White House Confidential

A blogger called the Answer Guy tells the amusing story of what happened when he and some friends decided to post some Howard Dean signs near the White House. The inevitable moment of repression soon arrives:

…a Secret Service goon, with backup, came out and informed us that what we were doing was against DC law, that no one was allowed to poster "without a permit, and they don't give permits for this." I was fairly sure he was talking out of his ass.

After consulting relevant regulations, I was able to determine that he was, in fact, talking out of his ass. Non-commercial flyers are allowed to remain up for 60 days, provided they are not vulgar, have a posting date on them (these did), and that there are not more than three of them on one side of the street in a single block -- which there were not.

Now, I'm no expert on those particular regulations, so I can't say for sure that the Secret Service agent was full of it. But I find it easy to believe that he was, based on my one experience with a march in front of the White House.

It was 1998. Clinton had just made one of his periodic air raids on Iraq. I was living in D.C. at the time, and I walked to Pennsylvania Avenue intending to join whatever protest might be in progress. I was repelled, though, by the asinine chants and by the foul-breathed Trotskyist who kept trying to recruit me for his cult, and I soon retreated to observer status.

So I wasn't actually marching when the cops suddenly started to rope off the sidewalk in front of the White House, informing the demonstrators that they'd have to do their chanting in the street. (That particular block allows no traffic, so there were no cars to complicate matters.)

I asked an officer why they were doing this. "We're not trying to interfere with your freedom of speech," he replied. "But there's people who live here in Washington who have to get to work, and they need to use that sidewalk."

I didn't feel like getting into an argument with a cop, so I didn't point out that pedestrian commuters could hardly use a sidewalk that had been roped off -- and that by forcing the marchers into the street, his crew had choked off what was previously a perfectly adequate walkway. What he was saying made absolutely no sense, and it was hard to interpret it as anything but petty harassment of the protesters.

But I'd learned a valuable lesson -- or, at least, a valuable prejudice. As far as I'm concerned, those cops in front of the White House will tell you ANYTHING. Answer Guy, I feel your pain.

Comments

[Josh]

"There couldn't have been more than 20 people protesting -- they were barely spilling into the street before the sidewalk was roped off -- so they weren't exactly an obstruction."

It would not be difficult for 20 people to make themselves an obstruction. Protests at abortion clinics don't draw in the hundreds, but they can make it very difficult for employees and clients to get through nonetheless. That's probably why they rope off the sidewalk whether or not the protest is large.

[Jesse Walker]

Josh: The point is that they weren't an obstruction. They were marching in a small and easily avoided circle, and no one was trying to block off the White House like an abortion clinic. Indeed, the march was half over by the time the police roped off (actually, I think they used tape instead of rope) that part of the sidewalk. If anything, pushing the protesters into the street made the area more difficult to traverse.

[Josh]

I'm not doubting you, Jesse, just giving a theory for why they might have a "move all protests" rule, which you think is excessive. It probably wouldn't take too many clinic-style protests for the Secret Service to just move everybody.

[Lonewacko]

Despite being shunned by the DC blogosphere, I found DC interesting. However, the Capitol Hill police said I needed a tripod permit. The next day, I went to the White House and overheard a conversation between a young lady with a new zoom lens and a cop. I got conflicting information from her and the cop. I thought his complaint had something to do with her tripod, but when I asked him about permits he thought I was referring to protests. She said he told her she couldn't use the tripod. I think they make it up as they go along.

[JSM]

"Josh: The point is that they weren't an obstruction. They were marching in a small and easily avoided circle, and no one was trying to block off the White House like an abortion clinic."

sounds like me defending myself when explaining how I didn't know how the Seattle PD could fire gas canisters and bean bags at me during the WTO protests. I was just an observer within a small group that was obeying every command given by Seattle PD when suddenly, a fog spewing canister landed right in the middle of our group with no prior warning. Rioting soon began as the line of cops marching toward us herded our group into the media, then into the larger protest crowd, and then we all were hit with more canisters, concussion grenades and zooming bean bags.

Jesse, do people now consider you an unemployed liberal wacko sucking off the gov't tit?

