Parkland dad Guttenberg says Court pick snubbed him
A gun-control advocate whose daughter was killed in the Parkland massacre says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ignored him and wouldn’t shake hands Tuesday during a break in a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.
A video of the hearing shows Kavanaugh turn and walk away as Fred Guttenberg tries to speak to him.
“Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended,” Guttenberg wrote on Twitter. “Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg’s dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.”
Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was one of the 17 people killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Raj Shah, deputy press secretary for the White House, wrote on Twitter that Kavanaugh was unable to shake hands because security intervened.
“As Judge Kavanaugh left for his lunch break, an unidentified individual approached him,” Shah wrote. “Before the Judge was able to shake his hand, security had intervened.”
But Guttenberg told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that account is not accurate.
“He turned away and moved quickly when I was said who I was,” Guttenberg said. “Then security came by.”
Guttenberg said he was attending the hearing at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Guttenberg has expressed concerns about Kavanaugh’s record on gun control, writing on Twitter that he hopes to “play a role in ensuring that this man does not become the next Supreme Court Justice.”
Protesters sought to disrupt the first day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. U.S. Capitol Police reported 70 people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct or unlawful demonstrating.
Ashley Schapitl, a Feinstein spokeswoman, said the California senator invited Guttenberg to attend the hearing because he had a “personal stake in Brett Kavanaugh’s views on the law.”
The handshake moment quickly went viral on social media.
Democrats seized on the image of Guttenberg’s outstretched hand apparently being ignored by the judge.
“I’m not sure how to define judicial temperament, but if Judge Kavanaugh reacted that way AFTER being told who Fred was, it’s clear he doesn’t have it,” U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-West Boca, wrote on Twitter. Deutch’s district includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, died in the Parkland shooting, defended the judge on Twitter, writing, “Judge Kavanaugh is a decent man and should be confirmed. Stop weaponizing Parkland to advance a dangerous political agenda!”
As a judge, Kavanaugh dissented in a 2011 ruling upholding the District of Columbia’s ban on the possession of most types of semi-automatic rifles and broad registration requirements for guns.
He wrote, “D.C.’s public safety motivation in enacting these laws is worthy of great respect. But the means D.C. has chosen are again constitutionally problematic.”