Free the Jefferson 1!

True or false: the state is willing to arrest you for dancing.

The answer: true.

This past Saturday, many fans of liberty got together to celebrate the birthday of the great Thomas Jefferson. To celebrate this occasion, they organized a dance party at the Jefferson Memorial in D.C. The plan was for everyone to start dancing for 10 minutes at midnight listening to a playlist they selected on their own iPOD.

The Jefferson Memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day. The people celebrating his birthday were not blaring music, but intentionally avoided this by using their own iPODS. It was late at night so that no tourists would be disturbed. And the intention had no political motive whatsoever. It was just a group of people honoring Jefferson and having fun.

Yet, the police not only decided that dancing was not allowed and so forced the individuals from the memorial, but when one girl asked why they were being forced to leave, the police arrested her! I was not in attendance at this event, but many who were there are my friends, which is why I have taken a personal interest in this debacle.


I recommend you check out the posts on other blogs to get more information on this scandal as well as watch the video footage of it on youtube:

Pete Eyre's Account

Julian Sanchez's Account

The Agitator

The Washington Post even covered the story!

www.freethejefferson1.com

Facebook Group

You Tube: Dancing, Arrest, Post-Arrest

I am personally outraged by this. The videos clearly show that these individuals were not causing any disturbance. If we do not have a right to dance, what rights do we have? I encourage people to call the Jefferson Memorial and express their outrage as well or at least join the facebook group. It is likely that the trumped up charge will be dropped by any halfway competent judge, but that police think they can arrest individuals for no legal cause is frightening.