A Parkland Dad Interrupts Trump’s State of the Union

Fred Guttenberg said he was there as a guest of Nancy Pelosi.

Fred Guttenberg with a photo of his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, shortly after she was killed in the 2018 massacre in Parkland, Florida.Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/AP

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As Trump claimed that the Second Amendment was “under siege” in his state of the union address Tuesday night, he was interrupted by a father from Parkland, Florida.

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, tweeted before the speech that he was attending as a guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He shouted out about “victims of gun violence like my daughter,” according to HuffPost’s Matt Fuller. Security escorted Guttenberg out of the House chamber.

Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg quickly tweeted his support for Guttenberg.

Trump mentioned gun violence in his speech only in an attempt to gin up fear against undocumented immigrants and sanctuary laws. His speech used the phrase “criminal alien” five times.

Watch Gutenberg describe his protest modus operandi:

“If you’re on the wrong side of this issue, I’m going to work with every ounce of my fiber to fire you. That’s the bottom line. You don’t deserve to serve.”

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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