Overview
- U.S. Park Police charged Gian Rachtelli, a conservative livestreamer known as “Manny,” with lewd, indecent and obscene acts after multiple witnesses reported he appeared to masturbate during a Cirque Mechanics acrobat performance.
- Arrest records cite three independent witness statements describing the behavior and say Rachtelli’s live video abruptly cut off as officers approached.
- Police say National Guard personnel alerted on-site forces, officers located Rachtelli near 12th and Jefferson SW and transported him to Park Police District 1 for processing.
- Park Police body-worn camera footage of the arrest exists but had not been reviewed in the initial reports, leaving visual evidence unassessed publicly for now.
- Rachtelli’s role as a well-known right-wing influencer has driven partisan reactions online and the incident compounds prior problems at the Great American State Fair, which has faced low turnout and performer withdrawals.