Tag Archives: Jim Pietrangelo

Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner tells us why the government dropped the charges against Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. James Pietrangelo. According to a DC spokesman, it mostly had to do with the fact that they were standing on a ledge. ”While chained to the fence, the defendant was standing on a ledge – NOT – the sidewalk. As such, he …

Rather than face the public scrutiny of the so-called repeal of DADT, today the government abruptly dismissed the charges against Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. James Pietrangelo moments before the trial was to get underway. Both men were charged with “failure to obey a lawful order” after handcuffing themselves to the White House fence earlier this year. Reportedly the arresting …

Here’s the subpoena of President Obama as promised last week by Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo. The pair claims that by chaining themselves to the White House fence, they were only following the instructions of the president when he pledged to overturn DADT. Full size PDF here. (Are subpoenas usually hand-written?)

Ben Smith reports at Politico: The gay soldiers arrested outside the White House protesting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will announce today that they’re demanding that President Obama testify in their trial on minor civil disobedience charges. Their novel argument: Obama himself called on gay rights advocates to pressure him, so they were just following orders. “Don’t Ask” has energized gay …

Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. James Pietrangelo have ended their hunger strike against DADT after seven days. But they note below that they plan to resume their fast again in the future. The fast of the past seven days has been a success because people have been educated to the use of fasting as a tool to bring attention to …

From heckling the president, to congressional sit-ins, to chaining themselves to the White House fence, not since ACT-UP has an activist group shaken up our world as GetEQUAL has. Today Andrew Harmon and Kerry Eleveld have posted a lengthy dissection of GetEQUAL for the Advocate. An excerpt: Although GetEqual appears to have sprung up from nowhere and arrived with haste, …

This video was recorded yesterday. Choi is noticeably weaker.

Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. James Pietrangelo have begun their hunger strike in response to the compromise plan to repeal DADT. At 10:30pm Thursday night, at a private home in Northwest Washington D.C., Lt. Daniel Choi and Captain Jim Pietrangelo began what could potentially be a lengthy hunger strike. In another part of the house, the TV was tuned to …

According to a press release issued overnight, Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. James Pietrangelo will begin a hunger strike to protest the compromise DADT repeal proposal. FASTNG FOR EQUALITY & DIGNITY STATEMENT BY DAN CHOI Immediately following congressional mark-ups on the National Defense Authorization Act 2011, Captain James Pietrangelo and I will commence a fast in pursuit of Equality and …

The above was Lt. Dan Choi’s court plea just now as tweeted by MetroWeekly. After pleading not guilty, both Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo, pictured above just after their release, will face an April 26th trial date. I’ll have photos from the court appearance as soon as possible. Reportedly both men were brought in wearing cuffs and leg irons. UPDATE: …

Here’s an early shot of the DADT protest getting underway in Times Square, via JMG reader Scott. That’s rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker on the right, getting ready to unfurl one of his banners. Just to Baker’s left is Oscar-nominated art director Charley Beal.

Via Queer Rising: In an act of civil disobedience, Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo and Robin McGehee have been arrested at the White House gates on Thursday while protesting the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. We are in solidarity with Choi, Pietrangelo, Robin McGehee and all other protesters nationwide. Join us as we protest the Army Recruitment …

Concerned about the “Lt. Dan Choi Kanye’d the HRC” story being reported on some blogs (including this one), the HRC has posted the following elaboration of their earlier comment. Singer Tom Goss kicked off the event followed by the first American wounded in the Iraq war, retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva. Also speaking were Ben Mishkin of Servicemembers Legal …