NBC reporter Ben Collins said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “Republican politicians” and the “internet’s far-right machine” were targeting transgender people, which resulted in Saturday’s shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, CO.
Collins said, “I do want to say, though, am I doing something wrong here? Here are some headlines that I wrote the last six months. ‘Fueled by internet’s far-right machine, anti-LGBTQ+ threats shut down trans rights and drag events.’ Remember, there was a drag event happening in Colorado. ‘Anti-trans stalkers at Kiwi Farms,’ which was an anti-trans website that stalks people, ‘are chasing one victim around the world. Their list of targets is growing.’ That was a couple of months ago. ‘Doctors under threat from far-right activist for providing trans care.’ ‘Boston Children’s Hospital faces bomb threat after right-wing harassment campaign.’ There were three of those bomb threats. ‘FBI charges Massachusetts woman with Boston Children’s Hospital bomb threats.’ They found one of the people. ‘At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats.’ That was before the midterms.”
He added, “Here are three more from my colleagues in the last three weeks. ‘As the election nears, some conservative groups have ramped up anti-trans campaign ads.’ ‘Far-right figures appear to be testing Twitter’s boundaries for anti-LGBTQ speech.’ ‘GOP senator targets TikTok influencer with anti-transgender taunt.’ And I’m just wondering, what could I have done different? Seriously, as reporters, what can we do different? Because there are five dead people in a strip mall because that was the only place they felt safe as gay or trans people in this town of Colorado Springs. And I’m trying to thread this needle here. I’m trying to say this is happening. This targeted stuff has real-life impacts. And I’m going to fail, by the way. I’m going to, you know, freak out because it’s happening because I wake up, and I see that there are five dead bodies. But I think we have to have a come-to-Jesus moment here as reporters. Are we more afraid of being on Breitbart for saying that trans people deserve to be alive, or are we more afraid of the dead people? Because I’m more afraid of the dead people. I don’t want to wake up on a Sunday and see that all of these headlines came to fruition.”
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