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Floyd Lee Corkins, who was arrested last Wednesday after allegedly shooting a security guard at the headquarters of the Family Research Council, was indicted by a grand jury today on federal and local charges.
Corkins, a 28-year-old resident of Herndon, Va., was indicted on one federal count of transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines and local charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm in a violent crime. The federal charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, while the assault with intent to kill count carries a mandatory minimum of five years and as many as 30. The possession charge carres a sentence between five and 15 years in prison.
Shots rang out in the lobby of 801 G Street NW about 10:45 a.m. on August 15. The shooter, according to witnesses, voiced his opposition to the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization that is a leading opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, among other social issues. Corkins was also allegedly carrying 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches in his bag.
Leo Johnson, a security guard and the building’s operations manager, was wounded in the arm in his successful attempt to tackle and disarm the shooter.
The day after the shooting, Tony Perkins, the FRC’s president, told reporters responsibility with the shooting lies with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies the FRC as a “hate group” for its statements opposing same-sex marriage. “Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center,” Perkins said Thursday.
Corkins will be formally arranged Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The indictment does not feature any mention of either the District’s hate crimes statute, which amplify penalties for crimes committed because of political bias, or domestic terror charges. But a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Ron Machen says the investigation is still ongoing.
“The investigation is continuing, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has no comment about the possibility of other charges,” the spokesman, Bill Miller, writes in an email to DCist.
