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At this moment, the Herndon police department, in cooperation with the U.S. Park Police, are executing a search warrant for Adam Kokesh at his residence in Virginia. According to Fox news, “Roads have been blocked off in the area of the 1500 block of Snow Flake Court in Herndon and residents have been told to stay indoors while police serve the warrant.” Kokesh’s July 4th video of him loading a shotgun in Washington, D.C. within blocks of the capitol has been viewed over 170,000 times . . .

The D.C. police had this to say about the original incident:

D.C. Police Chief Lanier told us on July 4th, “You’re allowed to have a rifle [or] shotgun registered for your home, if you’re a D.C. resident and it’s registered for the protection of your home. You can transport it through the District of Columbia as well. But there are rules for that transport. What [Kokesh] did [Thursday] morning, if in fact that was a real firearm [with] real ammunition, would be a violation of the law.”

The original version of this story indicated that the warrant being executed was an arrest warrant. That is not the case — yet. Stay tuned.

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120 COMMENTS

    • Not surprised really. Breaking the (inane) law and putting it on video, I’m not really sure what he expected would happen.

        • correction: a 30 rd magazine held up on tv by someone who licks Obama’s balls and kids go to the same school

          actually, if I was his lawyer, this would be a good case. Same DC police chief who decided not to move forward w charges against Gregory. Even if he got convicted, it would merit an appeal. Eventually, this will get to the point where the media can’t hide the hypocrisy.

        • Maybe they will issue warrants for all the actors in the latest DC action flicks, White House Down and the other one, title already forgotten. Even if they didn’t actually take place in DC, the ‘intent’ was there.

      • Don’t forget that it’s always good measure to keep narcotics in your house when you think a search warrant and arrest are imminent.

        • Don’t forget that planting drugs on someone is not an unheard-of excuse for arresting people the cops don’t like. But even if the drugs are Kokesh’s, who has he harmed? No victim, no crime.

  1. MAIG’s next victim of gun violence? I would add LOL, but it isn’t really funny…

    Also, hope he doesn’t have any dogs…

    • Uh…. Photoshop? There is nothing in that video inconsistent with him being there, doing that. The lighting and tonality match perfectly. If you have some proof, or have seen something online, it’s not nice not to share. Plus, it makes… well, you know.

      • I can put video, him, over any video background. The software is moderately expensive but common. It’s how people make many training films: Green screen. No, I didn’t fail to share: I’m speculating on the guy’s sanity, actually. If he’s sane, he did a green screen (blue in the old days). If he’s nuts, he didn’t.

        • If it was a green screen using software (you can purchase a whole kit which is advertised in NAPP Magazine), this could be an interesting.

        • that gives me a whole slew of ideas… no good will come from any of them though… maybe there can still be a “march” on the capital… lol

      • I didn’t know that you could edit video and shoot green screen shots with a photo editing program. The new things I learn everyday.

  2. So much for oath keepers… I guess that entire “defend the Constitution of the United States” bit was a bit much for your average donut muncher to understand. Naturally, they are going to be serving the warrant at midnight with a SWAT team instead of just asking the man to surrender. I wonder what will happen when somebody refuses to put up with their bull anymore?

    • I grew up in a socialist country in the Soviet Block.
      The country was about the size of New Mexico, had a population of about 35+ million.
      No constitution. No Oathkeepers.
      Still, you’d expect 35+ million people of the same ethnicity, same religion, same language and cultural heritage going back over 1,000 years to stick together to a common ideology. By extension, the LE and Military would be expected to be loyal to the people and not turn on the populace.
      Yet, they did.

    • The Oathkeepers is a political organization, don’t trust it. And don’t trust anyone who boasts of being “an Oathkeeper,” they’ll be the first to put their boot on your neck.

    • If you think for a second that the “Oath Keepers” wouldn’t pull the trigger and follow orders to disarm citizens, you’re sadly mistaken.

      • Oh I don’t think that at all. The cops will follow orders until we start stringing them up as collaborators. All the backup in the world won’t help you against a mod of your neighbors at 2 AM.

  3. Just an update, the local news outlets are now saying it is a “search warrant” being served, not an arrest warrant. The local Fox affiliate (myfoxdc) said at 9:59 PM that it was an arrest warrant. It has since been changed.

    WJLA (ABC 7) is also reporting it as a search warrant.

