CV NEWS FEED // The woman who opened fire during a Sunday service at a Texas megachurch was reportedly in the process of “transitioning.”
Reports surfaced Monday that Genesse Ivonne Moreno “identified as transgender” and suffered from mental health issues.
BlazeTV hostess Sara Gonzales posted Moreno’s 2023 mugshot to X (formerly Twitter) Monday morning. According to her inmate information, she had used “Jeffrey Escalante-Moreno” as her primary name at the time.
Gonzales also pointed out that previous mugshots of Moreno taken between the years 2005 and 2010 “show her looking much more feminine.”
“Transgender ideology kills,” Gonzales added.
The New York Post reported that Moreno “entered Lakewood Church just before a Spanish-language service was due to begin at 2 p.m. with a 7-year-old boy, and opened fire as hundreds of people were taking their pews.”
Sources later identified the boy as Moreno’s son. ABC News indicated that, per Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, the boy “was shot in the head and is ‘fighting for his life’ in critical condition.”
In addition, The New York Post stated: “One 57-year-old civilian bystander was also shot in the leg but has since been released from the hospital.”
Two off-duty police officers responding to the scene fatally shot Moreno, ending her rampage.
According to police, Moreno’s rifle was decorated with a sticker displaying the word “Palestine.” Police also discovered various “antisemitic writings” attributed to the perpetrator.
The New York Post added that “[a]uthorities now believe there was a ‘familial dispute’ between Moreno’s ex-husband and his family, some of whom are Jewish.”
Lakewood Church in Houston, TX is the third-largest Protestant megachurch in the country.
Its senior pastor, Joel Osteen, has amassed a large worldwide following through both television and over a dozen books. He has voiced strong support for Israel.
Moreno’s criminal history shows that over the years, she had been arrested for a range of charges including, assault, forgery, theft, and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
The popular X account Libs of TikTok noted that the Lakewood church shooting was the latest in a series of mass shootings to be carried out by assailants who identified as “transgender” or “non-binary.”
Libs of TikTok referenced past shootings in Colorado Springs, CO, Nashville, TN, Aberdeen, MD, Denver, CO, and Perry, IA.
“The modern LGBTQ+ movement is radicalizing our youth into becoming violent extremists,” the account argued.
Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler agreed.
“This is exactly what Queer Theory was intended to do,” she replied. “[I]t’s a violent Marxist revolutionary ideology that abuses mentally ill youth into believing they are so oppressed that their only recourse is to kill their oppressors.”
“If that sounds extreme, that’s because it is,” added Wheeler, who is Catholic.
The Daily Signal’s Tony Kinnett suggested that a prevailing cultural narrative may be to blame.
“Oh look, it’s the consequences of telling an entire generation that LGBTQ+ people are facing a genocide by ‘white Christian nationalists,’” he wrote of the shooting.
Author John Hawkins commented: “When large numbers of people are encouraged to lean into their mental illness instead of getting real help, there are big consequences not just for them, but for society.”
CatholicVote Director of Governmental Affairs Tom McClusky weighed in on the news.
“The medical establishment has worked to hide the darker side of gender dysphoria, thus stopping many troubled people from getting the help they need,” McClusky said. “Instead, the Democrats and the media demonize Christians, setting them up as targets of these disturbed men and women.”
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