Home US Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for ‘photo op’ at scene of horrific slaying – saying she’s using the 2018 massacre to ‘push her agenda’

Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for ‘photo op’ at scene of horrific slaying – saying she’s using the 2018 massacre to ‘push her agenda’

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Ryan Petty criticized Vice President Kamala Harris' visit as a 'slap in the face' to the victims' families.

The father of a boy killed in the Parkland school shooting slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for using the massacre site for a “photo op” to “push” a gun control agenda.

Ryan Petty’s 14-year-old daughter, Alaina Petty, was killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida along with 16 others, when former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, went on a rampage with an AR-15-style semi-automatic pistol. . rifle.

Democrat Harris visited the school on Saturday and gave an emotional speech promoting the promotion of “red flag laws,” before paying her respects at a memorial to the victims.

Petty called the visit a “slap in the face” to the families of the shooting and said, “I find this whole thing offensive.”

He told Fox News: “What they want to do is create an opportunity for the vice president to deliver talking points about gun control in a place that, frankly, is hallowed ground right now.”

Ryan Petty criticized Vice President Kamala Harris' visit as a 'slap in the face' to the victims' families.

Ryan Petty criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit as a ‘slap in the face’ to the victims’ families.

Petty's 14-year-old daughter, Alaina Petty, was killed in the Parkland school shooting in Florida in 2018.

Petty's 14-year-old daughter, Alaina Petty, was killed in the Parkland school shooting in Florida in 2018.

Petty’s 14-year-old daughter, Alaina Petty, was killed in the Parkland school shooting in Florida in 2018.

Vice President Kamala Harris walked past grieving parents holding photos of their children to deliver her speech at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Vice President Kamala Harris walked past grieving parents holding photos of their children to deliver her speech at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Vice President Kamala Harris walked past grieving parents holding photos of their children to deliver her speech at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The school has been left completely untouched since the Valentine’s Day shooting six years ago during a series of criminal trials, including that of the school’s deputy sheriff, Scot Peterson, who was acquitted last year of charges of failing to accost Cross.

Teachers’ papers remain on their desks along with students’ open laptops, half-eaten snacks, and homework assignments.

Bullet holes riddled the doors along with overturned chairs and belongings discarded in the panic to get out.

The building is due to be demolished this summer, but in the meantime politicians and security services have visited to find out what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

Petty told Fox News: “What I find frustrating is that this building should have been demolished years ago and now it’s being used as a photo op for politicians who want to push an agenda.”

‘But politicians, frankly, don’t understand what it takes to protect our nation’s schools. They do not understand the causes of the Parkland tragedy.

‘They don’t understand what led to the tragedy and are only there to push their gun control agenda. I’m tired of it. It has to stop. The building needs to be demolished.’

Sharing a photo from Harris’ visit, Petty wrote on X: “Never let a tragedy go to waste they say.”

Petty takes issue with politicians’ stance that the only way to keep schools safe is gun control, saying there are “many ways” to protect children without “infringing on Second Amendment rights.”

He said, “But the vice president and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention don’t want to hear any of those solutions.”

1711303111 66 Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for

1711303111 66 Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for

Petty tweeted after his visit: “Never waste a tragedy, they say.”

PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS: Front row from left: Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran -- Second row from left: Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquín Oliver, Gina Montalto -- Third row from left: Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter - Fourth row L: Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon

PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS: Front row from left: Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran -- Second row from left: Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquín Oliver, Gina Montalto -- Third row from left: Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter - Fourth row L: Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon

PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS: Front row from left: Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran — Second row from left: Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquín Oliver, Gina Montalto — Third row from left: Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter – Fourth row L: Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon

Harris toured pristine classrooms and visited a memorial to the victims

Harris toured pristine classrooms and visited a memorial to the victims

Harris toured pristine classrooms and visited a memorial to the victims

1711303112 872 Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for

1711303112 872 Father of Parkland School shooting victim slams Kamala Harris for

“I will continue to advocate for what we need to do in terms of universal background checks and assault weapons bans,” Harris told her audience.

‘It is an insult to the families who have worked so hard to make our schools the safest in the state of Florida and the safest schools in the nation. He’s just spitting in the face of all that work because he wants to promote gun control.’

Petty said they have had some successful visits to the school, including a visit from the Secret Service a few weeks ago.

He said he showed them the English classroom where his daughter was shot and pointed out that there was nowhere to hide.

He said: ‘I showed them where she was sitting and they saw that she couldn’t get into a safe space in that classroom, a space where the shooter couldn’t see her. “These are all things I hope the vice president will eliminate.”

Cruz was sentenced to life in prison for the shootings.

He had recently been expelled from school and fired 140 shots while prowling around the school building during his six-minute attack.

He bought his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle a year before the murders and told his trial that his planning became serious about seven months in advance as he researched previous mass shooters, saying he tried to learn from their experience.

But he had been thinking about an attack for about five years and said he chose Valentine’s Day to make sure it would never be celebrated at school again.

Jurors followed Cruz's path as he moved methodically from floor to floor, shooting through hallways and classrooms.

Jurors followed Cruz's path as he moved methodically from floor to floor, shooting through hallways and classrooms.

Jurors followed Cruz’s path as he moved methodically from floor to floor, shooting through hallways and classrooms.

Nikolas Cruz was seen on security footage when he carried out his 2018 rampage.

Nikolas Cruz was seen on security footage when he carried out his 2018 rampage.

Nikolas Cruz was seen on security footage when he carried out his 2018 rampage.

Students were ordered to keep their hands up as they fled the school in terror.

Students were ordered to keep their hands up as they fled the school in terror.

Students were ordered to keep their hands up as they fled the school in terror.

He bought 10 guns after turning 18, but local police or the FBI took no action on reports that he was planning a mass shooting.

The FBI received two warnings about his behavior, one from a member of the public who saw a YouTube video he made in which he said he was going to become a school shooter, and the second, weeks before the attack, from a friend at school. family.

He became the most prolific school shooter to stand trial after surviving the attack and was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 2021.

Florida is among 21 states that introduced “red flag laws” after the killings, allowing courts to confiscate guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Harris was in Florida to urge more states to adopt the legislation and announce the establishment of the National Resource Center for Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

“Of all the states that have passed red flag laws, only six have accepted the offer we have made to them through our federal resource management to assist them with training and implementation of these red flag laws,” he said.

‘This National Resource Center will be a place where we provide training to local leaders on how to use alert laws and keep communities safe.

Not all parents and families were concerned about Harris’ visit. Beigel Schulman, whose son Scott, 35, was killed while trying to lead students to safety from his Geography class, said, “She understands how important gun violence prevention is.” for us.

“But when you walk into the actual building and see what really happened, it doesn’t matter if it was six years later, it really affects you.”

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