Pro-gun activist Adam Kokesh, recently seen in an Internet video loading and cocking a shotgun, is being held in a Washington jail for three days pending a detention hearing on Monday, a judge ruled.
He is charged with carrying a rifle or shotgun outside a home or place of business, an offense that carries a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Kokesh, an Iraq veteran, made headlines with a July Fourth video posted to YouTube in which he loaded a shotgun in the middle of the national capital's Freedom Plaza.
He also used Facebook to call for an armed march in Washington for the same day but called off the event in May. It is illegal to carry firearms in the District of Columbia.
District of Columbia Magistrate Judge Lori Parker said Kokesh "poses a danger" and went "out of his way" to violate the district's laws.
Kokesh's attorney, Peter Cooper, said after the appearance in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that his client is making a "political statement," but argued the government is doing the same thing.
"Their allegation about danger, I believe, is unwarranted," Cooper said.
I actually agree with Kokesh's attorney here. I also do not think that he really poses a threat to others, though I think he is in serious danger of blowing his own dick off. Assuming he can get a bead on the little feller.
However I think that it is a good thing that Kokesh is facing real fail time for being a real douchebag. Hopefully this will send a message to other, even more unhinged gun nuts,. that this kind of thing will not be tolerated in Washington D.C..
You know I am not sure that the pro-gun nuts are really capable of understanding that these crazy tactics do NOTHING to make the average every day citizen sympathetic to their cause.
I mean some of this stuff almost seems like they are TRYING to get people to see them as a threat.
It would be like if African Americans decided to fight racism by threatening to riot in the streets or break into your home and steal all of your stuff. How would feeding into the stereotype help their cause?
Either these idiots are too stupid to understand that they are, pardon the pun, shooting themselves in the foot with these actions, or they do not care because they believe the simple act of owning a gun makes them right.
I am glad to see this, and I hope they go after that nutcase cop in Pennsylvania next.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I can only agree with you, Lynne. I'd hate to see the guy actually put away for five years without wifi and a smart phone to keep us apprised of his dickery. But if we could have a web site to check in on these thugs via webcam over their prison cell, I'm cool with that.
DeleteI think he does pose a threat to others and to society.
ReplyDeleteThink of what it would take for a normal person to do what he did, strutting into DC, jacking off with his, er, gun, while yammering about the final revolution. Seriously think about the mindset and the delusions of grandeur it would take for someone to do that as well as remembering that he stokes his delusions on his pathetic website day in and day out.
All talk, no action? Maybe. But I could see this clown doing something stupid that results in the police being called, and lost in the visions of his role as Savior of Liberty, he decides to make a Last Stand Against Tyranny.
Either by firing a warning shot that actually hits somebody (whoopsies), or by handling his weapon carelessly and accidentally shooting someone (whoopsies again). This could easily happen as he tries to manage his gun while at the same time filming himself with his phone so that the awestruck world can watch his Youtube video. Presto, police shootout and liberty-loving patriot dead.
As 2014 elections draw closer, as republican plans to demolish the government once and for all fail again and again, we can expect the wingnut base to grow more and more irrational and angry.
All it takes to start a deadly wildfire is one little carelessly thrown match.
So yes, he and the other dangerous nutballs out there need to be smacked right in the face with reality.
Firing a warning shot is actually a felony in some states --- FL and MO are two that I've read about in the past couple of days. But the accidental discharges by these gun goons presents a real danger to others in the vicinity of their gunplay. I suppose it's hard to think "Safety First" while playing tough-guy in front of your fellow micro-pecker pals.
DeleteAhh, let's all pause and reflect on our own little man with delusions of grandeur. Schaeffer Cox. His "stunts" didn't work out so well. Good luck to you Mr. Kokesh.
DeleteThis same guy tried to stir up trouble in my town. WWW.nemasket.net/swearing-bylaw-activist-arrested
ReplyDeleteHow can you possibly know whether or not he poses a threat to others? What an odd opinion to have based on what?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I don't think I clarified that he probably posed no danger while brandishing his firearm for that video, or while walking around Washington D.C.
DeleteI have no idea whether he might kill a person accidentally at home or in another environment. He very well might.
I was speaking specifically to what he was charged with.
Because he's a gun fetishist. Meaning he is desperately trying to overcompensate for his manly shortcomings. Meaning he's just looking for trouble and people as warped and antisocial as this usually find it. And it's usually at someone else's expense. I'm glad the DC government (which will probably now have its gun laws weakened even further by its right-wing overseers in Congress) is not letting that happen.
