a member of the Free State Project, the armed libertarian insurrectionists who want to take over NH. He's one of the early movers, who came here from Texas. Dave fancies himself a journalist, in the same way that Jimmy O'Keefe does. They both do weird ambush interviews, piece them together and call the results "journalism." Libertarians are overwhelmingly white and male, and the Free State Project is no exception. There's a deep strain of misogyny running through the glibertarian crowd. Read the comment section of any one of these videos and you'll see what I mean. 

Ridley likes to grab his camera and pose as a member of the press at the Legislative Office Building in Concord on days when the committees are in session. He is never seen at the State House on session day. As most of you know, there are 400 representatives in the NH House. They earn $100 a year for their service. They do not have offices. They do not have secretaries or assistants. They wade through hundreds of bills every year. Ridley's badgering people about something that happened 3 years ago, while these folks are trying to do the work of the 2014 session. This isn't journalism. This is a clown show. 

April 1, 2014  - Ridley in action with a lobbyist at the Legislative Office Building in Concord.
He admits that he doesn't know who she is or what she lobbies for, but he "thinks his viewers will be interested." That doesn't even make sense. Why would his viewers be interested in some stranger Ridley knows nothing about? This is all about Ridley. HE wants to follow the attractive blonde around and harass her. If she were wearing a skirt he'd be trying for upskirt photos - that's the kind of "journalistic" integrity at work here.



Here he is harassing Nancy Cosette, a staffer at the LOB:



Remember, it's 2014. He's harassing members of the judiciary committee about a disturbed individual from Keene who burned himself to death on the steps of the courthouse there in 2011. Tom Ball was Vietnam vet who was angry about his wife leaving him, angry about the divorce, angry about the settlement, angry about having to pay child support,  and generally angry. He was angry at everyone, so his next step was to join a men's rights group, which added more gasoline to the fire. He was miffed that peaceful protest didn't get him his way, so he decided to show everyone, by setting himself on fire at the courthouse.

That was in 2011. There's been an election since then, so it's entirely possible that the legislators Ridley is harassing weren't in office then, or on the judiciary committee. (An actual journalist would have asked, or done research in advance.)  And whether they were or not - they had nothing to do with the unbalanced man who set himself on fire. The only person responsible for Tom Ball's actions is Tom Ball. It's 2014.When Ridley comes in to badger them about something that happened 3 years ago, he's just trying to get them to look stupid on camera so he can do a gotcha video.

Here he is asking Rep. Donna Schlachman to handcuff him. A journalist would have asked her questions about the minimum wage bill, instead of creating a side show.





Here he is harassing Rep. Janet Wall, even after she makes it clear that she doesn't want to talk to him.



Note where his camera is focused as he aims it at a young woman sitting on a bench in the hallway. 
He follows one female representative out of committee and into the stairwell badgering her about Tom Ball.

Part 2 of his video stalking of Rep. Janet Wall:



He follows her up and down the halls. He follows her into committee. He follows her almost into the elevator at one point - even though she's asked him to leave her alone. She is under no obligation to talk to Ridley, and who can blame her for not wanting to? 

Ridley doesn't follow men down the halls, or into the stairwells if they ignore him. He doesn't follow them to the elevator, or pan the camera over their chests. 

He doesn't do this to Republican female legislators. 

This is creepy, stalkerish behavior. And of course, if Ridley's conduct causes him to be barred from the LOB, he'll use that to whine about what a victim he is, because that's what Free Staters do. They're never responsible - it's always someone else's fault.

Ridley's antics give citizen journalists a bad name. 

Society of Professional Journalists Ethics