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Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said on Wednesday that he did not recognize the father of a student who was killed in the shooting that took place in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year. confirmation hearing.
Kavanaugh's reaction to Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, provoked a slight indignation after the broadcast of a video showing the judge appearing for the man at the end of his Senate committee hearing. Guttenberg can be seen approaching Kavanaugh with his outstretched hand, but the candidate merely looks at him before leaving.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images "If I had known who he was, I would have shaken his hand, talked to him and expressed my sympathy," said Kavanaugh, to the right of Fred Guttenberg.
"The morning was chaotic with a large number of protesters in the courtroom," Kavanaugh said of the meeting in a written response to questions from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) as part of his confirmation process. "At the beginning of the break, the room was noisy and crowded. When I turned around and did not recognize the man, I assumed that he was a protester. In a split second, my security details came up and made me leave the audience room. In that split second, I unfortunately did not realize that the man was the father of a shooting victim from Parkland, Florida. "
He continued, "Mr. Guttenberg has suffered incalculable loss. If I had known who he was, I would have shaken his hand, talked with him and expressed my sympathy. And I would have listened to it.
Guttenberg, who became a prominent advocate for gun reform, tweeted shortly after last week's meeting that he had guessed the judge "did not want to face with the reality of armed violence. The Capitol police then asked him to leave the room, but Kavanaugh, in response to a written question from Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Said to happen.
In a Twitter message posted Wednesday evening, Guttenberg said the memory of Kavanaugh was "interesting" and that he was "confident" in his own description of events.
"I would have liked him to say it last week when Senator Lindsey Graham asked the question about it," wrote Parkland's father. "I was always there and I would have been happy to have talked to him."
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