Silent Dancing Protesters Arrested at Jefferson Memorial

DCist
May 29, 2011

From Lew Rockwell: Adam Kokesh and other libertarians were arrested at the Jefferson Memorial for silent dancing, which outraged the prison guards. It reminds me of how much I despise the monuments in DC. They’re all pagan temples to the goddess USA and her various divinized emperors. Jefferson’s makes him a Roman godling. Washington’s honors the Egyptian sun god Ra. Lincoln’s portrays him as Jupiter. The Capitol is another temple, complete with a painting of the apotheosis of George in the ceiling of the rotunda. The Supreme Court is a pagan temple, too. Protesters will always be brutalized in the capital of the world police state. Nothing good is to be expected from DC, let alone its self-worshiping religious memorabilia. Love liberty? Avoid the Beltway like the plague it is. (Thanks to Sam)

In 2008 a small flash mob had gathered at the memorial to dance in silence, but was dispersed when one woman was arrested on misdemeanor charges. A year later, stemming from that case,a judge affirmed a ban on dancing at the memorial, “in order to maintain an atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence.”

According to several reports across the internet, five protesters were arrested by U.S. Park Police at around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the Jefferson Memorial for dancing in silence. Touted as “civil danceobedience,” the dancers were there protesting a recent court decision earlier this month that upheld a ban on dancing within the memorial. Among those arrested were Adam Kokesh, the man forcefully arrested in the video, and Edward Dickey, the event organizer.

It is unclear as to how many people gathered inside the memorial to actually dance in silence or to merely watch/cover the protest. The event was widely publicized on several websites including Facebook, streamed live and live-tweeted. Local media outlets were also informed of the event, and a public call for photographers, videographers and witnesses made sure a crowd beyond the usual tourist masses was set in place to watch. At one point, organizers decided to hold off until more dancers arrived for news cameras, making note that Park Police was well aware of the event and were also gathering in response.

Those arrested were taken to the District 5 police station in Anacostia, charged with demonstrating without a permit, then released a short time after.

A second protest has been set already for next Saturday, June 4 at noon, once again at the Jefferson Memorial. (Facebook invite) Neither Edward Dickey nor the U.S. Park Police could be reached for a comment on the incident.

This article was posted: Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 8:23 am

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