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Kavanaugh: I didn't recognize Parkland dad seeking handshake

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet Thursday to consider confirmation of the president's Supreme Court nominee.
Image: The father of a Parkland victim tries to shake hands with Brett Kavanaugh
Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jamie Guttenberg who was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., left, attempts to shake hands with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.Andrew Harnik / AP

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he would have shaken the hand of a man whose daughter was killed in a Florida high school shooting if he had known who the man was.

A photo of Kavanaugh appearing to refuse to shake Fred Guttenberg's outstretched hand last week went viral.

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee he assumed the man who approached him was a protester. He says if he had known who Guttenberg was, "I would have shaken his hand, talked to him, and expressed my sympathy. And I would have listened to him."

Kavanagh's explanation was part of a 263-page response late Wednesday to some 1,287 written questions from senators.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet Thursday to consider Kavanaugh's confirmation.