Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Orlando Massacre Shooter Was Licensed Security Officer

ormar_mateenOrlando, Florida – Investigators have learned that the Orlando Massacre shooter who killed at least 50 people and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub early Sunday was a licensed security officer. Omar Mateen, a resident of Fort Pierce, Florida, who worked since 2007 as a security officer at a firm named G4S, legally purchased the weapons he used to slaughter his victims, a pistol and a military-grade assault rifle, as ABC News reports. He held two firearms licenses, both of which expire in September 2017. According to NBC News, Mateen appears to have been “self-radicalized.” There was no indication beforehand that he intended to attack the club. The assault was apparently well planned, however, since he had to travel over 100 miles from his apartment in Fort Pierce to carry out the hit.

Further reports establish that during or immediately before his attack on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Mateen called 911 to claim allegiance to Al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, and the claim solidarity with the Boston Marathon bombers. His father, Mir Seddique, who immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan, told reporters that his son had been outrage two months before the attack by seeing a gay couple kiss in public while he and his family were in Miami. His ex-wife, who divorced Mateen in 2011, told reporters that he was disturbed mentally and prone to violence. Family members report that Mateen, 29, has a 3-year-old son.

Mateen, 29.

Mateen, 29, in a MySpace photo.

Some commentators are making comparisons of Mateen with the Charleston, SC killer, Dylann Roof, a loner, who became radicalized from the internet and acted on his impulses to murder black Christians at a prayer meeting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. Roof had no direct ties with the KKK or white supremacy groups. Likewise, Mateen appears to have had no direct ties to ISIS or Al-Baghdadi. Mir Seddique, his father, disclaimed any relationship between his son’s actions and religion, saying instead that anger over a gay public display of affection might have been the precipitating motive for his attack.

Muslim Americans are denouncing the act, and claiming solidarity with the LGBT community. NBC News reports that Council on American-Islamic Relations Orlando Regional Coordinator Rasha Mubarak said, “We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence.”

The death count is expected to rise as hospital staffs struggle to treat the dozens of victims of the attack, which is now established as the worst, most deadly mass shooting in United States history.

June 12, 2016 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Florida, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Omar Mateen, Orlando | , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Orlando Massacre Shooter Was Licensed Security Officer