District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier spoke earlier today with ABC News regarding a march with loaded firearms being planned by Libertarian radio host Adam Kokesh.
Emboldened by the recent filibuster in the Senate and fueled by the hatred of President Obama and an unreasoning fear of the government, Kokesh has called for an open-carry march on Washington to take place on July 4. On the Facebook page he has set up to recruit participants.
[You can read more on his planned march here.]
When asked if they would be allowed into the city, Chief Lanier responded
“There is a difference between civil disobedience, which I think this is being portrayed as and actual violation of the law. And there are two different things here. So, civil disobedience – people come to Washington D.C. to protest policies and government policies all the time – it’s no problem. But when you cross into the District of Columbia with firearms and you’re not in compliance with the law now you’re talking about a criminal offense and there’s going to be some action by police. Obviously there has been no permit filed by the organizer and we’ve not made contact with the organizer yet. But we will, and we’ll make sure they understand that if they want to pass through the District of Columbia with loaded firearms as long as they are in compliance with the firearms laws for transportation of firearms to the District, we’re all for it. But passing into the District of Columbia with firearms is a violation of the law and we’ll have to treat it as such.
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