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Nearly four-and-a-half years after he lost his 17-year-old son to a gunman’s attack on a high school in Parkland, Florida, Manuel Oliver didn’t think it was time to celebrate.
Oliver was among the hundreds who gathered Monday for President Biden and lawmakers from both sides on the southern turf of the White House at an event that was presented as a “commemoration of the historic achievement of the approval of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. ” Guests included relatives and survivors of mass shootings from Columbine, Colorado, to Virginia Tech, through Buffalo and Highland Park, Illinois.
Oliver, angry that the children are still dying — including 19 at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, less than two months ago — decided to make his feelings known and stood up as Biden spoke.
Then he frightened the president.
“Despite the opposition, we can make significant progress in dealing with armed violence,” Biden said as Oliver, wearing a T-shirt with his son’s photo and message demanding a change, stepped in to demand the creation. from an office in the executive branch focused solely on armed violence.
“Sit down, you’ll hear what I have to say,” Biden told Oliver, before pausing. “We have one, let me finish my comment.” But when Secret Service agents approached Oliver, Biden said, “Let him talk. Let him talk.”
Then he continued, “Make no mistake: this legislation is real progress. But more needs to be done.”
The report says Uvalde’s officer had a gunman in his sights
The episode highlighted a tension that has gone through Biden’s presidency and has intensified in recent weeks. Many Democrats have urged the president to do more to be credited for his achievements, including strengthening the economy, progressing against the pandemic, and getting bills through a polarized Congress. At the same time, Biden advisers are wary of appearing insensitive to voters ’concerns and suffering.
Following the Uvalde shooting, Congress passed a bipartisan bill that was the largest arms control measure in decades, but it also fell far short of what advocates wanted. It expanded background checks, funded programs to confiscate weapons from people in trouble, and strengthened mental health services.
Biden promoted it on Monday, saying: “The provision of this legislation will save lives. And it is proof that in current politics we can unite in a bipartisan way to do important things, even on an issue as hard as guns.. ”
Vice President Harris echoed the sentiment. “For 30 years, our nation has not passed significant legislation on gun violence,” he said, adding, “Because of the leadership of our president and so many of you, we have passed a law that will make the communities in our nation are safer. ”
Oliver said in an interview that he did not appreciate the tone of congratulations “since the children are still dying.” He did not regret speaking, he said after the ceremony. I just wished I could have continued talking before I was escorted.
“I’ve been trying to send a message to President Biden,” Oliver said. “I had the opportunity to be there today. But I will not be part of the celebration. “
In February 2018, a gunman opened fire on students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and killed 17 people, including Oliver’s son Joaquin. The mass murder sparked a further surge in activism as school students lobbied for tougher gun control measures, although this did not yield significant results until last month.
Other family members had a different reaction to Monday’s act. Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jamie in the Parkland shooting, reported on Twitter that he had embraced Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.), A longtime opponent of gun restrictions who teamed up with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to reach the compromise that was finally passed.
“I always promised that I would publicly embrace anyone on the right side of this legislation,” Guttenberg tweeted. “I’m proud to say I just gave @JohnCornyn a big bear hug.”
Other survivors and activists praised Oliver for sharing his thoughts. He wasn’t the only annoying attendee, said Brandon Wolf, who was in the bathroom of the Pulse nightclub in 2016 when a shooter broke into Orlando’s gay bar and killed 49 people, including two of Wolf’s friends.
“I’m angry too,” he said. “I’m sad, frustrated, because while we’re here talking, people are still dying.” Referring to Oliver, he added, “If you’re not so angry, you’re still not doing enough.”
Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, which has also called for an office for the prevention of armed violence, said Oliver said “what every person at that event believed in private.” Volsky cited polls that have shown that most Americans would like Congress to pass another round of legislation to address armed violence.
“Our hearts are with Manuel Oliver, who suffered a deep and profound loss,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told a news conference Monday, adding that the president had met with Oliver this year. “We agree with him. We need to do more.”
Oliver’s demand for an office of armed violence is not new. Eighty-five groups advocating for gun control and violence prevention called for such an office to be set up before Biden became president.
Still, many gun control advocates and lawmakers say the administration made significant progress with the bipartisan bill signed by Biden last month. The legislation, designed to prevent dangerous people from accessing weapons and investing $ 15 billion in the mental health and school safety system, is the first major federal measure on weapons in three decades.
Two people from Buffalo and Uvalde spoke at Monday’s event, praising the administration for what they said was a breakthrough in the fight against armed violence that had shattered their communities.
Garnell Whitfield Jr., son of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, who died in a shooting at a Buffalo grocery store in May, recited the names of the 10 victims of that massacre, “they all went to the ‘only supermarket in his community on May 14 to pick up groceries, believing they were safe, but they weren’t.’
The store was in a black neighborhood, and the alleged killer had declared himself a white supremacist.
“My family, our families and our community are devastated, but their intention to divide us and enact more violence within our community has failed miserably,” Whitfield said. “Because, instead, we have chosen to love above hatred, to speak instead of to be silent, and to stand by those brave enough to lead us to the signing of the most shocking weapons legislation in more than 30 years “.
Harris, other villains in Buffalo call for action against armed violence
Biden has stressed that he intends to continue pushing for more radical weapons control measures, and on Monday renewed his call for a federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition.
“We live in a country full of weapons of war,” Biden said. “Assault weapons must be banned.”
Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician from Uvalde who attended to several of the young victims of the shootings in this city, echoed the call for a ban on assault weapons. Forty days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, Guerrero said the makeshift monuments have been cleaned up and that all that remains is “an empty feeling in our gut.”
“I am using this pain to speak to you today as uvaldean and to speak to parents and victims who seek truth, transparency and ultimately accountability,” Guerrero said. “Let this be the beginning of the movement towards a ban on assault weapons.”