Mark West | United States

Libertarian activist Adam Kokesh has long since announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party nomination for President in 2020. But last week, in New Orleans, police arrested him on the campaign, again. His crime is still unclear; the arrest occurred as he was cleaning filthy concrete on a public street by water stenciling “FREEDOM” into the dirty road. Officers from the New Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department then confronted Kokesh. After he refused to show his ID, they arrested him.

The New Orleans “Book Bomb”

After spending more than 48 hours in the clink, police released Kokesh and dropped all charges. Kokesh was in New Orleans for a “Book Bomb”, for which he planned to place more than 200,000 copies of his book, “Freedom!”, in residential mailboxes.

He also took part in a New Orleans Freedom Townhall, which Loyola University’s Young Americans for Liberty hosted. The townhall also featured former law enforcement officer Robert Evans and Loyola University Economics Professor Walter Block.

Kokesh is campaigning on a promise to initiate the “peaceful, responsible dissolution of the entire federal government,” which he says he says he can enact through an Executive Order once he is president. He sees the collapse of the United States Federal Government as “inevitable” and is concerned that if he doesn’t win, this collapse may not occur peacefully or orderly manner.

Adam Kokesh 2020: His View

In an upcoming book, “American Freedom”, Kokesh plans to outline his federal government dissolution plan. He plans to release this book before the 2020 campaign season. Kokesh is a Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Fallujah, Iraq. For his actions, many of which he regrets, he received a Navy Commendation Medal for Combat Action Ribbon. He is also an author and former television and radio host.

Adam Kokesh is well-known in libertarian circles for his acts of civil disobedience. One of his first claims to fame came in 2011 when police arrested him for leading a flash mob of dancers in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. Not long before, courts ruled that dancing in the monument was to be illegal. He has since been arrested several times while engaging in acts of civil disobedience.