A spokesperson for the FBI has told The Washington Post that they have found no evidence that gunman Omar Mateen targeted the Pulse Nightclub because it was a gay club.
“While there can be no denying the significant impact on the gay community, the investigation hasn’t revealed that he targeted Pulse because it was a gay club,” a U.S. law enforcement official said.
Mateen entered the club in Orlando,Florida last month and killed 49 people, wounding many others. He was later killed by police.
“People often act out of more than one motivation,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said after the attack. “This was clearly an act of terror and an act of hate.”
The FBI now appears to be focusing on the attack as being inspired by terror organisation ISIS.
Following the shooting Mateen’s father told the media that his son had been angered after he saw two men kissing in Miami, and sggested this might have been a motivating factor in his son choosing The Pulse nightclub as his target.
The shooter’s first wife also told the media that she suspected that he husband might be gay. Despite several people reporting that they had previously seen Mateen at the club, and on gay dating apps like Grindr and Jack’d – law enforcement officials have not been able to corroborate these claims.
Law officials have also revealed details of Mateen’s postmortem, which has shown that the killer had most likely been abusing steroids for a long period of time.
Patty Sheehan, who is a member of the Orlando City Council has expressed her frustration at the state’s Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi for denying the shooting was a gay attack.
“They said, ‘We’re not going to talk about guns, and we’re not going to talk about gays; this is an attack on all Americans.’ That’s what they want the narrative to be, and that’s nonsense.” Shennan said.
OIP Staff
