Anti-war, anti-AI protester Guido Reichstadter scaled an arch of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge on Friday afternoon in Washington DC, May Day.
Police officers and fire department attempted to talk him down as he climbed the slippery platform, abandoning his shoes and socks along the way.
Editor’s note: As I got Guido on the phone, from on top of the bridge, Capitol Police approached and began speaking to him. One officer took my phone to speak with Guido. Ultimately, with Guido’s permission, I gave the police his number so they could speak without my phone.
After the police finished speaking to him, I got Guido Reichstadter on the phone from the top of the bridge, in the process of setting up a tent.
“I’m planning to be up here a few days… at least,” he tells News2Share.
He says he wants to “end the war in Iran, remove the Trump regime from power, and to compel an end to the extinction from artificial intelligence.”
About seven hours into his protest, News2Share spoke to Guido Reichstadter by phone again from an adjacent roof-top.
He says he’s still doing fine, despite some difficulties with his tent, but “the wind is not that strong” so he thinks it’ll be fine to keep him warm.
“More people can witness this action, that’s wonderful,” he responded as News2Share pointed out that the bridge has been opened again to vehicular traffic.
“It’s not even about what happens,” Guido Reichstadter told News2Share before climbing onto the Frederick Douglass Memorial bridge on Friday, where he remained until Wednesday morning. “It’s about doing what’s right.”
“We love Guido!” chanted anti-war activists with CODEPINK Monday afternoon as Guido Reichstadter remains on top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in DC, where he’s refused to come down since Friday in opposition to the war in Iran and AI proliferation.
“Hands off Iran!” chanted the group, who unleashed a few smoke canisters in support, and were accompanied by drivers who waved flags as their cars traversed the bridge.
Guido Reichstadter spoke by phone with Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, saying he’s “touched” by their support.
“We are just amazed that you did this!” Benjamin told him. “Just something beyond our belief.”
Police over a loudspeaker continued to implore Reichstadter to accept their help and “come down in a safe manner.”
Reichstadter says he intended to come down today based on a phone battery failure, but he managed to get something working. “I’m out of water,” he says, though.
“Possibly another day or two.”
Guido comes down
Anti-war, anti-AI protester Guido Reichstadter has come down from the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, where he’d been since Friday.
DC Police and firefighters coordinated to let him down through a hatch at the top, exiting from the bottom of the arch.
“No war on Iran!” chanted activists supporting Guido as he made it to the ground. “We love Guido!”
Guido is apparently under arrest, but was taken away in an ambulance. He reported running out of water two days ago.
The ambulance drove him over the same bridge he’d occupied.