[Rick Barton]

MB,
I hope your kidding; the priority of restricting the military to the defence of America has a long:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572460156/reasonmagazinea-20/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/046502467X/reasonmagazinea-20/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0870044338/reasonmagazinea-20/

and continued presence with in the political right:

http://www.independent.org/tii/catalog/cat_putting_defense.html

http://www.amconmag.com/12_1_03/index1.html

going all the way back to the founders of our republic:

http://www.thbookservice.com/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=C6016

[Jesse Walker]

Jesse, do people now consider you an unemployed liberal wacko sucking off the gov't tit?

No, most people understand that I'm actually a gainfully employed libertarian wacko sucking off the private tit. The protest in question was either during my lunch break or after I knocked off work in the afternoon, I don't remember which.

It was a surreal affair. This was back when a lot of Republican congressfolks were skeptical about military intervention in Iraq (really!), and it was possible to imagine a genuinely diverse political coalition opposing Clinton's military policies. So what were the marchers chanting? "1-2-3-4!/We don't want your racist war!" Yeah, that'll bring over the antiwar conservatives...

[SteveInClearwater]

Law enforcement of any kind acts very, very differently when being filmed.

We don't do any kind of public action down here without video on hand.

And yes, it does come in handy in those cases where the cops act completely off board.

We just received news that a Melbourne FL officer who had been on the force for 12 years was finally fired on accounta his assaulting and wrongfully detaining one of our camera men.

We filed the complaint immediately (very important) and of course had the video itself which shuts off when the overzealous cop shoves it out of the operator's hand and it hits the ground. But his conversation prior was recorded and he therefore could not 'testi-lie' differently once reported.

[Neb Okla]

And if the cop is wrong, someone waggs their gloved finger at him - assuming you "win" your case after shelling out thousands to defend yourself.

My only gripe with cops is that they stand little chance of punishment for being wrong - while you must prove that he was wrong in court and pay for it.

Most of the time it's just not worth the fuss - and cops know this. Where's the ACLU when we need them? 😉

[joe]

If you're loud and drunk outside the fence late at night, the snipers on the roof put the red dot on you.

[Aaron]

Actually, they do occasionally rope off the sidewalk in front of the White House and then let people with Executive Office of the President badges or appointments use the sidewalk to get from building to building in the complex during protests. (I used to work in the EOP). I certainly appreciated it at the time.

As for Answer Man, who knows? Perhaps he was posting signs within the boundaries of Layfayette Park. That is governed by Park Service regulations, not DC regulations.

[Jesse Walker]

Actually, they do occasionally rope off the sidewalk in front of the White House and then let people with Executive Office of the President badges or appointments use the sidewalk to get from building to building in the complex during protests. (I used to work in the EOP). I certainly appreciated it at the time.

There couldn't have been more than 20 people protesting -- they were barely spilling into the street before the sidewalk was roped off -- so they weren't exactly an obstruction. More to the point, they only roped off the small part of the sidewalk where those 20 or so people had been walking in a circle. So I have a hard time seeing how that would help anyone get from one building to another.

It's possible that there's some procedure that they automatically put in place during protests whether or not it makes sense in context, and that they were simply enforcing those rules to the letter of the law. But in that case there's a problem with the rules.

[SPUR]

The cops do what they want -- by the time they are corrected whats the difference -- if you are going to do something like this in future -- bring a video camera or two -- one up close one from a distance and a lawyer from the ACLU or NLG as well as a copy of the relevant statutes -- this is the best way to 'bully back' the cops -- if they do let you hang up the signs stick around and watch for them tearing it down an hour later...

[MB]

"It was 1998. Clinton had just made one of his periodic air raids on Iraq. I was living in D.C. at the time, and I walked to Pennsylvania Avenue intending to join whatever protest might be in progress."

Why does Jesse Walker hate America? How can Reason let this left-wing extremist post this communist propaganda on Hit & Run?

[Douglas Fletcher]

That sidewalk in front of the White House is a weird place. I've had enough glimpses of odd human behavior there to wonder if there isn't some giant mind-magnet pulsing under the concrete there on Penn. Ave.

I don't wonder about it too much, though.