Moments before D.C. Superior Court Judge Fredrick J. Sullivan was due to begin the trial of New York Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi and former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo, the Washington, DC Attorney General’s office decided to dismiss all charges against the two men, who were arrested after they handcuffed themselves to the White House fence in protest of what they called President Barack Obama’s lack of strong support repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A spokesperson for the District of Columbia told MetroWeekly that, after interviewing the arresting officers, prosecutors decided they couldn’t successfully prosecute Choi and Pietrangelo for “Failure to Obey” – which, under DC law, makes it an offense for a person, whether in a car or on foot, to remain on a sidewalk or in the street after a police officer tells them to move on – because Choi and Pietrangelo were standing on a low wall that forms the base of the White House fence at the time of the order, and not the sidewalk.

Choi is well-known as an advocate against the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which opponents warn could lead to problems with unit morale and cohesion.

“Our men need to know they can count on each other in battle, and we can’t have them getting distracted by illicit romantic dalliances,” said Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps. “Especially if one’s a little blond Adonis farm boy and his buddy’s a real tough street kid straight out of Brooklyn. I mean, think about it: What if they lock eyes and abandon their post to start ripping each other’s fatigues off, revealing twin sets of glistening washboard abs and at last fulfilling their hidden passions?”

Continued Conway, “Is this the message we want to send to our enemies?”