A Florida-based activist remained on top of one of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge arches in Washington on Saturday after climbing the span Friday afternoon and posting online that he was occupying it. The protest shut South Capitol Street in both directions for hours, jammed rush-hour traffic and added strain to travel near Nationals Park during a baseball game.
Guido Reichstadter wrote on X around 3:30 p.m. Friday that he was occupying the top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., and called on people in the United States to bring an immediate end to what he described as the Trump regime’s illegal war on Iran and the removal of the regime power. D.C. Fire and EMS said a high-angle technical rescue team was working with police after the person climbed the bridge Friday afternoon.
By Saturday, South Capitol Street at the Frederick Douglass Bridge had reopened, but authorities were still monitoring the barricade situation. The outbound lanes of the bridge were open to traffic, while the two right inbound lanes remained closed and one left lane was open for police activity. The man was still on top of the bridge as of Saturday.
The scale of the disruption was visible from nearby buildings. Marideth Sandler, who lives in Dock 79 near the bridge, said she noticed traffic stopped and fire engines from her window before looking up and spotting what she first described as a long black ribbon in the wind. After she took a closer look, she said she realized it was a person on the structure. Rachel Murray, manager of nearby Atlas Brew Works, said the incident would “definitely impact foot traffic and customers coming in on a Friday night.”
The bridge climb is part of a recurring safety problem at the site. Police confirmed to WTOP that Reichstadter is the same person who scaled the bridge after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. After that episode, the District’s Department of Transportation said it planned new permanent measures to improve safety and security at the bridge, but a DDOT spokesman said Friday the agency had not installed anything because it could not find a solution that was safe and would not create problems for the bridge itself. For now, the same span is again the scene of a standoff that has already pushed traffic, transit planning and a busy neighborhood into another day of uncertainty.