Delete$5K is a good start for an attitude adjustment, but this asshat needs more than just a pop to his wallet. After a couple of sleepless nights in general population in the DC jail spent crying for his mama while balled up in the fetal position, he might be softened up enough to begin some etiquette classes and sensitivity training. Given five years and the right type of counseling, this tough guy might make a decent community organizer one day.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the odds that the NRA will pay the fine? I'd say extremely high.
DeleteNefer, I totally agree with your comments regarding Kokesh. He is so full of hubris, it's likely anything could happen. Like you, I am worried about the innocents out there. (OT perhaps, but I remember Palin and her map with the cross-hairs. She has never taken any personal responsibility for the results of her action.) He broke the law...let him be punished like anyone else...no special treatment or consideration.
ReplyDeleteAJD
This isn't the type of civil disobedience that is going to make anyone sympathetic to his cause(s). The gun itself and his threatening posture detract from a message that might appeal to more Americans. I certainly supported his anti-Iraqi war stance and his protests against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and his deceptive "I don't recall" testimony, but purposely breaking a firearms law to draw attention isn't helping change any minds on the other side of the gun debate. It's just grandstanding.
ReplyDeleteImagine if the First Amendment was banned in DC. And people who disagreed in public were arrested and jailed for speaking out "outside a home or place of business".
ReplyDeleteImagine if Gryphen was arrested for publicly speaking his mind on this blog. Would you question the size of his manhood by how big his mouth is? There's more than one way to compensate for a small penis.
By the way Gryphen, your argument about African Americans is lame. A counter argument could be made that it took breaking the law by many to end slavery and bring civil rights to African Americans. Does the underground Railroad ring a bell? Did refusing to ride in the back of the bus mean Rosa Parks had no balls. What about people ignoring laws about interracial marriage and relationships? Or laws concerning homosexuality. Should gays have waited for laws in their favor to "come out"?
Sometimes breaking an unjust law is the only way to get it changed. And it doesn't have anything to do with the size of your testicles.
Apparently all those gun laws in DC don't work since they have the highest gun death stats in the land.
It is not an unjust law, it falls under states rights, and the District of Columbia has those same rights as a state. He broke the law and is now subject to a penalty for that law breaking. I have hunted all over the world and the US, as a responsible weapons owner it is up to you to study and follow the laws everywhere. He knew it was illegal and now it's time to pay the piper.
DeleteSo you're for open carry of any type of firearm in DC? Even by those who are unbalanced mentally and have a hero complex? That shoujd turn out great.
DeleteWhy don't you *Imagine that*?
The reason DC has the gun statistic deaths that it does is because the surrounding areas (Virginia, Maryland, etc) do not have equally restrictive gun laws. If all surrounding areas had equally restrictive gun laws, DC would be safe from gun crime.
Delete10:53 -
DeleteExactly the same reason Chicago has so many gun related crimes and homicides. And it's always the example the gun rights side uses to claim that the laws don't work. Well, they WOULD work if there weren't so damn many guns being brought in from outside the city limits!
Combine pockets of deep poverty with lax laws in the surrounding localities and you have a recipe for disaster.
Sorry, but the District of Columbia can make it's own laws. That falls under the acatgory of states rights. He willfully broke that law and when you do that you are subject to punishment. And with his lil willy he'll be someones girlfriend for the next 5 yrs. I can legally carry in Texas, that doesn't mean I have the right to legally carry in other states or the District of Columbia. This has nothing to do with his constitutional rights, this is about states rights.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you, Gryphen, this man, just like the crazy PA police chief that you featured yesterday, is a danger and he should face the consequences of breaking the law deliberately and provocatively. He wanted to get caught and then let go because he thinks the authorities should be afraid of him. Let him be fined and, above all, let him spend some time in jail. These loonies end up inspiring even crazier people who then go into schoolrooms, restaurants, movie theaters, parking lots, etc. and kill people - just because they think they can. Frankly I'm glad that Washington, D.C., has tough gun laws. More cities and states should have tough gun laws.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
All I have to say is this. Link follows. Then Gov. Ronald Reagan, now lauded as the patron saint of modern conservatism, told reporters in California that he saw "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theroot.com/views/fear-black-gun-owner
You just love you some nanny-state punishment porn, don't you, "Gryphen"? Does being a disarmed, impotent, dependent sheep give you a stiffie? Sure seems that way. Statist buttboy.
ReplyDeleteOooh nanny state punishment porn sounds interesting.
DeleteIs that on Red Tube?
ObamaHub has the best stuff.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI just don't want to wait and see when he goes totally ballistic and hurts someone, that's where he's headed
It's disquieting to come to the realization that there really are people this mentally imbalanced......I want my America back........
ReplyDelete