The U.S. Park Police are investigating whether excessive force was used in the arrest of five protesters Saturday, who silently danced in the interior of the Jefferson Memorial to protest a recent ruling against dancing at federal monuments.
Videos posted to YouTube over the weekend show park police officers in light blue polo shirts handcuffing dancers. It looked as if one protester, who was wearing a “Disobey” T-shirt, had been body-slammed by an officer, and choked.
The dancers were protesting a January 2011 decision by a federal judge who’d ruled that dancing quietly at the memorial was an illegal demonstration and not an expression of free speech.
