1776 Restoration Movement move camp to National Mall. Questions remain about known sex offenders near public parks
The group of self-described “Patriots” who briefly partially blocked several interstates on Independence Day have apparently moved their camp from a private lot in West Virginia to the National Mall in the heart of Washington DC.
The group reportedly departed the Bunker, WV camp they have been occupying for several weeks early Wednesday morning and traveled into Washington DC before the sun came up, apparently in an effort to get around any potential roadblocks from DC authorities. The group is now currently staged outside the National Mall in DC.
According to numerous live streams, the group has no plans to leave. They are reportedly parked alongside the Mall and are feeding the meters every three hours to be “legal.” According to the reported leader of the group David “Santa” Riddell, the group plans to be lawful, calling it a “protest of escalation” and that the group will “begin to escalate” when Riddell decides it is time, whatever that means.
Riddell’s decision-making ability has been put into question recently by both protesters inside the movement as well as outside. Riddell recently permitted two known sex offenders to be part of the group’s activities which often include family-oriented events. One of the members of this group, Marcus Coppock, who goes by the name “Bandit” according to the group is currently on probation for two sexual felonies involving children under the age of 14 years old. Coppock was originally charged with 7 felonies relating to crimes involving children, but pled guilty to two counts, with a 20-year term in 2009.
According to a recent interview with a live streamer, Riddell said that he permitted Coppock to rejoin the group, even after learning of his conviction for sexually assaulting children, as Coppock reportedly received a permission slip to be a part of the group from his probation officer, as long as Coppock is under “supervision” around children. Citizen Stringer spoke to Coppock’s probation officer on Tuesday and they confirmed they provided a “blanket letter” permitting Coppock to be part of “social gatherings” as long as he was constantly supervised around children. Coppock’s probation officer stated the department did not know he was part of any protest and demonstration and confirmed they never sent a letter directly to Riddell as he claimed.
Another protester with the movement, who like Coppock was kicked out earlier by the previous group leadership, recently rejoined the group. Frank Andrew Ledford, who is described as a Level 3 sex offender out of Phoenix, AZ is also currently parked alongside other members of the group near the National Mall. While Ledford is confirmed to be a registered sex offender, the details involving his conviction are slim, and we are glad as we don’t really want to know what this sicko did. Based on his own disgusting admission, it stems from an incident when he was thirteen years old. His victim was younger.
Riddell also confirmed that he is permitting Ledford to be a part of the protests as he believes Ledford is reformed and not a risk to children, although he also said his security personnel are closely monitoring the two sex offenders in the group.
Citizen Stinger reached out to the National Park Police Department regarding this protest and we will update this story as more information becomes available.
Author’s Note: While many at Citizen Stringer support the right to protest, in fact, we encourage it when it comes to protesting for freedom, we strongly believe anyone who provides safe harbor and shelter to known, convicted sex offenders involving children is not any better than the sex offenders themselves. While many are seemingly willing to overlook these transgressions, we at Citizen Stringer are not.
