FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It’s been more than four years since confessed Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz unleashed a hail of bullets at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Senior High, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others.
On Monday, opening arguments will be made in the penalty phase of his trial.
Manny Oliver, who lost his son Joaquin on that fateful day, has been an outspoken parent about his feelings toward gun violence.
“I think he should die and I think that is not enough,” Oliver said Sunday morning during an appearance on This Week in South Florida. “And I’ve been trying to tell you this for years and years.”
Even on a national platform, like last week when he interrupted President Joe Biden’s news conference on the White House lawn.
It was an event aimed at celebrating a new gun control law, one Oliver feels doesn’t go far enough.
“I will do it again, by the way, if we get to a point when we have something we cannot accept,” he said.
Testimony and evidence in the trial against Cruz is expected to be graphic at times, as he displayed a fascination with killing and guns.
The defense is expected to focus on the shooter’s mental health and upbringing.
Seven men and five women have been selected as jurors.
At the end of the trial, they must be unanimous in deciding if Cruz should get the death penalty.
Nothing though is likely to restore much comfort to the grieving family members of the 17 students and teachers who were killed.
“Not even the death penalty is enough,” said Oliver.