Man who yelled 'womp womp' and allegedly pulled gun on protesters arrested

A man who mimicked the derisive remarks of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and brandished a handgun at immigration protesters in Alabama over the weekend was charged with menacing and reckless endangerment, AL.com reported Sunday.

Details of the altercation were also reported by The Washington Post.


With a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants, Shane Ryan Sealy shouted “womp womp” and carried a sign that said “ICE ICE baby” as he walked in front of protesters gathered in Huntsville, Alabama, part of a nationwide series of marches on Saturday against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

As an Episcopal priest delivered a prayer at the protest, Sealy allegedly got into an altercation with a protester that began as a shoving match and escalated once Sealy drew his firearm.

No shots were fired and Sealy, a former high school teacher, put his gun back into his pants and began to walk away, trailed by a handful of protesters. He was arrested by police for possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of a protest. The charges of menacing and reckless endangerment are misdemeanors.

Sealy’s “womp womp” taunts were in reference to Lewandowski’s appearance on Fox News last month, when he made the derisive remark as a fellow panelist made mention of a child with Down syndrome who reportedly had been separated from her family because of the Trump administration’s policy of splitting children and parents who enter the U.S. illegally.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The derisive remark outraged many, although Lewandowski later insisted his “womp womp” had been directed not at the young girl but at the cable news panelist, whom the former Trump campaign manager accused of politicizing children.