Politics

10 Demonstrations Could Happen During Election Week In DC, National Parks Service Says

Protesters throwing pieces of paving during and metal tubes at riot police during clashes at Bankova str, Kiev, Ukraine. December 1, 2013.

The National Parks Service has approved one permit for a prayer vigil in Washington, D.C. for the week of the election and is reviewing nine other demonstration requests, a local CBS affiliate reported Friday.

The requests include religious gatherings, patriotic events, and free speech demonstrations “against the election results,” WUSA9 reported. The National Parks Service (NPS) issued a permit to Edwina Davis for a prayer vigil near Lafayette Park expected to draw 100 participants.

The largest permit request was submitted by ShutDownDC for 10,000 participants, WUSA9 reported. The request is for a “week of action to ensure free and fair elections” from Nov. 1 until Nov. 9 with locations including the Washington Monument, the Constitutional Gardens, and Lafayette Park, though the request does not include specific days for each location.

“This November we’re coming together to take direct action to defend democracy and ensure that every American’s vote counts,” ShutDownDC organizer Hope Neyer said, according to WUSA9.

“We’re going to be ready then to take action if something comes up, where it seems to us that the election is being contested, if Trump is refusing to cede power, or if something is going down that is offensive to the American people’s sense of justice,” Neyer added.

Protests have been ongoing in DC since June, but get ready for even more demonstrations as Election Day nears.https://t.co/lO8PzaTCIc

— Washingtonian (@washingtonian) October 8, 2020

The Women for a Great America requested a week-long permit to “pray for a peaceful election, pray for President Trump,” around Lafayette Park from Nov. 1 until Nov. 7, WUSA9 reported. The event is expected to draw 250 participants.

An organization called the ETI (Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Disclosure Party of Florida requested a permit to host 1,000 people in a “disclosure rally on All Souls Day 2020,” Nov. 2, “to peacefully protest the state secrecy regarding UFOs and extraterrestrial life,” WUSA9 reported.

The DC Action Lab submitted a permit request to hold a “free speech demonstration against the election results,” with an expected attendance of 1,000 people on Nov. 2 through Nov. 10, in seven different locations including Lafayette Park, Freedom Plaza, and Farragut Square, WUSA 9 reported.

The NPS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.