Teens Handcuffed for Selling Bottled Water on the National Mall Without License

The news and a grievance-mongers are making this about the kids being black, but this sort of thing is happening all over - links to related stories are below. It's not a race problem - it's an over-regulation problem.. When you give the job of enforcing BS regulations to guys with guns and handcuffs, it escalates.

NBC:

An elected official in Washington is asking U.S. Park Police why teenagers were handcuffed for selling bottled water on the National Mall.

The arrests were made on Thursday. A witness took photos of three young black men being handcuffed by plainclothes police officers.

According to Sgt. Anna Rose of the U.S. Park Police, shortly after 5 p.m., officers detained three teens, ages 16 and 17, at 12th Street and Jefferson Drive, Northwest, for illegally vending.

The teens told officers they did not have a vendor’s permit, which is required to sell items on the National Mall, Rose said.

“Officers placed them in handcuffs for the safety of the officers and of the individuals,” Rose said on Friday.

Democratic D.C. Council member Charles Allen wrote a letter to Park Police Chief Robert MacLean on Friday asking him to explain the agency's actions.

In the letter, Allen noted the lack of charges and said he doesn't think the officers' actions were justified. He compared it to arresting kids for operating a lemonade stand.

“I would appreciate your response in reviewing yesterday’s events. I would also appreciate knowing how standards and expectations will be evenly applied in the future,” Allen said in the letter.

Related:

Town Says Teens Who Cut Neighborhood Lawns Must Pay $110 For Business Licenses

The Inexplicable War on Lemonade Stands.

Here's a roundup from a few years ago of lemonade stand shut-downs by government officials. I'm sure the list would be longer now.

Teens Detained for Selling Water on the National Mall | NBC4 Washington