Stomach-churning moment reckless anti-Trump protestor brings rush hour traffic to a standstill by scaling 168ft bridge in DC

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 06:17, 2 May 2026 | Updated: 06:24, 2 May 2026 An anti-Trump protester scaled Washington DC's Frederick Douglass Bridge for the second time in four years, causing a massive traffic jam before he was arrested.  Guido Reichstadter was previously detained for sleeping on the bridge in 2022 to protest the repeal of Roe v Wade, lasting 28 hours in the air.  Reichstadter climbed up again in the early afternoon Friday, with both lanes of the bridge closed by 3:30pm.  He is seen on video trying to unfurl a banner as part of the protest.  Reichstadter then pitched a tent at the top of the 168-foot peak of the bridge.  This time, he told reporters he was protesting on behalf of his two children against Donald Trump, the war in Iran and artificial intelligence.  He described the proliferation of AI as an 'existential threat' to humanity, NBC4 reported.  The protester said he was demonstrating for his children's future and everyone's future. In a post to an account allegedly belonging to him on X, Reichstadter wrote a lengthy statement explaining his actions An anti-Trump protester scaled Washington DC's Frederick Douglass Bridge for the second time in four years, causing a massive traffic jam before he was arrested The man, who goes by the handle Guido Reichstadter on social media, was previously arrested for sleeping on the bridge in 2022 to protest the repeal of Roe v Wade, lasting 28 hours in the air Reichstadter climbed up in the early afternoon Friday, with both lanes of the bridge closed by 3:30pm In a post to an account allegedly belonging to him on X, Reichstadter wrote a lengthy statement explaining his actions.  'I'm calling on the people of the United States to bring an immediate end to the Trump regime's illegal war on Iran and the removal of the regime power through mass nonviolent direct action and non-cooperation,' he said. 'I also want to urgently warn the people of the US and the world of the imminent danger we are in of crossing a point of no return towards the development of artificial intelligence which poses the risk of catastrophic harm to humanity, including human extinction.' Reichstadter called on governments the world over to 'permanently' ban AI's development.   'I also call on the people of the world to exert all possible influence through nonviolent action to compel their governments to end this danger with all possible speed.' He was reportedly in tears when speaking about his beliefs to local journalists.   Three of the outbound lanes and one inbound lane of the bridge had reopened by 8pm Friday night. The traffic caused is often a hazard as it takes drivers to the ballpark of the Washington Nationals, who had a home game that evening.  He is seen on video trying to unfurl a banner of some sort to go along with his actions. Reichstadter then pitched a tent at the top of the 168-foot peak of the bridge Reichstadter stayed atop the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge on May Day well into the night hours Reichstadter's account is full of accounts of civil disobedience and support for left wing and anti-AI political views.  Many of his posts are retweets of socialist Senator Bernie Sanders' recent crusade to stop the development of AI data centers.  'Joining or supporting nonviolent direct action to physically stop AI development is a moral imperative,' he writes in one tweet.  'We must move government with urgency to act with emergency speed to permanently end the catastrophic danger from the development of super-intelligent AI, which threatens human extinction.' He has co-founded the advocacy group Stop AI to try to lobby for change in regulation of AI.  Washington's police department has said on social media that they have negotiators on the scene.   The Daily Mail has reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department and Stop AI for further comment.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.