Hunter Pollack, standing alongside father Andrew Pollack, shakes hands with President Donald Trump during a 2018 meeting at the White House {Courtesy Hunter Pollack}.
When Hunter Pollack sits at his desk at the U.S. Department of Justice, the first thing he sees is a photograph of his sister, Meadow.
Her eyes, frozen in time in childhood, meet his own.
“I hear her voice tell me to keep going,” Pollack says. Beside the picture rests a challenge coin engraved with Meadow’s image — a daily reminder of the mission that drives him.
Pollack was 20 when Meadow was murdered on February 14, 2018, in the mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Among the deadliest attacks on schoolkids in U.S. history, the tragedy thrust Pollack and his family into the public eye and set him on a path that’s blended faith, advocacy, politics, and a public service career dedicated to his sister.
Today, at 28, Pollack serves as counsel to the Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice, focusing on school safety, antisemitism, and public safety.
“I feel the pain just like she was killed yesterday. The pain never diminishes. It never gets easier,” Pollack told Parkland Talk Monday, a day after Meadow would have turned 26. “You come to the realization that no matter what law you change or what you do, you can’t bring Meadow back. But when I go to work on a given day, I go with the approach that I want to live in a country where zero kids are being killed at school. And whatever it takes to make that a reality is what I’m willing to do.”
Speaking publicly for the first time about his new role at DOJ, Pollack reflected on the singular American journey he’s embarked on since losing his sister: that of a carefree teen transformed by shattering grief into an attorney fighting to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable.
After Meadow’s murder, he found strength and meaning in his Jewish faith, standing at his father’s side as Andrew Pollack became a national advocate for bolstering school safety.
One week after the shooting, Andrew, Hunter, and younger brother Huck attended a school safety meeting at the White House hosted by President Donald Trump, and met privately with Trump in the Oval Office.
Hunter and Meadow Pollack {Courtesy Andrew Pollack}
Photos beamed around the world showed Hunter wearing a kippah while seated across from the President. Afterword, he spoke movingly about wanting young American Jews to joyfully embrace their heritage as a way of remembering Meadow.
Though he’d never had a bar mitzvah or regularly observed earlier, the murder of his sister deepened his spiritual connection to Judaism. He recalls how, during the Jewish mourning period of shiva, he wrapped tefillin with Orthodox Jewish visitors and felt a powerful bond to his faith and ancestral tradition.
“I wore my kippah to the White House because I wanted to honor Meadow as the beautiful young Jewish girl she was,” Pollack said. “When you go through such deep tragedy, you ask, ‘Why would God put me through this?’ I believe God wants to use Meadow as a vessel to make this world a better place, and allows my family and I to do that through our honoring Meadow.”
Hunter Pollack with United States Attorney General Pam Bondi. {Courtesy Hunter Pollack}.
Pollack’s political education began in earnest that day in the White House. He and his dad were summoned into the Oval Office as the President negotiated a trade deal with Japan, getting an up-close look as Trump hammered out the agreement.
“The President really negotiates the deals,” Pollack said. “You think it gets to him and it’s signed and done, but I watched him for two hours go back and forth with the Japanese negotiators and his top cabinet people. It made me realize how real, and truly important, these jobs are.”
Pollack next experienced the high-stakes world of Florida politics firsthand: Florida Governor-elect Ron DeSantis appointed Pollack and his dad to his Transition Advisory Committee on Public Safety in December 2018. Working with the Florida Legislature, the young Pollack contributed to reforms on gun safety, mental-health services, and school security.
His efforts drew the attention of Florida’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who invited him to intern in her office. Pollack was soon shadowing Bondi, attending cabinet meetings with the future U.S. Attorney General and soaking up knowledge at her side.
She encouraged Pollack to attend law school and wrote a recommendation that helped him gain a foothold in public service.
“Pam Bondi gave me a chance to honor my sister,” Pollack said. “She gave me a platform to have the opportunity to do things like this in honor of Meadow. She’s an amazing person who cares deeply about Parkland.”
After interning with Bondi, an inspired Pollack enrolled in law school at Nova Southeastern University, then transferred to Florida State University’s College of Law. He also interned for Florida Senator Rick Scott and Governor DeSantis.
Pollack graduated law school in 2023, worked briefly at a small firm in Boca Raton, and joined the Justice Department in April 2025. At DOJ, Pollack advises Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, whose portfolio includes civil rights, antitrust, civil, tax, and environmental divisions. Pollack’s responsibilities vary daily, but he’s especially involved in school safety and antisemitism issues.
