A Tea Party leader claimed the country is “ruled by a president who bows down to Allah” at a rally at the World War II memorial on Sunday.
Larry Klayman, founder of Tea Party group Freedom Watch, told the crowd that President Obama does not represent “We the people” in the Constitution.
“I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up,” Klayman told the crowd of several hundred protesters and veterans who tore down barricades at the World War II and Lincoln memorials.
The conservative activist also blamed President Obama for the government shutdown. The rally, which was billed the “Million Vet March on the Memorials,” protested the closing of national war memorials due to the government shutdown. As lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggled with plans to end the ongoing stalemate, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin joined the crowd of conservatives.
Multiple protesters held anti-Obama signs that read “Impeach Obama,” while others waved Confederate flags. The Interior Department has allowed veterans under the Honor Flight program to visit the World War II memorial, but the general public is unable to visit until the shutdown ends.
“This is the people’s memorial. Let me ask a simple question. Why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades to keep veterans out of this memorial?” Senator Cruz asked. “Our veterans should be above politics. Enough games.”
Klayman has attacked President Obama’s “phony” birth certificate, writing further “birther” accusations in a piece in Renew America. Last month, he called for a coup to oust President Obama.
“Millions should stand in front of the White House and other national treasures and demand that Barack Hussein Obama leave,” Klayman wrote in a Sept. 16 post. “If the Egyptians can do this with regard to another radical Muslim, former president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, then can’t we Americans do it with Obama?”
Clare Kim