A father whose son died in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in 2018 heckled President Joe Biden’s speech regarding gun control Monday on the White House’s South Lawn.
Manuel Oliver, a gun safety activist, interrupted the president’s speech after he stated the newly passed bipartisan gun legislation “matched thoughts and prayers with action.”
“Make no mistake, sit down, you’ll hear what I have to say,” the president told Oliver. The gun control activist, who stood up and shouted during the speech, was immediately escorted out of the event.
“Let me talk, let him talk,” Biden said. “Because make no mistake about it, this legislation is real progress but more has to be done. The provision of this new legislation is gonna save lives and is proof that in today’s politics we can come together on a bipartisan basis to get important things done. Even on an issue as tough as guns.” (RELATED: Biden Heckled In Pittsburgh: ‘You Finally Got Out Of The Basement!’)
The president cited Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy saying “success begets success,” arguing that U.S. lawmakers can work together and achieve success. The president signed the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” into law June 25 — crafted by 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — to fund mental health courts, red flag laws and crisis intervention programs.
Oliver’s son, Joaquin, was one of 17 people killed in the shooting after a 19-year-old expelled student, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire inside the building. He criticized the White House on CNN’s “New Day” Monday, just hours before the speech, for “celebrating” the passage of the gun safety bill, arguing it doesn’t pass nearly enough changes surrounding gun safety.
“It’s not only not enough what we’re passing … even the president has asked for more and it’s not happening. I really wish there was more in this package of bills and I will do whatever I can to get more in this package of bills,” he said. “This is not the beginning or the end, there’s a lot of people saying ‘this is the beginning,’ no, this is part of a process and there was no reason for this event to be called as it’s called right now. Like, we are celebrating again together in the White House.”
The father has since fought publicly for increased gun control and safety measures, even having involvement with the Democratic National Committee, who sent out an email from him in 2019 asking recipients to “stand with Democrats who will work to solve our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
“No other country has to live through mass shooting after mass shooting like the United States. It’s not just a coincidence. It’s what happens when [National Rifle Association]-backed politicians refuse to act while the gun lobby fills their pockets. It’s why we have to be doing everything in our power to elect Democrats who will finally act to make a change,” Oliver’s email stated.
He recently supported the president’s calls to ban so-called “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines,” expand background checks, implement red flag laws and repeal a law prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers in a June 3 appearance on CNN.