About

When in the Course of dancing Events, it becomes necessary for a group of people to question the tactics and authority of others, and to assume among the Powers of the Interwebs, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and the Constitution entitle them, a decent respect to the First Amendment requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to Action.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the ability to quietly listen to 80s hip-hop in the Jefferson Memorial—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Governed—yeah that’s right, we said BY THE GOVERNED—that whenever any agent of the Government becomes obstructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to get all kinds of pissed off. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Laws long established (read First Amendment) should not be ignored for light and transient Causes; and that “bopping” silently to Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock is one of lightest and most transient of causes we’ve ever heard of.

This website is dedicated to our friend, Brooke Oberwetter, who was wrongfully arrested for legitimately questioning authority. To that end, we have three goals that we seek to achieve through our actions:

1. We call for her record to be cleared.

2. We call on the park police, security officers involved and their chain of command to give this person a personal apology.

3. We call on all concerned citizens to join us for the next Thomas Jefferson Dance Party which will be huge.

We are several concerned friends who have day jobs working in public policy and journalism—and most of us have a blog or two on the side. This site is part of a larger effort on the part of many individuals to clear our friend’s name.

Some commenters on other blogs have questioned the importance of our work on this issue, and wonder why so many people are paying attention when there is a war going on and people being tortured by our government. While those are two (of many) very valid issues about which to be concerned, if your friend was arrested for no legitimate reason and you could do something about it, we would not fault you for doing so. There are plenty of abuses by the government and this just happens to be one that we’re focusing on right now because it hit close to home.

Furthermore, we are doing this to let people know that what Brooke did was not wrong. Individuals have the right—if not the obligation— to question arbitrary authority. The police are not authorized to arrest and charge people for no legitimate reason. The officer could not have felt threatened (have you seen the size of that guy??), Brooke was not being hostile or in any way provocative, and simply questioned what it was that she was doing wrong. (see video)

While we will, at times, seem flippant or somewhat irreverent on this site, please, understand that we take this very seriously. Our friend was arrested, incarcerated, and charged with a crime. We solemnly refuse to stand idly by when a member of the government oversteps his prerogative to keep people safe, deprives our friend of her inalienable right to freedom, and besmirches her name with a bogus charge.

Please note: The authors and administrators of this site are solely responsible for its content. In no way should their words, ideas, or actions reflect upon Brooke Oberwetter or any personal or professional affiliations the authors may have.

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Responses

As a dancer-choreographer who has visited the Jefferson Memorial (and only at night because it is quieter at that time than during the day), I praise Brooke and the other twenty for celebrating Jefferson through dance.
I believe the park officer, whose body language, based on the online news clips, was “louder” and “more boisterous” than Brooke’s, should have arrested himself for disturbing the peace (and quiet) that existed before he wrongfully squelched freedom of speech.

By: Clarence Brooks on April 16, 2008
at 9:06 pm

[...] In closing, here are some important words from the Free the Jefferson 1 website: [...]

By: Third Party Watch » Blog Archive » All my rowdy friends (are getting busted) on April 16, 2008
at 10:20 pm

I’m very sorry to hear about this absurd incident. I hope my small
contribution helps. Did anyone get the names/badge numbers of the
officers in question?

By: Peter Orvetti on April 17, 2008
at 2:10 am

[...] not sure what the official charge is (disorderly conduct maybe?), but according to the group “Free the Jefferson 1” she was “legitimately questioning authority”. Video on YouTube provided by the [...]

By: Dancing with Jefferson « Atypical Musings on April 19, 2008
at 10:45 pm

This is very disturbing… Best of luck to Brooke.

I wish I could donate more…

By: Jeremy Diehl on April 21, 2008
at 8:14 am

[...] pong rally needed As D.C. libertarians rally around the Jefferson 1 — you can donate here — consider another local put upon by the small tyrants of the [...]

By: Snarky Bastards » Blog Archive » Ping pong rally needed on May 3, 2008
at 4:32 pm

I’d ride a bike back East to dance with you all next time. All we have out here are “immigrants of questionable legality” rallying in the local park.

Best wishes for Brooke.

I have no words for how floored I am by this.

By: Penny Taylor on May 16, 2008
at 8:56 pm

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