He was packing heat — and a hell of a lot of Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
The gunman who stormed the Family Research Council had a backpack full of ammo — and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches — when he stormed the conservative Christian organization’s Washington headquarters, officials said yesterday.
The suspect, Floyd Corkins, also told a security guard, “I don’t like your politics,” before shooting him in the arm, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Corkins, 28, was mostly silent at a bail hearing yesterday and showed no emotion. He has been charged with assault with intent to kill and bringing firearms across state lines. After telling a judge he has just $300 in his bank account, he was appointed a public defender.
Though Corkins was halted by the quick-thinking security guard, who suffered a relatively minor gunshot wound, the incident reignited a boisterous debate over the fast food chain Chick-fil-A, whose president made unapologetic statements against gay marriage last month. Activists have staged protests outside the restaurants and some mayors have called for the chain to be banned from their cities.
The Family Research Council had publicly defended Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy, who has made financial contributions to the powerful conservative lobbying group.
Corkins, who lives with his parents in Herndon, Va., volunteered at a gay community center in Washington. His parents told FBI agents that he has “strong opinions with respect to those he believes do not treat homosexuals in a fair manner,” the criminal complaint says.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights organization, labeled the Family Research Council as a hate group in 2010 for what it called the group’s anti-gay stance.
Council president Tony Perkins yesterday blamed “reckless rhetoric” for the shooting.
“Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy,” Perkins said.
Samuel.Goldsmith@thedaily.com
@foolsgoldsmith
No comments:
Post a Comment