Richard Martinez, the father of UCSB shooting victim Chris Martinez, has a message to Congress: stop calling him and do something.
Martinez, who slammed “irresponsible politicians and the NRA” in the wake of his son’s death, told Anderson Cooper Tuesday night that he would not take phone calls from Congresspeople until something was done addressing gun violence.
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“I know you’ve had people reach out to you, people from Capitol Hill,” Cooper said. “What is your message to them, what is your message of what needs to change?”
“I’ve had Congresspeople call me and express their condolences and sympathy and when that’s happened, I’ve told them, don’t call me and tell me you’re sorry about my son’s death,” Martinez said.
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“I don’t want to hear it from you. I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry about my son’s death, I don’t care if you’re sorry about my son’s death,” he said. “You go back to Congress and you do something, and you come back to me and tell me you’ve done something, then I’ll be interested in talking to you.”
Cooper asked Martinez if he would be open to reaching out to the shooter’s family.
“For the rest of my life, in the honor of my son, I will do anything I can,” he said. “I’ll go anywhere, I will talk to anybody to change this.”
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