Orlando club shooter praised Tsarnaev in police recording
The lone wolf jihadi who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at an Orlando night club last summer told a police negotiator that Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev “did his thing” and that it was his turn now, according to chilling 911 audio released yesterday.
“My homeboy Tamerlan Tsarnaev did his thing on the Boston Marathon, my homeboy (inaudible) did his thing, okay, so now it’s my turn, OK?” said Omar Mateen, the man behind the June 12 nightclub attack that claimed 49 lives.
The police negotiator responded to Mateen’s comment about Tsarnaev with “Okay. Let’s start. My name is Andy. What’s yours?”
Mateen responded: “My name is Islamic soldier, OK?”
Mateen, who was shot and killed by police after the massacre, sounded agitated throughout the recorded calls — first released yesterday by the city of Orlando.
“I want to let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shooting,” Mateen told the first 911 operator who picked up the phone. “My name is, I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-- Baghdadi of the Islamic State.”
The 29-year-old man repeatedly refused to surrender and lied to a police negotiator about car bombs that he had planted.
“By the way, there is some vehicles outside that have some bombs just to let you know,” he said. “Your people are going to get it and I’m going to ignite it if they try to do anything stupid.”
Mateen repeatedly told the negotiator that the United States must immediately stop its airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
“You have to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq,” Mateen said. “They are killing a lot of innocent people. What am I to do here when my people are getting killed over there?”