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In March, U.S. Magistrate John M. Facciola raised concerns about the “rarely invoked” federal charges that the government is pursuing against Dan Choi for protesting in front of the White House. Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela George said it was because Choi has been arrested for protesting in front of the White House multiple times.
But Dan has only been arrested three times for protesting there; numerous people have been arrested many more times than he has.
People are arrested in front of the White House, but the cases are routinely handled in local Superior Court:
- July 27 2011: Luis Guitierrez and ten others arrested for protesting mass undocumented immigrant deportations. “Gutierrez [paid] his $100 fine and was released by the police.”
- July 11: 4 people were arrested after 100 people delivered 51 cardboard coffins to the White House to protest the Columbia Free Trade Agreement.
- June 25: 12 DC residents arrested for demonstrating on behalf of DC voting rights, bringing the total to 73 since April.
- April 19: 41 protesters including DC Mayor Vincent Gray arrested for demonstrating for DC voting rights. All were charged with unlawful assembly and given a $50 fine.
- March 19 – Daniel Ellsberg is one of 113 people arrested in front of the White House for protesting the abuse of Bradley Manning by Quantico brig commander.
- January 18 2011: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney was arrested for protesting human rights abuses of the Chinese government
- December 17 2010 – 135 arrested for protesting the war.
- June 1 2010: Actress Q’orianka Kilcher, who starred as Pocahontas in the 2005 film “The New World,” was arrested for chaining herself to the White House fence to protest the President’s meeting between Alan Garzia Perez. Hazmat teams were called in after her mother poured a black substance over her to simulate oil, which turned out to be paint. She was was charged with disorderly conduct and her mother was charged with destruction of government property. They were arraigned in D.C. Superior Court, released and “ordered to stay away from the White House.”
- September 2010: James Hansen and 100 others arrested for protesting mountaintop removal.
- May 2010 – Luis Guiterrez arrested for protesting to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
- March 20 2010: Cindy Sheehan arrested in front of White House.
- October 5 2009: Cindy Sheehan and 60 others arrested for protesting against the war in Afghanistan.
- November 9 2006: Cindy Sheehan arrested after leading 50 protesters to the White House gates to deliver anti-war petitions.
- October 26 2005: Cindy Sheehan and 28 others arrested in a sit-in at the White House.
- September 26 2005: 370 people including Cindy Sheehan were arrested for protesting against the war in Iraq. They were “charged with demonstrating without a permit, a misdemeanor that carries a $50 fine and — like a traffic ticket — can be paid by mail or challenged later in court” said Park Police spokesman Sgt. Scott Fear.
I asked several activists how many times they had been arrested for protesting at the White House.
Eve Tetaz, a retired D.C. public-school teacher and a peace and justice activist, says:
I am among hundreds who have been arrested multiple times in front of the WH. I’ve spent time in jail, been under probation and have rarely paid a fine except when I felt it was the strategic thing to do.
Daniel Ellsberg has been arrested over 80 times, and says numerous times in front of the White House:
Of course, there was the December bust there, 2010. Then I got arrested with Dick Gregory protesting the start of the Gulf War bombing, 1991. (He was arrested for praying–i.e., kneeling, not walking–and holding up a sign; so I picked up the sign and knelt, and got arrested; spent the night in a cell with him, which was nice). And again in front of the White House, with a lot of others, when the ground attack began, a few weeks later. I was arrested in front of the fence protesting torture (Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was tortured in Guatemala, was doing a silent hunger strike in Lafayette Park while we were in the street; Jennifer Harbury–whose husband was tortured to death in Guatemala and who did a fast in front of the White House to get the information on him released– was arrested with me, her first arrest). There’s four times at the fence; I would say there were more. Oh yeah, there was another Bradley Manning arrest at the White House (no snow this time: that’s the one you were at!) the day before our action at Quantico: that’s five.
Dan was also arrested in Lafayette Square across the street from the White House once, and on a street a block away from the White House at the start of Shock and Awe in March of 2003, for a total of seven times at White House protests.
News reports indicate that Cindy Sheehan has been arrested at least five times. David Swanson says he has been arrested “3 or 4 times” at least. Col. Anne Wright says she has been arrested five times. Eva Tetaz says she has been arrested “10 or 11 times, I don’t keep count.”
So why is the Department of Justice really singling Dan Choi out, when I was able to find 5 people in one morning who had been arrested many more times for protesting in front of the White House than he had?
Hard to know the truth. According to Marc Ambinder, the President “gets angry every time he’s heckled by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ protesters. GetEqual has heckled him repeatedly at his fundraising events, and embarrassed him at an Alonzo Morning fundraiser. So it may just be a personal vendetta.
But the irony is, Obama is heavily touting the passage of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell with gay donors who have taken the place of many of his bundlers who did not return from the 2008 campaign.
It’s hard to see how anyone can be thanking the President for DADT’s passage, however, and then sit by idly while one of the people who put himself on the line to get it passed is being persecuted by the federal government. The Department of Defense is trying to collect $3000 they say Dan owes them because he did not complete his enlistment after he was thrown out under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and recently turned his account over to a collection agency.
