Brett Kavanaugh snubs Parkland victim's father at Senate confirmation hearing

A bad move on a chaotic day.
By Marcus Gilmer  on 
Brett Kavanaugh snubs Parkland victim's father at Senate confirmation hearing
Fred Guttenberg and Brett Kavanaugh come face to face at Kavanaugh's hearing. Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee got off to quite a raucous start on Tuesday. There were protests and clashes between Democratic and Republican senators, but it was an odd snub made by Kavanaugh that's getting the most attention.

As Kavanaugh left his table upon the beginning of a lunch break, a man can be seen approaching Kavanaugh and extending his hand for a handshake. After a brief look, Kavanaugh turned and walked away, never shaking the man's hand.

That man was Fred Guttenberg, the outspoken father of Parkland shooting victim Jamie Guttenberg, who was on hand as part of his ongoing protest about gun control legislation. Kavanaugh notably wrote a dissent against upholding Washington, D.C.'s semi-automatic rifle ban in 2011.

Guttenberg himself tweeted about the incident.

The above videos differ from the description given by White House press aide Raj Shah who claimed security got involved.

The hearing resumed after the lunch break without incident, but we're sure this isn't the last we'll hear about Guttenberg's outreach.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.


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