Parents of children murdered in school shootings are intensifying the push for the removal of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from Congress. The freshman lawmaker was filmed harassing a shooting survivor and has repeatedly cast doubt on whether a number of mass shootings were real.
There have been growing calls for her resignation, including from several gun safety groups, since last week, when social media exchanges were unearthed showing her agreeing enthusiastically with commenters who said school shootings were staged. This week, a 2019 video surfaced showing Greene badgering David Hogg, who has lobbied for gun reform since 17 people were killed at his high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
She was appointed by Republican leadership this week to the House Education and Labor Committee.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting, said in an appearance Thursday on MSNBC that Greene, a supporter of QAnon and myriad other conspiracy theories, is a “depraved person who ran for Congress on a lie.”
“She has called Parkland a lie, Sandy Hook a lie, Las Vegas a lie and 9/11 a lie,” Guttenberg said. “And when you watch the video of her chasing David [Hogg] and the other kids down ... she’s chasing children, and not only is she harassing them, she’s telling them outright that ‘I have a gun.’”
Addressing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who met Thursday with former President Donald Trump in Florida, Guttenberg said, “When you’re done having drinks and cake with the bully in Palm Beach, you need to come back and you need to remove her. She has no place in Congress.”
Hogg asked McCarthy to remove her committee assignments and pull his support when she runs for reelection.
Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley, parents of two of the 20 children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut, called Greene’s appointment to the education committee an “attack on any and every family whose loved ones were murdered in mass shootings that have now become fodder for hoaxers.”
In a statement, they expressed gratitude to lawmakers who “understand that hateful conspiracy theories and suggestions that our childrens’ violent deaths never happened have no place in our society, much less the United States Congress.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) condemned GOP leadership Thursday for assigning Greene to the committee. Other Facebook posts uncovered this week show Greene appearing to express support for executing prominent Democrats.
“Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school ― what could they be thinking?” she asked.
Other House lawmakers have also spoken out about Greene. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) circulated a letter asking Republicans not to seat her on the committee. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, said Greene should not be on any committees and is “not a Republican.”
California Democrat Jimmy Gomez announced Wednesday he will introduce a resolution to expel her from the House, citing her calls for violence against lawmakers and her dissemination of conspiracy theories about the mass shootings and Sept. 11 terrorist attacks being faked.