Armed man wearing 'non-offending pedophile' sign storms stage at NYC Wikipedia conference

A Wikipedia conference in New York City took a bizarre turn Friday after an Ohio man draped in a sign declaring him to be an “anti-contact non-offending pedophile” got onstage with a gun and threatened to kill himself

A Wikipedia conference in New York City took a bizarre turn Friday after an Ohio man draped in a sign declaring him to be an “anti-contact non-offending pedophile” got onstage with a gun and threatened to kill himself.

WikiConference North America 2025 kicked off at 9 a.m. at Civic Hall, a community center in Manhattan. During the opening ceremony, a man with a gun jumped onto the stage and pointed his weapon at the ceiling before being tackled by conference organizers, according to police and a Wikipedia spokesperson.

The man, whom police did not identify, was later taken into custody, the Wikipedia spokesperson said.

The man wore a multicolored sign around his neck that read “anti-contact non-offending pedophile,” according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter. The sign bore the colors of a flag that has been used in recent years by people who identify as “MAPs,” or “minor-attracted persons.”

He also allegedly had the flag representing “MAPs” draped on his back bearing the same message.