Right Wingers Blame Liberals, Gay Activists for Family Research Council Shooting

In the wake of the Family Research Council shooting that occurred on Wednesday, conservatives have taken to social media to criticize that the so-called "mainstream media" have not been covering the incident and suggesting the attack was ignited by LGBT rights groups' "intolerance."

An article on the Daily Beast by David Sessions points out that several conservative pundits and groups have lashed out on Twitter and accused popular media outlets for not covering the shooting that occurred at FRC's Washington, D.C., offices.

The Weekly Standard's John McCormack tweeted, "Only reason to cover the FRC shooting differently than the George Tiller killing is bias." Katie Pavlich, who writes for Townhall.com, tweeted to CNN, "Hi @CNN, why aren't you covering the shooting in DC today against the conservative FRC? Doesn't fit your narrative of 'right wing hate?'"

Erick Erickson of the conservative blog RedSate, wrote, "because the Family Research Council promotes the values shared by a majority of Americans, but only a minority of the left in and outside the media, this story will move on off the radar."

Fox News journalist Todd Starnes chimed in on Twitter as well: "No surprise that the left-wing mainstream media is either ignoring or downplaying the FRC attack."

Floyd Lee Corkins, 28, was charged in federal court on Thursday for opening fire in the lobby of the anti-gay marriage group, the Associated Press reports. Corkins, who was carrying a backpack full of Chick-fil-A sandwiches, said "I don't like your politics" before shooting a security guard at the FRC's headquarters.

Sessions notes while some conservatives were slamming the "liberal media," others were claiming that gay rights groups' "intolerance" caused the shooting. Matthew Schmitz, deputy editor of First Things, an ecumenical journal, wrote, "The same-sex marriage lobby set out to reorient the social consensus by labeling anyone who disagreed as bigoted and hateful. They spoke in the name of tolerance, but embraced intolerance as their main tool." John Hinderaker, of PowerLine, wrote similar comments: "If [liberals] are looking for haters, it would seem that the mirror is a good place to start."

Other conservatives are pointing the finger at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which listed the FRC as a hate group because its officials are determined to ban same-sex marriage across the country. FRC's president, Tony Perkins has publicly criticized the civil rights group since the attack.

"Corkins was responsible for the wounding of one our colleagues and one of my friends yesterday here at the Family Research Council, but I believe he was given a license by a group such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, who, as you pointed out earlier, labeled us a hate group because we defend the family and we stand for traditional, orthodox Christianity," Perkins said.

The president of the National Organization for Marriage, another anti-gay marriage group, said that the shooting is a clear reason why organizations that denounce marriage equality should not be labeled as hateful.

Peggy Nance, the president of Concerned Women for America, echoed his statements in one of her own: "This shooting is yet another reminder that recent comments by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Human Rights Campaign labeling FRC a 'hate group' are not only false, they are irresponsible and should not be tolerated."

Sessions noted that, in fact. not only did every major U.S. media outlet report on the shooting, but also it was at the top of all of the major news-outlets' websites. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, CNN and the Huffington Post all put the story on their front pages, or web equivalents.

Major LGBT organizations were quick to mobilize after the incident and issued a joint statement. "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," read the statement, which included GLAAD, HRC, GLSEN and the Task Force. .