Police Called on Wild Press Conference in Rosslyn

(Updated 9:40 p.m.) A press conference on the front steps of a Rosslyn townhouse drew noisy protesters Monday afternoon, which in turn prompted a call to Arlington County Police.

Several ACPD officers responded to the 1500 block of N. Colonial Terrace for a noise complaint around 3 p.m. They arrived near the end of a press conference involving a trio of conservative provocateurs — Jack Burkman, Jacob Wohl and Milo Yiannopoulos — outside of Burkman’s home.

Burkman and Wohl have organized a recent series of press conferences, mostly to accuse prominent Democrats of sexual malfeasance. Today’s event focused on similarly lurid-but-lacking-in-evidence accusations against Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The 2:30 p.m. press conference featured the claims against Cruz being read by the female accuser, while Burkman and Wohl stood nearby and Yiannopoulos sat to the side, checking his phone and smoking a cigarette.

During the press conference, a protester played a banjo while another shouted, blew an air horn and tossed donuts at the participants. A live stream of the event shows about two dozen people, including journalists, protesters and curious onlookers, in attendance.

Police responded to the area after receiving a report of disorderly protesters, arriving around 3 p.m.

“Is anybody in charge of the protest that wants to talk?” an officer asks. Attendees answered that there was no organized protest.

With police still on scene, a man who identified himself as a resident started to yell at the bystanders, complaining about the noise.

“I want all of you out of this f—ing neighborhood now,” he said. “You are bothering me.”

“Seriously, can you make them leave?” he asked police, who continued keeping watch near a street corner.

“This is such a s—show circus,” commented one of the people standing on the sidewalk.

Police could be seen starting to leave at the end of the livestream, as the attendees started to disperse. An ACPD spokeswoman told ARLnow the event “disbanded without incident.”

According to ACPD spokeswoman Kirby Clark:

At approximately 2:48 p.m. on October 21, police were dispatched to the report of loud noise and traffic obstructions in the area of North Colonial Terrace and North Ode Street related to an event being held in the area. Upon arrival, officers made contact with parties on scene and the event concluded without incident.

ACPD has not been made aware of community concerns regarding other similar events at this location. Residents who have specific community concerns regarding this event or others are advised to contact the Community Outreach Team for this area by email (ACPDNorthOutreach@ arlingtonva.us) or phone (703-228-4184).

Burkman was previously in the news locally after he was shot in the parking garage of the Key Bridge Marriott hotel in Rosslyn.

A demonstrator begins to throw donuts at Jacob Wohl… pic.twitter.com/gNfhx6uowG

— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) October 21, 2019

A corn hat banjo player has arrived at the presser… pic.twitter.com/y9xdhBNSNm

— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) October 21, 2019

Screenshots via Ford Fischer/Twitter