ISIS claims responsibility for worst mass shooting in U.S. history
- 8 years ago
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Although there is no evidence that the perpetrator of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history had any contact with ISIS before the attack, the so-called Islamic State is claiming responsibility for the massacre.
The shooter who stormed a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, killing 50 people and wounding 53, has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen.
A former coworker at G4S Secure Solutions, where the Orlando shooter worked as a security guard, said Mateen “was unhinged,” made racial and homophobic comments and expressed sympathy for terrorists.
Daniel Gilroy told Florida Today and NBC News that he quit after he complained several times to the company — formerly known as Wackenhut — but it did nothing because, he told Florida Today, Mateen was Muslim.
“He was scary in a concerning way,” Gilroy told NBC. “And it wasn’t at times. It was all the time. He had anger management issues. Something would set him off, but the things that would set him off were always women, race or religion.”
According to the the Los Angeles Times, a tip-off from a coworker put Mateen on the FBI’s radar in 2013, and he was placed on a terrorist watch list. The FBI investigated him again the following year after an American who attended his mosque became a suicide bomber in Syria.
But the FBI took Mateen off the watch list after it closed its two investigations. Despite having been on the watch list, Mateen was able to buy an assault rifle and pistol days in the last 12 days before the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told NBC News the massacre “had nothing to do with religion.” The father said his son had been angered by the sight of two men kissing.
But Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call moments before the attack, according to multiple reports. When news of this pledge broke, the Islamic State’s news agency identified Mateen as a “fighter” for the group, according to the SITE Intel Group.
ISIS encourages lone wolf actors, even those with whom it has had no previous contact, to carry out attacks in its name. This has become a key part of its strategy for bringing terror to the West. All a terrorist has to do is pledge fealty to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and ISIS will declare itself responsible for the attack.
The shooter who stormed a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, killing 50 people and wounding 53, has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen.
A former coworker at G4S Secure Solutions, where the Orlando shooter worked as a security guard, said Mateen “was unhinged,” made racial and homophobic comments and expressed sympathy for terrorists.
Daniel Gilroy told Florida Today and NBC News that he quit after he complained several times to the company — formerly known as Wackenhut — but it did nothing because, he told Florida Today, Mateen was Muslim.
“He was scary in a concerning way,” Gilroy told NBC. “And it wasn’t at times. It was all the time. He had anger management issues. Something would set him off, but the things that would set him off were always women, race or religion.”
According to the the Los Angeles Times, a tip-off from a coworker put Mateen on the FBI’s radar in 2013, and he was placed on a terrorist watch list. The FBI investigated him again the following year after an American who attended his mosque became a suicide bomber in Syria.
But the FBI took Mateen off the watch list after it closed its two investigations. Despite having been on the watch list, Mateen was able to buy an assault rifle and pistol days in the last 12 days before the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told NBC News the massacre “had nothing to do with religion.” The father said his son had been angered by the sight of two men kissing.
But Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call moments before the attack, according to multiple reports. When news of this pledge broke, the Islamic State’s news agency identified Mateen as a “fighter” for the group, according to the SITE Intel Group.
ISIS encourages lone wolf actors, even those with whom it has had no previous contact, to carry out attacks in its name. This has become a key part of its strategy for bringing terror to the West. All a terrorist has to do is pledge fealty to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and ISIS will declare itself responsible for the attack.