Tony Perkins, president of the Family
Research Council (FRC), on Thursday accused the Southern Poverty Law
Center (SPLC) of enabling a shooting at its Washington DC
headquarters.
Twenty-eight-year-old Floyd Lee Corkins
of Herndon, Virginia allegedly walked into the group's lobby on
Wednesday and shot a security guard in the arm before he was wrestled
to the ground. The guard, identified as Leo Johnson, was taken to a
nearby hospital and is in stable condition.
Corkins, a volunteer at a local gay
community center, reportedly criticized the group's anti-gay views
during the altercation. Officials said he was carrying 15
Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and a box of 50 bullets in his backpack.
Chick-Fil-A has become a cause celeb
among conservatives who have rallied to CEO Dan Cathy's side after he
was criticized for saying that gay marriage is “inviting God's
judgment on our nation.” The fast-food chain also donated to the
FRC.
During an appearance in U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, officials charged
Corkins with illegally transporting a firearm and ammunition across
state lines and assaulting Johnson.
“Corkins' parents informed the FBI
special agents that Corkins has strong opinions with respect to those
he believes do not treat homosexuals in a fair manner,” an
affidavit filed with the court states.
Perkins told reporters outside the
group's headquarters that the SPLC, which in 2010 labeled the
Christian conservative organization a “hate group,” should be
held partially accountable for the shooting.
“Corkins was given a license to shoot
an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC) that have been reckless in labeling organizations hate groups
because they disagree with them on public policy,” said Perkins.
“I believe the Southern Poverty Law Center should be held
accountable for their reckless use of terminology.” (The video is
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Mark Potok, senior fellow of the SPLC,
called Perkins' assertions “outrageous.”
“The SPLC has listed the FRC as a
hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and
denigrating propaganda about LGBT people – not, as some claim,
because it opposes same-sex marriage,” Potok
wrote at the group's website. “The FRC and its allies on the
religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and
fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to
suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of
criminal violence.”
“Perkins and his allies, seeing an
opportunity to score points, are using the attack on their offices to
pose a false equivalency between the SPLC's criticisms of the FRC and
the FRC's criticisms of LGBT people. The FRC routinely pushes out
demonizing claims that gay people are child molesters and worse –
claims that are provably false. It should stop the demonization and
affirm the dignity of all people.”
(Related: NOM's
Brian Brown suggests rhetoric of gay groups influenced FRC shooting.)