Nicole Hockley cried herself to sleep on Dec. 14 — the fifth anniversary of her six-year-old son Dylan’s murder.
The child was shot dead while in a first-grade classroom at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, along with 20 other students and six teachers.
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In a Facebook post Sunday, Hockley explained the heartache the family still feels — and the anger she felt this year in particular.
“For the five-year remembrance, and indeed for every year and every day, most people show compassion and humanity,” Hockley wrote on a Facebook page for Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit dedicated to protecting children from gun violence. “This year, the White House did not — on two occasions.”
On the anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., shooting, U.S. President Donald Trump held a Christmas dinner at the White House. The National Rifle Association’s chief, Wayne LaPierre, was invited to the party. Trump did not tweet about the shooting — or issue any statement on it.
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“Not only did he ignore the 5-year remembrance completely — not even a single tweet — he slapped us all in the face by having none other than NRA President Wayne LaPierre at his White House Christmas party that night,” Hockley wrote. “The appalling lack of humanity and decency has not gone unnoticed.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed to the New York Daily News that LaPierre was present at the dinner.
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Hockley added that Sanders’ handling of questions surrounding the shooting’s anniversary showed a “remarkable amount of ignorance.”
During the Dec. 14 press briefing, Sanders explained that tougher border security is needed to prevent mass shootings. But Adam Lanza, who carried out the Sandy Hook shooting, was a domestic shooter, The Washington Post reported.
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Hockley ended her Facebook post explaining that she doesn’t expect an apology — or even a response — from Trump, Sanders or LaPierre.
“But I’m not sure there are any hearts in the White House that would understand why an apology is the least they could do,” she wrote.
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But the mom added that they are all parents, who unlike her, get to kiss their children good night.
“While they ignorantly partied and remained uninformed on an issue that kills thousands of Americans every year, I was crying myself to sleep. While they got the chance to kiss their children goodnight, I kissed the urn holding my beautiful boy’s ashes.”
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