  4. I get why he did it and I respect his commitment to stand up for what he believes in. However, I do not feel one bit sorry for him as he brought this on himself. Did he hurt anyone? No. Does he deserve this? No. Is the law stupid? Yes. But, it is what it is. The only possible benefit I could see remotely arising from this is some sort of lawsuit targeting the stupids laws. But I don’t give it a snowball’s chance in hell. What I do see happening for sure, is a lot of negative PR for the Pro-2A community. I file this one away in the same category as the D-bags that open carry rifles to intentionally generate confrontations with police and then film it.

    All that being said, what really pisses me off is the double standard of David Gregory getting a pass. Enforce it equally for all or none at all.

    • So your opinion is that we should all be nice collaborators to the jackbooted thugs taking over our country? Forgive me if I think that “I was just following orders” is just as worthless an excuse today as it was in 1945. In theory, I support law enforcement, but any LEO that knowingly enforces an unjust law is unworthy of the oath he or she swore. That makes them thugs and the lowest form of scum. They will find as little pity from me as their comrades found at Nuremberg, with much the same eventual result.

      • How does not making an ass of myself constitute collaboration? You talk big, but I’ll bet the farm that you don’t have the balls to stand up to any of the Jack Booted Thugs. You have to pick your battles. Carrying a loaded weapon where I am prohibited by law (regardless of the constitutionality of the law) to make a political statement will serve no end but to ruin my life for years to come with nothing to show for it. If you are ok with doing that to yourself, than good for you. But I have a family to feed. Live to fight another day.

    • Edit: this was meant for Charlie5
      I have to disagree with you 100%.
      An unjust law should be willfully disobeyed if your willing to suffer the possible consciences.

      • If you are willing to suffer the consequences, than good for you. Just remember that you are a bug splatter on their windshield and justice will NOT prevail in the end.

        • Well that’s just a winning attitude, isn’t it?

          Defeatism has never won any battles.

        • I guess the Freedom Marchers and Lunch Counter sitters should have stayed home, eh? That darn Civil Disobedience stuff never accomplishes anything….

        • @Doug please note, Rosa Parks defiance was carefully orchestrated – there was a plan for challenging the law and resources for supporting her. She didn’t just one day decide to violate the law to make a point. I’m all for civil disobedience, but successful civil disobedience requires some thought as to a course of action. IMO this guys just a misguided attention seeking douche.

      • A couple things. Rosa Parks only faced a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and was fined $10 plus $4 court costs and served no jail time. With the support of civil rights groups, she made a national issue of the incident by appealing the case. Not to take anything away from the Freedom Marchers and Lunch Counter sitters, but what they did was powered by strength in numbers and it was planned and coordinated. Also, they didn’t face years of costly court battles, felony convictions, years in prison, loss of their right to keep and bear arms, and total destruction of their lives. If you are going to participate in civil disobedience, it needs to be with a plan and purpose and I agree with @outwardhound.

        Now, if 500 or 1000 gun owners had carried there loaded guns into DC like this guy and held a peaceful protest, that I can get behind. One guy by himself is charging hell with a water pistol.

        The cost has to be worth the gain. If I were to carry my concealed weapon into a prohibited place and then have to use it to defend myself and then be charged for carrying said weapon in a prohibited place, that I can support. Because the gain is I am not dead and I would rather be in prison than dead. However, note that in that scenario I would be carrying concealed and NOT drawing attention to myself. My “civil disobedience” serves an immediate and direct purpose, which is to provide for my safety. I am willing to face the consequences because the alternative of being defenseless is not acceptable. However, filming it and posting it allover the internet gets me the jail time and no gain. Mr. Kokesh’s stunt, if real, will get him years of pain and not make a darn difference in the long run.

    • The whole point here is that the government has passed illegal and unconstitutional laws regarding firearms (…shall not be infringed.) and subsequently uses their supposed authority to enforce those laws with their own guns in order to intimidate anyone who would stand and challenge those laws.

      So long as their intimidation works, and the threat that they can and will destroy your comfortable way of life if you thwart them (and survive) keeps us docile, they can and will run roughshod over the Consititution.

      Presuming his intent was specifically to create this sort of confrontation and he is ready and willing to see the action through to the end, then he has done us all a great favor in taking the stand that we are all afraid of taking. He may well become a martyr to our cause, or he may become another Heller vs D.C. At any rate, at some point somebody needs to have the balls to stop just talking and take a stand.

