Marijuana activists will gather in front of the White House tonight to protest the DEA’s recent refusal to remove pot as a “Schedule I” drug.
Members of the local marijuana advocacy group DCMJ are set to hold an “emergency demonstration” at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW tonight at 8:20 p.m. and speak out against the DEA’s lack of action, according to a Facebook event post.
“Here we are, 43 years and millions of marijuana arrests later, and we being told that cannabis is still as dangerous as heroin. WHAT THE HELL?!?!” organizers wrote on Facebook. “The Obama Administration’s DEA thinks Americans should go to jail for a non-toxic plant. WE THINK OTHERWISE!”
The event will also feature something called “tone deaf karaoke,” where activists will “poorly sing ballads of reform, like the Obama Administration’s DEA has poorly reformed America’s cannabis policies.”
More on the demonstration from the DCMJ website:
Hundreds of people gathered at Lafayette Square in front of the White House this evening to show support for the victims of yesterday’s deadly terror attacks in Paris.
Gérard Araud, French ambassador to the U.S., delivered a brief speech during the vigil. He started his speech by thanking President Obama for his support.
“I want to pay a special tribute to President Obama, who has expressed in a very moving way the support and the solidarity of the United States of America to France,” Araud said.
Araud then spoke about the victims of last night’s vicious attacks.
“Think of all these lives which have been destroyed, all these people who were in a concert, who were in a restaurant, in a bar, and suddenly, after these senseless outbursts of violence, everything was over,” he said.
“Let’s think of all our dead, let’s think also of their parents, their relatives, their spouses, their friends, who are now carrying the burden of the grief, the burden of the mourning,” continued the ambassador.
Araud also addressed the crowd in French.
“My dear compatriots, France is once again at war,” Araud said, in French. “We have lived through a lot of of ordeals in our long history, we will overcome this one once more.”
“They want to divide us, they want to turn the French people against each other, you know it,” the ambassador said. “France is not a race, France is not a religion, France is not an ethnicity, France is a will to live together. And it’s this will to live together that we have to defend today.”
The supporters — some chanting “Vive La France” and waving the French flag — then took a moment of silence, followed by the singing of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
Once the ambassador left, many climbed the small hill around the statue of the Marquis de Lafayette and began to sing the La Marseillaise again, this time quietly.
Hundreds at Lafayette Square across from the White House for tonight's Paris rally pic.twitter.com/52ZAoKZxyQ
— Tim Regan (@MrTimRegan) November 14, 2015
Manon Cano, the reporter’s wife, translated Araud’s speech for Borderstan
A woman was arrested yesterday by Secret Service officers after allegedly stabbing another woman behind the counter of a restaurant near the White House, say D.C. Police.
Police say Jaqueline Aldama, 31, approached a woman behind the counter of a restaurant on the 700 block of 17th Street NW around 6:10 p.m. yesterday. Aldama then pulled out a knife and allegedly began to stab the woman repeatedly. When the victim tried to run, police say Aldama followed and continued to stab her. The victim then fell to the ground and passed out.
Police say Aldama was then told to drop the knife by several Secret Service officers inside the restaurant. Aldama complied and was arrested.
According to police, Aldama was arrested in or outside of the McDonald’s at 750 17th Street NW.
D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Tim Wilson said the victim was transported to the hospital with critical injuries.
Aldama is charged with assault with intent to kill and simple assault.
The Secret Service public information office could not be reached for comment.
Image via Google Street View
Stop worrying about a nuclear explosion in DC; you might very well survive. (Luis Gomez Photos)
By Michelle Lancaster. You can follow her and let her know your news on Twitter @MichLancaster. Email her at michellel[AT]borderstan.com.
Okay, we will stop a bit short of the Dr. Strangelove world. But for DC residents terrified (and likely rightly so) about their ability to evacuate through and over congested tunnels and bridges in the event of emergency, here’s a small bit of good news.
You could probably survive a nuclear attack! In the model posited by Federal Emergency Management Agency (commonly called FEMA now) and reported by DCist, USA Today and many other news outlets, if an attack were to take place near the White House, much of the area in Borderstan (starting one-half a mile to a mile and more to the north) would be reachable by first responders.
You would likely face broken glass, serious injuries and some casualties but far from the certain death you’ve probably nervously imagined. But the further you go in the report, the less optimistic you may be… that radioactive fall out cloud is a b&$%h.
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I think this DC Police Alert from this afternoon almost leaves me speechless. An armed gunman committed a robbery this afternoon at 1:43 p.m. at 16th & K NW, which is exactly 0.4 miles north of The White House.
Questions for the DC City Council: My family visits next month from Illinois. If they ask me, “Is downtown DC safe?” what would you like me to tell them? Should I say, “Don’t go near The White House in broad daylight, you might get robbed by an armed gunman”?
Just asking.
ROBBERY WHILE ARMED _ 1341HRS @ 1000 B/O 16TH ST NW LOF B/M 32-33 YOA TATTOOS AROUND THE NECK LSW BLUE JEANS WHITE TEE SHIRT BLK BASEBALL CAP W/THE LETTER P OR D ON THE FRONT DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/EVENT I2009042424
Sent on: 07/23 14:16
