A gun rights activist who gained notoriety after a video showed him loading a shotgun at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., in 2013 was arrested Monday near the White House.
Adam Kokesh was taken into custody prior to a planned protest on a fugitive of justice charge for failing to appear in court in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
He did not show up for a 2015 criminal summons that caused a 10-minute closure of a Transportation Security Administration screening point at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Kokesh was at the White House to protest the U.S. bombing of Syria, according to one of the protest participants. Heather Mullins said things were just about to begin when he was approached by Secret Service officers.
Mullins said the TSA conducted an investigation into the airport incident and decided to let Kokesh off with a warning. However, the citation he was issued required him to appear in court in Glen Burnie, Maryland, which he apparently did not do.
At a court appearance Tuesday, a judge declined to grant Kokesh bail and sent him back to jail. The judge cited Kokesh’s previous weapons charge for the shotgun, which he served four months in jail plus probation.
Kokesh is expected to be transferred to the custody of Anne Arundel County.
