And one more thing.
All right.
I want to bring in
Manuel Oliver,
the father of Joaquin Oliver,
who was killed
that day in the Parkland shooting.
And Manny,
you've just been listening to that.
He said that he would speak
to any parents
who made it
very clear
you have no interest
in speaking to former Officer
Peterson there.
What did you think about what you heard
These guys are celebrating today.
He said he got his life back.
They're going to the Vatican.
They thank the Lord.
Apparently,
their lord is a different lower
than Joaquin's lord.
He decided to give these guy
his life back,
which is not in any way
in any way comparable
of losing your life.
The attorney said it's been four years
of pain.
Tell me about that pain.
Tell Patricia about that pain.
You're celebrating today
for every member
of the law enforcement,
for every police officer
including the Uvalde ones again.
So, you know what?
In addition to that, the fact
that the conclusion of the attorney
is that this is a political intention.
This is not political, my friend.
This is ethical.
We had the opportunity
to mark a precedent to make a difference.
And you, Mr.
Attorney, you're celebrating
the fact that these person
that obviously, obviously made
a mistake and needs to be accountable
is now happy with his life.
In the meantime, 17 families,
in addition to any other officer
from a school
that had made mistakes
since you was said at the beginning,
Parkland,
a little more than five years ago.
Should be celebrating that
Well, I don't buy that.
I don't preach that.
I don't follow these.
I think that the right thing to do
the main thing to do
the honest thing to do
is to walk out of that room.
Quiet.
Be quiet, Mr. Attorney.
And Scott Peterson,
keep your mouth shut.
Get in your car
and go to your perfect life.
But don't cry in front of national TV.
Asking for us to be a shame and B, to be,
you know, to be concerned
about your beautiful perfect life.
That's what I feel.
Manuel, we heard from Peterson directly
saying, quote, We did the best we could.
Tragically,
too many school resource
officers
and law enforcement officers
find themselves in a situation
where they're responding to a shooting
at a school, at a movie theater.
Too many places in American life.
And often the weapons that are being used
by these shooters are military grade.
And many of these officers
find themselves under armed,
you could say in their statement.
They describe this as a victory for law
enforcement officers
who do the best they can.
If what
Scott Peterson is saying
he did was the best that he can.
What should change here
for school resource officers
and other law enforcement officers
so that
more parents are not put in the situation
that you've been put in
Well, that's incredible.
You know,
because you're right,
this is the best they can.
So this is what we and by the way,
this is the only country
that requires an officer
or more in a school.
Let's start by saying that
So the problem goes
beyond the officer inside of school
and now probably where some people
are preaching
to bring more and more officers
to every single school.
Florida is a perfect example
of how we're moving backwards
in terms of getting things better
So
I also understand
and I want everybody
and anybody that has
seen what we have done in the last
five years knows
that I'm not relying on an officer
inside a school to keep the kids safe.
I think that's a solution
from a system that is already broken
and an industry
that has so
much power that
they need to put their guns out there.
So someone like Nikolas Cruz
could have legal access
to an assault weapon and ammunitions
and not even a red flag came out there.
So, yes, I understand that, too.
But I did not sign up for the job
I signed for this job.
I'm here as an activist
raising my voice and I paid the price
a real life.
Let's go.
Joaquin cannot say today.
Oh, I'm going back to my life.
He will never say that.
You guys sign for that job,
the one that you're doing,
you're delivering.
So any one that decides to do something,
it has to find ways to do it
in a better way.
Don't come to me saying we did the best.
We were there too late.
Late I'm sick of listening to that.
Who is working on the moments before?
What happened?
Who?
Who allowed that killer
to get into the school?
Was that not your responsibility?
Also
It is not about not knowing
where the shootings were coming from.
My friend,
a lot happened before that.
That is also your responsibility.
Most important in anything.
Don't let these
individual become a victim
because he's not
Manny.
Where do you go from here?
Well, that's a good question.
I am going back to my daily activism.
Actually,
me and Patricia,
we're going to go on a national
tour on Monday.
Starting Monday, we're going to visit
23 stops We go to validate.
We go to Santa Fe.
We're going to go to San Diego,
L.A., New York, Chicago.
We're going to be
with people supporting people
and feeling that support
We're not doing this
for any political campaign, by the way.
We're doing this because we feel it.
We need to stay together.
If the system
and the nation and our lawmakers fail
and they don't listen to us.
We need to stay together.
And you know what? Support each other.
That's our plan.
That's my next move.
I'm closing this chapter.
This is in the same way that I
closed the last trial.
Done.
I have a hero
in my
life that requires me to keep him active.
My son is an activist
before being a victim.
So I honor that.
And I will continue honoring that.
We're sharing an image of your son,
Joaquin Oliver,
known affectionately as Glock
now with our viewers.
Meanwhile,
I wanted to follow up
with what you just described
as not pursuing
this track of activism
for a political campaign.
You and I have spoken
before about action on Capitol
Hill, rather, inaction.
And obviously,
there is a presidential campaign
that's underway right now.
Someone who's running for president
is the governor of Florida.
Who over who oversaw some of the changes
that you're describing
to gun laws in the Sunshine State.
What is your message to lawmakers
as we head into a
presidential campaign season?
So there
are two
reasons for me to give interviews today.
This is one.
And the other one is
that let's carry in Florida.
That is right there.
And Ron DeSantis made it possible.
So that's a reality.
We are not addressing the issue
in any way.
At the same time
that we're letting these guys roam free
not being guilty for any of the charges.
Our state is allowing a permit
less carry tomorrow.
So it's only getting worse.
What does that mean?
Should I feel frustrated
or should I just get on my school
bus on Monday and start
on tour around the nation
with thousands of kids
from different organizations?
Voters of tomorrow marched for life's
theme, enough kids that are desperate for
a better future.
I stay with that.
I have to do that.
So, yes, the political campaign,
which I think has made a lot of mistakes
from Mr. DeSantis,
it's very aggressive.
There's a lot of hate in it.
There's a lot of additional
facilitating things
to make sure that whoever hates anyone
could also threat anyone like.
It's not a coincidence
that someone that it's
rejecting immigration rejecting gay
rights, banning books,
opening up with less scary.
I mean, all of those things
go together into phases.
If you ask me.
So
I don't think that's going to work
to get anybody in the White House.
Manny, I will say, you always.
I know
this is an incredible disappointment
to you today
as we see this verdict
reached in the trial
of the school resource officer.
Not guilty on all 11 counts,
but you always channeled
the memory
of your son walk and you carry on.
And we appreciate you
speaking with us
today
and reacting to this
as we share yet again
another photo of him,
one of the 17 victims that day.
Manny, thank you for being with us.