Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The first impulse is to deny opponents of the administration every opportunity to express views


CAPITOL HILL POLICE BLOCK TEA PARTY ACTIVISTS FROM IMMIGRATION RALLY


Capitol Hill police are trying to block activists attending Wednesday's "Audit the IRS" rally from also attending a nearly day-long press conference on immigration, hosted by Reps. Steve King and Louie Gohmert. The IRS rally is on the west side of the Capitol, while the immigration event is on the east side. Organizers for the IRS event were told by Hill police that "your people" can only assemble on the west side. Organizers were told to remove the activists from the immigration event.

Capitol Hill police left a voicemail for Kevin Mooneyhan, Deputy Executive Director of Tea Party Patriots, saying that "your people" only are permitted to assemble for the event on the west side of the Capitol. The activists' presence at the immigration event on the east side, supposedly violates the terms of the Tea Party's permit. Mooneyhan was instructed to move any activists who planned on attending the Tea Party rally away from the immigration event. 
Keep in mind, the immigration event is hosted by sitting members of Congress. The notion that citizens can't attend an event featuring duly elected Representatives in a public space is absurd. 
"The Capitol police are violating our rights to assembly and association," Mooneyhan told Breitbart News. "How does our permit limit the rights of individuals to attend public events. It's intimidation."
Mooneyhan added, "How do they even know these are 'our people?' Did they look them up through PRISM?" PRISM is the controversial NSA program that reportedly tracks internet and email communication. 
UPDATE: According to Mooneyhan and Breitbart News' Matthew Boyle, the Capitol Hill police have now backed off their attempts to block activists from attending the immigration rally. 

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