“White House Peace Vigil” Tent Forcibly Removed

WASHINGTON (09-09) – The ever-present White House Peace Vigil iconic blue tent, a staple across from the executive mansion for the last 44 years, was removed by National Park Service Police early last Sunday morning by order of Donald Trump. Trump, who claimed to have not previously known of its existence, when informed of its presence labeled it an “eyesore” and ordered its removal as part of his erasure of homeless encampments in his beautification of Washington campaign.

Labeling the White House Peace Vigil tent an eyesore is an adequate analogy for what it represents to a would-be autocrat and dictator. Free speech is a necessary function of a democratic society, something the aforementioned types detest in the strongest of terms. It represents a challenge for their desire in controlling all things under their purview and as such must be eliminated in a show of strength and to intimidate the citizenry into compliance.

The peace vigil, started by William Thomas, an anti-nuclear peace activist, began his protest on the sidewalk outside the White House in 1981. Soon afterward, he and the tent were moved to Lafayette Park for security reasons.

A second activist, Concepcion Picciotto, joined Thomas there and the two occupied the vigil on a rotating basis 24/7/365 in their quest to see an end to nuclear weapons and war. Since Thomas’ death in 2009 the peace vigil has been constantly attended to by volunteers around the clock, making it the longest continuous anti-war protest in American history.

Along with praise and admiration, over these many years, the peace vigil, its tent and occupants have endured a great deal of adversity including inclement weather, hostility, attacks, legal harassment, and early on a series of arrests for Thomas. Having been relocated numerous times to adjacent streets for security reasons, the peace vigil has become an important symbol of free speech.

Some find peace vigil unattractive and opine that it should be removed from the White House setting as it is unsightly and inappropriate. While others find the vigil an important symbol of free speech, with still others from around the world marveling that Americans can redress their president in such a way and not be arrested.

National Park regulations, while not requiring a permit, do require that the tent “must be continuously attended” or it would be considered abandoned or “unauthorized camping” and be removed. No one lived in the tent as its sole function was to provide an enclosure from the elements for activists in maintaining their vigil and therefore does not qualify as an encampment. The activists’ lawyers will be challenging its removal and the attack on their free speech rights through legal action in court.

Sunday’s action for removal can be traced in part to a letter dated May 8 of this year from Congressman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ) to Doug Burgham, Secretary Department of Interior in which Van Drew stated that “I will defend the First Amendment to my last breath.” In his next breath, however, Van Drew said in part that the vigil’s presence “…raise serious concerns about the so-called ‘White House Peace Vigil’ in Lafayette Square which sits on federal land that belongs to all Americans, not just the ones who decided to set up a permanent encampment across from the White House.”

During a recent event at the White House, it was reported that conservative media Real America’s Voice, correspondent Brian Glenn, informed Trump that the vigil was a possible “national security threat as it could be used to hide weapons,” while also characterizing it as “Anti-American and Anti-Trump in nature.” This evidently invoked Trump’s fury, and the tents removal took place soon afterward. The White House, however, issued a statement claiming the removal was undertaken to eliminate a “hazard to those visiting the White House and the surrounding areas.”

In 2018, The National Park Service (NPS) tried to forcibly evict the Peace Vigil from Lafayette Park along with closing 80 percent of the sidewalk in front of the White House to First Amendment activity and to begin charging a “Speech and Assembly Tax” to cover related costs for cleanup and “damage” done by protesters in the area when exercising their Constitutional Rights. In a letter to the NPS, the Institute for Free Speech characterized the NPS proposal as attempting to impose “unreasonable burdens” on Americans in their exercising of Free Speech Rights.” The “tax” was never implemented.

More than anything, the tent represented a bold and ever-present reminder of free speech rights and the ability to protest in public spaces. The tent’s removal hardly means the end of the Peace Vigil as activists are still manning the site along with its two remaining signboards. When asked why everything at the site was not removed, a long-time activist manning the space said the Park Police had swooped in suddenly, focused solely on the tent and after gathering it up, left.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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