Father of slain Parkland victim arrested in moment of fire during House gun law hearing
WASHINGTON — Manuel Oliver, the father of a 17-year-old Parkland shooting victim, was arrested on Capitol Hill on Thursday after appearing to yell at a Republican lawmaker speaking during a gun regulation hearing fire.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, D-Fla., a 26-year-old freshman who is also a gun violence survivor, tweeted a video of officers detaining a man he identified as Oliver.
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, later said some people “were disruptive during the hearing.”
“We have asked the Capitol police to remove them. They were then removed and then one of them decided to come back while we were still intervening and disrupting the hearing,” he continued. “That’s when we had recess. The Capitol Police were overwhelmed outside in the hallway and now we’re back in session.
United States Capitol Police said in a statement, “At approximately noon, a man was arrested for DC Code §22-1307 (overcrowding, obstruction, or inconvenience) after interrupting a hearing.”
In the video tweeted by Frost, a woman could be heard screaming, “Let my husband go! A Democratic aide with knowledge of the situation said Oliver and his wife, Patricia Oliver, attended the hearing.
The hearing, held by the House Judiciary Committee, titled “ATF Assault on the Second Amendment: When Is Enough?” sparked heated debate about gun deaths and gun regulations.
Fallon was asking the panelists a series of questions aimed at arguing that guns are “just a tool” and shouldn’t be banned any more than cars or alcohol should be banned when misused and cause deaths.
You could hear a man in the room shouting and interrupting her.
Fallon looked across the room and said, “Is this an insurrection? So will they be held to the same – I don’t want another January 6, do I?
Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I., stepped in to say, “If they try to overthrow the government, they must be held to the same level. But I think they are trying to express their views.
Fallon fired back to say Cicilline was “irrelevant”.
Fallon continued talking and was again interrupted. “Are the Capitol police not doing their job? said a frustrated Fallon. “What is happening?” He then adjourned the hearing, before the arrest appeared to take place, and continued with it afterwards.
Later Frost tweeted: “Manuel and Patricia Oliver have just been expelled from this committee hearing on gun violence. Patricia said one thing and the president escalated the whole situation. Then the police arrested Manuel Oliver who lost his son in the Parkland shooting.His son was shot.
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