As I sit here for my final morning this week in DC, I want to reflect on the past couple of days. Since Jaime was murdered on February 14th, I have dedicated my life to advocacy on the cause of gun safety. Anyone who has followed me knows that I try to talk to everyone.
I go up to everyone and I introduce myself the same way which is "Hi, my name is Fred Guttenberg and I am the father of Jaime Guttenberg who was murdered in Parkland." I introduce myself that way every time intentionally so that when people do speak to me, they know up front
that it will be part of the discussion. It is my way of being honest from the start. What happened this week was quite simple. I was invited as a guest to the hearing. I was sitting 3 rows behind Kavanaugh and to his right. I was introduced. I was not one of the circus hecklers
in the back. Regarding the handshake, my intention was as a father to shake his hand with the hope that he might actually engage for a minute. Clearly he did not. And yes, I did introduce myself loud and clear as I always do. People can make what they want of my decision, as
I have seen a bunch of the social media on this and I know there are a lot of opinions. People can make what they want of his decision. I was there and believe it to be intentional. What people should not do is be vicious and vile in comments towards me or Kavanaugh. Moments in
life happen, and sometimes they are as simple as they seem but they do say and reveal a lot. Judge me for attempting to shake his hand which is fair, or judge Kavanaugh for not doing it back. Just be civil. As to people who claim to know my motives and my integrity, if you do
not actually know me, you do not know what you are speaking about. I DO THIS FOR THE LOVE OF MY DAUGHTER. She has no voice now and this is how I fight for her. I am not connected to any entities that pay me. Everything you see of me I do on my own and without help. It is me
planning my schedule, my social media, and reaching out to political people and media who I want to speak with. For what it is worth, it includes a lot of Democrats and Republicans, but one party is definitely more responsive. I do not get paid for what I do. For those who are
supporters of what I do, nobody questions that. However, for those who are not, clearly you do. The strange thing is, people who support me probably question @AndrewPollackFL and his family for meeting with Trump or talking to the NRA and his supporters are probably Ok with that.
The fact that we are part of this awful club does not mean we will all want to pursue the same advocacy. We families who went through this trauma ought to be free to pursue what feels natural to us to create change.
You are free to disagree with me or any other family, my only request is that we keep it civil towards everyone. I try to be civil and respectful, I sometimes fail, I will try harder going forward. Thank you.
