US Park Police closed a portion of the Jefferson Memorial after 50 people began to dance around the statue Saturday.The dancers protested a recent court decision to uphold a ban on dancing at the memorial.
"The people are rising up," one person shouted.
No one was arrested at Saturday's event.
More than 3,000 people said they would show up to the Dance Party @ TJ's Facebook event.
Shaun Haugh traveled all the way from North Carolina to protest. He said Thomas Jefferson would be astonished at how the dancers are being treated.
"The idea that you can't dance where you want to is something that would have driven him crazy," he said.
It is illegal to dance around the rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial. But people are allowed to dance on the steps of the monument.
Leaders of the dance movement said the protests are not just about the right to dance in a public place, but more so about the problems they see with the government and police.
"I'm upset the deficit is out of control, that veterans are being murdered by police force here, and that the constitution is being completely ignored by people who swear an oath here in Washington," said Adam Kokesh, one of the leaders of Saturday's event.
Video from Russian television:
