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Manuel Oliver, father of Parkland victim, arrested during heated House gun law hearing

WASHINGTON – Manuel Oliver, father of a teenager who was killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, was arrested Thursday during a heated House hearing on gun laws.

The arrest came around noon after Oliver and his wife, Patricia Oliver, shouted at lawmakers and disrupted the hearing.

Manuel Oliver received a citation arrest, meaning he was not jailed. Video shows he was pinned to the floor and restrained.

Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room for disturbing a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023. With Manuel Oliver is his wife, Patricia Oliver, at right.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room for disturbing a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023. With Manuel Oliver is his wife, Patricia Oliver, at right.

Maxwell Frost shares video of Manuel Oliver arrest

Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, a freshman lawmaker from Florida, shared a video of the arrest on Twitter.

He said Oliver was arrested "for speaking out at a committee hearing. His son, Jaoquin, was shot to death in Parkland, Fl. MANNY IS A HERO. He didn’t deserve this. The Republican Chair of this committee just called him a narcissist. Disgraceful."

Frost was referring to Texas Republican Rep. Pat Fallon, subcommittee chair for Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs.

"The chair should've given a warning. He completely escalated the situation," Frost said in a tweet.

'You took away my son'

Patricia Oliver the mother of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Patricia Oliver the mother of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver's son, Joaquin, was 17  when he was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. He was one of 17 people who died in the shooting; another 17 were injured.

"You took away my son!" Patricia Oliver shouted during the hearing Thursday.

Her words – and comments from her husband – ultimately led to Manuel Oliver's arrest during a joint hearing with Fallon's subcommittee and the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was titled "ATF's Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?"

As Fallon compared gun violence rates in the U.S. and Mexico, the Olivers expressed their frustration with lawmakers and began to talk over him from the audience.

Rep. Pat Fallon removes Manuel and Patricia Oliver from hearing

Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room for disturbing a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is removed from the hearing room for disturbing a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023.

"Is this an insurrection?" Fallon said. "So will they be held to the same – uh – I don't want another January 6th, do we?"

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., quickly responded: "If they're trying to overthrow the government, they ought to be held to the same standard. But I think they're trying to express their views."

Fallon told Cicilline he was "out of line."

The Olivers continued to talk over the lawmakers until a visibly frustrated Fallon said, "Does the Capitol Police not do their jobs?"

He called a recess, and shortly thereafter Capitol Police arrested Manuel Oliver as gun control activists chanted in the hallway, "He's not violent."

Committee Chair Pat Fallon, R-Texas, center, gets into an argument with Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., foreground, during the recess of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance and the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs joint hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023. Others listening are Co-Chair Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., second from right, and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., second from left.

What did Maxwell Frost say after the arrest? 

To lose a child to gun violence, "to see photos of your child sitting in a pool of blood, I can't imagine that," Frost said after the arrest.

He said the Olivers have been fighting for "true justice."

"I fight alongside Manny and Patricia Oliver. I believe that they are American heroes," Frost said. "This has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics, and I won't be listening to another second of it."

Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Manuel Oliver, Parkland victim's dad, arrested at gun violence hearing