After Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh complained his life had been ruined Thursday, the father of a Parkland shooting victim hit back in a tweet.

“I’m never going to get my reputation back,” Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by three women, said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. “My life is totally and permanently altered.”

Kavanaugh complained that he would never be able to coach sports again and cried talking about the way his daughters have responded to the news.

On Thursday evening, Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jamie was one of the 16 people killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February, slammed Kavanaugh’s comments in a curt tweet.


“[Judge] Kavanaugh your life and family are not ruined,” Guttenberg wrote, not long after the hearing ended. “Try having a child murdered by a weapon that you refer to as ‘common use.’ You will get through this and hug both of your children tonight.”

Justice Kavanaugh your life and family are not ruined. Try having a child murdered by a weapon that you refer to as "common use." You will get through this and hug both of your children tonight. — Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 27, 2018

Guttenberg has crossed paths with Kavanaugh once before. At a confirmation hearing a few weeks ago, Guttenberg approached Kavanaugh to introduce himself during a break, but Kavanaugh declined to shake his hand.

“Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg’s dad,” he tweeted later. “I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.”


White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah later claimed in a statement that “security had intervened” before Kavanaugh could respond, though Guttenberg later replied that this was “incorrect.”

“I was here all day and introduced by Senator Feinstein. No security involved. He turned and walked away,” he tweeted.

Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jamie Guttenberg who was killed in the shooting in Parkland, Fla., left, tries to shake hands with @realDonaldTrump's Supreme Court nom., Brett Kavanaugh, right, during a lunch break. Kavanaugh did not shake his hand. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) @ap pic.twitter.com/smcCGuLT6X — Andrew Harnik (@andyharnik) September 4, 2018

Kavanaugh’s hearing Thursday was focused on the multiple accusations of sexual assault levied against him in recent weeks. Three women have come forward publicly alleging sexual misconduct or attempted rape. Kavanaugh has denied any wrongdoing.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh, publicly testified under oath Thursday about the time she says he attempted to rape her at a “gathering” in high school.


Both in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this month and during her emotional testimony on Thursday, Ford said Kavanaugh forced himself on her, groped her over her clothes, and tried to pull off her clothing. When she tried to scream, he then covered her mouth with his hand and turned up the music in the room to muffle her cries. She said Thursday she believed Kavanaugh might accidentally kill her.

The second woman who came forward, Deborah Ramirez, told The New Yorker that, at a party in college, Kavanaugh thrust his penis to her face against her wishes. A third woman, Deborah Swetnick, says she was gang raped at a party where Kavanaugh was present.

Though she did not directly implicate Kavanaugh in the attack, she wrote in a sworn affidavit that Kavanaugh was among a group of boys with whom she associated and that he frequently spiked women’s drinks or drugged them in order to rape them.