Pro-Palestinian protesters in Washington DC have been informed by US Capitol Police that they will not be allowed to “pitch tents overnight” after an encampment was set up on the Ellipse lawn.
At least 10 tents were set up on the Ellipse. Are known According to President’s Park South, photograph The video footage was then posted to X. A US Park Police officer saw They informed protesters that the tents violated “National Park Service and federal law.”
Right now, Park Police are gathering at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up several tents. pic.twitter.com/fxO9IIMZPT
— Ford Fisher (@FordFischer) June 8, 2024
“We’ve given you the option to be polite and take them down yourself and that’s it,” an officer told protesters. “Or we’re going to have to go in and take them down. Those are the two things that are going to happen tonight. As I said before, our hope is that you’ll handle your own business, do what you have to do and be done with it.”
The officer added that once the tents are removed, protesters will not be a nuisance for “the remainder of the evening.”
“But if they don’t then obviously nothing will get started. You can’t just leave the tents up all night,” the officer added.
“You can’t just leave your tents up overnight,” a U.S. Park Police officer says after pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment on the Ellipse. pic.twitter.com/zu4MTNJF0P
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) June 9, 2024
When asked by protesters what happened Law Because the tent was in violation, the U.S. Park Police officers referenced 36 CFR § 7.96, which applies to “all park areas administered by the National Capital Region of the District of Columbia and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford,” as well as Alexandria, Virginia, and “Prince George’s, Charles, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery, Maryland.” According to Cornell Law School: Website.
The regulations define camping as “the use of park land for subsistence accommodation purposes, including sleeping activities and sleeping arrangements.”
(1) Camping is defined as the use of park lands for subsistence purposes, such as sleeping activities, preparing for sleep (including laying bedding for sleeping purposes), storing personal belongings, making fires, using tents or shelters or other structures or vehicles to sleep, digging or digging in the ground, and conducting cooking activities. The above activities constitute camping if, taking into account all circumstances, it appears that participants are actually using the area as a place of subsistence when conducting these activities, regardless of the intentions of the participants or the nature of other activities in which they are engaged. Camping is permitted only in areas designated by the Superintendent. The Superintendent may set limits on the time permitted for camping in public campgrounds. If such limits are posted at the campground, campers may not camp for longer than the period designated for a particular campground.
The U.S. Park Police officer went on to explain that there are “different regulations” for Presidential Park, the National Mall, and the monuments in the nation’s capital.
“What part specifically is a violation?” the protester asks, to which the officer responds that there are “several sections” and that the protester is “smart” enough to read them.
“But again, you can’t be here,” the officer added. “Either you take it down or we take it down.”
The establishment of the camp at the Ellipse comes after several camps were set up on college campuses across the country in April and early May to support the first camp set up at Columbia University.
Protesters who took part in the camp on university campuses voiced a wide range of demands, including calling for universities to divest from Israeli companies, end academic ties with Israeli educational institutions and a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.
Breitbart News reached out to the U.S. Park Police for a statement but had not received a response as of press time.
