Pro-Life supporters told the Washington Monument is a First Amendment-free zone

Pro-Life supporters told the Washington Monument is a First Amendment-free zone

The Smithsonian wasn't the only Washington, D.C. institution that was hostile toward pro-life supporters during the March for Life on Jan. 20. Three pro-life supporters were booted from the Washington Monument — twice — by local authorities on the day of the rally.


The women were setting up a table to provide some fellow pro-life supporters with bagels and coffee when a park ranger told them they were in a "First Amendment-free zone" and had to move out of the granite plaza surrounding the famous obelisk. They relocated on the grass, inches next to the plaza, with the approval of the park ranger. Later, a police officer approached the ladies and told them they were allegedly "getting complaints" about their table being on the path. Police told them they had to leave, and the women complied.

Yet, given their experience, one should recall the summer of 2020 and the civil unrest that occurred throughout Washington, D.C.

Black Lives Matter and antifa could wreak havoc throughout the nation's capital, burning buildings, assaulting people, rioting, and looting, and the police did nothing. Yet, three women providing bagels and coffee, holding signs and wearing buttons encouraging people not to kill babies, was too raucous for the D.C. police.

"So we had been in that exact spot last year with no issue. We used the stone benches as our table for materials to hand out. But this year, from the start, I felt something was off, like we were being watched from the staff as soon as we started to set up," said Donna Molloy, one of the women involved. "While bringing things up, you could see the staff coming out of the monument and looking at what we had dropped off. And when we started to set up, the rangers and security outside the monument were just watching until a ranger came up from the street and told us we couldn't be there."

Information from the National Park Service's website advertises it as a place where people have "exercised their First Amendment rights since its creation in 1791." While it does state that the "granite plaza that encircles the monument" is a restricted area, it is odd to call it a "First Amendment-free zone," especially at a monument to honor one of our country's Founding Fathers who championed free speech.

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