Forgetting that he literally stood on stage last year at an event promoting the murder of LGBTQ people through the death penalty, former presidential GOP hopeful Ted Cruz used the attack on Pulse nightclub in Orlando over the weekend to attack liberals for their reluctance to immediately label the mass shooting an organized act of Islamic terrorism. Despite all evidence pointing to a man with no ties to any insurgency or terrorist cell, Cruz believes Omar Mateen’s in battle pledge to known terrorist groups not only automatically makes ISIS a key component in the mass shooting, but eliminates all other evidentiary factors present in the event (including Mateen’s history of homophobia and interactions with the Orlando LGBTQ community).

On his Facebook page yesterday Cruz said in part:

The next few days will be sadly predictable. Democrats will try to use this attack to change the subject. As a matter of rigid ideology, far too many Democrats – from Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton – will refuse to utter the words “radical Islamic terrorism.” They will claim this attack, like they claimed every previous attack, was isolated and had nothing to do with the vicious Islamist theology that is daily waging war on us across the globe. And they will try to exploit this terror attack to undermine the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms of law-abiding Americans. Enough is enough. What we need is for every American – Democrat and Republican – to come together, abandon political correctness, and unite in defeating radical Islamic terrorism. ISIS doesn’t just target soldiers. They don’t just target Republicans. Or Jews. They also target Christians and fellow Muslims. They target each and every one of us. As we saw this morning, they target the gay and lesbian community. Their objective, which they broadcast worldwide, is to murder or forcibly convert every single American. For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians. ISIS and the theocracy in Iran (supported with American taxpayer dollars) regularly murder homosexuals, throwing them from buildings and burying them under rocks. This is wrong, it is evil, and we must all stand against it. Every human being has a right to live according to his or her faith and conscience, and nobody has a right to murder someone who doesn’t share their faith or sexual orientation. If you’re a Democratic politician and you really want to stand for LGBT, show real courage and stand up against the vicious ideology that has targeted our fellow Americans for murder.

There’s a lot to unpackage in those brief few paragraphs.

For starters, every indication appears to show Mateen had no connection to any sort of “radical Islamic terrorism” outside of his internet research. No evidence has surfaced that he ever contacted any terrorist cell.

Furthermore, as we reported last night, his so-called allegiances often conflict demonstrating he’s seeking a cause, not dying for one. The LA Times reported:

Also Monday, officials said Mateen appeared to have been radicalized by Islamic extremists on the Internet but expressed sympathies with radical groups that violently oppose each other. On Sunday morning, Mateen told a 911 dispatcher that he was attacking Pulse on behalf of the leader of Islamic State , FBI Director James B. Comey said at a news conference Monday. Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Fla., was killed by a SWAT team and was among the 50 found dead at the site. Fifty-three more were wounded. But Mateen, who was born in New York, had also expressed solidarity with the 2013 Boston bombers and an American suicide bomber who belonged to an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria opposed to Islamic State, Comey said.

All evidence points to a depressed, self-hating man ashamed of his identity and pushed over the edge not just by a life of bullying but by a homophobic father and a religion (yes, his Muslim beliefs do play a factor) teaching him same-sex attraction is wrong. It’s not just Islam that ingrained that in Mateen from birth, either; every major religion practiced in America preaches this to an extent and conservative Christians at the pulpit and conservative politicians (like Cruz) in front of microphones exacerbate this every day.

Which is to say, before Cruz can smugly lecture Democrats that agents of ISIS “regularly murder homosexuals, throwing them from buildings and burying them under rocks,” we need to examine the home grown extremism that allowed this to happen.

A good place to start is the conference Cruz, his father, Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal attended last year: the National Religious Liberties Conference. Not only did speakers there call for the murder of LGBTQ people, literature was handed out promoting it.

Why is it okay for extremist Christians to call for the murder of LGBTQ people but not their Muslim counterparts? (Hint: it’s not okay in either case and Cruz is one of the biggest hypocrites in the nation this week…which is saying something since Donald Trump is apparently still a thing.)

[H/T Right Wing Watch]

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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