Smoke Down Prohibition V: The Cop-ening

                     

As opposed to the previous Smoke Down Prohibition events, this event hosted a LOT of cops. A LOT. Honest assessments of the police presence at this event are hard to come by amid frantic videos of the arrests of Adam Kokesh and NA Poe. Luckily, Pro Full Legalization of Marijuana was able to survey the grounds prior to the event beginning.

This little bike = my freedom today 

After the arresting officers came into the crowd at exactly 4:20PM, it was obvious that this was planned from the start. Our countdown to 420 was coming from the stage and Kokesh was in the center of the front of the crowd without even a joint on his person. Park Rangers swooped in and began "physically assaulting" him according to his own words. On grounds that the officers were unable to bring a former Marine to his knees even with several officers trying to kick out his legs, they claim that he was resisting arrest. In the video of this you can clearly see Adam raising his hands in surrender and walking backwards with the officers.

The only disgrace that occurred here was the vast abuse of power that the Rangers enacted upon Kokesh. He had not smoked at 4:20 PM, nor did he have anything incriminating on his person. When confronted, officers claimed that he was being:

A) Arrested for resisting arrest (first story told about the arrest)

B) Arrested for being "unable to identify his person during processing" (second story told about his arrest)

From viewing this video, it is clear that Adam did not resist arrest. Poe, on the other hand, did back away from approaching officers, going as far as to bat their outstretched hands away as they attempted to arrest him. Being scant the physical fitness guru when compared to Kokesh, Poe did hit the ground when officers kicked at the backs of his knees. He was laid out with two arresting officers on top of him and was let up only after they had assessed that he would not put up a fight in being dragged away for processing.

Bad Dog

Everything from the fenced off area with signs saying that controlled substance use was prohibited to the multitude of cop cars and patrol officers and finishing up with the outstanding presence of K-9 units everywhere;  there was a clear indication that this event was not going to go off without a hitch. Many activists optimistically said, "have a little faith!" in regards to the potential for officers to overlook the activities that had been brazenly going on for months prior to this event. Unfortunately, the realist perspective was what prevailed: organizers and high profile activists were "made an example of" as to deter future events and other forms of civil disobedience.

The Wall of Cop Cars on 6th St at Market St

It goes to show that despite the truth in what Poe said, "I think there's someone being murdered in North Philly right now!" officers are more interested in preserving their appearance in the public eye than committing themselves to fending off real crime. 

Since the viral status of Michael Marcavage's video interview of Park Rangers stating that arresting people for smoking marijuana was "an officer safety issue" on Reddit, the Park Rangers have been dying for some payback. They would say that they got it at this event. Notwithstanding, there are few, if any, reasons for which either Poe or Adam Kokesh should have been arrested. When asked by NJ Weedman, Michael Marcavage would not say whether or not "he was happy" with what happened.

Peaceful Pot Protesters

As the heat of the moment intensified  people in clear fervor followed the procession of cops that led Poe and Kokesh away. A crowd of people pushed hard against the metal barriers that were put in place to corral activists where the Park Rangers had their base of operations. Chants began, "NO VICTIM - NO CRIME" along with the often debatable, "FUCK THE PO-LICE". People were still smoking openly and continuing the protest - soon we were called back to the stage for a "Call to Action" on getting our videos out of the arrests as soon as possible.

None of these fuckers have ever participated in an Alley Cat. Guaranteed.

With cops every which way and our organizers and high profile activists in custody, it became clear that the time was drawing nigh. Something was bound to happen if activists continued to harass the cops and smoke on despite the event being crashed. Sure enough, the cops began moving.

An Affidavit for the cops presented prior to the event

As the crowd of activists began moving towards the exit of the penned off area they had been left with by Park officers, it was noticeable that cops and Rangers were moving to the front of the gates. Whether they were going to blockade the front as a human line or just add barriers to "trap" the crowd, it didn't matter. To avoid being put in the back of one of these:

Not all free rides are appreciated. Thank you.

This pedal happy activist took off like a flash of lightning through the open side of the entry/exit point where officers had not yet blockaded. With not even enough time to strap into pedals for effective skid-stopping on the fixie, I booked back to my own base of operations to begin loading video and pictures to my computer.

When all Hell broke loose, she stepped up and kept the protest rolling for another half hour, if not more.

All in all, it was a ridiculous turn of events that will surely be talked about for years to come: hopefully as soon as the next Smoke Down: Smoke Down Prohibition VI: The Riot Away From Mass Arrest Event. Do plan on joining - this movement will not be derailed by the arrest of organizers just as sure as it won't be derailed by mass arrest. More will come. Attention will be drawn. Infowars has already been covering Adam Kokesh's arrest and more independent news channels will follow as this gains steam.

Do not forgive. Do not forget. We are PRO FULL LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA. We will be regardless of the law. We will be fighting this fight until the whole world knows that cannabis must be legal. Even after the point of legalization, we will continue to fight to maintain our rights and there is no threat of law or injury that will upset our collective.