Cross-posted from the DC Independent Media Center
Written by Luke
In December 2013, a US drone strike killed 12 people at a wedding in Yemen. On the 4th of May 2014, Code Pink staged a drone strike on a mock wedding in front of the White House. This was an American instead of a Yemeni style wedding so tourists and cops could understand.
Cayman & Michael – May 4, 2014!! from 24Lanterns on Vimeo.
As protesters crossed Lafayette Park towards the Penn Ave, a US Park Police woman attempted to stop them because they were pushing a rack of chairs. She denounced chairs as “structures” not permitted in the park and whined about permits. Most likely the claim that it is somehow “illegal” to sit in a chair in Lafayette Park is an attempt to interfere with the Peace Vigil. After foolishly putting out her hand to stop one group, she had to drop her objections and demands for permits after realizing the protest would not be in the park at all, but rather on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Once set up, the wedding was staged, and as the bride and groom proceeded back from the altar the drone struck, leaving “bodies” on the ground under what appeared to be bloodstained tarps. A speaker then reminded onlookers that a real drone strike would often include a “double-tap,” i.e., a second bombing aimed at killing first responders aiding the victims of the first attack. This is a notorious tactic when used by insurgents with paired IED’s, yet the United States has emulated it in drone bombings worldwide.
Democracy Now report on the drone attack on a wedding party in Yemen:
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral
