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A pro-abortion protester who shut down a bridge in Washington D.C. after scaling one of its huge 70-foot arches without a safety harness has been arrested.
Guido Reichstadter, 42, stationed himself on top the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge for nearly 28 hours in protest of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Miami, Florida native was seen flying a green banner in support of reproductive rights and and waving a yellow flag that read: ‘Don’t tread on my uterus.’
Reichstadter began his protest Friday morning, just moments before the 6-3 ruling powered by the high court’s conservative majority overturned the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights in the U.S.
The father-of-two said he decided to climb the bridge after having ‘a very, very, very strong emotional reaction’ to the ruling and how it impacts the future of rights for women, specifically his 12-year-old daughter.
Reichstadter was also arrested during a protest on June 6 after he locked himself by the neck to the fence outside the Supreme Court building.
A pro-abortion protester who shut down a bridge in Washington D.C. after scaling one of its huge 70-foot arches without a safety harness has been arrested
Guido Reichstadter, 42, stationed himself on top the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge for nearly 28 hours in protest of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade
Reichstadter scaled the arch shortly after 9.30am Friday, prompting police to close the 1,445-foot long bridge and inflate a large air cushion in the roadway in case he fell.
The Frederick Douglass bridge remained closed until nearly 2pm Saturday.
‘I will get out of jail as soon as I can,’ he told his Instagram followers before starting his descent down the bridge. ‘This is not the end. This is just the beginning.’
Reichstadter was arrested around 1.20pm for unlawful entry, crowding, obstructing or incommoding and failure to obey, police confirmed to DailyMail.com.
He received treatment from D.C. fire and EMS and was then transported to the first district police station for processing.
Before he surrendered to police, a move that was prompted after a phone call with a friend, Reichstadter promised to keep fighting for abortion rights.
‘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 sad.
‘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.’
The Florida native was seen flying a green banner in support of reproductive rights and and waving a yellow flag that read: ‘Don’t tread on my uterus’
The father-of-two said he decided to climb the bridge after having ‘a very, very, very strong emotional reaction’ to the ruling
Reichstadter scaled the arch shortly after 9.30am Friday, prompting police to close the 1,445-foot long bridge and inflate a large air cushion in the roadway in case he fell
Reichstadter chose to climb the bridge, located a mile away from the Supreme Court building, in an effort to take a bold stand against the ruling.
However, it appears the decision to scale the building was quite rash.
‘The arches were designed in such a way that any reasonably fit person could climb them,’ he told Insider.
‘It seems the designers just took it for granted that people would have the good sense not to climb up them. Of course, the moment I saw them, I knew they had to be climbed.’
While his ascent up the arch may have been easy, the rest of his journey was anything but seamless.
Reichstadter had brought a water bottle with him, but shortly after he reached the top, it rolled off the bridge. He told claimed that police refused to return it to him.
The Florida dad, documenting his journey on Twitter, also shared how he slept on top the arch, using his green banner as a tent.
At another point during his almost 28-hour protest, he wrapped himself in the banner in an attempt to stay warm. He also asked his followers to bring him snacks and ice tea, but that request did not appear to have been fulfilled.
The Florida dad, documenting his journey on Twitter, also shared how he slept on top the arch, using his green banner as a tent
At another point during his almost 28-hour protest, he wrapped himself in the banner in an attempt to stay warm
He was charged Saturday with for unlawful entry, crowding, obstructing or incommoding and failure to obey, police confirmed to DailyMail.com
Reichstader said he was ‘physically fairly safe’ throughout his climb, noting that the top of the arch was flat, but argued how no one was truly safe ‘as long as the Supreme Court is in power.’
‘I wasn’t safe before I climbed up to the bridge. None of us are as long as the Supreme Court is in power,’ he said. ‘There’s never been a point in US history where the rights of the population have been so egregiously attacked and rolled back.’
‘The only way we’re going to get to the point of safety is to move through this and stand up for ourselves in harm’s way to fight back non-violently.’
He added: ‘Tens of millions of women are waking up without the right to control their bodies and that’s why I’m on top of this bridge. I’ve got to do what I have to do to call the population into action.’
Reichstader claims he has woken up ‘gasping for air’ since May the draft the SCOTUS opinion pushing to overturn Roe was leaked.
In the beginning of June, he camped outside the courthouse and even locked himself to the barricade that was built in an apparent effort to protect the justices.
He was arrested for his act of protest on June 6 and spent one night in jail.
Reichstadter was also arrested during a protest on June 6 after he locked himself by the neck to the fence outside the Supreme Court building
Reichstader claims he has woken up ‘gasping for air’ since May the draft the SCOTUS opinion pushing to overturn Roe was leaked
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