As House Democrats fed up with Congress’ lack of response to America’s gun violence epidemic continued their #NoBillNoBreak sit-in into the wee hours of Wednesday night, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) came down to the House floor to confront them about what he perceives to be the real problem.
“We are talking about radical Islam! Radical Islam killed these people!” Gohmert shouted, pointing at a placard with photos of gun violence victims as Democrats yelled back. “Radical Islam killed these people.”
Here's video of Rep. Gohmert confronting "sit-in" Democrats on gun violence and radical Islam. pic.twitter.com/c3FRz4O7Yt
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) June 23, 2016
The perpetrator of the largest mass shooting in modern American history — Omar Mateen, who killed 49 at a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12 before he was shot and killed by officers — pledged allegiance to ISIS during his rampage. Since then, however, evidence has emerged that Mateen’s affiliation with the group was tenuous at best. FBI Director James Comey says Mateen also claimed solidarity with the Boston Marathon bombers and a Florida man who fought in Syria with al-Nusra, but Al-Nusra and ISIS are actively fighting each other. Furthermore, three years ago, Mateen claimed to be a member of Hezbollah, which is in conflict with both ISIS and al-Nusra.
Conservatives’ Obsession With The Orlando Shooter’s Allegiance Is Missing Some Key ContextConservatives are blasting Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s decision not to release ISIS-related statements made by the…thinkprogress.orgOrlando aside, many recent mass shootings haven’t involved Islam at all. In fact, a recent study found that Americans are seven times more likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than they are by a Muslim terrorist.
Thursday morning, Gohmert went on Fox News to talk about the House floor confrontation. Instead of discussing the role he believes radical Islam plays in American gun violence, he decried gun free zones and immigration, saying, “If this administration would protect us from people coming in, then we wouldn’t have to worry” as much about terrorism. (None of the nearly 800,000 refugees settled in the United States since September 11, 2001 has been involved in plotting a credible terrorist attack.)
In 2014, Gohmert introduced a measure that would allow servicemembers to openly carry loaded firearms on military instillations, directly contradicting the wishes of military commanders. In response to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona three years earlier, Gohmert pushed to allow members of Congress to pack heat inside the Capitol Building, even when on the House floor. He’s received a total of $13,386 in direct support from the NRA since he was first elected to Congress in 2004.