  5. Vote 1 for we now live in a police state.
    Vote 2 for we now live in Nazi Germany’s Amerika.
    Vote 3 for we now live in Candyland and everything is nice and rosy.

    • seriously a bit of all 3. incidents that come to mind to prove each are:

      1. we have crazily well armed police that arrest those they don’t like (kokesh), and let those they do like off the hook for illegal actions (politicians).

      2. turn in your gun owning neighbors in ny for $500. nsa monitors everything you do.

      3. slow joe wants us shooting chocolate bullets.

  6. “Violation of “The Law”.”

    Puts it into perspective doesn’t it?

    74 people shot, 12 dead in Chicago, yet here nothing happened, no-one injured, no-one threatened, only thing harmed was their precious “Law”.

    “For whom has ever been sanctified by the Law? “

  7. “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”

  8. If he wants to break laws on youtube in protest, then be prepared for the government to spray him with a fire hose

    • Or pepper balls while he’s proned on his living room floor, right? Fucking dirtbagrule breaker, why can’t he just get in line like everyone else? The nerve of some people.

    • Adam Kokesh is absolutely ready to be assaulted and arrested by the police, it’s what he does. He has been planning on it. He is hoping that when people like us see him being harassed for a harmless and Constitutionally protected action, we will see that the law needs to be changed.

      • I agree with this. I like my life too much to wreck it on purpose like this. I’m glad that he is willing to take the hits to draw attention.

  9. Still think he was stupid. Think it’s also stupid that they’re going after him and not David Gregory. Could a case be made for the prosecutors and police being completely arbitrary, or does prosecutorial discretion give them immunity to such claims?

      • Rosa Parks wasn’t doing a bunch of dumbass posturing for armchair commandos that was going to make any potential court case and subsequent appeals that *could* have changed things crash and burn. Nor did Rosa Parks make a bunch of noise about a massive, armed march into the lion’s den, can the whole thing, sneak in at the butt crack of dawn, make a 22 second video with ridiculous, Shatnerian dialogue, and then peace the hell out before anybody could notice.

        We need a good, solid, strategic court case to keep rolling these stupid restrictions back. This is masturbation.

        • This. Gyufygy got in before me, but I’ll repeat my post from above anyway. Rosa Parks defiance was carefully orchestrated – there was a plan for challenging the law and resources for supporting her. She didn’t just one day decide to violate the law to make a point. I’m all for civil disobedience, but successful civil disobedience requires some thought as to a course of action. IMO this guys just a misguided attention seeking douche.

  10. I appreciate the guys commitment. I’m sure he saw this one coming though. Posting that video made his soon-to-be arrest pretty inevitable. Then again I’m sure that’s probably what he ultimately wanted. A drawn out public proceeding with tax dollars being used shines a light on some of these useless laws.

  11. “despite the clarity of the violation of this important law, because under all of the circumstances here a prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust.”

    Not that it’s surprisingly to any of us, but it’s nice to see them make it clear that the David Gregory exemption only applies to liberals in the course of attacking the rights of Americans.

    • And don’t think for a moment that, when they bring charges against Kokesh, what you posted above will not be entered by his defense.

  12. The D.C. police and DAs office have already proven that they only
    enforce the law in an arbitrary manner; a la David Gregory.
    If Kokesh and we in the pro-rights crowd play our cards right, we
    can further expose this disparity, possibly even in court. It would
    also be interesting to see if the D.C. DA and PD, like the IRS, are
    actively targeting people of the gun and political detractors.

  13. It really doesn’t matter in this case that DC has onerous laws, in just about any other non-rural area this would be considered brandishing and he would be just as subject to prosecution for it. He should have just carried the rifle, taking it in his hands and loading it are what will do him in.

    That said, I still think it is a double standard that they jumped all over this but let D-Greg’s possession of the magazine slide. I guess using freedom of expression as your cover only works for reputable news agencies.

    • Brandishing is a meaningless statute that infringes on an inalienable right. Without a victim, there is no crime.

  14. What constitutes a firearm? If the barrel is welded shut and the firing pin removed is it still legally a firearm? Was the ammunition live?

    • Usually there is a phrase like, “readily capable of firing”.
      This will get interesting if the ‘shotgun’ and ‘ammo’ found during the search warrant were fake.

