The right wing seized on Monday’s mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville to push back against anti-trans rhetoric after authorities said the shooter, who was shot dead by police after killing three students and three adults, was transgender.
Rep. Rightist Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attacked transgender health care, asking on the congresswoman’s Twitter account: “How many hormones like testosterone and drugs for mental illness did the transgender Nashville school shooter take?”
“Everyone can stop blaming guns now,” added the extremist lawmaker.
On his personal account, Greene – none other than pushing his anti-trans points – wrote: “The Nashville female shooter identified as a man. So why shouldn’t we blame white people again?”
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former President Donald Trump, suggested that “instead of talking about guns, we should be talking about gender-bending lunatics who are asserting nonsense on children?”
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said that “if initial reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there should be a lot of soul searching on the far left.”
“Given this idea is not compassionate, it is dangerous,” said the first-year lawmaker.
In his second post, Vance pushed the “thoughts and prayers” line that is a favorite response of pro-gun conservatives to mass shootings.
Charlie Kirk, founder of the right-wing youth group Turning Point USA, suggested that “instead of banning ‘assault rifles,’ we should ban gender-based treatment of children.”
And Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren and former Trump White House aide Sebastian Gorka suggested the media would “bury” news of the shooting because of their gender identity.
All but four of the 172 shooters identified in mass shootings since 1996 have been men, according to The Violence Project.
Trans people are four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent crimes, including rape and assault, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found in a 2021 study.
The number of trans people killed in the US more than doubled from 2017 to 2021, when 59 trans people died in homicides, the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety found in an analysis.