“It was terrifying. I was really on edge,” says Naomi Caplan, 17, of Bethesda, Maryland.

On April 18, she and three friends — Rachel Zeidenberg, 16, and Eva Sofia Esposito, 15, of Bethesda, Maryland, and Jordan Joseph, 16, of Arlington, Virginia — went to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office in Washington, D.C., for a protest.

Within the hour, they were in the back of a police van, hands bound behind their backs. Though they had only been in the hallway outside Ryan’s office for mere minutes, the girls were taken to a juvenile detention center where they spent hours in a holding cell, waiting for their parents to pick them up.

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It started around 4:45 p.m., according to the girls. A group of 10 protesters met outside Capitol Hill and entered the Longworth House Office Building. It was the first time the whole group had met face-to-face.

As they walked inside, Naomi reminded the group that they didn’t have to do anything they didn’t want to. “There are other ways to help,” she says. “You’re not obligated to do anything. There’s no shame in not wanting to be arrested.”

Nevertheless, the girls walked inside, passed through security and sat down outside Ryan’s office. Then they laid down, a testament to the National "Lie-In" outside the White House earlier this year. Lying down, the girls explain, was not only more noticeable, but also symbolic of the thousands of gun-related deaths in the U.S. each year.

Alejandro Alvarez

They came with a list of demands for federal lawmakers, including a ban on bump stocks, allocating funds for CDC gun violence research, and increased measures to prevent police brutality.

Naomi also expressed frustration with government inaction in the face of gun violence. “People are dying [from this],” she told Teen Vogue. “Silence is complicity. It’s their job to make laws to protect us and they haven’t been doing it.”

Although Ryan announced his retirement earlier this month, Rachel believes the outgoing Speaker of the House should still use his last few months in office for the better.

“He’s still very [influential],” says Rachel, whose group brought with them physical copies of a flier with their demands. “We want to protest the fact our representatives as a whole don’t represent the people. [For example,] the majority of Americans want stricter gun regulation. Paul Ryan fails to represent that.” Teen Vogue has reached out to Paul Ryan's national press secretary for comment.

She continued, “When those in charge don’t listen to what their constituents want, it’s unfair they face no repercussions.”

However, the girls didn’t get a chance to distribute the pamphlets, speak to the press, or confront Ryan. “We were willing to risk [arrest] to get the point across, but we didn’t expect it to be sudden,” Rachel told Teen Vogue. “We didn’t understand how little time it would take for us to get arrested.”

Alejandro Alvarez

The entire ordeal transpired over the course of a few minutes, as seen on video. “As soon as we sat down, they surrounded us,” Rachel explains. The girls didn’t move. The officer explained that he’d give out three warnings, and if they didn’t stand up, they’d be detained.

“ONE.” The bullhorn echoed through the tiny, enclosed hallway.

“TWO.” Not wanting to be arrested, some of the girls started to get up and leave.

“THREE.” Only Naomi, Rachel, Jordan, and Eva remained. The police restrained the girls with zip tie handcuffs and took them into custody, where the girls were searched and had their belongings seized. (“Zip ties were painful, but [it was for a] worthy cause,” Naomi says.) Capitol Police communications director Eva Malecki told Teen Vogue in an email, "Four juveniles refused to cease and desist with their unlawful demonstration activities and were placed under arrest." In reference to the arrests, she cited a Washington, D.C., law prohibiting "crowding, obstructing, or incommoding" especially in the form of demonstrating. She also noted that another D.C. law prohibits demonstrations in any Capitol buildings.

All four girls stressed the importance of preparation for a demonstration like this. They advised that anyone eager to participate in a protest do their research so they know what to expect. They also say to reach out to organizations like the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU for legal support. Above all, know your rights, know the risks, and know how to reduce them.

“I was really scared, but I knew whatever happened, it would all work out. I was feeling like this [protest] could actually turn into something powerful. That this could create change,” Rachel says. Her advice when the officers put the cuffs on? “Know your rights, make sure you don’t resist. If you’re getting arrested, resisting can make it worse. Remain peaceful.”

Jordan also stressed the importance of peaceful protest. “This generation is not going to stop until change happens,” she told Teen Vogue. While she hadn’t had much experience going to protests prior to the March for Our Lives, she says the student activists from Parkland, Florida, inspired her.

Alejandro Alvarez

“It woke me up,” Jordan says. “I realized this could actually happen anywhere. But then I saw how the kids from Parkland were speaking up and it showed me that I can do something, too, instead of just letting adults do it.”

Moreover, Jordan thinks it’s important to keep going, no matter what. “Just doing one walkout or protest won’t do anything. You have continue working at it to make a real change.”

Eva Sofia believes the demonstration was a testament to the resilience of the March for Our Lives movement. “We will put [ourselves] out there to get our point across,” she tells Teen Vogue. “This is a big issue,” she adds. “People are dying every day because of it.”

That’s why, despite being arrested, Eva Sofia says she will never give up in her activism. “I plan to continue voicing my opinion in the years to come,” she says.

“This is something worth fighting for.”

Related: This Democrat Running Against Paul Ryan Was Arrested at a DACA Demonstration

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