Some guy walked into the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Family Research Council this morning and shot a security guard in the arm. He reportedly said something about the FRC first, although the FBI has not said exactly what. Reports indicate that the alleged shooter volunteered for a LGBT community center, and he was in possession of “Chick-fil-A materials.” The security guard, Leo Johnson, managed to disarm and subdue the shooter, and is expected to recover fully from his injury. Bravo to him for controlling the situation without escalating, and for generally being a badass. As of right now (8:00 p.m. CDT), law enforcement says that the shooter’s motives remain unclear.

LGBT organizations moved quickly to condemn the shooting:

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.

The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence.  We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident.

Atheist organizations did likewise:

While we disagree with the Family Research Council on nearly every issue, the debate surrounding the role of religion in the public sphere should be fought with reason and logic, not guns. We absolutely condemn this sort of senseless violence.

It really should go without saying that shooting sprees and attempted shooting sprees are never, ever, ever, EVER, EVER justified. Somehow that message does not get through. A common refrain after most shootings is that it was unpredictable, or that the shooter was mentally ill, or that we can’t possibly know the motivations behind it. Here, the alleged shooter went after a decidedly right-wing target, a rather rare (though not at all unprecedented) occurrence. The Family Research Council really does not support LGBT rights. So, of course, people on the right now blame LGBT-supportive groups for the shooting. While many on the right were focused on the injured guard and were actually allowing the investigation to proceed, not everyone was so patient:

“Today’s attack is the clearest sign we’ve seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as ‘hateful’ must end,” Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, said in a statement.

That’s not going to happen. See, I happen to agree that people jumped the gun after the shootings in Tucson last year, even if many Republicans’ rhetoric made the argument plausible. If it was wrong to jump to conclusions then, it’s wrong now. Furthermore, the FRC is hateful, unless you believe that the precious religious fee-fees of one particular subset of the Christian faith are more important than the basic ability of LGBT individuals to live their own lives as their hearts and consciences dictate. I have neither the ability nor the desire to give the FRC the benefit of the doubt on its stances, and I can easily condemn the shooting without giving one iota of credence to their regressive, Bronze Age superstitions. (Note that I am disdainful of their policy positions. I have no hatred towards the actual people, but I do think they are wrong. Unlike sexual orientation, political opinions can change.)

And that’s really the thing: groups that stand in stark opposition to everything for which the FRC stands have unequivocally condemned today’s incident. I’m not aware of many other acts of violence of this type perpetrated against those who oppose LGBT rights, but here’s what I do know:

• Approximately 1,296 hate crimes were perpetrated against LGBT individuals in 2007, including five murders, 242 aggravated assaults, and 448 simple assaults (via Human Rights Campaign, PDF file).
• There were about 1,254 anti-LGBT hate crimes in 2009 (via CNN).
• Between 2009 and 2010, the number of anti-LGBT hate crimes increased by thirteen percent, including twenty-seven murders (via USA Today). Based on CNN’s 2009 figures, that would be 1,417 incidents.

I am not suggesting that the FRC was behind any of these incidents, nor am I suggesting that the FRC’s rhetoric was what specifically inspired any of the assailants. There is similarly no reason to assume that today’s shooter was specifically motivated by any rhetoric of GLAAD, or the Southern Poverty Law Center, or any other group that advocates for the rights and basic humanity of LGBT individuals. Still, these LGBT rights groups have condemned today’s shootings. What has the FRC ever done for victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes? Not much. I don’t have statistics for 2008, but for 2007, 2009, and 2010, I count 3,967 statements of support to hate crime victims that the FRC owes, and then the FRC and its supporters can justifiably criticize its opponents’ rhetoric.

One final note: I assume Leo Johnson was armed, yet he managed to tackle the shooter, disarm him, and detain him until police arrived, apparently without ever using his own weapon. Again, bravo to him. I wish him a speedy recovery.