2014 XL Dissent 101
Washington DC, on the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk near Lafayette Park facing the White House, Sunday March 2, 2014. An unexpectedly large gathering of around 2,500 climate justice activists marched from Georgetown to the front of the White House specifically to oppose USA government approval of further extension of the Keystone XL pipeline and, more generally, to protest the Obama administration's ongoing capitulation to the climate wrecking fossil fuel industry. Nearly 400 of the mostly college age activists locked their hands to the White House fence with plastic cable ties. They were later arrested for this act of peaceful civil disobedience. Has our formerly somewhat democratic system of government devolved into a police state? Refusing to leave any area marked off with flimsy yellow tape that Obama and his cops deem 'off limits' to First Amendment protected protest is a Federal crime. The demonstrators committed to civil disobedience and arrest were clearly warned three times by police command to leave the 'no protesting here today' yellow tape zone they were occupying in front of the White House fence. Then, one by one, they were cuffed, booked and hustled into paddy wagons. Postscript. 372 arrested activists were transported to police facilities in Anacostia DC where they paid a $50 citation for "blocking passage" and were released.
2014 XL Dissent 101
Washington DC, on the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk near Lafayette Park facing the White House, Sunday March 2, 2014. An unexpectedly large gathering of around 2,500 climate justice activists marched from Georgetown to the front of the White House specifically to oppose USA government approval of further extension of the Keystone XL pipeline and, more generally, to protest the Obama administration's ongoing capitulation to the climate wrecking fossil fuel industry. Nearly 400 of the mostly college age activists locked their hands to the White House fence with plastic cable ties. They were later arrested for this act of peaceful civil disobedience. Has our formerly somewhat democratic system of government devolved into a police state? Refusing to leave any area marked off with flimsy yellow tape that Obama and his cops deem 'off limits' to First Amendment protected protest is a Federal crime. The demonstrators committed to civil disobedience and arrest were clearly warned three times by police command to leave the 'no protesting here today' yellow tape zone they were occupying in front of the White House fence. Then, one by one, they were cuffed, booked and hustled into paddy wagons. Postscript. 372 arrested activists were transported to police facilities in Anacostia DC where they paid a $50 citation for "blocking passage" and were released.