A 27-year-old man from Ohio was arrested in New York City on Friday after he disrupted a conference held by the Wikimedia Foundation.
The man, identified by sources as Connor Weston, was detained by police and evaluated at a local hospital after he allegedly interfered with events taking place at Civic Hall in Manhattan, which was hosting a conference by the non-profit organization behind Wikipedia.
The incident unfolded around 10:30 a.m. local time when Weston, armed with a handgun, jumped on stage during a WikiConference panel.
According to conference attendees, Weston declared himself to be a “non-offending pedophile” and said he wanted to end his life. Several panelists subdued the man while conference attendees called local police, according to news reports about the incident.
Officers with the New York Police Department arrived a short time later and detained Weston. He was transported to a local hospital for medical and mental health evaluations. Law enforcement authorities said criminal charges are still pending.
A social media profile bearing Weston’s name contained at least two photographs of a flag that the man allegedly wore on stage Friday. At one point, the flag — which reaffirmed Weston’s position as a “non-offending pedophile” — was erected outside his home in Ohio, he wrote on the account.
The account was launched this past June, and was followed by just one person. On it, Weston wrote that he is “fundamentally against adult/minor relationships because I know that they are harmful.”
“I don’t have any ‘urges’ that I have to control, just like how most straight men don’t have the urge to rape every woman they meet,” Weston wrong. “Pedophilia is not a choice. I can choose to not harm minors, but I cannot choose to stop being attracted to them.”
Weston was also active on Bluesky, a Twitter-like social media profile whose users tend to express politically-progressive views. Two weeks ago, Weston posted the same statement on Bluesky, and at least one image that showed him standing behind the same flag that he wore on stage during the WikiConference.
Weston’s last post was on September 28, according to the account reviewed by The Desk. None of his social media accounts contained child pornography or other illegal materials.
A Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson praised organizers and attendees for acting quickly to disarm Weston, and affirmed their appreciation for law enforcement’s quick response.
“Organizers and attendees acted quickly and responsibly during the incident,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and the safety of all participants.”
The remainder of Friday’s programming was cancelled, and additional law enforcement officers were stationed at Civic Hall for the rest of the event, which continues through the weekend. Officials said extra security measures will remain in place for the duration of the conference.
WikiConference North America serves as the flagship annual gathering for Wikipedia contributors in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The event’s website listed more than 300 expected attendees for this year’s program, which includes workshops, lectures and collaborative sessions focused on digital knowledge sharing, accessibility and community engagement.
The Wikimedia Foundation has come under fire in recent years after Wikipedia was accused of promoting a pro-progressive bias in its editing and publishing of various articles. Wikipedia does not pay most of its editors, and does not require them to have professional or academic training in order to contribute to its platform, which is widely used by search engines and artificial intelligence chatbots to return information about people, business and services.
It isn’t clear why Weston targeted the conference, which is generally open to the public. It also isn’t clear if Weston was a contributor to Wikipedia or other platforms that are operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.
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