PerkinsTony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said at a press conference this afternoon that the shooting at the group’s headquarters yesterday was enabled by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other organizations’ criticism of the conservative Christian outfit.
“Let me be clear that Floyd Corkins was responsible for firing the shots yesterday that wounded one of our colleagues,” Perkins said, referring to the alleged gunman who has been charged by the FBI with assault with intent to kill and illegally transporting a gun across state lines. (He may also face federal charges of domestic terrorism.)
But, Perkins said, “Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.” The SPLC classified the Family Research Council as a hate group in 2010 for its positions against same-sex marriage and adoption rights. Corkins allegedly made statements opposing FRC’s political positions before opening fire.
Perkins said he appreciated the statement denouncing the shooting released by the Human Rights Campaign and two dozen other pro-LGBT organizations. But he asked the groups to “go a step further in putting an end to reckless rhetoric.” (Such rhetoric was similarly employed by opponents of same-sex marriage after D.C. legalized it.)
Perkins also said that the SPLC “should be held accountable,” and was asked if it is possible the shooting was the action of an “unhinged individual.”
“How many unhinged individuals are walking around with 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches?” Perkins asked back, referring to the contents of the bag Corkins was carrying during the shooting.
For its part, the Southern Poverty Law Center has said little in the wake of the shooting. “We condemn all acts of violence and are following the story closely,” it said in a blog posting.
Perkins also said that he was with Leo Johnson, the security guard who was wounded in the shooting, after he got out of surgery last night. Perkins said that when Johnson woke up, he relayed messages from FRC’s staff and supporters calling him a hero. “This hero business is hard work,” said Johnson, according to Perkins.
“We assume he’ll be back here soon,” Perkins said.
Also in the crowd outside 801 G Street NW was the Rev. Leroy Swailes, a D.C.-based pastor, who was wearing a T-shirt over his clerical attire that warned of “the resurrection of Sodom and Gomorrah”—the mythical cities that are leveled by God in the Old Testament—because of what Swailes called “queer elementary education” in public schools.
“They’re teaching that heterosexuality and homosexuality and cross-dressing are the same,” Swailes said. The statement on his shirt accused gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of “invading children’s mind[s] and bodies” and “raping the minds of children.”
“History repeating itself,” Swailes said. When asked what the endgame of that history was, Swailes said “Armageddon.”
