Right now: Activists dressed as apes have erected a monolith in front of the DEA and are dancing around it a la “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
I will be providing updates on this act of… wait for it… wait for it… guerrilla activism throughout the day.
Some very confused federal security officers are keeping watch.
The apes have adorned the DEA entrance sign with bananas.
Perhaps a suggestion that the drug war is “bananas” but who knows?
🤷♂️ 🎥
The First Amendment is really something, huh?
The activists point out to me that the precise full moon comes at 10:57am, something these ape-dressed monolith fans are apparently interested in.
My cell phone connection here isn’t great, but I’ll run a livestream around then if I can…
A STATEMENT FROM THE APES
Drug policy reform activist @aeidinger of @DCMJ2014 asked one of the private security guards if he could get someone from the DEA outside to touch the monolith.
Guard was pulled away by a supervisor.
The monolith represents evolution in 2001, the film they’re imitating.
The monolith continues to sit in front of the DEA HQ building even as the gorillas who put it there depart, although I’m told they will return.
In a way, it almost looks like the building.
I can neither confirm nor deny that it’s cannabis being smoked by the apes outside the DEA right now.
“APES, TOGETHER, STRONG!”
After a morning of performance, the ‘apes’ have taken their 2000+ pound monolith from the DEA HQ safely.
Who knows what wonders await the monolith next?
The apes explain their unusual demonstration style to me, and why they believe the DEA itself is the one that needs to "evolve."
Documentary video thread: The New York Young Republican Club led a vigil for Charlie Kirk Friday night in New York City.
Bishop Nektarios of Diokleia led mourners in prayer: "May the God of all consolation embrace his wife and children with tender mercy and grant them strength in this hour of sorrow."
"That bullet did not kill Charlie Kirk. It made him immortal forever, a martyr in our movement!" said NYYRC President Stefano L. Forte. "We are all Charlie Kirk Now!"
2) "In Charlie Kirk's memory, let's make sure we keep free speech alive!" said Republican Mayoral candidate Curtis Silva. "Let it not be in vain!"
3) "He honestly was one of the reasons that I actually woke up and learned how to think for myself," one mourner says of Charlie Kirk.
Others praised Kirk primarily for his dialogues with college students.
Just now: Activists demanding Trump’s impeachment and release of Epstein files enter Marjorie Taylor Greene’s office along with journalist Don Lemon.
They are told to leave, door slammed behind them, and a Capitol officer arrived to tell them to lower the volume, but no arrests.
2) Activists entered office of Rep. Joaquin Castro to demand he files articles of impeachment on President Trump. @JessicaDenson07 tells him not to wait until midterms.
Journalist Don Lemon complimented office staff for being polite and offering water, unlike Greene's office.
3) Anti-Trump activists slide flyers showing President Trump with Jeffrey Epstein under the door of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's office.
4K VIDEO THREAD: Federal agents, many wearing masks, oversaw a vehicle checkpoint in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington DC, part of President Trump's federal takeover of law enforcement functions in the capital city.
Drivers were directed to either carry on or move into one of two lanes where they'd be detained. Several were issues citations for infractions like window tint, while at least four were handcuffed, of which at least three were taken away by police.
Washington DC's MPD officers performed most of the frontline enforcement, while the feds oversaw the operation, assisted, and communicated by phone.
2) "Unconstitutional, go fuck yourselves," a driver yelled after being allowed through the checkpoint without being pulled over.
"Get him, he's on his phone!" fruitlessly yelled an MPD officer in response.
"You lost him!" I noted to the cop, who replied "that was a good one."
3) An unmarked vehicle was pulled into the line for those detained for further investigation.
When it turned out there was a uniformed police officer in the car, he was promptly let through.
Some other drivers were removed from their cars and put in handcuffs. The reasons for most arrests were not immediately clear to onlookers.
3) The posts Stinson allegedly wrote that the FBI say constituted criminal threats against President Trump go all the way back to 2020, and continue on X (then Twitter) until 2022.
VIDEO THREAD: Anti-ICE protesters gathered again outside the loading bay of a federal building in downtown LA on Thursday evening, where police declared an unlawful assembly.
Officers pushed into the crowd, firing a less lethal round and arresting at least one person.
2) A man (not clear to me which agency) pointed a scoped rifle directly into the crowd of protesters and press as police threatened arrest.
The activists celebrated a small victory as a judge temporarily enjoined the National Guard from being deployed at Trump's directive without California's executive approval, a decision which has since been overturned.
Some activists, but one in particular, vehemently instructed the crowd to obey the order to leave, which ultimately fragmented the crowd.
3) A handful of protesters ended up inside of a kettle formation, which closed in on and arrested them.
Two vehicles adorned with pro-immigrant and pro-Palestine symbols were also towed from inside the kettle.