Swalwell Invites Parkland Shooting Survivor To State Of The Union
WASHINGTON (CBS SF) – East Bay representative Eric Swalwell announced he will bring a survivor of last year's massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida to Tuesday night's State of the Union Address.
According to his office, the Democrat and potential 2020 presidential candidate has invited 18-year-old Cameron Kasky, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the speech to be delivered by President Donald Trump. Last February, a gunman killed 17 people and wounded 17 others in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Kasky co-founded a student-led gun violence prevention advocacy group and organized the nationwide March for Our Lives a month after the shooting.
"The shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., happened while I was in congressional orientation in December 2012, and I figured Congress would have to act. As Republicans stymied all efforts since then, I started to grow frustrated – but the clear, loud, unwavering voices of the Parkland generation have inspired me to renew our efforts," Swalwell said in a statement.
Swalwell has advocated for several gun control measures, including an assault weapons ban.
The representative, whose district covers portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, announced earlier this week that he is "close to making a decision" on possibly running for president. If he decides to run, Swalwell would join an already large field of Democrats vying for the nomination in 2020.