Congrats Gavin Seim! Winner of The Checkpoint Contest

04-15-2013 • Copblock and Checkpoint USA

On March 4th we announced The Checkpoint Contest, which solicited content that best demystifies checkpoints and educates others about their rights should they encounter one themselves.

When the deadline passed on April 8th we had received nine entries, which were judged by Terry Bressi (on behalf of Checkpoint USA), Ian Freeman (on behalf of Liberty Radio Network) and myself (on behalf of Cop Block). We all agreed – Gavin Seim’s submission best addressed the contest criteria. For his efforts, Seim will be sent the Veho Muvi Gumball 3000 HD videocamera.

Seim, a self-described “portraitist, pictorialist, and wrriter” who left with his family from Washington to go on a road trip, recorded his interaction with employees at an internal checkpoint. You can connect with Seim via: http://f164.com – http://twitter.com/gavinseim - http://seimstudios.com – http://lightletter.com

All entries received are posted below, in order of the average rank earned by the judges.

Seven of the nine entries received involved a video submission. Those videos are included on the Checkpoint Contest 2013 playlist below, which begins with “The Checkpoint Contest in One Minute” video:

Gavin Seim

#1 with an average ranking of 1.00

Input from the judges:

Terry: My top choice Ian: Epic family standing up for freedom! Who says you can’t take a risk with kids?! Dude jumps right in and takes control of the situation. Hilarious facial and verbal response from the first agent. He didn’t get personal against the guard like my previous choice for winner. Points off for being for border checkpoints. Still the best video. Props for advocating risk-taking at the end. Pete: Excellent video. Framed the situation before reaching the checkpoint, made it clear through calm, confident conversation that he wasn’t going to unthinkingly comply, made it clear to viewers the importance to stand-up now against claimed right transgressions. Having the family along was a bonus.