Adam Kokesh, the flamboyant gun rights activist who released a video last Thursday morning of himself appearing to load a shotgun on Freedom Plaza in downtown D.C., says the firearm depicted in the clip was no toy. Kokesh, a 31-year-old Iraq war veteran turned anti-government crusader, tells NBC4 the 23-second clip was all very real.
If everything in the video is as real as Kokesh says, he’ll have violated D.C.’s gun laws, which are among the strictest in the United States. While residents are permitted to keep guns in their homes or places of business, firearms cannot be carried in public and can only be transported if packed in containers separated from ammunition.
Kokesh’s original plan for July 4 was to lead a group of like-minded demonstrators in carrying loaded guns across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and into the District. Upon hearing of that proposed event, the Metropolitan Police Department said it would prepare to arrest the armed marchers in the event they attempted to enter D.C.
Although Kokesh scrapped his parade plans, he still went ahead with his own private party last week. Nobody else was around Freedom Plaza when he made the video about 8 a.m., but he tells NBC4 he wanted to send a message about being able to carry a gun in public where he lives—Herndon, Va.—but not in the District.
“I was ready to stand by my word, and I was ready to commit the civil disobedience that I had committed to,” he said.
Kokesh said he believes he is the legal owner of the gun shown in the video, but declined to say where—or if—it was registered.
“I was here, and I loaded a shotgun on Independence Day, but I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t drone any children,” he said Monday. “I didn’t steal any children’s future. I didn’t sell this country into debt. I didn’t do any of the crimes that the man two blocks over at the White House is responsible for.”
After the video appeared, MPD and the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over Freedom Plaza, put out a joint statement that they are investigating the video for its veracity.
Carrying a gun outside in D.C. is a felony that brings with it up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.