Dan and his attorney, Yetta Kurland, will be joining us for an FDL community conference call on August 17 to talk about the upcoming trial. Please sign up and join us on the call, and let Dan know that you are watching what’s happening to him and that you’ll be there to support him throughout.
If we stand by while the government persecutes people who put themselves on the line and exercise freedom of speech to defend the principles we believe in, there won’t be many people willing to do it any more. And that, I imagine, is the point.
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We’re with you, Dan!
He owes the government $3,000 because they threw him out? WTF??? X1000!!!
I hate Obama and his right wing agenda more every minute.
Is this some of what Obama means by “fairness?”
I don’t care much for it.
So much for ability to be on public land and ask Government for a redress of grievances.
AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Hamsher:
Sister Jane, please tell Lt. Choi that there are literally hundreds of thousands of veterans out here who have his back and for whom his courage in the face of the tryanny of a weak and cowardly President is a balm for the constant ache of our experience of war. And as for you, Dear Heart, your work on behalf of grunts like Lt. Coi and Pvt. Manning has elevated you to the top of this citizen’s pantheon of heroes.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THERE IS NOWHERE TO HIDE… THERE IS ONLY THE STRUGGLE.
Recommended, emailed, Tweeted and cross-linked.
Tangential– ‘Obama’s bus tour should be called “The Under the Bus Tour”‘ (CorrenteWire.Com, by lambert, Aug. 15, 2011)
“The Love Police vs. The Propaganda Pushers (British Election Special)” (video, 10:50 minutes, May 12, 2010)
Thanks for taking it on. It helped Manning and it’ll help Choi.
Thank you, Norske! Likewise you and your heroic efforts in Wisconsin. I have every confidence you will be able to harvest the energy that is still there and use it to build a grassroots movement that will spread across the country. I am very much looking forward to FDL helping you in that task.
Seperate and unequal. Bah on this Whitehouse when they could simply stop this persecution. And yes I meant persecution, not prosecution.
Go Dan!
He was in uniform when he was arrested. That is the pint. He learned on his first day at boot camp that a soldier is not to disgrace the uniform, or do political work (or even advocate for a position) while wearing it.
Here are some veterans comments from the Advocate calling Choi a disgrace.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/03/18/Dan_Choi_Protests_in_Front_of_WH/
He did it to himself.
Free speech and peaceful protest is a disgrace to the uniform. Now that’s a novel concept. What in the world are the military in uniform for if not for just those rights?
Citizen jjj:
“He did it to himself.”
That is complete bullshit.
Citizen eCAHNomics:
Don’t reason with trolls and fascists…jest call ‘em out and leave ‘em there.
Believe what you want, but that’s just crap. Not buying what you’re selling. Lt. Dan Choi is a true American hero, who stands up for his rights and the rights of others. There is nothing disgraceful about that in the slightest.
Thanks, Jane, as always for taking the lead on actions like this. In whatever way possible, please convey to Lt. Dan Choi that we are in support of him and wish him all the best and fingers crossed that he prevails.
The disgrace at this point is the Obama Admin, who can only be relied on to go after whistleblowers of any stripe, esp if they happen to be gay. That is one homophobic Admin, I’m afraid, and I don’t like it.
Best to Lt. Choi, a true American hero who stood up for his rights and the rights of others who are unfairly oppressed (and for no real reason) by the system.
Thanks to you both for this and all your efforts for justice.
Go Dan!
And all the others. He can exercise his free speech all he wants, but NOT in uniform. The military is supposed to be a-political. HE violated that simple rule, which he learned on his first day at boot camp.
Instead of calling people “fascists” and trolls, why don’t y’all look it up?
But the generals don’t disgrace the uniform when they go on TV and lie the U.S. into war, huh.
X 2. Thanks. Exactly.
Per usual: one rule for the underlings in uniform, and no rules for the Generals at the top.
Either we have free speech or we don’t. I say: free speech for everyone. It’s one of the ways that oppressed are able to gain their civil rights. Lt. Dan Choi and other gays in the military are unfairly oppressed.
I didn’t call you a fascist or a troll. Look it up.
That is what the “And the others” was for. I responded to a string of comments in one post. Look it up. (I’ll save ya the effort, N/Flamethrower was the one, look it up).
As for the generals, Truman fired MacArthur’s ass for politicking on duty.
What’s right or wrong depends on which side you are on. There is no need to look anything up.
And what the hell diff does a fig leaf of cloth mean anyhow. You don’t think for a moment that when Colin Powell presented at the U.N. in “civilian” clothing, U.S.ians and the rest of world did not see him as a rep of the U.S. military….
The U.S. has many ways of brainwashing susceptibles, among the silliest being that textiles (flag, uniform) make the slightest bit of difference. A lie is a lie. Rights are rights.
Just bc the U.S. military has a rule doesn’t make it right.
