F – Michael Mehr plays This is Me from The Greatest Showman during band rehearsal at Rikki Streicher Field on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in San Francisco. Mehr has played through history, his first ever trip with the band was to Washington, D.C. to participate in the second March on Washington, a gay rights protest.

The group was not welcomed with open arms. While practicing for the march on the National Mall, Capitol Police waited patiently to enforce the expiration of the group’s permit.

At 6:00 p.m. on the dot officers mounted on horseback in full riot gear started banging nightsticks on their shields and advancing. “We decided maybe it was a good time to run,” Mehr joked.