WASHINGTON – Adam Kokesh, a controversial activist seen loading a gun in D.C.’s Freedom Plaza in a video posted to YouTube July 4, has been transferred from Fairfax County and charged in D.C. with openly carrying a shotgun in violation of D.C. laws.
He is specifically being charged with violating the following offense:
Carrying a Rifle or Shotgun (outside Home or Place of Business), in violation of 22 D.C. Code Section 4504 (a-1) (2001 ed.))
The maximum penalty for those who have not previously been convicted of a felony is a fine of $5,000 and/or up to five years in prison.
Those who have been convicted of a felony could face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison.
Kokesh had been arrested and charged with drug offenses in Fairfax County, Va., earlier in July.
Court documents obtained by WTOP note that U.S. Park Police officials executed a search warrant at Kokesh’s Herndon home on July 9 and seized several weapons, including a 12-gauge shotgun believed to be the same one used in the YouTube video.
In addition, documents note that officials seized ammunition and marijuana, mushrooms and “other suspected narcotics.”
Read the documents below.
An Iraq war veteran known for his controversial activism, Kokesh is seen in the YouTube video standing in an empty Freedom Plaza loading a shotgun.
Kokesh was allowed to post bail and leave jail ahead of his trial for felony drug charges in Fairfax County. Bond was set at $5,000.
The Washington Post reports Kokesh was posting bail July 25 when he was arrested by Park Police and taken to D.C.
The Post says a judge in D.C. ordered Kokesh to be kept in jail Friday because he broke the rules of his release in another case. He reportedly was arrested in June after allegedly smoking marijuana near the White House.
Kokesh recently had planned and then canceled an armed march on Washington scheduled for July 4. Participants in the non-violent event, called the Open Carry March on Washington, were supposed to be armed with rifles.
The purpose of the march was to “put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated and cower in submission to tyranny,” Kokesh said of the event on his website.
Read the court documents:
Adam Kokesh court documents by wtopweb
See the video from July 4 here:
See video of D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier talking about the incident:
This story has been updated and modified to correct a reference to the court documents mentioned.
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