Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion was arrested last Friday afternoon on witness tampering charges while he was on Facebook live stream.
His broadcast captured the moments New Jersey police officers entered a room at his girlfriend’s house in Parsippany-Troy Hills to arrest him at about 1 p.m.
Officers yelled, “police department!” as they entered the bedroom – the lead officer with his gun drawn. It was the second Facebook live broadcast by Forchion. In the first, Forchion said police were outside of his house and suspected he was being arrested for witness tampering.
Authorities say Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion had been charged with second-degree witness tampering and of third-degree witness tampering.
He was indicted Tuesday by a Mercer County grand jury and a warrant for his arrest issued the same day, the prosecutor’s office said.
In an phone interview with NJ.com, Forchion said he believed the new charges stem from him revealing the name of a confidential informant involved in drug dealing case against him in Mercer County.
Forchion was arrested in April 2016 during a police raid of his Trenton restaurant, called NJ Weedman’s Joint. He is charged with selling marijuana at his establishment.
Mercer County prosecutors have said that a confidential informant for police bought marijuana from Forchion various times before the raid and provided important information on the sales to police.
NJ.com says that Forchion started spreading the name of the man who he believed to be the confidential informant on social media sites, asking his followers to find information on the man.
Prosecutors filed a motion to stop Forchion from publishing that information which prompted the raid last week.
Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi ruled on last week that Forchion did not need to know the man’s name in order to build a defense against the drug charges.
Is this a case of harassment?
In March of 2016, Forchion filed a lawsuit, arguing that that the police were interfering with the lawful right to assemble and freedom of religion. Before police started looking into Forchion, he had been running a cannabis sanctuary, the Liberty Bell Temple, After Forchion’s lawsuit, the police responded by opening an investigation into drug dealing and, raided the temple in April of 2016. They seized a savvy audiovisual setup, including 28 cameras and computers which were set up to film a reality TV show, as well as hard drives containing all of Forchion’s writings going back years. The police also claimed to find $19,000 worth of marijuana.
In addition, the police also seized and then crushed the NJ Weedman’s iconic Weedmobile, a custom van painted with murals celebrating ganja that Forchion had driven cross-country multiple times.
NJ Weedman has never denied claims about smoking weed as he openly talks about it. When his restaurant and temple was operational he noted he had a “bring your own weed” policy and he claims no dealing ever took place on the property.
As reported by MerryJane.com:
The NJ Weedman has a long and an interesting history of cannabis activism. He has successfully challenged his marijuana arrests in court and pioneered jury nullification as a tactic for avoiding conviction. He has run for office as part of the Legalize Marijuana Party. Forchion owned a prominent medical marijuana dispensary and Liberty Bell Temple in Hollywood, Calif., but it was shut down after a federal raid in 2012. Forchion also has bone cancer and is a legitimate medical marijuana user.
Forchion got in trouble back in 2002, which led to a long-running feud with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. While on provisional release from jail on possession charges, the NJ Weedman continued his activism by advocating for marijuana legalization despite being warned not to by state officials. Forchion filed a complaint with then-U.S. Attorney Christie defending his free speech rights and state officials responded by arresting Forchion and putting him back in jail for encouraging criminal behavior. Officials were specifically upset about a series of TV commercials Forchion filmed calling for legalization. After five months in jail and a hunger strike, a federal judge ruled that state of New Jersey was wrong because Forchion’s activism had been within his free speech rights and he was released.
Trenton is a New Jersey city dealing with a high violent crime rate. Last year crime was up led by 40 percent rise in shootings. Homicides were also up, from 17 in 2015 to 21 in 2016. So with a city ridden with violent crime and homicides, a tale we’ve known for years, what is the gripe with NJ Weedman; for a drug that will most likely be legal in all 50 states?
