Nancy Pelosi corrected by Community Notes after false claim that Pulse Nightclub shooting was an anti-LGBTQ 'act of bigoted extremism'

Rep. Nancy Pelosi put out a message on Twitter commemorating the victims of the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. The mass shooting at the gay nightclub, where 49 people were killed and 53 were injured, was initially believed to be a crime targeting gay people.

This was the ongoing narrative until it was revealed that the perpetrator of the crime was not moved to kill by an anti-LGBTQ "act of hate." Pelosi was fact-checked in real time by Community Notes.

"7 years ago," Pelosi said, "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."

A further statement from Pelosi expands her message to say that the shooting was an "unconscionable act of bigoted extremism," though there was no evidence to suggest that bigotry was part of the shooter's motivation. This was simply an assumption made by pundits and pols alike to further their own causes.

For Pelosi, that was gun control; for others, it was to bolster the idea that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trans people are under some kind of violent assault in the United States. This despite the open social acceptance of those individuals in society, myriad laws to ensure their equality under the law, Biden's continued outspoken advocacy, and support in the form of Pride flags and parties at the White House.

In a fact-check, Community Notes shared an article written as the investigation into the shooting and the shooter's motivation continued, from two years after the horrific event. The report was from Vox, and showed that the shooter had no intention of targeting gay people or a gay club. His intention was to kill people. His first target had been a shopping center, but the security there, it was revealed, was too great for his liking.

This emerged during the trial of the shooter's wife, who was charged with aiding and abetting her husband in the commission of the deadly shooting, as well as obstruction of justice.

"This evidence dramatically changes the mass shooting’s narrative," Vox reported at the time, "politicians and individuals across the political spectrum had positioned it as an anti-LGBTQ hate crime. Instead, the new evidence suggests, the Pulse nightclub shooting was intended as revenge for US anti-terror policies abroad."

For Pelosi, the narrative that the killings were fueled by a deep hatred for people on the sexual orientation and gender identity spectrum was just too great to pass up, regardless of it being false. In fact, she used the memory of the shooting to push a ban on guns.

"At that time," she continued, "the families of the victims, in their grief and grace, pleaded with us to make sure that this does not happen again. While progress has been made – including with @POTUS Biden’s new gun safety law last year – more must be done to protect our communities."

And what's her solution? "House Republicans must join Democrats in passing legislation to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and enact universal background checks to save lives and bring an end to the bloodshed," she said.

"The shooter’s motive," Vox reported, "was apparently revenge for United States bombing campaigns on ISIS targets in the Middle East. He had pledged allegiance to ISIS’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and during the Pulse shooting posted to Facebook, 'You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes. ... Now taste the Islamic state vengeance.' In his final post, he wrote, “In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the usa.”