As they watched the images from New Orleans in recent weeks, most Americans saw vast swathes of suffering, natural disaster, and human misery. John Connell, however, saw nothing but a bloated bureaucracy.

"Dumb, clumsy, no moral compass, a waste of money," was how Connell described the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. And that's why he and five other self-styled libertarians staged a mini-protest in front of the Federal Office Building in Concord last night, burning a handmade FEMA banner and waving anti-FEMA signs at passers-by.

The protesters say the government's response to Hurricane Katrina proved an argument they've been making for years: that politicians can't be trusted; that your tax dollars are best left in your own pocket; and that Americans need to stop looking to the government for help - even during a Category 5 hurricane.

"The bad things show how bad government is," said Russell Kanning, 35, of Keene, a leader of the group that organized the protest.

"But when something bad happens, people do run to the government. It's just insane."

Last night's protest was the latest in a series of stunts pulled by NHFree, a libertarian group that includes many members of the Free State Project. In recent months, members staged an unlicensed manicure, tried to board a commercial airplane without showing identification, and burned a United Nations flag.

The group does not represent the Free State Project, although many NHFree members moved to New Hampshire in the past year as part of the project. The Free State Project seeks to gather as many libertarian-minded people in New Hampshire as possible.

Last night's mission was to spread that word about FEMA. Protesters handed out news articles that detailed efforts by relief workers to confiscate guns in New Orleans. They passed around a petition that would call on New Hampshire officials to reject FEMA's help in case of an emergency. They hoisted signs reading "No NH Gun Grab," and "FEMA out of NH."

Not everybody got the message.

"What's F-E-M-A?" asked one woman while waiting for a red light on Pleasant Street. When Kanning explained that the agency wanted to kick people out of their homes and steal their guns, the woman nodded.

"Sorry, I didn't know," she said. "I'm very disconnected, but thanks for telling me." Then she drove away.

The evening's finale was meant to be the ceremonial burning of a FEMA flag, but it turns out that such banners are hard to come by. Several sheets of butcher paper with "FEMA" written in magic marker made a suitable stand in.

Most drivers and pedestrians ignored the protesters yesterday. Some honked their horns. One woman leaned her head out of her car window and, spying the "FEMA KILLS" sign, said, "But they do help in New Hampshire with heating bills."

Amanda Sleaster, a high school student from Concord, offered the protesters their most vigorous debate. Sleaster, 16, seemed befuddled by Connell's claim that FEMA did more harm than good in the Gulf Coast.

"It doesn't make sense," Sleaster said. "They want to help people. They did save people, you have to admit that."

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