This is how the right-wing America is profiting from the Tennessee massacre

The background to the massacre in Tennessee, US, in which one person shot and killed six people at a Christian school, is still unclear. But the political right wants to have found the reason already.

“Antifa-driven transterrorism,” far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called the cause of the act of the person named H. The politician is considered one of the most influential women in the US Congress and is more on the right side of the party. And the controversial Fox host Tucker Carlson also used the term “trans-terrorism.” On TV he said:

But what about the alleged trans attacks?

The right wing in America is apparently trying to create a new enemy image – analogous to the socialists and Antifa in the past. The goal is to distract from the real problem – the lax gun laws – and instead discredit the perpetrator.

Police gave the first name of the person believed to be responsible for the crime, Audrey, but added that she identified as apparently trans. “But we’re still doing the initial investigation into all of this and whether it actually played a role in this incident,” said Nashville Police Chief John Drake.

In social networks, H. would have identified with the pronouns “he/him”, ie the masculine “he/him”. However, there are hardly any further indications for a transidentification. According to the newspaper “Spiegel”, a professor would have said that H. would like to be addressed as a man after the death of a loved one.

It is unclear whether gender identification plays a role in the motive for the crime – suspicion alone is sufficient for preservation. Right-wing extremists have long incited hatred against members of the LGBTQ community, meaning those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

Former President Donald Trump announced two weeks ago that he wanted to end support for schools that promoted “transgender madness.” And at the CPAC rally of supporters of the Republican right, Marjorie Taylor Greene also demands that she want to punish doctors who sexually treat minors.

Shortly after the carnage, the right wingers started pointing the finger. Podcaster Benny Johnson reportedly claimed on Twitter that four shootings were committed by non-binary or transgender people — and talked about the trans movement turning activists into terrorists. He turned the attack on a Christian-run school into an attack on a Christian church, because it owns the site.

According to a report by ‘Spiegel’, figures from the Gun Violence Archive should make a clear – and different – statement: Of the 2,826 massacres over the past five years, three transgender people were suspected perpetrators, just 0.1 percent.

But numbers don’t seem to count when it comes to the sovereignty of opinions – prominent contributions, on the other hand, do. donald trump jr. also spoke on Twitter of “an increase in trans and non-binary mass shootings” in recent years. “By far the largest group by total population”. And got to the real point of right-wing Republicans:

And conservative Christian pastor Jackson Lahmeyer wrote in his newsletter, “Christians are the most persecuted group in America.” He also tries to distract from the gun problem: “Weapons are not the problem, gender indications are.”

The focus on the gender debate is not new, but it has been brought back into play by the US right with the Tennessee massacre. For example, laws have already been passed in the American states that restrict LGBTQ rights and there is a law in Florida that states that gender orientation may not be discussed until the third grade. Republican-run Texas is planning similar restrictions.

Used sources:

(t-online, when)