Arrested For Dancing @ Memorial
 

Apparently the law in the U.S. forbids "dancing at the Jefferson Memorial "“because it stands out as a type of performance, creating its own center of attention and distracting from the atmosphere of solemn commemoration.”

I understand the need for respect for iconic figures/heroes of our nations, but the couple in the video barely appeared to be dancing.

Based on the law, I would say the incident that unfolded drew MORE attention and distracted from the atmosphere than did the subtle "dancing" by the couple. Odd that enforcing this particular law actually ended up causing most of the turmoil that the law was originally intended to prevent...

Additional Information: The actions that took place in the video above were staged by certain people in response to an earlier event. These people were in a sense "demonstrators" who decided to take stand against the law that had caused a girl to be arrested in 2008. The girl and her friends decided to go to the Jefferson Memorial at the strike of midnight the day of his birthday to celebrate and commemorate his "spirit." They began dancing and listening to music using their headphones. Shortly after, the Park Authority (the governing body of Police for the Memorial Site) came and told the group to cease from dancing. When girl was approached by an officer, she took out her headphones and asked why she was being told to leave. She was told that she has to stop dancing and leave the premise immediately. She asked the officer why she was being ordered to leave and what law she was breaking. The officer refused to respond and simply arrested her. She was charged with demonstrating without a permit and interfering with an agency function...

Hope this isn't a re-post!

stupid law

"Stop resisting"

*guy starts struggling and rolling into a ball*

"I'M NOT RESISTING" *tries to pry his arm away from the police officer*



People who put on public displays like this, disturbing the public, exaggerating the "oppression" exerted by the police... pathetic

Yeah, its a stupid law and I don't agree with it, but the police clearly informed that couple that dancing at the memorial could lead to their arrest. They continued. There was obviously some shit that happened before the video (why else would they be filming?) but the police didn't start cuffing anyone until they decided to start thumbing their nose at them.
Hell, there was more than one camera out and filming this so obviously this was staged to make the police look like oppressors. Even the title of the video is hyperbole.

Ugh

fucking terrorists

Haha, that's awesome.

I sympathize with the first couple, but the others who were fully aware it was illegal, but decided to disregard their better judgement got what was coming to them.

I could only assume that the video could have been made better if the fellow wearing the mirror shades did the robot dance, and right before getting taken down, the cops yell, "NO ONE likes the robot dance!".

Hahaha, you would think that these cops would have something better to do. I guess they got jealous about not being able to 2 step :P

It was posted on another forum, and someone there mentioned that it was basically an act to bring attention. They notified the park service that they were going to be doing this there.

Basically a bunch of hipsters looking to get arrested.

Not sure if thats true or not. I didn't care enough to read further.

I hate hipsters.

should have tazed him

he was also saying that he had a broken shoulder though




but obviously they went there to stir trouble.. but that's the whole point of this.. they were there to display how this rule/law is retarded and they got their job done



they should have started a Flash Mob there that would have been hilarious

Looks like they were warned.


BTW, the guy who gets body slammed arranged this ahead of time, and even uploaded a video of it:

Yea, that'll really turn the tides in your favor in court.

It was a peacful protest, actions of police are unjustified in my opinion. The poilce using an opportunity like this to exercise their authority = pathetic. Authorty figures like police have an obligation to use good judgement when enforcing laws, not follow them blindly. I think Some cops(not all) have control issues, so they use their job as an outlet to vent their insecurities..these people should not be police officers.

oh it was the other guy who said he had a bad shoulder.. the guy who was complying when he was getting arrested but his retarded buddy had to pull him away ;)

I have to disagree with anyone defending the police on this one. I usually tell the "fukz da police" crowd to fuck off, but what happened in the video is bullshit.

They had no right arresting the couple for just swaying back and forth (or left to right, whatever).

That was my original issue pertaining to THIS video. If I'm walking on the sidewalk where running is outlawed and you tell me "running will get you arrested" so I continue to WALK, and then you arrest me saying "well I told you running was breaking the law," well that to me is simply an abuse of the system.

Are we watching the same video? Because to me, any illusion to their unjustified arrest were quickly squashed when I watched the 2nd video I posted. Start watching from the half-way point, and you'll see a lot of what happened in the beginning.

