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Jaimee Michell, the group's founder, said gender-affirming care is an "evil agenda."
The founder of the anti-trans hate group Gays Against Groomers appeared on Fox News Tuesday night and put the blame on the mass shooting at Club Q on gender-affirming health care.
Jaimee Michell spoke to Tucker Carlson and suggested that shootings like the one at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., would continue until the "evil agenda" of gender-affirming health care was put to an end.
"You know, saying that 'groomer' is an anti-LGBTQ+ slur, that is doing irreparable damage to us as a whole, and it's putting a really large target on our backs," Michell told Carlson.
Carlson and other pundits on Fox News have continued to target LGBTQ+ people in recent years, especially trans people and gender-affirming health care.
Michell said her group saw the violence coming "from a mile away," adding, "Sadly I don't think it's going to stop until we end this evil agenda that is attacking children."
Michell and her group argue that gender-affirming care for trans youth is child abuse, which goes against most medical associations' support for gender-affirming care as life-saving medicine.
NBC News's Kat Tenbarge wrote on Twitter, "Fox News broadcast that mass shootings in LGBTQ spaces will continue unless we adopt laws that medically discriminate against transgender people. This is direct amplification of the threat of mass murder for political gains."
\u201cFox News broadcast that mass shootings in LGBTQ spaces will continue unless we adopt laws that medically discriminate against transgender people. This is direct amplification of the threat of mass murder for political gains\u201d— Kat Tenbarge (@Kat Tenbarge) 1669171717
Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people killed and press secretary of LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, wrote, "Here's [Gays Against Groomers] founder on Fox with a crystal clear threat: "The mass murders will continue until you do as you're told"
He added, "My blood is boiling all over again.
\u201cHere\u2019s @againstgrmrs founder on Fox with a crystal clear threat: \u201cthe mass murders will continue until you do as you\u2019re told.\u201d\n\nMy blood is boiling all over again.\u201d— Brandon Wolf (@Brandon Wolf) 1669168455
Michell and other far-right groups have been accused of fueling stochastic terrorism -- the public condemnation of a group that leads to violent acts against that group.
Related: Attacks on the LGBTQ+ Community Amount to Stochastic Terrorism
Columnist Wajahat Ali commented that the segment and Michell's comments are examples of it.
Ali wrote while sharing the clip, "Stochastic terrorism. We tolerate it because conservatives do it. Right after another shooting. These are dangerous extremists we are supposed to normalize for sake of 'both sides.'"
\u201cStochastic terrorism. We tolerate it because conservatives do it. Right after another shooting. These are dangerous extremists we are supposed to normalize for sake of "both sides"\u201d— Wajahat Ali (@Wajahat Ali) 1669168895
He further tweeted, "Fox, Tucker and Republicans are going to get people killed with their conspiracy theories, fear-mongering, and stochastic terrorism. Jews, Black people, LGBTQ+, doctors, teachers, elected officials, poll workers, law enforcement, and on and on. And we tolerate this. Why?"
Five people were killed at Club Q on Saturday night, including two transgender people. More than a dozen were injured. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, is facing preliminary murder and hate crimes charges.
