Photo by M.V. Jantzen of the March protest.

Service members protesting the ban on gays in the military Tuesday cuffed themselves to the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue. US Park Police decided to restrict public and media access to the protest location by closing not only the sidewalk in front of the White House but also the entire avenue and half of Lafayette Park.

The incident caught the attention of Ben Smith at Politico. “People who have covered the White House for years,” he reported, “tell me that’s an extremely unusual thing to do in an area that regularly features protests.”

What makes it all the more unusual is that GetEQUAL, the group that organized yesterday’s event, staged a nearly identical protest a month ago at the same location. When the service members were arrested last month, the crowd was moved from the sidewalk but not pushed back toward H Street.

In a video of yesterday’s events shot by John Aravosis of AmericaBlog, you can see the officer repeatedly stating that “the park is closed,” though why it needs to be closed for a routine protest is not exactly clear. When contacted by Metro Weekly, both the Park Police and the Secret Service offered differing accounts of why such a large area was shut down.

A nuclear security summit isn’t the only type of event that restricts access to public space in Washington. Even an announced, repeated, well-known protest stunt like chaining oneself to the White House fence has become reason enough for authorities to shut down public access to America’s Main Street.