In a premeditated attack seven years ago, on June 12, 2016, 29-year-old domestic terrorist Omar Mateen murdered 49 people and injured 53 at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Because Pulse was an LGBTQ establishment and also because Mateen (who was killed by police after the rampage) was of the Islamic persuasion, the Usual Suspects immediately began blaming the “homophobic/pro-gun right” instead of Mateen, alleging he was motivated by “hateful” legislation pushed by Republican-controlled state legislatures like North Carolina’s, which just a few months prior had passed the infamous HB2 “bathroom bill.”

Woke establishment press types in North Carolina led the way in perpetuating the demonstrably false Democrat/media-narratives about Mateen’s supposed “anti-LGBTQ” motivations, even though in reality Mateen had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS and reportedly did not even know Pulse was a gay nightclub, picking it because it wasn’t well-guarded, as mass murderers often do.

On Monday, the anniversary of the mass shooting, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the Twitter machine to pay tribute to the victims, who she said were killed in an “act of hate”:

“7 years ago, 49 beautiful souls were stolen and more than 50 others were injured in a horrific attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Americans continue to pray for the brave survivors, victims’ loved ones and Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community left forever scarred by this act of hate.”

While I think it’s inarguable that anyone who would do what Mateen did is motivated by some level of hatred (mostly toward themselves), words like that used by Democratic lawmakers are usually only meant to insinuate that it was “right-wing hate” that led to whatever tragedy it is they are remembering.

Because Twitter is now a place where Democrats and their allies can no longer expect to skate by with playing fast and loose with the facts, Pelosi got Community Noted, with the note reading “While it was a horrible event, the evidence that came out during the trial of the shooters wife was that it was not motivated by hate of LGBTQIA+” and including a link to a Vox.com article on the subject:

7 years ago, 49 beautiful souls were stolen and more than 50 others were injured in a horrific attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Americans continue to pray for the brave survivors, victims’ loved ones and Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community left forever scarred by this act of hate.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 12, 2023

For years now, North Carolina conservatives including yours truly have been calling on the same media outlets who pushed the false claims about Mateen’s motivations for retractions and apologies, but of course that hasn’t happened, because the political narrative must be preserved even if it further erodes what little bit of credibility (if any) the media has left:

Waiting on apologies from everyone who blamed the Pulse murders on #HB2, including the #NCPOL media, editorial pages, & #NCGA politicos like @cristoferosgro. -> Everyone [On The Left] Got The Pulse Massacre Story Completely Wrong https://t.co/s4LH0CAQUo

— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) April 5, 2018

Immediately jumping to conclusions on LGBTQ-related crimes without knowing all the facts has become standard operating procedure in the media, as we saw in 2022 after the Colorado “Club Q” mass shooting, a string of brick-throwing attacks at a gay bar in New York City, and the threats made against a gay nightclub in Atlanta.

As it turned out, though, the suspects identified as members of the LGBTQ community, with the Colorado shooter’s lawyers saying he was “non-binary” and the NYC and Atlanta suspects, respectively, being gay.

Two years ago, when Democrats and the media were again pushing the claim that Mateen was inspired by “anti-LGBTQ legislation,” my RedState colleague Nick Arama wrote this, which still holds true today:

“If you want to honor people and remember them, honor them by telling the truth. Honor them not by making up things because it fits the narrative you want to push. Honor them because of the lives they lived and deserved to still be living today. They were killed because they were Americans — because, as best we can tell, it was an attack on America, because of Islamic terrorist influence, according to the shooter. Why is that missing from these recollections? Because some want to push a narrative, rather than the truth of what happened.”

‘Nuff said.

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