The father of a Parkland school shooting victim repeatedly interrupted Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, prompting the GOP lawmaker to request the man be removed from the room.
The incident occurred as Gaetz began talking about efforts to curb gun violence, including a bill that would require background checks on all firearm sales. He argued that violence by immigrants without legal status was a far bigger concern.
“I hope we do not forget the pain of people who have been the victims of violence at the hands of illegal aliens,” Gaetz said, adding that a wall along the southern border would help reduce violence in the U.S.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student Joaquin Oliver, who was killed in the shooting, quickly jumped to his feet and interrupted Gaetz. It is unclear what he said.
{mosads}House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) attempted to restore order, requesting that guests of the committee not comment out loud on the deliberations.
Oliver rose to his feet again when Gaetz said that a substantial problem in America was “an immigration system that allows people to come here violently.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) interjected by asking if there was “any committee rule that prevents a member of Congress from reciting false statements in a committee hearing that are unsupported by the evidence.”
The remark drew a round of applause from many of the attendees, which included parents and students who were affected by the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
Gaetz later asked if Oliver could removed from the hearing.
“Is there a process in the committee whereby, if the very same people are repeatedly interrupting the time of the members, that those people will be asked to depart the committee?” Gaetz said as he pointed his finger at Oliver. “I’d observe three interruptions of my time by the same individual, and that the chair is not utilizing its discretion to remove that individual.”
Oliver’s appearance at the hearing came a day after he attended President Trump’s State of the Union address as a guest of Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.).
“I wonder if Trump will address the real national emergency—the 40k gun deaths that take innocent lives like my son, Joaquin’s,” he said on Twitter before the president’s speech.
Wednesday’s hearing was the first held by the House Judiciary Committee on gun violence since 2011, when Republicans took control of the chamber before Democrats returned to the majority this year. The hearing came almost a year after a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, killing 17 people.