“I have first-hand experience that no one else in the room has, and I’m grateful that I get to work on issues that are important to me,” Pollack said, reflecting how his personal journey informs his policy work.
A major initiative he’s worked on is the creation of DOJ’s Antisemitism Advisory Committee, which will supplement the existing multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. The ASAC aims to combat antisemitism by providing crucial expertise and actionable recommendations to the Attorney General.
“We’ll have up to 15 members who have direct, first-hand experience with antisemitism and our subject matter experts,” Pollack said. “The Attorney General will be the chair, and we’ll bring in witnesses who have suffered due to antisemitism and come up with implementation and steps the Department of Justice can take to root out antisemitism in this country.”
While working in Washington, Pollack has forged friendships with high-profile figures at DOJ like Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, both of whom mentor and encourage Pollack in his work. Dillon and Terrell have both emerged as vocal allies of Jewish Americans, committed to holding antisemitic lawbreakers accountable.
In his DOJ role, Pollack has a seat at high-level discussions. He helps monitor DOJ components. And his presence and advocacy bring a lived perspective to conversations sometimes dominated by statutes and data.
Speaking in his capacity as a citizen, rather than a DOJ attorney, Pollack said he’d like to see the government bolster federal domestic terrorism laws to include clear penalties, particularly for mass shooters he believes qualify as domestic terrorists. He notes that the relevant statute defines terrorism but offers no sentencing path and has expressed his desire for legislative reform that could potentially be called the “Meadow Pollack Act.”
“I’m meeting with some senators and chiefs and staffs in the near future, and hopefully we can make that happen,” Pollack said.
Of his sister’s murderer, Pollack said: “I was devastated that he wasn’t sentenced to death. I thought the death penalty was the only option. Unfortunately, we had a Broward County jury that felt differently. He is a domestic terrorist.”
Beyond his own work at the DOJ, Pollack points to his father, Andrew, as a driving force in Broward County reform. The Pollacks have worked to expose corruption in government, successfully advocated for the removal of former Broward school board members following a statewide grand jury report accusing them of misconduct related to a $800 million school safety program, and supported Gov. DeSantis’ appointment of Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony.
“Broward County is a safer place today because of the work our family has done since Meadow was killed,” Hunter Pollack said.
Asked about his son’s work, Andrew Pollack said he is “incredibly proud of the man Hunter has become.”
“After losing Meadow, our family went through unimaginable pain, but Hunter channeled that pain into purpose,” Andrew Pollack said. “I always encouraged him to find meaning through faith, service, and action, and I’d like to think I was a good influence in helping him take that path.
“Our Rabbi, Rabbi [Avraham] Friedman [of Chabad of Coral Springs], has also played a big role in Hunter’s journey. The relationship he’s built with him has strengthened his faith and grounded him as he’s taken on the tough work of protecting kids and fighting antisemitism. Watching Hunter dedicate his career to public service and to honoring his sister’s memory has been one of the few bright spots to come out of such tragedy. He’s turning pain into something good for others, and that’s exactly what Meadow would have wanted.”
On a personal level, Hunter said he hopes to start a family someday, to build something lasting beyond advocacy and legal work, and to shield his children from inheriting trauma. But until then, he remains committed to the work that grew from his most painful loss.
He finds special meaning in one of two local playgrounds built in Meadow’s memory, Meadow’s Playground, at the Coral Springs Chabad.
“Watching young kids play there on the playground named for her, it means a lot,” said Pollack, whose family made significant donations to help build, and later double the size of the playground.
“I’m going to keep working to honor Meadow and to make a positive impact to honor her,” he said.
Send your news to Parkland’s #1 Award-Winning News Source, Parkland Talk. Don’t Miss Tamarac Talk, Coral Springs Talk, Coconut Creek Talk, Margate Talk, and Sunrise FL Talk.
Author Profile
Related
NewsOctober 23, 2025Parkland, Margate Rabbis Among More Than 700 Jewish Clergy Joining National Call to Reject Antizionism, Warn of Rising Hostility to Jews
NewsOctober 9, 2025“I Hear Her Voice Tell Me to Keep Going”: Hunter Pollack’s Journey from Parkland Tragedy to the Department of Justice
NewsSeptember 29, 2025Opinion: From Parkland Activist to Antisemitic Conspiracist: David Hogg’s New Israel Obsession
NewsSeptember 23, 2025From Tel Aviv to Parkland, Families Draw Strength After Shocking Hamas Hostage Footage