They were warned, they ignored it. The cops didn't make the law, they just enforced it. There were cameras around. Do you think the police thought to themselves "Hey, there's going to be millions of people watching this, I think think this is a great opportunity to make fools of ourselves!". I feel they begrudgingly arrested those people. They didn't want to, and they gave all those people ample warning. Are those the actions of someone who wants to look like a big-shot, power-hungry cop?

What did those protestors accomplish? The great opportunity to have an arrest on their record haunting them for the rest of their lives? No employer is going to give a shit if you did it for "The greater good", an arrest is an arrest. These people are adults? What sort of message are they giving? It's ok to do stupid things if you feel all self-empowered by it?

@2:02 was the best. Was not expecting the guy to be body slammed!

I know it's a stupid law, but people should still respect it anyways.
Just don't fucking dance. These guys knew full well what they were doing was "illegal" yet they did it anyways.
I don't feel any compassion for these guys. Especially the big white guy in the white shirt.

Kokesh is an idiot. He's always stirring up shit protesting and has been arrested/detained numerous times for his "peaceful" protests. He's always careful to pick situations like this to promote his ideals.

He's even stated that protests "should" be civil, but a time may come when civility won't work and "blood may need to be spilled". WTF is that? And people want to defend this asshole?

Now he's planning on going back with an even larger mob. So who's the instigator here?

whats consider as dancing? some of the guys in that video were dancing so horribly that if you ask a dance expert (the judges from dancing with the stars) they wouldnt consider that dancing, so pretty much people got arrested for jerking their body in a awkward motion. So if anyone has a uncontrollable muscle problem, they should stay clear of the memorial or they may confuse you for dancing and get yourself arrested.

After watching the second video, the situation becomes a bit fuzzy. The older cop seems reluctant to arrest, and I can sympathize with his situation. However, I still believe their actions are unjustified...there is really no reason to breakup this peacful protest..just let the people dance, protest ends, everyone goes home happy.

If that wasn't a memorial I would say the cops were unjustified. But because that was a memorial, those people should have shown some respect and took their protest outside.

I too can sympathize with the officer. You can tell from his facial expression and his calm voice tone that he preferred not to have a conflict. Of course, that may be because he was being filmed, maybe not, who knows.

As for the comment about the protestor's potential for getting a good job in the future, I don't think these are the kind of people who really care about that...At least one of them makes a living off going to these protests/demonstrations...

Lol, "Park Police". They just mad they're in between rent-a-cop and "real" cop.

like the guy's shirt "disobey" lol

I imagine these people getting up in the morning and deciding what they're going to protest today.

Kokesh: "What should we protest today?"
Johnny: "How about un-employment?"
Kokesh: "Not bad, any other ideas?"
Jimmy: "Oh, Oh, I've got a really good one - the war in Afghanistan."
Kokesh: "Now that's more like it! Anyone else?"
Sarah: "They don't allow dancing at the Jefferson Memorial."
Kokesh: "Are you fucking kidding me? How dare they step on my God-given constitutional right to dance where I want and when I want!"
Kokesh: "Let's roll boys, we've got an injustice to bring to the worlds attention!"

What a bunch of fucking losers.
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I think the point of this is that this is a memorial to freedom. In fact it says ON THE WALL several statements damning those who remove personal freedoms from others arbitrarily.

This was protesting someone who was arrested for quietly dancing at the memorial at midnight when it was pretty much empty. And the courts upheld this arrest even though the police still have yet to cite an actual violation or law that is being broken in this case.

I get what's going on here. In America, and here in Canada, we've sold our liberty and freedom because our politicians have sold us some bullshit fear and it's lead to some fucked up shit that needs to be brought to light. Too many people on both sides of the boarder aren't even aware what their charter protected rights are any more to be able to see when they're being violated. :(

This kind of crap, while it seems small and unimportant when you look at it in an isolated incident, really isn't. It's telling of the direction our countries are going in and this is the kind of stuff that happened in other countries on their road to strict, authoritarian regimes.

Someone can't dance at a memorial to personal freedom, because apparently it's a distraction from the somber contemplation of the site (despite the fact that this is a public place and not illegal). Someone tell me how that's different and less arbitrary then women being told they have to cover their flesh because it's also a distraction from somber contemplation?

Scary shit is happening in our world. Pay attention, don't brush it off or there will be no one around to protest when it's YOUR freedom being stripped away.

From the Jefferson Memorial:

Maybe with that in mind you can see why so many American people would find this particularly offensive?