Blockade continues as man perched atop DC bridge protests Iran war and AI
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The ongoing blockade of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington DC continues as an activist protesting the Iran war and artificial intelligence (AI) sits above the Beltway street.
Guido Reichstadter, 45, a former jeweler and mathematics and physics student, climbed 58 meters above the bridge on Friday night and told Fox News Digital that he planned to stay “until the war is over.”
Reichstadter had previously climbed the same bridge in 2022, this time with the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade had protested the decision to overturn his case. This time he is protesting both the Iran war and the development of artificial intelligence.
“The state of AI, from my perspective, which I think is the consensus view of a lot of experts, really couldn’t be more dire,” he told Fox News Digital in a video interview while sitting atop the bridge.
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Although his protest coincided with the “May 1” wave of protests in D.C. the day before, Reichstadter did not claim to be part of that movement.
“I work with these things the way my soul moves me,” he told Fox News Digital, getting a little emotional. “From the first day Iran was bombed, I knew I would do something.”
When asked what he wanted to see happen with the Iran war, Reichstadter said, “I would like to see Congress strengthen its backbone and do its job. I want to assert its constitutional authority on declaring war, and clearly they are not doing that.”
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Guido Reichstadter shows his view from the top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. Reichstadter claims to be protesting the Iran war and artificial intelligence. (Guido Reichstadter)
When asked if he would still protest if Congress approved it through the War Powers Resolution Act, Reichstadter said “it definitely depends on the details.”
Reichstadter acknowledged that a nuclear Iran would be a threat to the world, but added that he did not believe the United States or any other country should also have nuclear weapons.
When asked if he sees a difference between a country like Iran developing nuclear weapons and a more stable country having nuclear weapons, Reichstadter said he doesn’t really see a big difference between Iran having nuclear weapons and other countries.
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A man climbed a 58-foot bridge in Washington DC to protest and call for an end to the war in Iran. (WTTG)
“I have seen nothing that leads me to believe that the Iranian regime is particularly different in terms of its desire to destroy the world. This does not excuse anything the Iranian regime has done. I am not making excuses or under any illusions that it is not an autocratic regime that atrocities its own people, but the path to a secure future does not include nuclear weapons in the possession of any state,” he said.
Iran has been on the US State Department’s list of states sponsoring terrorism since 1984. financially supported Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and other terrorist and militant groups in Iraq, Syria, and Bahrain, according to the State Department.
But the biggest threat to the Reichstadter was neither a nuclear-armed Iran nor an ongoing war. His biggest fear was the end point of AI progress.
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Reichstadter climbed a 58-foot bridge in Washington DC to protest and call for an end to the war in Iran. (WTTG)
“What happens if China, Russia or other nuclear states fear that the United States is on the verge of developing technology that will render their nuclear arsenals obsolete? They will be incentivized to stop it by whatever means necessary,” he argued.
“The goal of leading AI companies is not to create chatbots. It’s not to help you do your homework or make cute cat videos. The core mission of all these companies is to create AI systems that far outperform human cognitive abilities in every aspect,” he said.
Reichstadter was previously arrested on charges related to AI protests in California. He protested OpenAI’s San Francisco campus twice, including at an event where the company locked its doors, he told Fox News Digital. he was was arrested again for violating a judge’s order not to return to campus in 2025.
Reichstadter was previously arrested on charges related to AI protests in California. (WTTG)
For him, he said, the problem is an existential one.
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“That’s why I quit my job, that’s why I quit my career, my comfortable lifestyle, to make something happen. Because I have two kids,” she told Fox News Digital. “I lived a full life. I got married, I fell in love, I had a career. I don’t know if they’ll have that. And that’s the most important thing in the world to me, their future and the future of the entire human race.”
MPD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
