A pro-abortion protester shut down a major Washington DC bridge for over 28 straight hours over the weekend.
Guido Reichstadter, 42, scaled the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington with no climbing equipment, setting up shop at the top and live streaming himself for over 28 hours.
Reichstadter was protesting the recent decision by the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling made in Roe v Wade almost 50 years ago. The activist from Miami, Florida climbed to the top of one of the Bridge’s 70 ft arches, then waved a big yellow flag that said “Don’t Tread on My Uterus”, a play on the Gadsden flag created by Ben Franklin, as well as a green flag in support of reproductive rights.
The climber is a father of two, who said he performed the dangerous stunt in honor of his 12-year-old daughter after he had “a very, very, very strong emotional reaction” to the ruling. He climbed the bridge shortly after 9:30 AM EST, almost immediately after the ruling was made, causing police to shut down the entire bridge until nearly 2 PM EST on Saturday.
Before Reichstadter turned himself in, he told his Instagram followers, “I will get out of jail as soon as I can. This is not the end. This is just the beginning.”
He then announced his intention to start a new pro-choice organization that would promote “non-violent civil resistance” like his climb.
“The Supreme Court has declared war on the people of this country and we have to stand up and fight for our rights. So, as soon as I get out of jail, that’s what I am going to be doing,” he said.
“I am starting up an organization for non-violent civil resistance to win back abortion rights across this country and we’re going to make abortion the law of the land in every state – red states and blue states. We’re not going to leave anyone behind,” Reichstadter continued.
The women’s rights activist had been arrested previously on June 6th after he chained his neck to a security fence outside the Supreme Court.
While his stunt on the DC bridge may have annoyed commuters, it was certainly better than the violence and carnage we saw over the weekend from other pro-choice activists. Do you think his actions were protected by his 1st Amendment right to protest?
