The father of one of the 17 students who were killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting protested from atop a construction crane outside the White House Monday morning, the four-year anniversary of the mass shooting.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, posted a video to Twitter early Monday from the 150-foot crane, requesting a meeting with President Joe Biden.
“So the whole world will listen to Joaquin today,” he said in the video. “He has a very important message. I asked for a meeting with Joe Biden a month ago. Never got that meeting.”
Oliver hung a banner from the top of the crane depicting his son’s picture with the words, “45K people died from gun violence on your watch!” and a link to shockmarket.org, a website tracking gun deaths and injuries under the Biden administration.
The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed with the Washington Examiner that officials responded to the scene at about 5:40 a.m. after reports of “unwanted individuals” near the crane. Upon arriving on the scene, police arrested one individual involved.
Happy valentines pic.twitter.com/Ho6zvjjA7o
— Manuel Oliver (@manueloliver00) February 14, 2022
The police also confirmed two other individuals who were on the crane were taken into custody at about 10:06 a.m. The police have not yet identified any of the individuals who were apprehended and said a report is forthcoming.
The protest comes on the fourth anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 high school students dead and another 17 injured after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire inside the building. The mass shooting is the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history and led to renewed calls from gun control advocates to tighten restrictions nationwide.
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The police said the incident at the crane has been cleared and that roads near the area are reopened.
This story is developing and will be updated.
