On May 28, 2011 Television host Adam Kokesh and several other activists participating in a flash-mob were arrested at the publicly-funded Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Their crime? Silently dancing, in celebration of the first amendment’s champion; a clear violation of their right to free-expression. In an excessive use of force, video was captured of Adam being body slammed and placed in a choke for his non-crime. Watch the arrest in the following video taken by Adam…
Source from Adam Vs The Man website
Adam Kokesh
Adam Charles Kokesh (born February 1, 1982) is an American activist and talk radio host. Kokesh was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He is an outspoken opponent of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq and has received media attention related to anti-war protest activities.
Adam enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1999. In 2004, he served in Fallujah. Working a checkpoint was a responsibility while in Iraq. He brought home a pistol from Iraq in 2004, violating military rules, and preventing him from returning on a second Iraq tour. Kokesh “had risen to the rank of sergeant after three-and-a-half years in the Reserves” and “was demoted to corporal and soon thereafter discharged honorably with a re-enlistment code that basically said, ‘you can’t re-enlist.’” Having experienced combat in Fallujah, Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal after his honorable discharge from active duty.
After his discharge, and during a March 19, 2007, protest he attended, Kokesh was in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR); a superior officer identified him in a photo caption in the Washington Post. On “March 29, a Marine major sent him an e-mail to tell him he was being investigated for misconduct by appearing at a political event in uniform. Kokesh responded, telling the major what he thought” and used an expletive in his reply, resulting in an additional misconduct charge. The charges were “brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies only to service members”, confusing some veterans and lawyers.
In May 2007, a hearing was convened to consider changing Kokesh’s military discharge from “honorable” to “other than honorable” on two points: “Disrespect toward a Superior Commissioned Officer”, and violating “Wearing of the uniform” regulation. The panel recommended Kokesh be given a “general discharge under honorable conditions”,a discharge status below “honorable”, and above “other than honorable.” Kokesh appealed the decision, and was denied.
Protest Activities
After returning from Iraq, Kokesh resumed his studies and completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Claremont McKenna College. In February 2007, Kokesh became an active participant in the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). On March 19, 2007, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and 12 other Iraq Veterans Against the War members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington D.C. Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and his photograph appeared in newspapers throughout the country, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales‘s testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. Kokesh, wearing his Marine Corps Boonie hat, held up a large sign counting the number of times Gonzalez said “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall” (Kokesh claimed Gonzalez used such phrases 74 times).
In April 2007 Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested for protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building. Kokesh had performed a ceremony for lost service members using an American flag.
Kokesh enrolled in graduate studies in political management at George Washington University. In October 2007, Kokesh, along with six other students, created controversy by putting up satirical political posters across the university campus. The posters featured a picture of a stereotypical Arab man and the headline “Hate Muslims? So do we!!!”, with illustrative captions explaining that the typical Muslim is equipped with a venom-spouting mouth, laser-shooting eyes, and hidden AK-47:s, among other parodical features. The poster was signed “Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness”, and encouraged students to visit the right-wing website terrorismawareness.org. Kokesh and the six other students publicly admitted to responsibility amidst accusations that the poster was Islamophobic, maintaining that their intent was to spread awareness of what they considered to be the overtly racist intentions of the above-mentioned website’s “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” organized by a conservative student organization and featuring David Horowitz.
On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Representative Ron Paul‘s Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he stated, “While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?”
On September 4, 2008, Kokesh interrupted Senator John McCain‘s acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Holding a sign reading “McCain Votes Against Vets” on one side and “You can’t win an occupation” on the other, Kokesh yelled, “Ask him why he votes against vets!” A member of the audience grabbed the sign and tore it in two. Kokesh was released shortly after being detained by local police.
Adam vs The Man
Since July 2010 Kokesh has hosted a talk radio called “Adam vs. The Man.” The program airs weekdays from the studios of 1550 KIVA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In April 2011 his show was picked up by Russia Today television network (“RT”). Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh’s appearing on RT, which is funded by the Russian government, saying RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.
Information on Adam Kokesh provided via Wikipedia