  15. He’s going to go to prison.
    We’re all going to get lumped in with him as crazy extremist nutjobs “like that guy who went into DC with a loaded shotgun”.
    Grabbers 1, Kokesh 0. Moron.

      • I still say Kokesh is on the grabber team. He has a shitty movie coming out, a horror film set in the Afghan war featuring Danny Trejo of “Machete.” Utterly tasteless crap.

        Why are so many ready to rally behind this fool? Because he’s a vet? So friggin what?

        Because he has a radio show that was on Russia Today for a while? I don’t know how anyone listens to his annoying voice for more than a couple minutes at a time.

        You cannot take this shit at face value in this day and age, you have to ask yourself “cui bono?” Who benefits? We all know DC has its own set of rules since it is not a state, this whole thing reeks of concocted media circus.

        If he really wanted to make a statement DC was the wrong place and the way he pulled it off was nothing short of chickenshit. If he wants to ‘protest’ let him break out that shotty in front of a policeman. Any half baked thug in the ghetto can wave his gat around at 3:30AM without people noticing.

        Thank the Lord above he only got a paltry 170k views for his silly video. He isn’t helping anyone but himself and those who wish to portray gun owners as irresponsible. I understand those of you who want your god given rights recognized, but Kokesh is not here to lead us to the promised land.

        • DC is the perfect place to test this case. It greatly reduces the number of steps to the SCotUS.

  16. So correct me if I’m wrong but…

    The police are blocking roads and issuing a shelter in place order to nearby residents to execute a search warrant? Not an arrest warrant? Just a search warrant?

    Does that strike anyone else as excessive? I mean, aside from the fact that Kokesh broke a very bad, very stupid law (albeit purposefully), there really doesn’t seem to be anything about this incident that should result in a neighborhood lock-down. I just can’t wrap my head around that.

    I think it might be time for a serious, hard look at police procedures and authority in this country.

    • I am honestly surprised that they didn’t do a no-knock raid since he’s known to have firearms and issue violent rhetoric, and then shoot him during the raid.

      • They’re probably afraid it would blow up in their face, because anyone with half a brain can see that this whole affair involves posturing on his part as well as on the part of the authorities. If they were so dumb as to use their normal practice, and he ended up dead, he’d be a “2A martyr,” which is something they are anxious to avoid at all costs. Your typical thug doesn’t have public visibility or a principle to justify himself, so they can use whatever overwhelming force they feel like.

  17. I am not a kokesh supporter. But the video shows him loading a shotgun. From the video alone how do the investigators prove it was live ammo and a real gun? My understanding of the above post was that DC requires a long gun to be registered and transported properly. If they can prove he was in DC and that was a real shotgun I don’t think they need to prove it was live ammo. He was in violation of the transportation of a firearm law and maybe the registration portion.

    From the video it looked like a mossberg 500 or maverick 88. Hopefully, for his sake, he was smart enough not to have that shotgun at his home. He would have to accept the fact that after showing that video he would face the possibility of a search warrent.

    Regardless of how it plays out, I fail to see what his end game was.

  18. Mr. Kokesh (whose stunt I didn’t support) is apparently not David Gregory, NBC News’ taking head and infamous ‘high capacity’ mag waver.

    I think we should all carefully study how to be David Gregory so that life is easier than Mr. Kokesh’s is about to be.

  19. The police are doing their job. they are investigating a crime that they have reasonable suspicion to have been committed, it is not their job to judge the constituionality of that law, that is the judicial branch’s (supreme court) job. in Mr Gregory’s case the Prosecutor decided not to go ahead with charges which they may do for any case.

    The way any unjust law may be repealed is for someone to challenge it in court or to vote in the legslators who will vote to change it.

    So what if he is charged and arrested for the stupid law, or even convicted. That opens the avenue for apealing to the court that the law was unconstituional. I believe that this is just what he expected to happen…. just a thought.

    • You’re right, they were just following orders; that’s a perfectly acceptable defense for the police or military to violate a persons civil rights.

      Oh! wait a minute, wasn’t there something called the Nuremburg trials that said that ” I was just following orders” is NOT an acceptable defense.

      OOPS!

