FBI to investigate if Orlando gunman's sexuality was a motive in shooting
Source: The Guardian
Officials indicated they would follow up on reports that shooter Omar Mateen had visited Pulse nightclub before the attack and used an LGBT dating app
The FBI has told members of the LGBT community it will pursue accounts that the Orlando nightclub shooter was partially motivated by internal conflict over his own sexuality, the Guardian has learned.
A conference call held late on Monday pulled together representatives from the FBI and departments of justice and homeland security with 358 civil-rights-minded leaders, particularly from the LGBT and American Muslim groups, a senior US official told the Guardian, to share information and hear concerns from communities reeling from one of the worst incidents of gun violence in recent US history.
FBI officials on the call indicated they would follow up on reports that shooter Omar Mateen had on a number of occasions visited the LGBT nightclub Pulse where he killed 49 and wounded 52 on Sunday. That focus is thus far unprecedented in nearly 15 years of post-9/11 counter-terrorism, which has yet to confront a known case of a suspected closeted LGBT individual ostensibly committing a mass murder in the name of a homophobic terrorist organization.
According to a readout of the call, the Department of Homeland Security also said it was receiving reports of anecdotal backlash from Muslim-American, Sikh, South Asian and Arab-American communities. The US official said that on the call, Muslim leaders expressed condolences and significant support for LGBT communities in Orlando and beyond.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/14/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-motive-pulse-nightclub?CMP=share_btn_tw
catbyte
(34,444 posts)It makes much more sense that this was a violent, hypermasculine guy who was closeted & couldn't handle it anymore. He grew up in a culture that despises gays, he was violent towards and hated women. He was "enraged" at seeing 2 guys kissing, according to his father. He joined gay dating apps. He asked out a male classmate in high school. He frequented Pulse. That makes much more sense than a non-religious guy suddenly being radicalized & deciding to embark on jihad. Hell, I saw a recent picture of him, his wife & kid and his wife was bareheaded. Does THAT sound like an Islamic extremist? I don't think it had anything to do with ISIS--that was just an excuse for the carnage he was about to inflict.
Journeyman
(15,038 posts)Geronimoe
(1,539 posts)however doing so only expresses the speculators biases. It is always best to wait until a full investigation is completed. Otherwise you might get something stupid like another Iraq War.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)I was skeptical, but then accounts started coming out Monday. I asked how she knew, and she said her sixth sense was jangling almost immediately.
targetpractice
(4,919 posts)Mateen made a big spectacle in front of his father about two men kissing. Why would he ask his wife to drive him by Pulse and other gay clubs after he'd been going there many times by himself? For show?
His public pledges of allegiance to contradicting factions of Islamic extremists and causes seem like an attempt to remain in the closet even after death.
I am concerned that his wife is currently living with Mateen's father... He seems toxic and is probably the root cause of Mateen's homophobia.
oswaldactedalone
(3,491 posts)nm
christx30
(6,241 posts)I think he was using the frequent trips to the club and the dating apps as cover to case the place.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Why message somebody on and off for a year on a gay chat app?
womanofthehills
(8,759 posts)they went to gay clubs together
videohead5
(2,181 posts)Reports say he had been to this night club many times.maybe he was so ashamed of being gay that he rather have been known as a terrorist than a gay man.he might have thought in his twisted mind that he could get rid of the people that knew at that club.maybe for some reason he thought his family was going to find out he was gay.
MADem
(135,425 posts)might have been gay.
I think he had a lot going on. The "self-loathing" hypothesis seems to be what is looking most likely. Time will tell. All the religious stuff (between Isis and the Tsarnaev brothers, etc.) doesn't seem to gel very well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/sitora-yusufiy-omar-mateen-orlando-shooting.html?_r=0
http://abcnews.go.com/US/orlando-shooters-wife-sick-person/story?id=39805225
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/ex-wife-pulse-patrons-omar-mateen-was-gay-regularly-attended-lgbt-nightclubs
KelleyKramer
(8,982 posts)I would assume they are already going through his phone, who he called, texted. And also his emails and any activity on accounts/apps he had
It really shouldn't be that hard or take that long to figure out if there is good reason to believe he was gay.. and then start interviewing people for a follow up
Crepuscular
(1,057 posts)are the two mutually exclusive? Why is it not possible that he was both a closeted gay dealing with self-loathing issues, as well as a radicalized Muslim, who saw a Jihadist act as a means of paying for his sins to gain entry to paradise?
He was clearly a mentally disturbed individual with a whole lot of issues, if anything, having issues with his own sexuality, coupled with a fundamentalist Muslim upbringing would create a volatile combination that could lead him to murder others who he may see as tempting him away from his faith.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...the USA is at war with Islam, not homosexuality.
It's all about fanning the flames.
.