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A number of observers expressed outrage on Thursday as Manuel Oliver, the parent of a 17-year-old child who lost his life in the Parkland High School shooting, was arrested at the US Capitol after disrupting a hearing on gun regulations.
Mr Oliver and his wife Patricia Oliver were attending a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee titled “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?” when they both shouted at Rep Pat Fallon, the committee chair.
Mr Fallon ordered both Mr and Ms Oliver removed from the hearing room. Shortly thereafter, Mr Oliver was pinned to the ground by Capitol police in a hallway and arrested. Mr Oliver’s son, Joaquin, was one of 17 people killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
Rep Maxwell Frost of Florida, a Democrat who is a survivor of gun violence himself, blamed Mr Fallon for escalating the situation.
“Manuel and Patricia Oliver were just kicked out of this committee hearing on gun violence,” Mr Frost tweeted. “Patricia said one thing and the chair escalated the entire situation. Then, Police arrested Manuel Oliver who lost his son in the Parkland shooting.”
The hearing, which Mr Fallon was using to argue against the notion that certain firearms should be banned, turned contentious when the Republican chair suggested that a gun is “merely a tool” used to kill people and the responsibility lies with the people themselves.
“Is this an insurrection?” Mr Fallon mockingly asked after a member of the gallery yelled something. “So will they be held to the same – I don’t want another Jan 6, do we?”
That comment prompted a response from Rep Da Cicilline of Rhode Island.
“If they’re trying to overthrow the government they ought to be held to the same standard,” the Democrat said. “But I think they’re trying to express their views.”
Mr Fallon then snapped that Mr Cicilline was “out of line.” Following another interruption, Mr Fallon directed Capitol officers present to remove first Ms Oliver, then Mr Oliver. Around noon, Mr Oliver was arrested pursuant to D.C. Code §22-1307 for crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.
In s, including one posted to Mr Frost’s Twitter account, Mr Oliver is seen being pinned to the ground by multiple Capitol officers in a hallway. The scene attracted a crowd, which at one point broke into a loud chant of “He’s not violent” directed at the police.
In another , Ms Oliver can be heard demanding the police “let my husband go.”
Mr Frost placed the blame for the situation at the feet of Mr Fallon, who he claimed called Mr Oliver a “narcissist.” Joaquin Oliver was shot and killed outside his creative writing class at Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High School in 2018. He was a writer and a basketball player, fiercely proud of his Venezuelan heritage and known for his kindness and humor.
“The Chair should’ve given a warning,” Mr Frost wrote. “He completely escalated the situation.”
Mr Frost wasn’t the only person upset with Mr Fallon’s leadership of the committee. Fred Guttenberg, another Parkland parent who has become a gun safety activist following the shooting, called the Republican a “waste of oxygen” in a tweet.
“I am away on vacation and learning the details of what happened to my brother @manueloliver00,” Mr Guttenberg tweeted. “I am horrified. @RepPatFallon, you despicable waste of oxygen. How dare you incite this violence against Manny and how dare you insult him. An apology is not necessary. RESIGN!!!”
