The crowd of gathered at the front of the stage for Saturday’s anti-gun March for Our Lives rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. panicked and caused a brief stampede after a man reportedly yelled out something about a gun during a moment of silence for the victims of last month’s Uvalde, Texas school massacre. The man was detained by event security and taken into custody by U.S. Park Police who have not released any details on his motivation. The speaker on stage at the time was able to calm the crowd and prevent a dangerous stampede from developing further as people were starting to fall and get trampled under the fleeing attendees. Attendance was reported to be in the “thousands“, a smallish crowd for a liberal gathering in deep blue D.C.
March for Our Lives attendees run for their lives at DC rally Saturday. Several are seen going over a security fence while others are trampled underfoot (red shirt in center), screen image via WJLA-TV/Twitter.
Videos of the panic from local TV stations WJLA and WUSA:
The WUSA video briefly shows the suspect at the end.
C-SPAN video captures the breadth and sounds of the panic.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article said the man was identified as a pro-gun demonstrator. Park Police said their investigation into the individual is still ongoing.
A brief incident that occurred Saturday during the March for Our Lives rally on the National Mall caused demonstrators to scurry, but appeared to be quickly resolved despite the momentary panic.
In a startling moment that broke the silence being held for the recent Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting, a man nearby the stage was heard shouting “I am the gun” into the crowd, while also throwing an unidentified object. Many people dashed away from the stage during the few seconds of chaos and some fell to the ground.
Park Police said no weapons were found, and the man was escorted away from the rally after his interruption and was detained. Park Police said that no threat to the public was found.
Independent reporter TJ Jones captured the moment the man was detained, “I was covering #MarchForOurLives for @FordFischer @N2Sreports
when a person appeared to jump the fence after yelling what sounded to be a claim that he had a gun during a moment of silence. He was apprehended by event security and transferred to US Park Police custody.”
The Park Service issued a statement, “Alert: An individual interfered with a permitted event on the Washington Monument grounds. The individual was detained by officers. No weapons were involved and there is no risk to the public.”