Orlando killer Mateen visited gay bar ‘several times’
WASHINGTON: The FBI is investigating if Omar Mateen used dating apps for gay men and made multiple visits to the nightclub where he massacred 49 people on June 12. Investigators are also looking closely at Mateen’s relatives — especially his father and current wife — to ascertain if they had noticed signs of his radicalisation but failed to speak up.
WASHINGTON: The FBI is investigating if Omar Mateen used dating apps for gay men and made multiple visits to the nightclub where he massacred 49 people on June 12.
Investigators are also looking closely at Mateen’s relatives — especially his father and current wife — to ascertain if they had noticed signs of his radicalisation but failed to speak up. The wife, Noor Zahi Salman, knew, according to some source-based media reports, and tried to talk him out of it.
In the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history, the White House is pushing Congress to legislate “commonsense steps” to curb access to weapons and “make it harder for any individual to get their hands on a weapon of war”.
Mateen, a 29-year-old American of Afghan descent, gunned down dozens using an assault rifle at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, before being killed in a gunfight with a SWAT team.
In 911 calls from the club, Mateen professed allegiance to the Islamic State, the Boston bombers and a fellow Floridian who travelled to Syria to fight for a local affiliate of al Qaeda.
Investigators believe Mateen was self-radicalised and influenced by multiple individuals and entities with incongruent beliefs and goals, but he was not directed by any outside force.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, and former wife Sitora Yusufiy have said he was not religious in the least. The father has claimed Mateen was a homophobe, thus the targeting of the gay club.
An FBI official told NBC news that investigators are reviewing reports and statements by members of Orlando’s gay community who said “they recall having seen Mateen at the LGBT club several times”.
Yusufiy has said Mateen might have been gay or had “gay tendencies” but hid that out of shame. According to one report, Mateen’s father called his son gay in front of her.
She has also said Mateen was “bipolar”, a mental disorder, and would beat her. They divorced in 2011. He went on to marry Noor Zahi Salman, his current wife. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8