The father of a student killed in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting was arrested on Capitol Hill on Friday during a gun violence protest – prompting one GOP lawmaker to make a troubling comparison between grieving people and violent Capitol rioters.
Photos and video show Manuel Oliver, the father of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, arrested in the hall outside a House subcommittee hearing on gun regulations after he and his wife disrupted the session as Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) resigned. gun control laws.
“You took my son from me, and I’m not going anywhere! I’m going to listen to your nonsense,” his wife, Patricia Oliver, was heard yelling at Fallon, who then asked police to remove the couple.
As he was escorted out, Manuel Oliver yelled: “You’re all full of shit!”
Fallon then compared the grieving couple to the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, demanding that Donald Trump remain in office despite his losing bid for re-election.
“Is this a rebellion? So they will be held for the same. I don’t want January 6 again,” said Fallon into the mic.
The video shared by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) showed police then held his father to the ground to arrest him outside the hearing as bystanders began chanting: “He’s not violent!”
His wife, who also confirmed the arrest to The Washington Post, could also be heard yelling at the officers, telling them she was exercising her First Amendment rights.
In a statement after the incident, Capitol Police defended the arrest.
“Anyone who disrupts a Congressional hearing and ignores a law enforcement order to stop will be arrested,” the statement said.
Oliver’s son was one of 17 people – 14 of whom were students – killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. He was 17 years old. Although there have been many other school shootings — including the killing of 19 young children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, last year — Congress has not made significant progress on gun regulations.
Fallon has voted against all major gun legislation since taking office in 2021.