Outrage as Parkland father violently arrested on Capitol Hill after hearing protest

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.

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 David 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. He reminded those present of House rule 11, which provides that the chair may punish breaches of decorum with censure and exclusion from the hearing.

“The Chair should’ve given a warning,” Mr Frost wrote. “He completely escalated the situation.”

This story will be updated.