The head of the Family Research Council accused the media Monday of ignoring the shooting last week at the group's Washington headquarters because "it doesn't fit the storyline."
“It was stunning that most of the coverage, with the exceptions of just a few reports I saw over the weekend, were from Fox,” said Tony Perkins, the head of the conservative organization, in an appearance with the network.
Perkins went on to say other networks "ignored" the shooting — which wounded a security guard — because it broke with their preferred narrative.
“I think the reason is, it doesn’t fit the storyline,” Perkins said. “You know, it’s supposed to be conservatives who are angry, who are filled with hate. And that’s not the case.”
Authorities charged Floyd Corkins of Virginia last week with the shooting of the security guard. According to The Associated Press, Corkins was carrying Chick-fil-A sandwiches and ammunition in his backpack when he entered the organization's lobby; the Family Research Council has opposed gay marriage, as has the fast-food chain's president, Dan Cathy.
Perkins again accused the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil-rights organization that has designated the Family Research Council a "hate group," of being partially to blame for the shooting.
“Clearly, they are inciting this environment of hostility toward religious organizations,” Perkins said. “And it’s dangerous. We’ve now seen this gone beyond the rhetoric and passing of words to actually almost taking the lives of individuals."
Last week, Perkins said President Obama's "attack on religious freedom" was "clearly linked to that same atmosphere of hostility that’s created by the public policies of an administration that’s indifferent or hostile to religious freedom.”
The White House denounced the shooting last week, saying "this type of violence has no place in our society."
