A Virginia gun control advocate whose daughter was shot and killed on TV seven years ago announced Thursday that he is seeking office in Congress.
Andy Parker, a Democrat, said he is running to hold social media giants accountable after videos of the death of his daughter received millions of views on Facebook and YouTube.
“I’m running for Congress to make the internet safer for kids and for families,” Parker said in a video announcing his candidacy for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. “In 2015, my 24-year-old daughter, Alison Parker, was shot and killed on live television. I had a choice to retreat into my grief or honor Alison’s life through action. I chose the latter. I’m running for Congress because Central and Southside Virginia need a fighter in Congress.”
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Alison Parker, a broadcast journalist for a CBS affiliate, was conducting an on-air interview near Roanoke, Virginia, when a former employee of the TV station shot and killed Alison and cameraman Adam Ward. The interviewee, Vicki Gardner, was also shot but survived. The shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan II, committed suicide later that day after being cornered by police on a highway, according to the New York Times.
Parker said he still plans to make gun control an important part of his campaign, but his focus is on the social media giants who have profited from his tragedy, according to Fox News. Parker added that he never realized the death of his daughter would begin a yearslong battle with social media companies to remove videos of her death.
“I kept asking that the videos be taken down, but the tech companies kept ignoring me. And the videos kept being uploaded, over and over again,” Parker said. “Almost seven years later, it’s still happening. Some evil ghouls even made money selling ads around footage of my child’s death. And I cannot let that stand.”
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Parker is the fourth Democrat to run for the party’s nomination in the 5th District, which is currently represented by first-term Rep. Bob Good, a Republican who is seeking reelection. This will mark Parker’s first run for Congress. However, he has run for political office before. Parker ran unsuccessfully in 2007 for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
