Updated Forecast: In Excess of 8" of Snow, Plus Wind
And Now, 10-20 Inches
Federal Govt. Closed Tuesday
Snowmaggedon 1.0 in Time Lapse
UPDATE 3:49 p.m. Traffic is moving again on K Street NW. Police have concluded their preliminary investigation, moved the van out of the street, and cleared the area.
UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: K Street remains closed between 17th & 18th Streets NW. Police are still on the scene conducting a search of the man's vehicle, which is a U-Haul van.
UPDATE: WUSA9 has a few more details now, including that the guy apparently threw a couple of Molotov cocktails while he was up on the van. Also note that the intersection remains closed while police investigate.
Police got there and were trying to get him off of the van until DC Fire got there with a step ladder. At that point, DC Police got on top of the van and were able to convince the man to come down.At this time, the intersection is still closed down as officials investigate the van and make sure there is nothing harmful inside of it.
DCist reader Thad A. was kind enough to send in this photo of the single protester who managed to stop traffic at 17th and K Streets NW for a short while today. His signage indicates he's demanding "Justice" and "$200 million" – anyone who was down there hear him explain that any further? Was this a bailout-related outburst, or more of a personal financial crisis?
We hear the guy was moved out of the way a little while ago, so traffic should hopefully return to normal on K Street shortly. MPD and D.C. Fire/EMS are still on the scene trying to restore order.
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Dude, World Toilet Day was last week.
No justice, no peas
Traffic is still closed. MPD is not letting anyone beyond half-way of 1700 block of K Street. Got some more pictures.
WTF? I know y'all are mad about the American Apparel ads being pulled but this is ridic!
If I thought that was a successful recipe for getting the completely inappropriate for work American Apparel ads off DCist, I'd be slapping some plastic down for a rental van this very minute. Ok, not really. I wonder, though... if we through a happy hour and fundraiser, how much $ would it take to buy away the ad space given to AA?
So American Apparel finally crossed the line, huh? I haven't actually noticed one of those ads in months, but please, do tell, how inappropriate was it?
Agreed, you guys are prudes.
I'd settle for slightly less injustice and part of that $13 mil IMF protest settlement.
I saw this a few minutes ago...the fire trucks are still there but traffic is moving slowly. To all of you out there who might want to screw up our drive/metro home in order to express some sick need that you might have...please do it on Thursday/Friday when none of us will care and in fact will applaud you for your thoughtfulness.
There was an irate homeless man stopping traffic only blocks away, at Vermont and I st, last night - standing in the intersection and angrily (drunkenly) kicking at cars.
Coincidence? I think not.
Hey! I was not drunk! I suffer from a rare condition where my body spotaneously produces alcohol. And besides, those goddamned f**king cars said something antisemitic!
Don't you mean anti-simianic?
My reaction to this headline was oh shit, what has Monkey gone and done now?!?!
The CHUD's are in the CVS while DC is distracted.
Who's got da' keys to the condoms?
What's even funnier is that we walked through this intersection around 1:40 and this guy was up on his van roof blocking traffic for at least 15 minutes, without a single DC cop showing up. This is about three blocks from the White House! Really gives you confidence that our Homeland Security team is on the job!
Cars and people just walked and drove around him, honking sporadically.
If he had overparked at a parking meter on K or 17th Street, he would have been ticketed within minutes!
Now I know where to park next time I am pressed for time.
i have a feeling the snipers down at the white house had a bead on this guy's forehead, just in case.
Now to be fair. I think he was asking for only $150 million for justice and $50 million for the pants the drycleaners lost.
Somehow, I doubt U-Haul's giving him his deposit back...
I was listening to this go down over the police scanner. It was pretty hilarious to hear their reactions to this idiot.
Is there an online feed for this scanner?
Nope. I'm a photojournalist, so I have an app on my iphone that lets me listen to various police scanners around the country.
FOX News just mentioned this, but they said there were 200 people on top of that van, and criticized DCist for showing bias in reporting a smaller crowd.
You mean he is/they are Teabagger(s)?
He (they) were throwing Molotov cocktails a few blocks from the White House, so FOX rushed to their aid just in case.
I have no idea why that got attached to this post and not the one I was replying to...
fire at 17th and L yesterday, now this at 17th and K?
see what happens when i'm not down there at my office for a couple days? hell breaks loose. you people need me on that wall!
I saw this clown down there around 2pm just as the cops were showing up. It wasn't clear what exactly he was protesting. There were also a few people on the sidewalk with very nice cameras who I'm guessing were part of his "team".
So THIS is why I was stuck in traffic? Asshole.
It's a little bit of transportation Karma. Metro riders have been putting up with a lot of idiots lately, so it's finally your turn. Don't worry, someone will "place him/herself on the tracks intentionally" again any minute now and shut down the entire system.
Hmmm...this seems to be getting a lot of attention. Maybe I should employ the same tactics to demand the return of the Adams Morgan Popeye's.