Protester says he will come down from Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge

The protester who scaled D.C.’s Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge said he will soon come down from the bridge in a post on X Sunday evening.

The protester has been on top of the bridge since Friday. It is unclear when exactly he will come down or how.

“One man on a bridge is relatively powerless, but the collective withdrawal of our obedience and support is capable of bringing a swift end to the regime and its wars,” he wrote in the post Sunday. “This nonviolent collective action is our greatest power and it is the exercise of this power that those who rule fear more than any weapon.”

The same man scaled the bridge in June 2022, protesting the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and staying there overnight — 28 hours — leading to extended closures.

The man became tearful about his convictions when he spoke to News4’s Jackie Bensen via Zoom Friday evening. He’s again protesting the Trump administration, what he called the “existential” threat posed by uncontrolled development of AI and the war in Iran. A father of two, he said he is protesting for the future of his children and everybody’s children.

Saturday morning, he wrote on X, “Good morning. End the war. Stop AI.”

Parts of D.C.’s Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge remained shut down Sunday after it closed during Friday evening’s rush hour when the protester scaled the bridge with what appeared to be a large banner. Video from Friday shows someone unfurling a long piece of fabric at the top of one of the bridge’s steel arches.

The protester then pitched a tent on top of the arch.

The protester told News4 he was able to sleep the last time he climbed the bridge and he has extra batteries for his phone this time.