Today, HRC responded to news of Conor Climo’s arrest. Climo was allegedly discovered to have been planning to attack a synagogue and LGBTQ bar in Las Vegas, NV.

After Climo’s arrest, FBI agents found components to build a bomb, an AR-15 rifle, a bolt-action rifle and detailed sketched images of his planned attack at an LGBTQ bar. Climo even engaged a homeless person to conduct “pre-attack surveillance” of a synagogue on his behalf. Climo was connected to other white supremacists through encrypted online conversations. 

“We are extremely alarmed to hear that Conor Climo, who was arrested last night in Las Vegas, was allegedly planning to attack a synagogue & LGBTQ bar,” said JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs at the Human Rights Campaign. “While Climo's actions are concerning, they are not in a vacuum. Dangerous & hateful rhetoric start at the top levels of government and heavily influence the rest of American society. Each and every day, the Trump-Pence administration has sought to dehumanize LGBTQ people, undermine our rights and treat us like second class citizens. The LGBTQ community is under attack, and the Trump-Pence administration is fueling the flames.”

This comes more than three years since 49 lives — most of them Latinx — were taken in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. This also comes less than two years after the deadliest mass shooting in American history in Las Vegas.

HRC supports commonsense gun violence prevention policy measures and policies aimed at addressing the epidemic of hate that has fueled anti-LGBTQ-motivated murder, assault, and discrimination. For decades, LGBTQ people have been a target for bias-motivated violence, and easy access to deadly weapons has compounded this threat. Common-sense gun violence prevention measures endorsed by HRC include banning access to assault-style rifles, expanding background checks, and limiting the ability for suspected terrorists and those with a history of domestic abuse to access guns.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, more than 33,000 gun deaths happen every year.