You'll Have to Schedule Your Zombie Invasion With the Park Service

According to The Washington Post, the National Park Service has not cleared Washington, D.C. for a zombie invasion this week:

The National Park Service says it has no permit filed for zombie activity at the Lincoln Memorial Tuesday morning by AMC, a posse of zombies, or anyone else.

If the zombies are planning a "demonstration," they would need a permit—if the group of un-dead numbers 26 or more. A group of 25 or fewer zombies would not need a permit for a "demonstration," Terry Adams, public affairs officer of the National Park Service explains to WaPo TeamTV's Mall bureau chief David Montgomery.

If the Zombies visit is a "special event" instead of a "demonstration," they would need a permit, no matter how small the group, Adam adds.

A "demonstration" is First Amendment-protected activity —political speech, issue advocacy, and so forth. A march to end war, for example, Montgomery says.

Backstory: TV network AMC announced recently that a few cities would see rush-hour visits from "zombies" this week as a publicity stunt designed to promote The Walking Dead, the network's upcoming series about life after the zombiepocalypse. Now, without an event permit, it's not clear if the stunt will actually happen.

I suppose it's not all that surprising: We already know the park service doesn't like dancing at monuments without a permit. Guess they don't like brain-hungry lurching, either.

Read Reason's Tim Cavanaugh on the politics of zombie cinema.