The father of a 14-year-old killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting thinks the Republican National Convention’s fake ear bandages are disrespectful to people who were actually injured in last week’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“This image infuriates me in ways I cannot express deeply enough,” Fred Guttenberg wrote in one social media message Thursday, next to a photo of three people at the RNC in Milwaukee with what appear to be napkins covering their right ears.
Attendees at the quadrennial Republican gathering attached napkins to their heads to mimic a bandage worn by Trump, who said his ear was “pierced” by a bullet during a campaign rally on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
“My daughter, when she ran into a stairwell for her safety, had one second of bad luck,” Guttenberg said. “Trump was lucky for one second. Mocking my loss to AR 15 gun violence is abhorrent beyond all standards.”
Guttenberg’s daughter, Jaime, was a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when she was shot and killed by a 19-year-old who previously attended the school. Sixteen other students and staff also died.
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While Trump escaped his assassination attempt with a bloodied ear, Guttenberg noted that others at his rally were seriously injured and one was killed.
“As a reminder, someone also died in this shooting that they’re making fun of,” he said of the RNC attendees, before hinting that he might now give more credence to unfounded conspiracy theories which have been in circulation since Saturday.
“I have spent this week ignoring all the conspiracy theories about this shooting and how it happened. Now when I look at the way Trump and this mob are milking this in a staged and produced way, I wonder.”
Kris Brown, the president of gun safety advocacy group Brady, also criticized the fake ear bandages.