Armed with only a small Bible and a pocket-sized edition of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Russell Kanning made his way through the security checkpoint at the Manchester Airport last Saturday afternoon with one goal in mind: to make it onto a plane without showing any government-issued identification.

"I don't believe in the idea of security at any cost," Kanning said to reporters during a small press conference at the airport.

Kanning, a 35-year-old resident of Keene and a member of the Free State Project, widely publicized his act of civil disobedience over the past two weeks. He told friends, sent out press releases and even called the airport to notify officials of his plan. His intentions were simple: he believes people should travel freely without having to show any kind of identification.

"I want to get to the point where we don't have ID at all," Kanning said in an interview last week, adding that he gave up his driver's license last month. "When you go on an airplane, it's in your face. (Security) makes you take off your shoes, they're patting down women... going through people's bags. It just hits me when you're at an airport shuffling along in stocking feet, people are holding their clothing... it does not make me think we're in a free country."

And so Kanning, his wife Kat Dillon, and about a dozen friends and fellow Free Staters eager to watch the spectacle gathered at the airport. During the hour leading up to Kanning going through security, officers from the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office and the Transportation Safety Administration and airport staff members were a visible presence at the checkpoint.

At first, Kanning made it through the checkpoint with little trouble. Kanning showed a deputy his boarding pass (for Philadelphia, a "symbolic" destination, he said) and made his way to the metal detectors. TSA personnel then asked Kanning to remove his shoes.

"No, I'll keep them on," he said, smiling politely.

As he stepped through the metal detector, two deputies approached, and after a few minutes of quiet discussion, Kanning was led out of the checkpoint to the airport's law enforcement office.

Kanning's bid to board a plane without showing identification followed a high-profile protest by Mike Fisher, a fellow Free Stater and resident of Newmarket, who was also among the crowd at the airport. On May 9, Fisher stationed himself outside the state's Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics and gave an unlicensed "manicure" to Dillon. Fisher, who was protesting unnecessary licensing laws in the state, spent two days in jail and received a massive amount of press coverage.

"I was amazed," he said. "I think that was more than I could have ever hoped for."

James Maynard, a spokesman for the Free State Project in New Hampshire, said the group does not officially support Kanning or Fisher in their protests.

"The Free State Project is not a political organization of any sort," he said. "It does not take any stand one way or another on the issues. It's merely a vehicle to gather liberty lovers from around the country to gather together in one area to try and make life better for all."

However, the publicity from the protests is "absolutely helping," he said. "We've gotten positive coverage about the manicure event ... from New Hampshire out to New Zealand."

"I also think people really understand where (protestors) are coming from is a mindset of wanting to make a difference, to expose some of the ridiculous laws which all states have," he said.

The Free State Project selected New Hampshire as its target state in 2003 because of there's less government regulation here than in other states. Since then, project organizers know of more than 300 people who have moved to the state in support. But if the whole point in choosing New Hampshire was because of its emphasis on individual rights, why mount the protests here?

"There's nowhere else I can go," said Fisher. "There's no place you can go that's more free than (New Hampshire) ... so I have to take a stand somewhere. You can't keep running."

According to Maynard, other Free Staters have responded positively to the protests, though they might not necessarily agree with Fisher and Kanning's methods.

"We're a huge, diverse group of people with different viewpoints, but the good thing is, for the most part, we've agreed to disagree about methods," Maynard said. "Some people feel that doing non-violent civil disobedience is the best way to change things... others choose to go through a political process. But we all have the same goal, which is more liberty, more freedom and a better life for ourselves and our children."

Fisher said he drew his inspiration from reading the works of philosopher and civil disobedience pioneer Henry David Thoreau and from studying the life of Mahatma Gandhi. During the widespread coverage of the protest, letters appeared in local newspapers criticizing Fisher for comparing his buff and polish protest to Gandhi's fight for India's independence.

But to Fisher, his act of civil disobedience, and his ultimate goal, is very similar to that of Gandhi. While Gandhi's larger struggle was for an India free of British rule, Fisher said Gandhi led small acts of rebellion, such as a 1930 protest against a law prohibiting Indians from boiling salt water.

"My ultimate goal is independence for my country as well," he said. "My version of independence is little to no government, so we can self-govern, which was the way it was supposed to be when the country was founded in the first place."

John Babiarz, chairman of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, believes "too many people forgot civil disobedience is one way of making change."

"I think it's good to see activism like this as long as it's peaceful. It brings attention to issues Libertarians feel deeply about," he said.

Members of the Free State Project are often lumped in with the Libertarian Party because of overlapping philosophies on personal freedom and a decreased government. Though there are no official ties between the two groups, Babiarz said association between the two groups, and the publicity surrounding the protests, has "spread the word 'Libertarian' out there."

"I think Libertarians are always out there on the edge, and I guess that's why we get lumped in with the Free Staters and vice-versa," he said.