Parents of a student murdered in the 2018 Parkland school shooting were forcibly removed from a Congressional hearing on Thursday, with the father being pinned to the ground by Capitol Police.
Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the attack, were in Washington DC for the hearing of the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee entitled: ‘ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?’
Pat Fallon, a Republican congressman representing Texas, said that increased gun control was not a solution to gun violence, pointing to Mexico’s high level of gun ownership despite it being extremely difficult to legally purchase a gun.
‘You can’t legislate away evil,’ said Fallon.
Patricia Oliver is seen on Thursday confronting Republican lawmakers who insisted there was nothing they could do legislatively to end gun violence
Manuel Oliver is seen on Thursday being pinned to the ground by Capitol Police
‘Gun control in Mexico is very strict. Every single firearm in Mexico is supposed to be registered.
‘Mexico has 124 million people -‘
He was then interrupted by Patricia Oliver, who reportedly yelled that they had taken her son away.
The Olivers were evicted from a White House event last year, after Manuel Oliver heckled Joe Biden for not doing enough on gun control.
‘Uh – woah, m’am. M’am. Alright – please remove that woman. You’re removed. You’re breaching protocol and disorder in the committee room. Officers please remove her.’
Manuel Oliver shouted out that the committee was ‘full of s***’.
Fallon said: ‘And remove the gentleman too.’
Patricia Oliver is removed from the hearing
Her husband is seen being dragged away by Capitol Police
Pat Fallon is seen arguing with Democrat David Cicilline during Thursday’s hearing
Fallon then read to the room the rules of the committee, which banned interruptions.
Outside the committee room, Manuel Oliver was manhandled by Capitol Police and shoved to the floor. Supporters chanted: ‘He’s not violent!’
Fallon, hearing the commotion, called for a recess.
Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress at 26, condemned Fallon’s actions.
Frost, from Orlando, served as the National Organizing Director at March for Our Lives – the student activist group set up by Parkland survivors.
‘To lose a child to gun violence, to see the photos of your child sitting in a pool of blood – I can’t imagine that,’ he said.
‘You know, Manny and Patricia have dedicated their lives to fighting for a world where true justice can be achieved — because unfortunately, there is no justice for the dead and true justice is ensuring that this never happens again.’
Frost, in whose office hangs a piece of art created during his campaign by Manuel Oliver, said that the couple were ‘American heroes’.
‘And what they always say is that they don’t want their son Joaquin to be remembered as a victim, they want him to remembered as an activist.’
Frost noted that the leading cause of death for American children is gun violence.
‘Today Republicans on this committee chose to sit in front of those parents, and the survivors and organisers and advocates that are sitting in the audience right now, people who are re-living their trauma listening through this, people impacted by gun violence across the nation, and show that their priority is gun lobby money, manufacturers who profit off death, and creating fake narratives for political gain,’ he said.
He then left the hearing, saying there was ‘no point’, while Republicans remain in the thrall of the gun lobby.
