Tag: Orlando shooting

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Orlando Shooter’s Father: “If I Did Know I Would Have Stopped Him”

Saddique Mateen

The father of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen has given the public mixed signals about his son over the past 24 hours.

On one hand, Seddique Mateen told reporters that he believed his son had been set off by seeing two men kiss a few months ago.

He then reversed course saying, “I don’t know what caused him to shoot last night.”

“He was well behaved. His appearance was perfect,” he said. “I didn’t see any sign of worrying or being upset or nervous.”

But in a Facebook video posted yesterday, the elder Mateen expressed his own sense of homophobia saying his son shouldn’t have killed gay people because, “God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality. This is not for the servants.”

He did express regret for his son’s deadly actions saying, “I am deeply saddened and announce this to the people of America.”

“I wish I did know. If I did know I would have stopped him.”

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Civil Rights Leaders Join Human Rights Campaign In Response To Orlando Massacre

Via press release:

HRC President HRC President Chad Griffin was joined by other civil rights leaders outside the Human Rights Campaign’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to respond to the horrific massacre at a Florida LGBTQ nightclub.

“While today is a day of mourning in the wake of this tragedy, I say to LGBTQ people living in every corner in this country and around this globe: Continue to be bold, be loved, and be proud,” Griffin said.

“There are mothers and fathers, spouses and partners, siblings and friends who aren’t thinking about any of that. They’re simply wishing they had just one more moment to say I love you. During this, their darkest hour, we as a nation must be their strength. We must be their comfort. And we must promise that the memory of those they lost will never, ever fade,” Griffin said.

Griffin was joined by Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality; Janet Murguía; President and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Cornell Brooks, President, NAACP; Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition; Judith Lichtman, of the National Partnership for Women & Families and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Brenda Abdelall of Muslim Advocates; Jorge Amaro, of the National LGBTQ Task Force; and María Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino.

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Hillary Clinton Issues Statement On Orlando Shooting At Pulse Nightclub

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has released a statement regarding the massacre at Orlando gay nightclub Pulse overnight which took the lives of at least 50 people and hospitalized 53 others.

“I join Americans in praying for the victims of the attack in Orlando, their families and the first responders who did everything they could to save lives.

“This was an act of terror. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are hard at work, and we will learn more in the hours and days ahead. For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home. It also means refusing to be intimidated and staying true to our values.

“This was also an act of hate. The gunman attacked an LGBT nightclub during Pride Month. To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America.

“Finally, we need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and it reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets.

“This is a time to stand together and resolve to do everything we can to defend our communities and country.”

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott Refuses To Acknowledge LGBT Community Targeted In Shooting

Florida Gov. Rick Scott

During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Florida Gov. Rick Scott painfully refused to acknowledge that the LGBT community was the target of last night’s deadly shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

From Raw Story:

During an interview on CNN, host Jake Tapper pointed out that the LGBT community “appears to have been directly targeted in this attack.”

“There are a lot of members of that community and supporting friends and family who are very worried,” Tapper explained. “Obviously if this was radical Islam, which the special agent in charge of the FBI suggested it may have been, that is a community that has been under siege from radical Islam.”

“Are you taking any special precautions,” the CNN host wondered, “especially during Pride month, but also in Florida, which is known as being hospitable to the gay and lesbian community, to make sure that community is protected?”

Scott, however, declined to acknowledge the LGBT community in his response.

“We don’t want anybody in our state to ever be targeted,” he insisted. “We don’t want anybody to be discriminated against. And so in every case, when we believe there is somebody doing the wrong thing, we work hard to make sure we take care of them.”

“And so what we’ll — you know, as we go through this process, what we’ll learn through this, is we’ll learn what we can do to hopefully to never, never, ever to let this happen again,” the governor added.

“But, I guess my point is you’ve declared a state of emergency in Orange County,” Tapper replied. “But there are areas of the state of Florida — South Beach, for example — where there may be a large and thriving LGBT community that might be very, very afraid this morning.”

“Are you taking precautions?” the CNN host pressed. “Are you sending law enforcement to make sure there are no copy cats or just in case this individual wasn’t a lone wolf, that that community is being protected?”

“Absolutely,” Scott replied, refusing to refer to the gay community by name. “We have really good law enforcement in our state. And when something like this happens, one of the first things you do on top of dealing with the issue you have at hand, is say, ‘Who else could this impact and what can we do to make sure that does not happen?’”

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Orlando Shooter Called 911, Pledged Allegiance To Leader Of ISIS

MSNBC is reporting that Omar Mateen, the gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Florida, had called 911 moments before to pledge allegiance to the leader of ISIS.

Mateen appeared to be a follower of ISIS propaganda and referenced the Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, at the scene, sources said.

But as investigators try to determine the radicalization that apparently motivated Mateen to attack the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, his family believes he was pushed over the edge by pure hate against the LGBT community.

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President Obama Orders US Flags Worldwide To Be Flown At Half-Staff

Via White House press release:

As a mark of respect for the victims of the act of hatred and terror perpetrated on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, June 16, 2016. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.

BARACK OBAMA

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President Obama To Speak On Orlando Shooting

President Obama addressed the nation shortly after 2PM today regarding the Orlando shooting.

From the president’s statement:

This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends — our fellow Americans — who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.

So this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American — regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.

Via WhiteHouse.gov:

The President was briefed this morning by Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, on the tragic shooting in Orlando, Florida. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims. The President asked to receive regular updates as the FBI, and other federal officials, work with the Orlando Police to gather more information, and directed that the federal government provide any assistance necessary to pursue the investigation and support the community.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump posted these messages on Twitter: