An armed man wounded a security guard
at the Washington DC headquarters of the Family Research Council
(FRC) on Wednesday.
The suspect, Floyd Lee Corkins II of
Herndon, Virginia, allegedly walked into the lobby of the Christian
conservative group and shot the security guard before he was wrestled
to the floor. Corkins was in FBI custody Wednesday night.
The Washington Post identified
the guard as Leo Johnson and said he was hospitalized in stable
condition.
According to the AP, Corkins, 28, had
volunteered at a gay community center, The DC Center for the LGBT
Community.
Last year, the Southern Poverty Law
Center (SPLC) labeled the FRC a hate group, putting it on the same
list of groups as the Ku Klux Klan, the Nation of Islam and the Aryan
Nations.
The SPLC's Mark Potok told CBN that “the FRC does engage, certainly
in our view, in the propagation of known falsehoods in an effort to
defame gay people.”
In
an appearance on Fox
& Friends,
Tony
Perkins, the president of the FRC, denied he hates gay people.
“No. Not at all,” Perkins said, then quickly added that,
“homosexual behavior is harmful not only to society, but more
importantly to the individuals who engage in that behavior.”
The
Los Angeles Times reported that Corkins was carrying
Chick-Fil-A “materials.” The fast-food chain has become a
rallying cry for conservatives after its CEO Dan Cathy was criticized
for conceding that his company has given millions of dollars to
groups opposed to gay rights, including the FRC.
A coalition of twenty-five gay rights groups released a statement
condemning the shooting.
“We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the
offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the
shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers.”
“The motivation and circumstances behind today's tragedy are still
unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this
shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish
for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible
incident.”