Libertarian radio host, Iraq war veteran and anti-war activist Adam Kokesh was arrested Sunday at a pro-marijuana rally in Philadelphia.
In the moments before his arrest, around 4:20 p.m. at Independence National Historic Park, Kokesh encouraged the crowd to smoke pot and to "make it difficult for the police" to break up the rally, according to video of the incident.
"I'm being assaulted by an officer of the law who is a clear criminal," Kokesh said into his microphone at the "Smoke Down Prohibition" rally as officers struggled to get Kokesh into handcuffs. People in the crowd looked on, chanting, "Stop the violence!"
According to court documents, Kokesh was charged Monday with assaulting and impeding National Park Service Rangers. The documents note that Kokesh "had locked arms with a person who had a marijuana cigarette. As the Ranger approached the person with the cigarette, Kokesh physically blocked and obstructed the Ranger."
This is far from the first time Kokesh, 31, has gotten himself in trouble during protests. He was thrown out of the 2008 Republican National Convention for heckling John McCain and was arrested for dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., during a protest of a court decision that banned dancing at the site.
Although Kokesh used to be co-chair of the advocacy group Iraq Veterans Against The War, the group has distanced itself from his efforts to get gun owners armed with loaded rifles to march on the nation's capitol, according to US News and World Report.
Because Kokesh is a chief organizer of the illegal loaded-gun march on Washington, scheduled for July 4, some websites, including Alex Jones's InfoWars, are saying that Kokesh's arrest is a conspiracy to prevent the march from happening.
Nevertheless, more than 4,600 people replied to the event's Facebook page to say they will attend. A post on Kokesh's Facebook page declares the march "will go on no matter who has to lead it!"
(Hat tip, YouTube Trends)
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Kokesh was the co-chair of Iraq Veterans Against The War. In fact, Kokesh is no longer affiliated with the group.
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