Philly police bust libertarian activist Adam Kokesh during smoke down pot rally | The Raw Story
Philly police bust libertarian activist Adam Kokesh during smoke down pot rally
By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, May 20, 2013 15:26 EDT
Libertarian activist and Iraq veteran Adam Kokesh was arrested Saturday at a smoke down prohibition marijuana rally in Philadelphia after police moved in on the crowd at 4:20 p.m. in an apparent show of force.
In Philadelphia, marijuana possession under 30 grams is punishable by a small fine and the offense is classified similarly to a parking ticket. Since decriminalization went through, activists have taken to staging open-smoking events at Independence National Historical Park, and police have mostly just ignored them.
Sundays event was different, however. As police milled ever-closer to the roughly 60 to 75 demonstrators present at the national park, a man with access to the public announcement system began counting down to 4:20, urging the crowd to light that shyt in direct disobedience to signs police placed around the area insisting that nobody would be allowed to smoke marijuana. fukk the law, smoke it anyway! Kokesh shouted into the microphone. Bring it in! Hey, everybody show some love. Make it difficult for the police here.
A total of five people were arrested during the event. Two of them Kokesh and Panic Hour comedy writer N.A. Poe remain in the Philadelphia jail pending a hearing set for later this week, according to supporters. Its not clear what the official charges are, but the incident happened on federal land, meaning Kokesh and Poe could face charges of assaulting a federal officer, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
In a poor-quality video shot from the scene, Kokesh appears to resist by refusing to drop his microphone, keeping his arms locked in place as police attempt to subdue the former Marine. He then turns his palms outward for the crowd to see he was being nonviolent, even as he continued to pull against police. I am being assaulted by an officer of the law! he says. This is a criminal act! Then Kokesh finally relents and officers take him away. No victim, no crime! activists chant as he vanishes beyond a police barricade.
It didnt take long for conspiracy host Alex Jones to claim that Kokesh was intentionally targeted by federal officers due to his plans for a July 4 gun rally in Washington, D.C., which bans anyone except law enforcement officers from carrying a firearm in the city. His former group, Iraq Veterans Against the War, disowned Kokeshs plan in a statement earlier in May, warning that the march may endanger participants.
Jones, however, believes that Kokesh was singled out from the group not for favoring marijuana legalization, but for his role as the professional rabble-rouser behind the Open Carry March on Washington, which had just over 4,500 Facebook profiles attached to it as of Monday afternoon. While its not clear if he was targeted or not, supporters told Jones that Kokesh appeared to be in federal custody.
If he is charged with assault on a federal officer and resisting arrest, his plan for a July 4 armed march on D.C. would seem to be in question. Then again, a post to the events page on Monday morning declared: THIS MARCH WILL GO ON NO MATTER WHO HAS TO LEAD IT!!
Whether that really happens remains to be seen.
Larger background is......
Activist Adam Kokesh has history of rabble-rousing and self-promotion - Washington Post
By David A. Fahrenthold and Peter Hermann,May 13, 2013
Activist Adam Kokesh has asked 1,000 people to march across the Potomac on July 4 carrying loaded rifles.
He calls it a protest against tyranny.
Suppose the D.C. police, as they have promised, block the marchers from crossing into Washington? How should they respond?
With Satyagraha, Kokesh, 31, texted The Washington Post. That is a term used by Mahatma Gandhi to describe his strategy of nonviolent resistance to British rule in India.
Invoking Gandhi while advocating the carrying of loaded firearms is typical of Kokesh, who in his six years as a professional rabble-rouser has embraced positions on every side of the political spectrum.
His past activism has been focused on issues other than guns things such as peace in Iraq, free speech in the U.S., and presidential candidate Ron Paul. And in most cases, his past stunts didnt carry a risk of violence; they were theatrical, sometimes even comic.
The one constant through all of it: Kokeshs tactics are designed to bring media attention to him personally as well as whatever cause hes fighting for. In that way, this one is like the rest.
The thing about Adam is hes a publicity hound. He loves the attention. Hes got a huge ego, said Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of the womens peace group Codepink, who has worked with Kokesh on past protests. And I think hes really enjoying this one.
In 2007, for example, Kokesh protested the Iraq war in his U.S. Marine uniform. In 2008, he heckled GOP presidential nominee John McCain at the Republican convention. And in 2011, he was arrested along with liberal activists for an unauthorized dance party inside the Jefferson Memorial.
Today, hes planning a pro-gun protest that even some gun activists think is risky.
Thats a good way to provoke something, and thats not likely to end well, said Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, one of the countrys most strident pro-gun groups.
If his march happens still a very big if the marchers would likely run into a D.C. police roadblock, creating an armed confrontation that Washington has not seen in decades.
Kokeshs plan has been laid out on a Facebook page: his group, with loaded rifles slung on their backs, will march peacefully around the Capitol and the White House. Then they will return across the Potomac River to Arlington Cemetery, where they began. The point: to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated.
For that to happen, a number of laws will have to be broken: Carrying a loaded weapon, concealed or unconcealed, is against the law in the District. Even possession of a firearm not registered in the District carries a penalty up to one year in prison. If that firearm is a pistol: five years.
D.C. police have said they wont let it happen.
Theres a pretty good chance well meet them on the D.C. side of the bridge, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a TV interview this week. (Adding to the potential chaos: Codepink says its members also plan to be on the bridge that day to offer hugs to the protesters as a counter to their pro-gun message.)
Kokesh declined an in-person or phone interview but answered a couple of questions via text message.
Did his response of satyagraha mean violence is unacceptable?
Only if absolutely necessary in defense of life or limb, he wrote.
But earlier, Kokesh had used Facebook to take a more confrontational stance. Break whatever unconstitutional law you choose, he wrote, saying July 4 should be a day of massive civil disobedience citywide.  Law Enforcement has made it clear they have no respect for the Constitution and so we will shut them down by overwhelming them.
Police said they have not been in touch with Kokesh about the march. Kokesh said he wont go through with it unless 10,000 people sign up on Facebook by June 1. He estimated that would translate into about 1,000 people showing up in person.
As of Monday, the number online was a little over 3,900.
This aggressive gun rights activism is a new role for Kokesh, a muscular ex-Marine who has previously formed and cut ties with several of Washingtons political camps. He is now best known for an Internet talk show at adamvstheman.com.
I think Adam at this point has taken it too far, said Codepinks Benjamin, who was with him at the Jefferson Memorial. And she was watching as Kokesh mocked then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales by tabulating how many times Gonzales said I dont recall during a congressional hearing in April 2007.
The cameras loved it, Benjamin said. I remember thinking, Adams pretty savvy about this stuff.  With the rifle march, however, Benjamin thinks Kokesh is courting forces he cant control.
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so good luck to him.