An Ohio man was arrested Friday in New York City after storming the stage at a Wikipedia conference with a gun and threatening to shoot himself, NBC News reported. A sign draped around his neck read, “Anti-Contact Non-Offending Pedophile,” according to the news outlet.
The NYPD has yet to publicly identify the suspect or make an official statement regarding his arrest.
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The suspect reportedly waltzed onstage during an opening speech Friday at WikiConference North America 2025 — an annual event comprised of Wikipedia editors, fans and volunteers — at Civic Hall in Manhattan.
Maryana Iskander, who runs the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, was at the podium when the man interrupted, per The New York Times. Draped in a multicolored flag with gun in hand, he announced he was going to kill himself.
The man was still pointing his weapon at the ceiling when Andrew Lih and Richard Knipel, two Wikipedia contributors on the conference’s “trust and safety team,” rushed and disarmed him. Not a single shot was fired during the ordeal.
“I saw the gun he’s holding go from pointing up at the ceiling to sweeping down toward the room, and as it swept across me I said, ‘Oh, my god,’ and I ducked down, but I still kept moving,” Lih told the Times. “I grabbed his arm. He was still clutching his gun pretty hard.”
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“I pried his fingers away from it, removed it from his hands and put it down,” he continued.
The gun was loaded, a senior law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Times. Police said Friday that no charges had yet been filed, but that the suspect was taken into custody and that an official investigation was ongoing.
The suspect reportedly said he was going to take his life to protest what he called the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at Wikipedia, which warns that editors “who identify themselves as pedophiles” will be blocked and banned “indefinitely.”
The colors adorning his sign and flag reportedly resembled those used by self-described “MAPs,” or “minor-attracted persons.”
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Wikipedia canceled all events Friday after the incident; the conference resumed Saturday.
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