The Black Lives Matter movement says “white supremacy” is responsible for last week’s Orlando terrorist attack, which was carried out by a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent.
The group issued a statement in the aftermath of the attack, correcting those who would label Omar Mateen’s attack as an incident of Islamic terrorism.
“Despite the media’s framing of this as a terrorist attack, we are very clear that this terror is completely homegrown, born from the anti-Black white supremacy, patriarchy and homophobia of the conservative right and of those who would use religious extremism as a weapon to gain power for the few and take power from the rest,” the statement said. “Those who seek to profit from our deaths hope we will forget who our real enemy is, and blame Muslim communities instead.”
Black Lives Matter said the attack was also a product of “capitalism, which deforms the spirit and fuels interpersonal violence.”
“The enemy is now and has always been the four threats of white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism and militarism,” the statement said. “These forces and not Islam create terrorism.”
Mateen killed 49 and injured dozens more when he opened fire on the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, last week. He was born in New York to Afghan parents.
The attacker pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State in a call to authorities during the massacre.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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