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Glenn Beck says he is going to Washington to pick up trash at the national monuments, which have been closed and remain unkempt due to a partial government shutdown.
The radio host and founder of TheBlaze Inc., a conservative media company, promised Thursday that he and Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah will join members of a group called the Tea Party Patriots for a “National Day of Service in Washington, D.C.”
STORY: Michelle Obama Cancels L.A. Trip Amid Government Shutdown (Exclusive)
An e-mail sent to thousands of conservative activists on Thursday proclaimed that Senate Majority Leader “Harry Reid and Barack Obama shut down the government. They closed the monuments. That means trash isn’t being picked up.”
Beck’s e-mail makes it clear that he’s looking for volunteers to clean, not to protest. “No signs — just bring your rakes, gloves, and trash bags! We’re here to work,” he says.
In that regard, Beck’s cleanup rally stands in contrast to his Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial three years ago, where speakers included Sarah Palin and Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. That event drew a crowd of between 87,000-500,000, depending on whose estimates one believes.
Beck does, though, hint at some risk this time around, given that others who have ignored warnings and visited closed monuments have sometimes encountered law enforcement officials. A man who took it upon himself to mow the lawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial “Forrest Gump style,” for example, says he was confronted by park police.
See video of the man, Chris Cox of South Carolina, below.
“We will clean up the national monuments, whether they’re open or closed,” Beck promises in his e-mail, where he asks his audience to gather Saturday morning at the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building.
Beck was unavailable for comment.
E-mail: Paul.Bond@THR.com
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