The father of one of the children killed in the Parkland high school massacre has been arrested after he scaled a huge crane outside the White House on the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting.
Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, posted a photo on Twitter at around 6am showing himself dressed in a hard hat and high vis jacket on top of the construction crane, two months after he set up camp outside the White House demanding a meeting with the president about tackling gun violence.
“I was in DC on December asking to meet @POTUS . Today GUAC is with me making he’s own statement!” he wrote.
“So the whole nation can judge our reality. 150 feet high in front of the WH. Peaceful action. Police is on the ground!”
Mr Oliver shared a video at around 6.54am with the caption: “Happy valentines.”
“The whole world will listen to Joaquin today. He has a very important message,” he tells the camera.
“I asked for a meeting with Joe Biden a month ago, never got that meeting,” he said, adding that there was a heavy police presence below.
Mr Oliver unfurled a huge banner on the crane, showing a picture of Joaquin and reading: “45K people died from gun violence on your watch.”
He and another unidentified person who had joined him on the crane were seen climbing down at around 9.30am before being taken into custody by police, reported Wesh.com.
A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told The Independent that officers responded to the scene at around 5.40am.
Three people were arrested following the incident – two from the crane and one from the ground.
The police spokesperson said they cannot confirm who the three individuals are until a report is filed.
Mr Oliver planned to use the protest to announce the launch of the Shock Market, a website that tracks gun violence since President Joe Biden took office, reported WPBF.
According to the website, around 47,000 lives have been lost to gun violence.
Monday marks four years to the day that Joaquin was one of the 17 victims murdered in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
Joaquin, who was 17 at the time, was shot multiple times by 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz along a third-floor hallway moments after leaving a creative writing lesson.
Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of first-degree attempted murder last year.
Back in early December, Mr Oliver travelled from his home in Florida to Washington DC to stage a days-long protest outside the White House.
Manuel Oliver and another person seen on top of the crane
The grieving father vowed to stay put outside the White House until he got a meeting with President Biden about tackling what he described as America’s gun violence epidemic.
Mr Oliver told The Independent at the time that he leaped into action after seeing more families torn apart by gun violence as four students were killed and seven other people were hospitalised in a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan on 30 November.
“When I saw the response from the president with a simple ‘our hearts are with the families’, that’s when I thought we’re not moving forward,” he said at the time.
“We are letting this happen and we’re just waiting for the next one to happen and the next one.
“As a nation it’s like it’s being accepted that this happens.”
Mr Oliver said that he and his wife met with Mr Biden when he was running for president and the then-candidate had promised them that tackling gun violence would be a main priority if he was elected.
Joaquin Oliver with his mother Patricia Oliver outside the White House a few years before he was killed
The parents then campaigned to get him in the White House based on this promise – a promise he now feels has been broken.
“He told us he had battled against the NRA and the gun industry before and so knew how to do it and would do it again,” said Mr Oliver.
“I don’t see any responses from the administration that shows this really is a priority.”
Mr Oliver did not get a meeting with the president but he and other gun control activists and family members of Parkland victims did meet with a group of senior White House officials in mid-December.
The president released a statement on Monday about the Parkland shooting anniversary and doubled down on his plans to combat the nation’s escalating gun violence.
“On this difficult day, we mourn with the Parkland families whose lives were upended in an instant; who had to bury a piece of their soul deep in the earth,” he said.
“We pray too for those still grappling with wounds both visible and invisible. And, as we remember those lost in Parkland, we also stand with Americans in every corner of our country who have lost loved ones to gun violence or had their lives forever altered by a shooting, in tragedies that made headlines and in ones that did not.
“Out of the heartbreak of Parkland a new generation of Americans all across the country marched for our lives and towards a better, safer America for us all.
“Together, this extraordinary movement is making sure that the voices of victims and survivors and responsible gun owners are louder than the voices of gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association.”
The 17 victims of the Parkland massacre
The president touted the efforts he has made so far to combat gun crime including a crackdown on ghost guns but reiterated his call for Congress to drive real change by passing legislation.
“I have put forward a comprehensive plan to reduce gun crime that includes curbing the proliferation of ‘ghost’ guns, cracking down on gun dealers who willfully violate the law, issuing model extreme risk protection order legislation for states, and promoting safe firearm storage, among other efforts,” he said.
“I’ve asked Congress to pass a budget that provides an additional half billion dollars for proven strategies we know reduce violent crime — accountable community policing and community violence interventions.
“I have also requested increased funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the US Marshals.
“And Congress must do much more — beginning with requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers.”
President Joe Biden at Camp David, Maryland, on Saturday
Despite these efforts, gun violence has actually been on the rise since Mr Biden took office.
Data from the Gun Violence Archive reveals that there were 693 mass shootings in 2021, a rise from 611 back in 2020.
More lives were lost to gun violence in the last year than any other year on record, with 20,816 people killed.
The November massacre in Oxford was the worst high school shooting since Parkland.
Mr Biden has taken several steps to try to tackle gun violence.
In April, he introduced six executive actions including a crackdown on “ghost guns”; directing the Justice Department to put forward models of red flag legislation and a report on firearms trafficking; a $1bn investment in community violence intervention (CVI) programmes; tightening regulations on pistol-stabilising braces; and nominating David Chipman as Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) director.
Mr Chipman’s nomination was later withdrawn when it became clear he wouldn’t get enough Republican support in the Senate for confirmation.