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Marjorie Taylor Greene refuses to publicly admit Parkland was real despite call with victim’s mother

'Her statement is clear because here I am with you and she's not,' says Linda Beigel Schulman

James Crump
Monday 01 February 2021 16:23 GMT
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Marjorie Taylor Greene refuses to publicly admit Parkland was real despite call with victim's mother
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The mother of one of the Parkland school shooting victims has claimed that Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has refused to publicly disavow conspiracy theories about the massacre.

Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son Scott Beigel died in the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, told MSNBC on Sunday that she had a “friendly” conversation with Ms Greene on Saturday.

The pair spoke about Ms Greene’s previous endorsement of conspiracy theories that claimed several US school shootings, including Parkland and Sandy Hook, were staged. She has refused to resign, despite several calls for her to do so.

“My first question to congresswoman Greene was: 'Do you really believe that Parkland and Sandy Hook were false flags and staged?'” Ms Schulman said about their conversation. “Her answer to me was unequivocally 'No, I do not.'”

Ms Schulman said that she wanted to take the Georgia representative at her word, but felt like she could not after Ms Greene refused her invitation to disavow the conspiracy theories publicly on MSNBC on Sunday.

“I said 'You know what, if that's really, really what you believe, then come on air and tell the public just that,'” Ms Schulman said. “Well her statement is clear, because here I am with you, and she's not here right now.” she continued.

Ms Schulman added: “Truth is power, and if congresswoman Greene believes that Parkland and Sandy Hook were in fact real events, she would be willing to say that publicly, and her failure tells me that for Congresswoman Greene, politics trumps truth, because lies and conspiracy theories are more important to her than honesty.”

Nick Dyer, Ms Greene’s communications director told The Independent: “The assertation that Rep. Greene believes that those tragedies are anything other than mad men committing horrific acts is absolutely ridiculous.

“She’s released a statement on Parkland over a week ago.”

Ms Greene made headlines last week, when videos from 2018 resurfaced showing her following and interrogating David Hogg, a gun control activist and survivor of the Parkland shooting, causing more outrage among parents of other survivors.

Mr Hogg has since called for Rep Greene’s resignation and, promoted a petition for his followers to sign on Twitter, saying: “Sign the petition to call for @RepMTG to resign text ‘Resign’ to 954-954.”

On Monday morning, Mr Hogg reacted to Ms Schulman’s interview with MSNBC, calling Ms Greene a “coward” on Twitter.

He said: “Why is she not willing to come out in public [and] denounce her previous statements that Parkland and Sandy Hook were fake? Shame on you @mtgreenee You are a coward.”

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