Ben Swann and Sonya Sandage
BenSwann.com
10/13/2013
Sunday morning, 2,000- 3,000 veterans, family members and citizens gathered at the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. There, the veterans took apart the barricades set up by Park Police to keep visitors out of the WWII Memorial, placed the barricades on their shoulders and carried them away.
The protestors who included veterans of the Korean, Vietnam, WWII, Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, took those barricades and carried them about 3/4ths of a mile to a sidewalk in front of White House and piled the barricades there.
The protest had several facets to it, but began as a push back against the closure of open-air memorials in Washington D.C. as a result of the government shutdown. As we have reported, these veterans are furious, saying that these memorials are being closed down in order to inflict pain on veterans and their families. Already, WWII vets taking part in Honor Flights, have pushed past these barricades to enter the memorial…
The complete article has more photos and video at BenSwann.com
Related: Crowd storms World War II Memorial [audio, video, image gallery]
Thousands of people converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Sunday morning and tore down the barricades blocking it off, protesting the closure of the memorial during the federal government shutdown.
Beginning at about 9:30 a.m., Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as well as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were among the luminaries in a crowd that chanted “Tear down these walls!” and sang “God Bless America” as well as other patriotic songs as they entered the memorial, which has been closed since the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
Tractor-trailers headed down 17th Street toward the Mall, blaring their horns. The Metropolitan Police Department blocked off the street, prompting the crowd to head up the street, shouting at the police to move their vehicles.
Palin said that closing the memorials was disgraceful, and that President Obama “could be here today, saying ‘Yes, we can tear down these barricades.”
Cruz said that President Obama was using veterans as political pawns in the shutdown. Lee shouted, “The sons and daughters of the United States of America are meant to live in liberty.”…
From the New York Daily News: (Photos: ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES)
…Police moved the protesters back to set up barricades between the crowd and the White House gate. Some protesters chanted “shame on you” at the officers.
An armored police vehicle also was sent to the World War II Memorial people lingered there.
District of Columbia police said the crowd was dispersing by 1 p.m., about four hours after the protests began. U.S. Park Police said there had been one arrest at the Lincoln Memorial for assault, but it was not related to the protest, said Lt. Pamela Smith.
Jim Weller of Allentown, Pa., said he came to protest “to stand up for my rights.”
“My father was a World War II veteran, shot down in the Philippines in 1945, and for them to shut down this memorial is absurd,” he said.
Cindy Good had a message for lawmakers.
“They need to listen to the American people,” she said, “and try to work together in Congress to get this whole thing worked out.”
After the protest, U.S. Park Police worked to secure the World War II Memorial again, and Smith said they were still closed because of the shutdown.
The Park Police officers, who have been guarding the memorials amid protests over their closure, are not being paid during the government shutdown…
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks Sunday at the rally, supported by military veterans, tea party activists and Republicans.
A man in a wheel chair recites the Pledge of Allegiance at a rally centered around reopening national memorials closed by the government shutdown.
There’s video at The Right Scoop.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a slide presentation:
Law enforcement officers clash with protesters from the “Million Vet March on the Memorials”, rallying against the closure of the U.S. National World War Two Memorial due to the current U.S. government shutdown, as they climb the fence in front of the White House gates in Washington, October 13, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
CNN Dismisses Million Vet March as Tea Party Kooks
“At tea party-like rally, Obama told to ‘put the Quran down.’”
Postings at Twitter began early this morning:
Powerful pic of @SenTedCruz @SenMikeLee @SarahPalinUSA at WWII memorial don’t tread on me flag! #vetmarch pic.twitter.com/C337ocy9Jc
— Consmover (@consmover) October 13, 2013
@gretawire @BoSnerdley @BossHoggUSMC @SWOHCC Vets hand deliver barricades to the White House! !! @Triarius1 pic.twitter.com/cNNuWYKjG2
— Kohala Dreams (@AKtransplant) October 13, 2013
Riot Police dispatched to meet our nation’s veterans. You stay classy DC. #sickening #MillionVetMarch pic.twitter.com/NGsLdNgBN3 — Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) October 13, 2013
Thank God we have baton wielding riot police to protect us from 85 yr old vets in wheelchairs. Thanks, Mr. Obama pic.twitter.com/hrxWzMkO18 — James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) October 13, 2013
The Blaze has a collection of photos, video, and tweets including this image, which has gone viral:
A veteran paraplegic on a Segway is helping carry a barricade #1MVetMarch pic.twitter.com/3gDx7uZGQn — Andrew Creech (@andrewbcreech) October 13, 2013
Update: “Chuck H.” posted these:
Update 2: PHOTOS: Veterans Overrun the Barrycades, Liberate the Memorials in Washington!
A PJ volunteer is in Washington and captured these photos of the veterans’ march on the National Mall earlier today. Our volunteer says, “It was the best public disobedience I’ve ever witnessed.” Veterans swarmed the World War II, Vietnam and Lincoln memorials. They removed the barrycades from all of the memorials, starting with the WWII Memorial. From there, the veterans tore the barrycades down at the Vietnam Memorial before moving on to liberating the Lincoln Memorial…
Not forgotten.
Read the whole thing.
