disobedience

The department said it is “committed to maintaining an open and transparent relationship with the media and ensuring that journalists can safely perform their duties, especially during protests, acts of civil disobedience, and public gatherings.”

At the time, handing out syringes was banned, so Parker and his comrades risked their freedom as a public act of civil disobedience, inviting both the press and police, who arrested everyone involved.

As one of the novel’s characters says, “Survival required disobedience, and each of them must become an outlaw. So be it.”

A police spokesperson said that Mr Cohen was charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding - a misdemeanour offence often used in civil disobedience cases in the US capital.

“Willful disobedience, usually, if a child is doing that, there’s a reason why,” Batiste said.