ACLU lawyer blames Christians for Orlando shooting

American Civil Liberties Union attorney says Christians caused deadliest mass shooting in U.S.

A girl places flowers at a vigil after the June 12, 2016, mass shooting at a gay night club in Orlando. (Photo Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images News)

Early Sunday morning, 29-year-old Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 at a gay night club in Orlando, the highest death toll of any mass shooting in the United States' history.

According to FBI director James Comey, Mateen had "strong indications of radicalization." He had pledged allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call inside the nightclub, said authorities.

 After the shooting, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio had some choice words directed to those who offered "thoughts and prayers" for the victims and their families.

"You know what is gross - your thought and prayers and Islamophobia after you created this anti-queer climate," he tweeted. "The Christian Right has introduced 200 anti-LGBT bills in the last sex months and people blaming Islam for this. No."

However, leading Christians from organizations rejected the claim, stressing that while they disagree with gay marriage, they promote the dignity of every human life, no matter the sexual orientation.

Matthew Franck, director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute, told Catholic News Agency that upholding Christian teaching on marriage is not equivalent to violence.

"Christians who have resisted the redefinition of marriage, and who now want to be free to live what their faith teaches them is the truth about marriage, do not hate anyone, and legislation to protect their freedom is not 'anti-LGBT' except in the minds of the intolerant enforcers of coerced conformity," he told CNA.

For the rest of the news story, visit CNA here.