Anti-Islam Activist Gaffney: Bombs May Be Effort To ‘Deflect Attention’ From ‘Left’s Mobs’

Frank Gaffney
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A leading anti-Islam activist with close ties to the Trump administration suggested Wednesday that a string of bombs sent to high-profile Democratic figures and newsrooms was an effort “to deflect attention from the Left’s mobs.”

“None of the leftists ostensibly targeted for pipe-bombs were actually at serious risk, since security details would be screening their mail,” Frank Gaffney, executive chairman of the Center for Security Policy, wrote on Twitter. “So let’s determine not only who is responsible for these bombs, but whether they were trying to deflect attention from the Left’s mobs.”

That message comes as law enforcement reports that “functional” explosive devices were sent to philanthropist George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and the newsrooms at CNN’s New York headquarters and the San Diego Tribune.

Pipe bombs sent through the mail are considered a terrorism-related crime under federal law, regardless of the motive.

Gaffney has made a career out of trying to drum up concern over the threat he believes Islam poses to America, baselessly fomenting fear of “creeping Sharia” law taking hold in certain states and cities. Along with Pamela Geller, Gaffney is an ally of many figures in the GOP, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and President Trump.

Trump cited data from the Center for Security Policy when he called for Muslims to be banned from entering the U.S. during the 2016 campaign, and Gaffney provided advice on national security issues to Trump’s presidential transition team.

Gaffney’s recently-named replacement as President and CEO is Fred Fleitz, who most recently worked as National Security Advisor John Bolton’s chief of staff in the Trump White House.

In a statement announcing his appointment, the center said that Fleitz will remain an “advocate for the sorts of robust defense and foreign policies that CSP has long championed and that have featured prominently in President Trump’s National Security Strategy.”

Latest News
79
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. There’s always a way to blame the Left eventually! I hear Gaffney’s planning to open a pretzel stand when all this is over.

  2. In a double back flip reverse cowgirl political rat-farking, Democrats did it to themselves to provoke Republicans to blame them for doing it to themselves to make Republicans look crazy. Evil Dems! [shakes fist at sky]

  3. Also, what was CNN wearing at the time? Were they asking for it?

  4. Yes of course, its a false flag to deflect attention from the non existing thing that was made up on the right.

  5. I’ll tell you what. When the mobs actually come, this guy will be one of the first to go.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

73 more replies

Participants

Avatar for paulw Avatar for fgs Avatar for bobandi Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for sysprog Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for murgatroid Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for leeks Avatar for nymund Avatar for zrx1100 Avatar for musgrove Avatar for benthere Avatar for pshah Avatar for edhedh Avatar for birdford Avatar for asturcot Avatar for brian512 Avatar for erik_t Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for arawak Avatar for haddockbranzini

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: