Parkland shooting victim's father shouts at Trump for supporting gun rights in his speech, escorted out
Fred Guttenberg, who had lost Jamie, his 14-year-old daughter in the Parkland Florida school shooting was booted out of the gallery during Donald Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
The dramatic incident took place when Trump spoke about protecting gun rights. Guttenberg could be heard shouting from the speaker's box while Trump made his speech. He was quickly removed from the gallery after that by a police officer dressed in plain clothes. A spokesperson for Guttenberg confirmed that he was escorted out.
According to Miami Herald crediting Huffington Post, Trump finished a line saying, “So long as I am president, I will always protect your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms" . Responding to the same Guttenberg was heard saying "victims of gun violence like my daughter."
Many social media users flocked to Twitter to defend Guttenberg. One such user shared, "Disgraceful that poor father God Bless you, we know that Trump doesn’t care about gun laws." Another user shared, "For God’s sake, the man’s daughter was murdered and POTUS just plays the NRA patsy. I’d probably scream every day."
A third user chimed in, "Fred has a right to speak out. He lost his daughter and Trump has done absolutely NOTHING to prevent another child from being murdered. Shame on all GOP." Another user said, "Does it take everyone in this country to lose someone to realize we need better firearm regulations."
Guttenberg had shared an image of himself alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who had invited him as her guest. Earlier on Tuesday, he had tweeted, "Thank you @SpeakerPelosi for inviting me to be your guest tonight at the State Of The Union. I cannot thank you enough for your commitment to issues important to Americans and to the issue most important to me on dealing with gun violence."
Guttenberg's daughter Jaime, was a freshman at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school when a gunman opened fire, taking the lives of her and 13 other students along with three staff members. Guttenberg and other parents from Parkland have made ending gun violence a priority since the massacre.
Last year, on the first anniversary of the shooting, Guttenberg had shared with Nightline, "I just went up [to the vigil] and I just started letting it loose. I remember saying that night, 'This time they messed with the wrong community and the wrong dad. This dad is not going away."