Jaime Guttenberg’s Aunt Pleads For End To Gun ‘Sickness’ After Florida Shootings
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Abbie Youkilis, the aunt of slain teenager Jaime Guttenberg, doesn’t want prayers. She wants action.
Jaime, 14, was one of the 17 students and faculty killed in the high school shooting Wednesday in Parkland, Florida. In an emotional Facebook post published Thursday, her aunt called guns a national disease and demanded change.
“Fred and Jen are the world’s most loving and over-protective parents but they could not protect Jaime from the sickness that has gripped our country,” she said of Jaime’s parents. “Unless we change, nobody can protect us. My friends and fellow citizens, your guns are not protecting you. Your guns are killing our kids.”
Youkilis wrote that her niece was a beautiful girl who looked out for others, and that she one day hoped to become an occupational therapist and have kids of her own.
“She was a pretty girl with the world’s best smile and her soul was sensitive and compassionate,” Youkilis wrote. “She was intelligent and feisty and she danced with beauty and grace. She always looked out for the underdog and the bullied and she probably had been kind to the student who shot her.” She blamed the National Rifle Association and pro-gun politicians for mass shootings. She said voters should demand gun control legislation and politicians who care about life more than gun rights.
“My family does not want your hopes and prayers,” she wrote. “We want your action. Join us in fighting the NRA. Join us in deposing any politician who cares more about campaign contributions than my beautiful Jaime. Join us in supporting leaders who will bravely fight for our children’s lives.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
