Dancing Hippies at the Jefferson Memorial... what could go wrong w/ that?

[Danno 1,228]

BIZARRE ‘DANCE PARTY’ PROTEST AT JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ENDS WITH VIOLENT ARRESTS

Adam Kokesh is the man that Michelle Malkin called “an anti-war smear merchant in GOP clothing.”

He now hosts a “libertarian” TV show for Russia Today called “Adam vs. the Man.”

Nothing like a high-profile stunt to boost viewership.

Adam and company have professed outrage over the 2008 police action after a group of Libertarians stae a flash-mob dance event at the Jefferson Memorial. A later court ruling upheld police action:

In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s opinion on the matter, Judge Thomas B. Griffith wrote that dancing in the memorial is “prohibited because it stands out as a type of performance, creating its own center of attention and distracting from the atmosphere of solemn commemoration that the Regulations are designed to preserve.”
“Outside the Jefferson Memorial, of course, Oberwetter and her friends have always been free to dance to their hearts’ content,” Griffith writes.
So Kokesh and crew decamped to the memorial on Saturday afternoon to stage a little civil “danceoberdience.”

It went about as you might expect.

The group that gathered at the monument Saturday was there in protest of the upheld ban.
Andrew Sharp, one of the protesters, says they were told they would not be given a warning and would be immediately arrested if they started dancing in the monument.
“I think some people thought it was a joke at first, and then they started putting handcuffs on people and were very, very serious about it,” says Sharp.
Sharp says there were about a dozen protesters, and five of them were arrested.
“It’s good that only five people got arrested, but there were many more than that there that were supportive and were there to protest the ruling,” adds Sharp.
The memorial was closed for a short time after the protesters were arrested, but was opened a short time later.



The DCist notes that, “A second protest has been set already for next Saturday, June 4 at noon, once again at the Jefferson Memorial. (Facebook invite).

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/bizarre-dance-party-protest-at-jefferson-memorial-ends-with-violent-arrests/

[ready4ONE 5,400]

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Apparently the police are now under investigation for excessive force. At the end of the day, the federal judge is at fault here.

Btw the way, the police can not tell you stop recording an incident like that unless they feel you are getting in the way. As far as I could tell the cameraman didn't stop them from arresting anyone.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Sousuke

[Golden Gate 530]

You really like these guys!

[thongd4me 69]

I'm not surprised at what happened, even despite the fact that

the "demonstration" was not in the least political or provocative.

The fact that the cops wouldn't even quote the law before applying gestapo-like

tactics. I've seen similar things up close and personal, so to speak.

Since 9/11 it's hard to not let the apparent power that you're given

go to your head when you are in "law enforcement." Not all cops

are like that, but there are enough to make it a problem.

Edited May 31, 2011 by thongd4me

[Andy-n-Maricar 6]

This would have been a nonevent if the cops had not overreacted. A few people dancing in the Jefferson Memorial is not the type of event requiring a police presence. Also, I find it hard to take seriously any cop wearing a bike helmet and shorts.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You can't even really define the term dancing anyway, which when a Federal Judge makes such a huge mistake you get these sort of extreme events. For the police in the video's sake its lucky they were dealing with code pink and not real libertarian protesters...they would have ended up in the hospital, which I suppose is Danno's point.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Sousuke

[_Simpson_ 250]

You really like these guys!

Punk Rock Girl...memories.

This would have been a nonevent if the cops had not overreacted. A few people dancing in the Jefferson Memorial is not the type of event requiring a police presence. Also, I find it hard to take seriously any cop wearing a bike helmet and shorts.

Respect the law. If your not happy with certain laws then use the system to change it. This is a very childish way to handle it, shame on those kids.

Why is it hard for you to take these cops seriously?

[Danno 1,228]

You can't even really define the term dancing anyway, which when a Federal Judge makes such a huge mistake you get these sort of extreme events. For the police in the video's sake its lucky they were dealing with code pink and not real libertarian protesters...they would have ended up in the hospital, which I suppose is Danno's point.

It's not about dancing, it's been decided that "performance art" is not allowed in memorials.

Clearly this was a staged event, this group had already been to court over the matter, no warning at all was even necessary, though they were warned.

The thing that cracks me up about these types...... as soon at the cops put hands on these modern day, leftist revolutionaries....they start crying about their "Bad back", their carpal tunnel wrists, their pre-existing shoulder injury.

What..... are they freedom-fighters with handicaps that others should be sensitive of?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

It's not about dancing, it's been decided that "performance art" is not allowed in memorials.

Clearly this was a staged event, this group had already been to court over the matter, no warning at all was even necessary, though they were warned.

The thing that cracks me up about these types...... as soon at the cops put hands on these modern day, leftist revolutionaries....they start crying about their "Bad back", their carpal tunnel wrists, their pre-existing shoulder injury.

What..... are they freedom-fighters with handicaps that others should be sensitive of?

Haha you call a couple rocking back and forth a performance? Give me a break.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Punk Rock Girl...memories.

Respect the law. If your not happy with certain laws then use the system to change it. This is a very childish way to handle it, shame on those kids.

Why is it hard for you to take these cops seriously?

Uh because they can't even explain why they were arresting the five? Because they slammed the one guy to the ground despite the fact he wasn't being violent?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Punk Rock Girl...memories.

Respect the law. If your not happy with certain laws then use the system to change it. This is a very childish way to handle it, shame on those kids.

Why is it hard for you to take these cops seriously?

Dang. I guess Rosa should have just sat at the back of the bus like she was told.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Uh because they can't even explain why they were arresting the five? Because they slammed the one guy to the ground despite the fact he wasn't being violent?

the cop did forewarn them not to dance as it was a preplanned form of protest (1st minute of the video)....they did it anyway. then got busted. they 'slammed' the guy because he disregarded the original officers warning, his following request to stop, he refused to comply & was resisting arrest when told he was going to jail. the cops did nothing wrong. the d-bags dancing did. how do you feel about the people that weren't dancing having their afternoon ruined by the d-bag dancers getting the memorial shut down? what about them & their legal rights? they were following the law & some little azzholes ruined their afternoon.

Edited May 31, 2011 by SMOKE

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

the cop did forewarn them not to dance as it was a preplanned form of protest (1st minute of the video)....they did it anyway. then got busted. they 'slammed' the guy because he disregarded the original officers warning, his following request to stop, he refused to comply & was resisting arrest when told he was going to jail. the cops did nothing wrong. the d-bags dancing did. how do you feel about the people that weren't dancing having their afternoon ruined by the d-bag dancers getting the memorial shut down? what about them & their legal rights? they were following the law & some little azzholes ruined their afternoon.

The only one that ruined their day was the police. You and I both know he could have been handcuffed without be slammed to the ground.

Just step back and think for a minute, how have we ended up where moving to an ipod is a government protest? This is scary stuff indeed.

[^_^ 5,021]

The only one that ruined their day was the police. You and I both know he could have been handcuffed without be slammed to the ground.

Just step back and think for a minute, how have we ended up where moving to an ipod is a government protest? This is scary stuff indeed.

What is scarier is that no matter how much the po-po push the envelope, the statists keep apologizing for them.