FBI: ‘No evidence that Orlando gunman targeted Pulse because it’s a gay club’
Last month, 49 innocent lives were lost when 29-year-old US citizen Omar Mateen entered Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and opened fire on an unsuspecting crowd of LGBT people, friends and allies.
But now the FBI have claimed that there is no evidence suggesting that Omar Mateen, the gunman behind the Orlando shooting, targeted Pulse nightclub because of its gay clientele.
Speaking to the Washington Post, a U.S law enforcement official said, “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.”
The FBI claimed that the shooting was a ‘hate crime’ and an act of ‘Islamic terrorism’.
Days after the attack Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said, “People often act out of more than one motivation. This was clearly an act of terror and an act of hate.”
A month later however, the FBI have seemed to change their minds.
Despite people claiming they had seen Mateen on gay dating apps and revealing that he was a ‘regular’ at Pulse, FBI have said there is no evidence to suggest that Mateen was gay or that the attack was motivated by homophobia.
They also reveal that they have been unable to verify that Mateen used gay dating apps and instead, have found that Mateen was cheating on his wife with other women.
Some men still state that they had contact with Mateen on dating apps including Grindr and Jack’d.
However a spokesperson for Jack’d said the company has no records of Omar Mateen having used the app, although they say he might have used it anonymously.
Orlando City Councilwoman Patty Sheehan has expressed her frustration at Florida Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi for denying it was a gay attack.
Sheehan said, “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.”
She adds, “We need to have hate crimes on the books for LGBT, and we need weapons of war off our streets.”
Despite the statements from Mateen’s father, his wife and ex-partners the FBI still deny this was an attack on the LGBT community.
Attitude’s August Issue, which honours the victims of the shooting, takes a look at the FBI’s stance on this hate-crime and with a passionate analysis of events, with guest writers from the Latin, Muslim, Christian, Black and Trans communities asks the question: What have we learnt from Orlando?
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