I haven't written of Adam Kokesh lately, mostly because I've not heard of him until recently. But lately, he's made huge headlines, especially within the liberty movement, with his open carry march on Washington, D.C. And his many arrests. Back in early July, following him posting a video of him loading a shotgun in Freedom Plaza, his house was searched. But not just search by police, but literally overtaken. About 100 officers were on the scene along with an armored vehicle and two police helicopters to cover the neighborhood.
All this based on a video he posted on YouTube and a search warrant issued by a local prosecutor. In other words, the local Fairfax government was digging for something to charge him with because owning a gun and loading it legal in the Commonwealth of Virginia, despite the prosecutor's own political beliefs.
Well, they found something. Apparently while they were search Kokesh's house, they found hallucinogenic mushrooms. Adam was promptly arrested and detained on drug possession charges along with the gun charges because apparently, having both illegal substances and firearms is a more insidious crime than owning one or the other. It was probably a law written to lock up drug dealers for longer since they tend to own firearms as the police won't protect them from bad deals.
The thing that bothers me about this is that no one else was arrested that day. They found the drugs at his house, a house he shares with a roommate, leaves open to his people to work with, and where his girlfriend was staying at the time. In other words, why was only Adam Kokesh arrested on these charges and no one else? It is clear that this was a political arrest and not a criminal one.
Kokesh was basically put in solitary confinement and basically tortured. He was treated like a serial murderer during his incarceration. Sleep deprived, a friend of his was able to post bail, which was set at $5000 cash an unusual bail requirement for a drug pusher. Once he was bailed out, however, the DC authorities proceeded to arrest him for loading a gun at Freedom Plaza. He has been denied bail there.
This is clearly a political persecution by several members of the local prosecutors club who feel threatened by Kokesh's message and activism. They had already tried to arrest him at a smoke down prohibition rally in Philadelphia and when those charges didn't stick, they tried again. This time, Adam Kokesh may actually serve hard time in prison.
I am almost certain that the prosecutors will offer Adam a deal. While they are clearly persecuting him, they have specific behaviors they will follow. I doubt Adam will take the bait though. He would rather stand in front of a jury and push for jury nullification instead. Unfortunately, sometimes people are too stupid to be taught.
The sad thing is, nobody is questioning the legitimacy of any of the laws that Adam has allegedly broken. For one thing, what good is a gun that isn't loaded? If we are allowed to carry guns in DC, thanks to the Supreme Court, what is the point if they aren't loaded? Clearly, the DC city council is trying to flaunt the law of the land in order to satisfy their misguided Fascist principles.
Adam Kokesh has maintained that the drugs were not his. If this is true, then that leaves two possibilities: either one of his friends had them stashed there or the policed planted them. There were plenty of police during the raid to have done so, so this is a possibility. However, if one of his friends had stashed them, then he or she needs to speak up. It probably won't get Adam released, but it will weaken the case against him in Virginia and demonstrate how politically motivated his arrest was.
The funny thing is, the judges and prosecutors who have charged him are calling Adam "dangerous." Yet if they bothered to listen to his last broadcast, they'd know that he was about non-violent revolution. While his ideas and actions are radical, and certainly dangerous, he poses no threat to anyone, save the jobs of government workers should the ideas he espouses ever gain mainstream acceptance. This is clearly a political imprisonment and merely reinforces Kokesh's own call for the dissolution of the United States Federal government.