On Thursday, Manuel Oliver, who lost his child in the Parkland shooting, was taken into custody in Washington D.C. following his ejection with his wife from a House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun regulations.
In a cell phone footage captured during the hearing, Oliver and his wife Patricia can be seen yelling at a Republican lawmaker who subsequently demanded their removal.
The hearing, which was titled “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?”, sparked a passionate discussion on the subject of firearm regulations and the issue of gun deaths.
During the arrest, witnesses expressed their indignation by chanting “He is non-violent!” towards the three officers who were detaining Manuel Oliver.
According to a statement given to FOX3 by the U.S. Capitol Police, Oliver was apprehended for violating D.C. Code §22-1307 (crowding, obstructing, or incommoding) after he disrupted the hearing.
The statement clarified that Oliver was released on citation and was not taken into custody. Notably, another woman who also interrupted the hearing was not arrested because she complied with the lawful directives of the officers.
While one of the officers was repeatedly instructing Patricia, Oliver’s wife, to step back, she argued that this was her First Amendment right to speak her mind. It is important to note that Manuel and Patricia had tragically lost their 17-year-old son Joaquin Oliver in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 26-year-old freshman and gun violence survivor who represents Florida’s Democratic Party in Congress, commented on the incident via Twitter, hailing Manuel Oliver as “a hero.”
Frost’s tweet also noted that Patricia had addressed the hearing and suggested that the Republican lawmaker Pat Fallon had aggravated the situation.
Manuel Oliver, the father of a 17-year-old Parkland shooting victim arrested on Capitol Hill