Thursday, December 21, 2006
WTOP: Noisy Preachers @8th & H
WTOP reports on the ongoing saga of the amplified Israeli School of Universal Practical Knowledge ("ISUPK") that sets up shop on the corner of 8th & H each Saturday. Very appropriately for this story, WTOP not only has a story you can read, but also a couple of audio files you can check out. Kudos to Quest for Quiet on this one.
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8 comments:
Given their desire to see the white man put to death and the camo outfits, I'd say these punks are the types to retaliate against David once that law goes into place. I hope there's a way to identify them if that happens.
Way to go David. Speech is one thing but hate speech wrapped in the implied threat of violence needs to be swept off the streets.
I don't think these guys are actually dangerous. They just like to talk big. The main concern here is the noise level.
"I don't think these guys are actually dangerous."
Are you kidding? "The white man need to be put to death... point blank,"
To me, this has less to do with a noise violation but with inciting violence. I'm not an attorney, but I'm pretty confident that this type of activity is not legal. I live in NE, love this neighborhood and our right to free political speech. However, this appears to be racial intimidation and I fail to understand why it is pursued as a noise issue.
in my village, we have man who scream all day near town well. then one day government officers take him in prison truck.
I get "Borat's" point, especially given that the federal government is now
dabbling in censorship on top of its new powers to "disappear" people it doesn't like.
But as I said, these ISUPK guys at least project an implied threat against anyone who confronts them with their body language and clothing. And if they're actually cowards? Cowards would be the types to retaliate in the dark of night. Hopefully I'm wrong and they'll just move on after the law's enacted.
I know the retoric is pretty incendiary, but for at least one of these guys, this isn't his day job (just a very weird off hours thing).
I'll be working with Tommy Wells and (hopefully) David Catania to make sure this gets resolved early in the new Council session.
If things don't move along quickly, I intend to work with my fellow ANC 6c Commissioners and the 6a Commissioners to propose legislation to the Council.
One of the most under-used powers of the ANCs is to directly propose legislation to the Council--meaning we can work to address local issues like this without waiting for the Council. They still have to pass the legislation, but at least it forces them to get it into Committee and then hopefully to the full Council.
It's unfortunate the rhetoric this group uses, but they are entitled to their opinions, and to share them with the world. Even though incindiary and offensive in my opinion, unless they are directly inciting a crowd to violence (as opposed to just saying hateful things), they are protected by the First Amendment.
What they are not entitled to is to constantly interfere with resident's lives by using an amplifier.
Best,
Alan Kimber
Commissioner-Elect, ANC 6c05
(c) 202-390-0235
Residents and businesses of H & 8th Streets NE welcome all the help we can get: During 2006, both ANC6A and ANC6C voted unanimously to urge the D.C. City Council to fix the noise law loophole. It allows unlimited decibels of amplified, non-commercial speech between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. anywhere in the city.
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