It's past time to start cracking down on police abuse of American freedom
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A little something to sleep on, America. This is what we've become.
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fuck
Now hold on for a moment before you start throwing tea into the harbor and lets put some things in context. First this video is from last summer not last week. Immediately after the video was released Park Police launched an investigation into the manhandling of the protesters.
In September, Park Police announced the officers had been cleared of any wrong doing. Park Police also have changed their policy how the deal with protesters at the memorial.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/US-Park-Police-Accused-of-Choking-Protestors-Cleared-of-Wrongdoing-130669128.html
It should be noted, a dance event was held a week later inside the memorial and there were no arrests. So the police aren't always goons.
In fact the US Park Police generally receive plaudits for how they have handled the Occupy protesters.
The organizer of both dance events was Adam Kokesh, a libertarian and avid Ron Paul supporter. http://www.adamvstheman.com Kokesh was the person that got slammed to the ground.
Kokesh was protesting the ban on dancing at the memorial after a recent Court of Appeals decision.
In the decision, the court ruled that the Jefferson Memorial was “a nonpublic forum reserved for the tranquil commemoration of Mr. Jefferson's legacy,” and that the officer had probable cause to arrest a woman (in 2008) who was dancing there after she twice refused to leave. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Memorial#Dancing_controversy
The Jefferson Memorial is defined as a non-public space. The protesters had been told they could dance any where on the grounds in the park, but could not dance inside the memorial or on the steps.
And yes Virginia, you can have a non-public building paid for by public funds and not be open to the public to do anything they darn well please.
The Jefferson Memorial is not a meeting hall, this is a memorial to honor our third President.
While dancing isn't allowed inside the Memorial you can go right outside the building, walk down the steps and dance to your hearts content.
That said, Jefferson believed as did many other founding fathers in the Right of Revolution, so it is with some irony that the Right to Protest and Free Expression can't be exercised in the place that memorializes the guy that wrote up the reasons for a revolution in the first place in the Declaration of Independence.
I will leave you with this question.
Should people be allowed to dance at other National Memorials such as the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington or the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor?