Photo by Kasia Tarczynska.

Update: Capitol Police be damned, the people are going to sled on Capitol Grounds today. Not only has a petition surfaced asking the Capitol Police Board to change their regulations, but its starters have organized a “sled-in” today at 1 p.m. on the West Lawn.

“If you are up for a bit of civil disobedience, meet at the west front of the Capitol lawn at 1:00 today. Come armed with sleds!” the petition reads. Looks like we’re in for a snowdown showdown.

Original post:

Ahead of the snowy doom that’s beginning to fall on our fair city, our Congresswoman, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, tried desperately to allow people to go sledding on Capitol Grounds. Unfortunately, U.S. Capitol Police are still being a bummer and won’t budge on the issue.

After sending a request to put a temporary waiver on the sledding ban on Capitol Grounds, Capitol Police fired back, denying the request, saying they can’t break regulations.

“I am deeply disappointed with the U.S. Capitol Police Board decision to refuse my request for a waiver of the sledding ban on Capitol Grounds, despite the spontaneous outpouring from residents, and even my colleagues in Congress, in favor of the waiver,” Norton said in a statement after her request was denied. “Tomorrow is likely to bring the largest blanket of snow in years. The nation’s capital is teeming with families and young children who are the latest generation to regard sledding on ‘America’s front lawn’ during our rare snowstorms as one of our oldest and best traditions.”

But there is a small glimmer of hope: The Capitol Police Board said they’ll continue to review the regulations and “implement updates as necessary.” So, we’ll see.