Daily Mass Shooting Thread: 5 dead in Colorado Nightclub

https://www.cato.org/commentary/gop-candidates-suck-hatemongers

The conference was organized by Kevin P. Swanson, a minister in Colorado and host of the Generations Radio Show. Swanson is part of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the far‐right fundamentalist Christian Reconstructionism movement, which author Walter Olson wrote about at length in 1998. Swanson gave the conference’s opening and closing talks and interviewed Cruz, Jindal, and Huckabee. And in his closing keynote address, Swanson ranted at length about topics that would hardly be characterized as religious liberty:

YES! Leviticus 20:13 calls for the death penalty for homosexuals. YES! Romans Chapter 1, Verse 32, the Apostle Paul does say that homosexuals are worthy of death. His words, not mine! And I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I am not ashamed of the truth of the word of God. And I am willing to go to jail for standing on the truth of the word of God.

To be sure, he did say that “civil leaders” should not apply the death penalty today, not until the culture has changed and gays have been put on notice that they must repent or be put to death. Thanks for small favors, I suppose. But it’s also worth noting that at least two other speakers at the conference likewise have advocated the death penalty for gay people.

And as Maddow notes, this is not just something that the conference host has said in the past, though he had said it plenty of times, as a Google search would have revealed. This is what he said in the keynote address at the conference attended by three candidates for president.

 

In the context of the above, look at Texas legislating LGBTQ out of existence, or the numerous actions by the Trump administration to remove protections for LGBTQ people and removing data collection that would show they actually do exist.

Then look at how conservative media has wound up their followers to believe that LGBTQ people are the ones grooming kids.

Clear spike in anti-trans rhetoric sets stage for violence like Colorado Springs shooting, experts say

Anti-LGBTQ protesters, spurred on by conservative media that claims youths are being “groomed” or “mutilated” to create larger trans communities, have targeted exactly the kinds of all-ages drag shows and Sunday brunches Club Q had promoted for Saturday night and Sunday morning, these experts say. Sunday is national Transgender Day of Remembrance for those impacted by violence and discrimination.

“It’s horrible to say, I’m not surprised,” said Harvard Kennedy School political scientist Jay Ulfelder, who helps run the national Crowd Counting Consortium that tracks actions by groups across all ideologies, and is the former research director for the federally funded Political Instability Task Force.

After latching onto COVID-19 restrictions, then Critical Race Theory, far right protesters with activist arms like the Proud Boys began targeting Drag Queen Story Hours at libraries, and medical professionals who assist in gender transitions, Ulfelder said.

Using words like “contagion” is a “classic kind of pattern in dehumanization and eliminationist rhetoric” that can eventually contribute to mass atrocities, Ulfelder said. “This idea of ‘grooming,’ and that’s a threat to my children, and I will do whatever it takes to protect my children,” he said.

 

Op-Ed: Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs follows six brutal years of Republican anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

Pulse seemed unimaginable. The attack on Club Q is anything but. Although we do not yet know the killer’s motive, the target is all too familiar. This latest shooting, in which at least five people in Colorado were killed late Saturday night when a gunman once again opened fire inside an LGBTQ nightclub, follows six years in which far-right leaders have led American politics down a fearful blame spiral fueled by homophobia, xenophobia and racism.

This past election, Republican candidates ran on a platform that characterized queer and transgender people as “groomers.” They targeted the families that support them as criminals. And many of the candidates talking like this won their races. In less than a decade, the right has managed to breathe new life into an old, dangerous narrative — queer and transgender people are threats to children and to the health of the nation. This strategic scapegoating is by design. It galvanizes white, conservative GOP voters by stoking the basest of emotions — fear of erasure.

Lofty American ideals like tolerance, justice and individual freedom are incompatible with the right’s demonizing narrative. There is no longer room for difference when difference is deemed a threat, especially to children. In a school board meeting in suburban Portland last week, parents railed against LGBTQ-related targeting, harassment and intimidation. But these weren’t the parents of queer or transgender youth. Instead, as one parent summed up later, the school district’s adoption of LGBTQ-inclusive materials and anti-bullying policies promoted “discrimination against people who are white, straight, Christian.” The parent asked: “Where is the equity for them?”