Awesome lineup of arrestees! Just a tiny nit: the “DC 41″ & similar DC elected & ordinary folks were not arrested at the WH, they were arrested for blocking various streets near House or Senate office bldgs cuz they were protesting meddling in our local DC self-rule by Congress in its budget maneuvers last spring.
Can’t wait for Wednesday’s conference with Dan Choi!
Well, eCAHN, you and I tend to see the world this way, but as we both know, unfortunately too many US citizens are tribalistic authoritarians, whereby if there is some “rule” or “law,” the full force of it shall be applied without constraint to the underclass. In this case, the underclass is anyone in the lower 98% of the citizenry, including the “lower orders” in the military.
Anyone in the upper 2% of the population financially & via power & connections, which in this case includes the Generals & other assorted top Military brass, get to do whatever the EFF they want. And a certain largish percentage of the citizenry will go: Hooray for OUR side. OUR Team WON! baa baa baaa….
Doesn’t matter one whit if the Top Brass & the upper 2% lie, cheat, steal, rape, pillage, plunder, whathaveyou… approx 30% of citizens will go along with it in their tribalistic authoritarian identification with their “team.”
I say: bogus! Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights, don’t give up the fight!
Lt. Dan Choi is a true American hero! Best to him; may he prevail.
There’s an entire DoD cottage industry in attacking Dan Choi, with a list of prescribed talking points. This is one of them.
Nobody has really given the whole “lezgetreal” situation the attention it deserves — a former military guy posing as a lesbian woman, writing an entire blog with the sole purpose of smearing Dan Choi (and building up Gates). “She” told people her father was at the Pentagon, and then pretended to BE the father, which actually does constitute impersonating a military officer, though you probably won’t hear any complaints about that from the people paid to spread the this stuff (not on their taking points sheet).
“She” would contact Dan’s military friends and send them her crap about how he was “hurting” the LGBT cause because Gates wanted DODT to end, doncha know, but Dan made all teh gays look unseemly. Then they would contact Dan and quote LezGetReal. “She” had her stuff picked up in Military journals and it was pushed out — gosh, as if there was an entire PR outfit working to promote it.
It’s a tough economy, eCHAN, and people have to make a living somehow. I think we should all be happy that people can now do it sitting on their asses and raking in bank from the DoD — or for that matter, political campaigns — by smearing people who risked their lives on a daily basis in Iraq. How wonderful for us they’re here to give us an education in military protocol.
The Os are pretty lame at talking points. Guessing they don’t pay enough to get quality trolls, which would be consistent with the rest of their econ policy. I wonder if, like WalMart, they ask their troll applicants in the initial interview, if the applicants qualify for any taxpayer funded programs like food stamps (while such still exist).
Choi is being made an example of to serve as a chilling effect on other wannabe whistle blowers. Didn’t work on Choi but would guess it has succeeded in keeping a lot of others quiet.
Tell it. Sad to say, these are also the same people, most likely, who used to shriek & squack about “Support the Troops.” Funny how we really don’t hear much about “Support the Troops” anymore from either the right or the left (admittedly)… but esp from the right, who were so very quick to wag their fingers at leftists and pacifists.
Now, instead of “Support the Troops,” it’s more like: villify the troops (but kiss the General’s butts)…
Yes, just like Pfc Bradley Manning. And there is a whole host of trolls at the ready to collect their paychecks rabidly dissing Manning, much as the dissing of Choi goes on today.
Obama hates hates hates whistleblowers… yet another of Obama’s 180 degree turns from what he said during his campaign:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8241580&page=1
That would be: NO!
I’m coming in late here but I would just like for illjill to tell us what Petraeus, Gates, and all those other uniform wearing military meatheads were doing when they were on camera with Bush and others telling America war lies?
Which episode do you really think is more criminal?
Jane,
I won’t be able to make the Wednesday meeting. I don’t want to reserve the spot and not be there. I’ve attended the townhall meetings and try to support each and every issue. Give my space to another for this one, but tell Dan that this Peasant is behind him. A true hero for sure!
Thanks PeasantParty, will do.
Yeppers, Manning & Choi. Bless them both.
As for O, I’ve not witnessed such a peevish petty prez in my 3 score & 7. At least W reveled in screwing the rest of us.
Don’t know. But they apparently don’t have any rules prohibiting hiring mentally ill or emotionally disturbed individuals. In fact, that seems to be a feature, not a bug.
Well, at least their hearts are in the right place on the issue of the emotionally disturbed & mentally ill. /s
The Rear Guard is as clever in speech as in spending as they never have to get out and do it themselves. Other than the change that changes hands, certain cons are the features of the war business.
“Prince Blackadder” (video, 2:39 minutes)
Perfect, eCAHN, total perfection!
I am very late to this thread, don’t know if anyone will see this, but I think it is worth pointing out that the multiple arrests of Sheehan happened under Bush II, Choi is being prosecuted by the Bush III admin. I don’t know what to say.
Perhaps they are also covering their flank for the upcoming battle to be reinstated. The Bush III admin simply will not have him back and needs some kind of cover for not letting him back in, hence, charges that will keep him out.