Free the Jefferson 1

Update on the (Kangaroo) Court Process

peteeyre — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Well, May 21st, the date Brooke was scheduled to appear in court (after the date was initially pushed back from late April), has come and gone and Brooke still has not had her day in court.

This time, it was because the U.S. Park Police had not properly communicated with the prosecutor. In fact, Brooke was not even in the court’s system as the USPP did not even file charges until that very morning.

We’re now told Brooke will finally get her day in court in late June. Stay tuned for more details.

Michael Badnarik Covers FTJ1

peteeyre — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:56:13 +0000

Michael Badnarik, self-described step-father of the Constitution and 2004 Libertarian Party nominee for president, covered the Free The Jefferson 1 incident this morning on his Internet radio show, Lighting the Fires of Liberty. You can listen to the episode (May 27th) here.

Defense Fund and Court Date Update

peteeyre — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:01:17 +0000

Just wanted to thank everyone who made it out to the Union Pub last Friday. Between the inexpensive entry fee and t-shirt sells, it looks like we netted around $500 for the defense fund. This brings us to just under 80% of our goal. Good stuff.

If you weren’t able to make it out or didn’t have enough coin at the time to purchase a shirt, you can do so here. Note that the shirts make great gifts and will help show those around you that you won’t stand for State aggression.

In other news, a few folks have asked us of the status of the court date. Well, Brooke was originally supposed to appear during the last week of April, but now she was informed it was pushed back to May 21st. Perhaps the State is scared they don’t have a case?? Stay tuned for more.

TONIGHT! One Night Only With the Jefferson 1

raylehmann — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:49:57 +0000

The liberal Christopher Hitchens! The conservative First Fridays! The libertarian Bureaucrash! All that, and the Jefferson 1 herself will be on hand at D.C.’s Union Pub for a special post-partisan affair, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDST. It’s $5 at the door, which covers the cost of one drink and a one-time donation to the FreeTheJefferson1 Defense Fund. If you’re in the Washington area and can make it out to Capitol Hill for a few hours, we’d love to see you there.

Roughly $3,300 has been raised thus far to assist our own Brooke Oberwetter, as she continues to fight federal charges of “interfering with an agency function” and “demonstrating without a permit,” all brought because she had the temerity to ask U.S. Park Police why she was not permitted to bop silently in celebration of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday.

More info here.

Slate on the Jefferson1

raylehmann — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:47:29 +0000

The Jefferson 1 was a topic of discussion today on Slate’s Political Gabfest, with regular podcasters John Dickerson, David Plotz, and Emily Bazelon. The discussion starts at around the 25:40 mark (or, conversely, 3:40 from the end.)

And here’s a transcript:

David: There’s an amazing story making its way through the blogosphere this week. A couple of weeks ago, I guess around April 12, there was a gathering of libertarians at the Jefferson Memorial at midnight to celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. And these group of libertarians were in the rotunda. They went at midnight because there wouldn’t be a lot of people around. And they were dancing silently, they were all listening to iPods, and they were dancing around. And a security officer said…came up to them and said you have to leave…and then one of them said ‘Why?’ And at this point, they arrested this woman, whose name is…what is her name…her name is Mary Oberwetter. And arrested her, charged her with all kinds of ridiculous crimes, for interfering with the function of a police officer, probably disturbing the peace. And it’s…it’s appalling. It’s absolutely appalling. And so you should go and find about the…

Emily: And there’s YouTube video.

David: There’s YouTube video of them…and, you know, they’re doing nothing!

John: And there’s a Web site now called freethejefferson1.

David: Freethejefferson1. It’s ridiculous. You know, the kind of national…you know, as a native Washingtonian, I’m kind of increasingly perturbed about the way this city has been, you know, securitized. And this is just another example of the way that the notions of security and safety and protecting against some vague outside threat have been turned to absurd levels.

John: (sarcastic) Yeah .

Emily: No?

John: I couldn’t sit through the whole video. I got annoyed by the narrator. I’m down with everything David said, I just don’t want to listen to the guy who was going on about it on the video while they were talking to the two cops.

All in all, a great spot, even if one of them wasn’t crazy about Jason’s narration. Let me say welcome to anyone who may have heard of us by way of the podcast, and if you want to help in the legal fight to come, you can donate to the FtJ1 Defense Fund.

Wow.

jdtalley — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:53:24 +0000

From the comments:

If a cop tells you to do something, DO IT. Once we stop respecting authority, the whole system is broken.

Hmm, there was some guy one time who took a different view. What was it that he said?

[R]ightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual

Who was that again? Oh yeah, Thomas Jefferson.

Defense Fund Update: Halfway to the Goal

jdtalley — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:27:14 +0000

Hey folks, we’re just over halfway to our goal on the defense fund. That’s awesome!

Thanks to everyone for their support, and if you haven’t donated yet, please do, even if it’s just $10, $15, or $25–whatever you can spare. And for your viewing pleasure, please check out our handy thermometer graphic on the right there.

As Brooke would say, “Let’s get ‘er done.”

Really, What Does YOUR Dad Do?

jdtalley — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:17:31 +0000

How much do your parents’ jobs–or their former jobs, or their friends, or their taste in music, or the way they comb their hair–affect the way you want people to evaluate YOUR actions? How much do their politics color what YOU do?

If you’re like most adults, probably not very much. That’s why it’s a little silly to see all this talk about Brooke’s family (which you can find in the comments of various posts, both on this site and on Interwebs at large). She’s a grownup, she makes her own decisions, lives her own life, and is going out of her way not to inconvenience or burden her family with this mess.

Of course it would be easier to do that if her last name were “Smith,” but we play with the hand we’re dealt, you know?

A commenter on this post put it pretty nicely, I think:

Honestly, we’re talking about a grown woman here; as far as I can tell, her father hasn’t stepped in here to help because it doesn’t really have anything to do with him, any more than it would have anything to do with YOUR father if it had been YOU.