Morality-based fear-mongering and the characterization of minorities as dangerous enemies from within are predictable moves from an old playbook. It persists because it works. It fosters a breach from our shared humanity and incites bloodshed. Violent, fearful words breed — and sanction — action.

 

1. Unlimited access to guns

2. Demonization of LGBT

3. Stir

What could go wrong?

 

Maybe not "Republican leaders" perse, but a number of pastors in Texas, Tennessee, California, and Idaho have have publicly said Gay people should be "put to death" - "lined up and shot in the back of the head" - "deserve death"and other equally atrocious things. The links between Christian Nationalists like this and the Republican party is well established and ongoing.

The following clip was published in 2015, before Trump's surge, but is still relevant.
Republicans and an Anti-Gay Pastor

"Earlier this month (November, 2015), three Republican presidential candidates – Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal (who has since dropped out of the race) – appeared at a National Religious Liberties Conference held in Des Moines and hosted by Kevin Swanson, a Colorado pastor and host of the Generations Radio Show. A member of the Christian Reconstructionist Movement (Christian Reconstructionists believe in theocracy and the restoration of Mosaic Law), Mr. Swanson gave the conference’s opening and closing remarks and interviewed Messrs. Cruz, Huckabee, and Jindal.

"Here’s the thing: Pastor Swanson is a man consumed with hatred for gays. He has spoken wistfully about the passing of a period in which the death penalty applied to gays. He also supports Uganda’s draconian anti-gay laws, which punishes some homosexual behavior with life in prison. (“In Uganda, these guys are standing strong.”)

"During the Des Moines conference, Swanson argued that homosexuality was properly a capital offense, but he wasn’t advocating civil leaders implement the death penalty against gays just yet because “we need some time for homosexuals to repent.” He added that if he ever found out that his own son was gay and was invited to his son’s wedding, Swanson would show up at the entrance to the church covered in “sackcloth and ashes” and “I’d sit in cow manure, and I’d spread it all over my body. That is what I would do, and I’m not kidding, I’m not laughing.” Charming. A man obsessed with homosexuality, you can find a summary of Pastor Swanson’s views here."

 

Thanks, Phil. You scooped me but I'll leave mine up for emphasis.

 

So the gop and putin see eye to eye on LGBTQ+ issues. Good to know. Also disturbing.

 

In terms of the environment being created by the rhetoric and whether it could reasonably produce violence, let's also remember that in addition to whatever anyone says about consensual adult conduct, there's been a steady emphasis, including official spokesperson of the governor of Florida, saying that gays are groomers of children and victimize children. You don't need to fill in the final called action if you say that a group of people are victimizing children

 

I was wondering how this lunatic with a violent record was able to beat this case and get his hands on an AR15. I'm guessing his MAGA grandpappy pulled a few strings.

 

Ah yes, affluenza. I'm sure he is a hero in extremist circles.

 

His mom didn’t press charges so no record. In the absence of a physical bomb not much they could due.

Red flag laws by themselves aren’t enough.

 

He used a AR 15, what a shock! Why didn’t he use a knife?it’s just as effective according to gun “aficionados”. therefor our country shouldn’t pass common sense gun laws that a majority of our country want, or some logic like that.

 

no worries, this one will be forgotten too... until the next one, which should be any day now.

 

This is an end result of the constant demonization of LBGTQ people by right-wing Christians and politicians.

 

Looks like hate crimes have been charged

 

What's incredible to me is that the patrons took this guy down without any weapons and then beat the crap out of him. Meanwhile, the cops in Uvalde were too afraid to go into the school and confront the shooter.

 

From What I read, it was a combat experienced Retired army major with multiple tours that initially took him down by grabbing the handle on the back on his vest. Then grabbed his pistol and repeatedly struck him in the head… and yelled for help. Incredible task. And yes the uvalde cops lack of action was grotesque

Edit- also saw it was reported the Army Major was covered in blood and initially handcuffed and put on a cruiser until LEOs could determine who did what

 

Fortunately the other straight white guy in the building wasn’t consumed by hate.

 

When these people are accusing members of the LGBTQ community of being groomers and of mutilating children, what do you think is going to happen? This is the same shit that happened due to their insane rhetoric regarding migrants and immigration. They know what they're doing and don't care about the consequences.