Durham man expelled from Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit

Raleigh, N.C. — A Durham man wearing a shirt criticizing Israel and instructing people not to buy tickets to see the Dead Sea Scrolls was expelled from the exhibit and asked to leave the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, museum spokeswoman Emelia Cowans said.

D.J. Register, who is a volunteer escort for the elderly, brought a holocaust survivor to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the museum on Friday, Cowans said.

When Register started walking around the museum, employees asked him to either turn his shirt inside out or zip up his jacket. When Register refused he was asked to leave the museum because he did not have a permit to protest in a state government building.

Both Register and the woman he was escorting were refunded the money for the exhibit tickets.

The exhibit began June 28 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and ended Sunday. The exhibit originally was supposed to end Dec. 28 but was extended.

The scrolls contain the oldest known copy of the Hebrew Bible. They date back more than 2,000 years and are considered one of the most important archaeological finds ever.