YouTube video

The Black Israelites, the District’s most medievally-dressed street preachers, got an assist Friday from an unlikely ally: the Metropolitan Police Department. In a video posted online after the incident, a man wearing a wig and skintight pants dances in front of the group outside the Chinatown Metro station before being hauled away by police.

The activist, who goes by the name Qween Amor, says he was just planning to perform his street dances in Chinatown. But his performance took on a political flavor when he encountered the frequently anti-gay Black Israelites, who he says accused him of having AIDS. “If I have to sit there and listen to how much they hate gay, and their ignorance, and all their bullshit, then they’re going to watch me dance,” says Amor.

Amor’s performance in front of what he says were members of the the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge sect of the Black Israelites didn’t last long. Around 4:53 p.m., police arrested him for indecent exposure—-according to a police report, Amor had a hole in his pants. The ISUPK didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Amor hasn’t decided whether he’ll fight the charge, but he’s headed back to the corner of 7th and H streets NW on Friday to dance again. This time, though, he’s taken precautions.  “I’ll wear underwear,” he says.