Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Seems like the police over reacted

I'm glad this was taped:



It will be interested to see if any of the police get disciplined.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

These people were breaking the law, they knew they were breaking the law.

On May 17, 2011, the D.C. Circuit "affirmed there is no constitutional right to dance at the Jefferson Memorial," so this weekend, Kokesh et al. decided to go dancing. They announced the plan on Facebook, and showed up at the memorial on Saturday in broad daylight. This is what happened: (see the video)

And, they should comply with what a police officer tells them. I don't want to be slammed down onto the ground by a police office, choked, put into handcuffs and arrested. So, I'm going to obey the laws of the land and do what the police tell me to do.

Too many idiots around looking for you-tube fame.

"Look, I'm pretty hardcore about free speech, but these guys are just plain jack**ses. I visited DC a few weeks ago, and found the monuments, and contemplation of what they stood for, awesome in the truest sense of the world. There were signs all around calling for "Quiet Respect", and, despite crowds which included small children, most people were giving it. The visit to me was about contemplating everything that happened in our amazing nation.

If a bunch of jack**ses were dancing and flailing about in that closed and small space, much less shouting like these jerks, I would certainly feel that my rights to enjoy and experience our nations histories had been taken from me. If they want to dance or demonstrate or whatever, there's acres of grass around the monuments. They have no right to steal the experience from everyone else who wants to act like an adult."

- Lyssalovelyredhead- 6/2/11 7:06 PM

Anonymous said...

Back story:
Federal Park Police Under Investigation for Choking, Body Slamming Dancer at Jefferson Memorial
Mike Riggs | May 31, 2011

Federal Park Police hassled, tackled and arrested five people on Saturday for dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. The group, led by Iraq War veteran and TV host Adam Kokesh, was protesting a May 17 ruling in a case that dates back to April 2008, when a group of young libertarians organized by the now kaput Bureaucrash decided to rendezvous at the memorial for a silent celebration of TJ's birthday. Here's the Spectator's writeup of the 2008 event:

So as not to disturb any fellow memorial visitors, the group -- which numbered about 20, fewer than the 25 that would require a permit -- opted to wear headphones and listen to their own iPods. As it turned out, the half-dozen or so unrelated onlookers who happened to be on-hand (the park is open 24 hours) appeared mostly amused by the spectacle.

SECURITY PERSONNEL MOST assuredly were not amused. Within two minutes of the event's start, they began moving to disperse the crowd, ordering the dancers to leave immediately, forcibly laying their hands on some and hurling profanities at others.

A few party-goers attempted to explain the nature of the event, but memorial staff were in no mood to discuss political theory. At 11:59, just four minutes after the event's start, U.S. Park Police had detained and were handcuffing the aforementioned "Jefferson 1" -- 28-year-old occasional Spectator contributor Brooke Oberwetter -- ostensibly for UNAUTHORIZED dancing.

Or, as former Bureaucrash chief Jason Talley puts it, "One minute I'm taking video of people celebrating the freedoms etched in the walls surrounding us, the next we see armed agents of the state putting chains on a friend of ours."

On May 17, 2011, the D.C. Circuit "affirmed there is no constitutional right to dance at the Jefferson Memorial," so this weekend, Kokesh et al. decided to go dancing. They announced the plan on Facebook, and showed up at the memorial on Saturday in broad daylight. This is what happened: (see the video)

According to the AP, the cops in question are now under investigation for their rough behavior:

The U.S. Park Police is investigating whether its officers were too aggressive in arresting five demonstrators who were dancing in protest over the weekend at the Jefferson Memorial. Videos posted online show the officers forcefully arresting the protesters Saturday afternoon. One officer is seen with his hands around a protester’s throat, and a demonstrator is also shown being slammed to the ground.

As Radley Balko reported in 2008, Park Police weren't especially kind the first time around, either. When asked what Oberwetter (a past Reason contributor who now works for Facebook) was being charged with, the arresting officer told the other dancers to "shut the f**k up."

Eric Holcombe said...

"These people were breaking the law, they knew they were breaking the law."

I noticed you didn't name what law that is - just as the assaulting officers couldn't. Because there isn't one. I could use your logic to say driving your car is breaking the law because there is no constitutional right to drive a car. The burden of the DC Circuit is to prove that dancing isn't "expression", which is what the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the freedom to.

Even if there was an explicit, constitutional right to dance, you could bet today's government would just ignore it just like they do the 4th amendment when they have their hands down your pants at the airport without suspicion or cause.

Did you catch the "officer" in black toward the end on the steps of the memorial asking the tourists if they have a permit for the videos they were making? What's next, do I need a constitutional amendment to be allowed to remember what I saw with my eyes?

Henry Cate said...

I am not upset that the people were arrested. I don't agree with the current ruling that dancing is not allowed, but my big concern is how the police over reacted.

If someone is speeding is it OK for the police officer to shoot and kill them? The vast majority of us would say NO! The assumption is the response by the police should be appropriate for how people are acting.

These people were objecting to abuse of power by the government in denying them the chance to dance at the Jefferson Memorial. I think how the police reacted just confirms what many of us worry about. There is an increasing attitude by many in government who see themselves as kings and us as serfs.

The police officers should be fired. How they reacted was wrong. They were asked what law were they breaking and the officers didn't answer their question. The police officers tried to stop filming, in a public place!

If the police officers had calmly explained the law and still arrested the protesters I wouldn't have any problem.