Noise ordinance and first amendment rights

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on Van Ness St a few blocks from the Israeli embassy. The anti-Israel protest has been going on there for months. In reality the protest is two or three people who lay out megaphones on the curb outside the embassy and then leave. The megaphones that I hear all day wailing from 7 am to 10 pm are just laying on the sidewalk. The protesters have left except the one sitting on the corner beating his tambourine.

So my question is does the DC noise ordinance allow just wailing of siren noise through megaphones 15 hours of the day. It is spring break and I cannot even open my windows (and yes I can hear it through the windows).

I think it is funny that we will shut a restaurant down in Ward 3 that wants to play live music for three hours on a Friday night, but these wailing sirens laying on the sidewalk have been "allowed" for months.

See what remote work has done! Even the protestors have gotten lazy.

I blame Trump!

Blame your governor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4641341-dc-police-defend-gw-protest-encampment-decision/amp/

That's kind of crazy that the university requested help with trespassers and Bowser said no?

Not if you read this forum. It's no surprise the MPD decided not to enforce something and the mayor championed it.

GW has its own police force. If GW truly wanted something done, they could do it themselves.

+1 They aren’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony should not escape anyone that our taxpayer dollars were used to remove an encampment on private property but DC refuses to address the issue of the semi-permanent structures erected on the Van Ness sidewalks. While there are not tents, this is clearly an around-the-clock encampment. The protesters have chairs, umbrellas, tables for food, and more. If there is a storm, it is likely that many of the billboards will end up blocking the street and the flagpoles will become projectiles. This is a public danger and should be removed.

I think it's best to avoid a confrontation and let things stay there; if billboards start blowing over, then go take the rest of them down afterwards. The chairs and umbrellas don't seem like a reason to go shut it down. No one is out there making any noise past 6 p.m. or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony should not escape anyone that our taxpayer dollars were used to remove an encampment on private property but DC refuses to address the issue of the semi-permanent structures erected on the Van Ness sidewalks. While there are not tents, this is clearly an around-the-clock encampment. The protesters have chairs, umbrellas, tables for food, and more. If there is a storm, it is likely that many of the billboards will end up blocking the street and the flagpoles will become projectiles. This is a public danger and should be removed.

I think it's best to avoid a confrontation and let things stay there; if billboards start blowing over, then go take the rest of them down afterwards. The chairs and umbrellas don't seem like a reason to go shut it down. No one is out there making any noise past 6 p.m. or so.

We've seen over and over that avoiding confrontation invites escalation. You have rules, you don't enforce them, you communicate lack of interest in or the capacity to enforce rules. There's an organized national movement, and it's testing what it can get away with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony should not escape anyone that our taxpayer dollars were used to remove an encampment on private property but DC refuses to address the issue of the semi-permanent structures erected on the Van Ness sidewalks. While there are not tents, this is clearly an around-the-clock encampment. The protesters have chairs, umbrellas, tables for food, and more. If there is a storm, it is likely that many of the billboards will end up blocking the street and the flagpoles will become projectiles. This is a public danger and should be removed.

I think it's best to avoid a confrontation and let things stay there; if billboards start blowing over, then go take the rest of them down afterwards. The chairs and umbrellas don't seem like a reason to go shut it down. No one is out there making any noise past 6 p.m. or so.

We've seen over and over that avoiding confrontation invites escalation. You have rules, you don't enforce them, you communicate lack of interest in or the capacity to enforce rules. There's an organized national movement, and it's testing what it can get away with.

This.