      Look up how many Sheriffs Organizations have already said they will not enforce an unconstitutional gun law. The constitution is the law of the land; we all are required to judge the legality of any law in relation to the constitution; not just some fallible and corruptible man or women in a black robe,

    • “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus,(7) etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.” – Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

  20. It doesn’t matter whether it was a real shotgun or real ammo (as the law specifies), the aptly-named Kokesh is obviously an idiot for doing it on camera in the first place and wasting everybody’s time.

  21. Long time stalker but this is driving me nuts. How is it that every drug user on Facebook, Twitter and instagram post pics of them doing whatever drug they want and never have I heard that they are arrested using that information? How is that any different?

  22. He is arrested and they found drugs in his residence. He just messed up. He had a good arguement until the drugs came up.

    • Come on dude! You have to KNOW they are coming for you. After all you are not David Gregory, yet you have anything ANYTHING illegal in your house?? Dude

      That being said, put me on the jury. “Not guilty.”

    • how do we know they weren’t planted? seems to happen a disproportionate amount of the time when this sort of thing goes down..

    • When I went to his youtube channel and saw the drug related traffic stop in LA, I thought he may end up arrested for a 4473 paperwork violation. He admits to being a user of currently-illegal substances. I hope his purchases of guns were off-book.

      • I sure the hell hope they weren’t…in my view that would be used as an excuse to push more for universal background checks.

        For his sake it would be in his benefit, can’t get nailed for lying on a federal form. But overall it would be more for the anti’s to use against gun owners.

        I guess if you are trying to push the limits then don’t make it easy by having a bunch of pot or other drugs laying around your home.

  23. Kokesh was engaged in act of civil disobedience. The purpose of civil disobedience is to challenge an unjust law. You can’t do that without being arrested. Kokesh should man up and turn himself in and demand to be arrested. Anything short of that is cowardice.

  24. Kokesh, a former Marine, was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm, said Lt. Steve Elbert, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.

    I guess they were going to charge him with something no matter what
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/activist-adam-kokesh-reportedly-arrested-in-herndon/2013/07/10/73dbc8c2-e943-11e2-8f22-de4bd2a2bd39_story.html

    • He blew his chance to be a hero by attempting to avoid arrest. Now he has lost is opportunity to make a constitutional point by allowing the government to obscure the main issue with a drug charge. This is what you can expect from a Code Pink loon.

      • He’s an idiot, but is even he stupid enough to be waiting for the cops while sitting on a bunch of drugs? I’ll put on my tinfoil hat and be suspicious of planting drugs.

        Or he just really could be that stupid.

        • He is self admitted stoner so I have no doubt that he stupid enough to keep his stash around the house. Drug users aren’t known for their responsible or rational behavior.

      • @ tdiinva and Gyufygy – I agree with you guys’ points on this. Kokesh’s actions don’t constitute effective Civil Disobedience and getting caught with illicit drugs to boot just threw the proverbial baby out with the bath. IMHO the MSM will paint him as a crackpot initially, then drop the matter.

  25. “…charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm…”

    I would like a lot more details regarding this, as it appears to be the main reason he was arrested. Exactly what drugs were found? Were they pharmaceuticals for which he could not produce a prescription?

    • Shrooms, according to the Washington Post. Possessing them while also possessing a weapon is a crime in VA. It was also a bonus for the search, I’ll bet.

  26. In a bizarre legal twist, Kokesh admits at his trial that he was shoving dummy rounds into the chamber and making only a symbolic protest against the tyrannical DC gun laws.

    That would be my defense.

    • Adam Kokesh is a man of principle, and not a craven coward. Just sayin’.

      I am hearing federal agencies, about 100 cops and two helicopters, they threw flash-bangs, hit him on the head…

      It’s okay to remain sniveling on your knees, however. As you were.

      • Yeah, it’s fine to sneak into town during MPD shift change, film a quick video, and then post it after you’re safe and sound in another state, hoping DC did’t have jurisdiction. Didn’t count on the (US) Park Police noticing tho, did he?

      • Um, a coward by definition is craven.

        I don’t know Adam from Adam, but gutsy would have been filming the video on the steps of the US Capitol Bldg. at noon on Wed.

  27. Until he and people like him have the support [NOT RIDICULE] of the MSM there will be no progress. Right now, unlike the civil rights movement, he’s alone and he’s peeing into the wind. And until DC residents take the situation into their own hands and MOVE THEIR City Council to change the law IN DC, it is what it is.

    Flame away…

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