Is it news? Or is it political advertising? On Friday afternoon, CNN's Brianna Keilar promoted anti-gun activists Manuel and Patricia Oliver on the seventh anniversary of the Parkland school shooting. CNN displayed the grieving parents disturbing the peace, yelling at a Biden gun-control event and at a congressional hearing..
After beginning the pre-recorded piece by recalling that Oliver puts on a play about his son Joaquin to commemorate his death in the Parkland attack, Keilar then got to some of his other activities.
Oliver was arrested after using a crane to erect an image of his son, but was then invited to the White House where he heckled President Biden for not getting more gun laws passed:
KEILAR: On the fourth anniversary of Joaquin's death, Manny unfurled a sign on a crane near the White House and was arrested for it. But he succeeded in getting then-President Biden's attention and an invitation to the Oval Office.
OLIVER (shouting at then-President Joe Biden): You have to do more than that!
KEILAR: A few months later, Manny interrupted Biden's Rose Garden event honoring the passage of gun legislation that was for Manny not ambitious enough.
Then came a clip of his wife Patricia heckling a Republican-led congressional hearing:
KEILAR: In 2023, Manny was arrested at the Capitol after he and Patricia interrupted a Republican-led gun hearing.
PATRICIA OLIVER (shouting at a congressional hearing): You took my son away from me, and I'm not going anywhere.
As the CNN host listed a number of stunts the Olivers had been involved with, through their group Change the Ref, she alluded to the group tricking several pro-gun activists into giving speeches to empty chairs that represented gun deaths:
KEILAR: In 2021, duping a former head of the NRA into giving a graduation speech to empty chairs, symbolizing the estimated 3,044 victims of gun violence who were not alive to graduate that year.
DAVID KEENE, FORMER NRA PRESIDENT (speaking to empty chairs): So my advice to you is, simply enough: Follow your dream and make it a reality.
This badly disguised commercial is a bit of a rerun. Keilar had also promoted this stunt back in June 2021 after it first happened, having the Olivers on CNN's New Day as guests to discuss it.
Just over five minutes into the six-minute report, Keilar briefly mentioned that Oliver had mocked "thoughts and prayers" condolences by putting quotes by gun rights supporters onto toilet paper. A quote from Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) reacting to the 2022 Uvalde attack could be seen on screen on a roll of toilet paper.
Partial transcript follows:
CNN News Central
February 14, 2025
2:42 p.m. Eastern
BRIANNA KEILAR: This is the artistic disruption that has been Manny and Patricia's defining approach to advocating for gun violence prevention.
MANUEL OLIVER, CHANGE THE REF: You can try something, and if it's not working, maybe you should try something different and give it a chance.
KEILAR: On the fourth anniversary of Joaquin's death, Manny unfurled a sign on a crane near the White House and was arrested for it. But he succeeded in getting then-President Biden's attention and an invitation to the Oval Office.
OLIVER (shouting at then-President Joe Biden): You have to do more than that!
KEILAR: A few months later, Manny interrupted Biden's Rose Garden event honoring the passage of gun legislation that was for Manny not ambitious enough. In 2023, Manny was arrested at the Capitol after he and Patricia interrupted a Republican-led gun hearing.
PATRICIA OLIVER (shouting at a congressional hearing): You took my son away from me, and I'm not going anywhere.
KEILAR: At the theater, Patricia walks through an exhibit of viral advertising campaigns the couple has helped produce through their nonprofit called Change the Ref -- putting a bullet-proof vest on the famous statue of the Fearless Girl on Wall Street not long after the shooting, asking on social media: "How can she be fearless if she's afraid to go to school?" Patricia accepting Joaquin's diploma in a shirt reading, "This should be my son."
In 2021, duping a former head of the NRA into giving a graduation speech to empty chairs, symbolizing the estimated 3,044 victims of gun violence who were not alive to graduate that year.
DAVID KEENE, FORMER NRA PRESIDENT (speaking to empty chairs): So my advice to you is, simply enough: Follow your dream and make it a reality.
KEILAR: And last year, making an AI deep fake message of Joaquin's voice and those of other gun violence victims, including from the Uvalde shooting, to send to members of Congress.
AUDIO RECREATION OF SHOOTING VICTIM JOAQUIN OLIVER: I was murdered at school by a shooter with an AR-15 assault rifle. My voice has been recreated using powerful AI technology.
KEILAR: They marketed a video game showing what it's like to try to escape a school shooting, and "thoughts and prayers" toilet paper.
