Protest Speaker to Obama: Put the Koran Down

A march against the closure of national landmarks due to the shutdown today attracted thousands of protesters from across the country, along with high-profile Tea Party speakers like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz. But the attendee who will probably attract the most attention is Larry Klayman, the founder of conservative advocacy group Freedom Watch, who CNN reports told the crowd:

• 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 Koran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up.

The rally, billed as the "Million Vet March," tore down barricades at the World War II and Lincoln memorials. Outside the White House, several veterans held up a big "Impeach Obama" banner, while others waved Confederate flags, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is the people's memorial," Cruz told the crowd at the WWII Memorial, per Fox News. "Simple question: Why is the federal government spending money to keep veterans out of the memorial?" A National Parks Service spokesman notes to the WSJ that although the memorial is officially closed, veterans and their families and friends have been allowed access to it all month. (More government shutdown stories.)