Thread: Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI

CONNECT THE DOTS 06.12.16 11:13 AM ET

Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI

Mateen was a ‘known quantity’ to federal law enforcement before he killed at least 50 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando gay nightclub mass shooting, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.

Mateen killed 53 people and shot more than 100 in total at the Pulse gay nightclub early Sunday morning, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.

“He’s a known quantity,” the source said. “He’s been on the radar before.”

The senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast that Mateen was born in New York and was married for a time to a woman from New Jersey.

That woman told the Washington Post that he repeatedly abused her during their marraige, which lasted from April 2009 to July 2011.

“He was not a stable person,” the ex-wife said. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”

Mateen's parents are from Afghanistan but he was not very religious, she said, adding that he "seemed like a normal human being."

Mateen's father Mir Seddique told NBC News that the sight of two men kissing angered his son.

“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident,” the father added. “We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.”

The attack, he said, “has nothing to do with religion.” However, Pete Williams of NBC News reported that Mateen called 911 and swore his allegiance to al-Baghdadi of ISIS before the shooting massacre.

FBI Agent Ron Hopper told reporters Mateen may have had leanings toward Islamic extremism. The law enforcement source told The Daily Beast there is no immediate indication that Mateen had any direct connection to ISIS. Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Mateen had pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

ISIS recently declared online that its followers should mount attacks to mark the approach of the holy month of Ramadan.

The message came in an audio recording from spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, released in May. Muslims around the world fast during Ramadan in honor of the first revelation from God to Muhammad. The terrorist group believes it to be a particularly opportune time for attacks.

“Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready...to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers...especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America,” Adnani said.

Mateen had a valid firearms license in Florida and worked as a security guard at a facility for juvenile deliquents.

Armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and a handgun, Mateen entered Pulse club around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and began shooting. After most of the 320 people there escaped, Mateen took hostages from a group that was hiding in a bathroom. Shortly before 6 a.m., a SWAT unit breached the club and engaged Mateen in what’s being called a protracted gun battle. Mateen was killed.

The deadliest single-person mass murder in American history before Orlando occured in Bath, Michigan, in 1927, when a man bombed a school, killing 44 people.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history has claimed the lives of 50 people after a gunman attacked a gay club in Orlando, Florida.

Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida, shot his way into Pulse nightclub at 2 a.m. Sunday morning with an assault rifle, Orlando police announced Sunday. Mateen reportedly took several patrons hiding in a bathroom hostage. A SWAT unit entered the club at 6 a.m. and killed Mateen in what was described by law enforcement as a sustained gun battle.

Mateen used an “AR-15-style assault rifle,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. The AR-15 has been the signature weapon of mass shooters in America, used by Adam Lanza to kill 26 at Sandy Hook and the San Bernardino terrorists to kill 14.

The attack is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on CNN that, according to Homeland Security and local law enforcement officials, Mateen “made a pledge of allegiance” to ISIS and had been “heard praying in a foreign language.” It is unclear if Mateen was praying during the shooting, Schiff said. Pete Williams of NBC News reported that Mateen called 911 and swore his allegiance to al-Baghdadi of ISIS before the shooting massacre.

Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News that the attack “has nothing to do with religion.” He went on to say his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a few months ago. “We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country,” Seddique said.

According to accounts from the scene, the gunman traded gunfire with a police officer before entering Pulse at 2 a.m. Most of the estimated 320 people inside escaped, but an unknown number were taken hostage in a bathroom.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told CNN that the death toll jumped from 20 to 50 as additional victims were found inside the club. Personnel could not go in immediately as there were suspected explosives. According to Dyer, there were five to eight hostages in one room with the shooter and another 15-20 in a separate room at the time when police entered.

Mina Justice’s son Eddie was inside the club and texted her when the gunshots erupted, the Associated Press reports. Justice told his mom he and others ran into the bathroom to hide.

“He’s coming,” Justice texted, adding later: “He has us, and he’s in here with us.”

“That was the last conversation,” his mother said.

Pulse was founded in 2004 by Barbara Poma and her friend Ron Legler after Poma’s brother died of AIDS, according to USA Today. She wanted to help promote awareness about the LGBT community, and Pulse refers to itself as “not just another gay club.”

As soon as the shooting broke out, the club posted a status update to its Facebook page telling everyone to get out and “keep running.”

“As soon as we have any information we will update everyone,” the club posted on its Facebook page at 6 a.m. Sunday. “Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love.”

Sunday morning’s massacre came barely 36 hours after a man shot and killed singer Christina Grimmie while she was signing autographs in Orlando. The killer, Kevin Loibl, was tackled by Grimmie’s brother and then killed himself.

President Obama addressed the nation later in the afternoon, seemingly defeated by having to make these speeches so many times. "We have to decide if that's the country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well," he said in a short address while emphasizing that an attack on the LGBT community is an attack on "all of us."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...do-killer.html

(the father) The attack, he said, “has nothing to do with religion.” However, Pete Williams of NBC News reported that Mateen called 911 and swore his allegiance to al-Baghdadi of ISIS before the shooting massacre.

BINGO - nothing done @ it either.

The story is co-workers at the security company where he worked are the ones who reported him, because of things he said at work. For co-workers to report a fellow employee, it would have to be pretty bad. Somewhere along the line, the security company management should have fired him, because they work on government security contracts, and the FBI should have investigated deeper, notified the states where he had a firearms license, his family should have been interviewed, and everyone put on notice that we have a terrorist in our midst.