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Right after the latest round of mass shootings, the American Psychological Association felt compelled to issue a statement from its president, Rosie Phillips Davis. Part of the statement said: “Routinely blaming mass shootings on mental illness is unfounded and stigmatizing. Research has shown that only a very small percentage of violent acts are committed by people who are diagnosed with, or in treatment for, mental illness.”

The group might want to keep this statement handy. It’s quite popular these days to conveniently and falsely point to people with mental illness diagnoses as the perpetrators. And it sure doesn’t help matters any when the President of the United States stokes the fire. In his initial reaction to the shootings, the squatter currently occupying the White House said “this is mental illness.” Since then he has repeatedly said mental illness is the culprit.

People with disabilities are two-and-a-half times more likely to be victims.

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network also issued a statement, saying, “When the President of the United States scapegoats the disability community instead of reckoning with white supremacy, he knows exactly what he is doing. He knows that his talking points, reprehensible as they may be, line up with common societal prejudices which allow him to distract from the issues at hand. It is incumbent upon all of us to refuse to play along.”

When the next shooting happens, people with mental illness diagnoses will probably feel like hiding, but for the wrong reasons. They’ll be trying to avoid being blamed when they should be trying to avoid being victims. The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network cites research to back the claim that people with mental illness diagnoses are no more likely than anyone else to be violent criminals. Instead, people with disabilities are two-and-a-half times more likely to be victims.

The American Psychological Association statement hit the problem square on the head when it said, “The rates of mental illness are roughly the same around the world, yet other countries are not experiencing these traumatic events as often as we face them.” The organization stresses that a more critical factor is access to seriously lethal weapons. “Adding racism, intolerance and bigotry to the mix is a recipe for disaster,” they conclude.

But Trump has built his political career on validating the ugliest bigotry. So why should this be any different?