The big news we all woke up to this morning:
A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said. It was the worst mass shooting in American history.
Authorities were investigating the attack on the Florida dance hall as an act of terrorism. The gunman’s father recalled that his son got angry when he recently saw two men kissing in Miami. He said that might be related to the attack.
At least 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, officials said. A surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.
Mayor Buddy Dyer said all of the dead were killed with the assault rifle.
President Obama will deliver a statement at 1:30pm, Eastern time, today. About the time I finish typing up this quick post.
Before all the facts are even in, people from all sides are projecting their ideological beliefs onto the motive: Islam is to blame, Islam is a religion of peace, it was mental illness, it was guns, ISIS is responsible, it’s a mass killing, it’s a domestic terror attack, it was LGBT mass murder, it’s radical Islam.
I’ll weigh in with my own speculations and you’re free of course to take them for what they’re worth. We all know how early “facts” and opinions can turn out to be wrong.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN that Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS before attacking an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub and killing 53 people.
cited intelligence sources to say that there “appears to be a link to Islamic radicalism .. some kind of connection to ISIS,” ABC News reported.
According to his parents, seeing gay men kissing angered him. Is this a case of a homophobic mass murderer? Islamist homophobe?
According to his ex-wife about Mateen,
he wasn’t very religious and worked out at the gym often. She said in the few months they were married he gave no signs of having fallen under the sway of radical Islam.
It’s possible that a number of factors came into play here. Disturbed human being. Tribal/ethnic instincts (2nd generation Afghan-American who may feel ethnic and religious ties; and being an apparent registered Democrat, may share the anti-American liberal belief that we invaded a sovereign nation and are terrorizing the Afghan people and are at war with Islam). He may have been influenced by the allure of adventurism and excitement that ISIS offers, moreso than actual religious devotion. He may have contacts with ISIS; or he may have acted upon his own impulses and instincts as a lone wolf, answering ISIS advertisement to jihad in Florida, 3 days ago.
And now, because of all the media attention and sensationalism that will surround this act of terror, because his name is splashed across headlines and every aspect of his life will come under scrutiny and he will garner postmortem fame, you can be assured others will try to top this with copycat attacks, whether motivated by religious fanaticism, mental illness, politics, nationalism, or pure evil.
FA reader thoughts?
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
@Greg:
And how does you average comment not merely reflect the above, yet making it all about the right?
Read about “mimetic mirroring”. You’re locked into your own psychosis and I’m not sure how you can bring yourself out of it before you hurt somebody…
Btw, if you have a problem with Trump’s conduct of “opportunism”, I’m sure you were claiming the same about Obama, and now Hillary. That would be fair, because it’s true.
The people that whine about Trump only magnify the evil things about Obama that many of us have been privy to all along. It also gives Trump votes, so keep going.
Keep accusing Trump of using tactics that Obama/Hillary have made the norm.
What goes around, comes around. Deal with it, or watch more “slow jams” of Obama on Jimmy Fallon and tell yourself he’s not a reality TV “star” just like Trump.
Greg living in Liberal Stupidland watching mindless crap like AVATAR and watching some liberal news propeganda program
@the peaceful girl: You’re post of Islam is the premise of submission or war. This “religion” has no other purpose by you’re own words.
More evidence that the left – and Obama – is insane or lying in saying that islam had nothing to do with this act of terror – that it was Mateen perverting the teachings of islam:
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/04/06/united-west-gays-must-die-says-u-s-islamic-scholar/
And for all the taqqiyah garbage claiming that ‘real’ muslims don’t support this murderous, bloodthirsty interpretation of islam:
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/13/al-jazeera-readers-celebrate-orlando-terror-attack/
So tell us again how “peaceful and tolerant islam” is being misinterpreted by scumbag terrorists like Mateen.
The left is in full slobbering-rabid-attack-guns-and-Christians mode over this, with the thoroughly dishonest ACLU leading the charge in their trademark hypocrite fashion:
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/12/aclu-lawyers-blames-christians-for-orlando-terror-attack/
So, a muslim terrorist slaughters or critically wounds roughly a 100 individuals at a known homosexual dance club – but it’s the fault of those evil right wing Christians! And so homosexuals should stand with muslims against the oppressive Christian conservatives!
And leftists wonder why we view them as insane, evil, or both…
Contrary to what the left-wing apologists are saying, it looks like poor little Omar had a disdain for this country for quite some time. Perhaps his parents got the ball rolling at an early age?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/06/13/on-911-omar-mateens-classmates-mourned-some-say-he-celebrated/?utm_term=.f79a8e5008bf
The
50,49, should now be 53, I understand.@Bill, #41:
There are the mentally unbalanced, and then there are the mentally unbalanced who are also mass murderers. The second category is a very small subset of the first category. Maybe a Venn diagram would be helpful.
Donald Trump, among others. Advocating that all Muslims should be kept out of the United States as a response to the fact that a tiny minority of Muslims are fundamentalist extremists is a politically opportunistic response that makes no distinction. I certainly understand it as an emotional response, but I also see it as illogical, and a betrayal of an important American principle.
In a surprising discovery, the Palm Beach Post first reported that according to state records, Orlando shooter Omar Mateen – who as we reported earlier was licensed as a security guard and also holds a firearms license – was employed by the US subsidiary of G4S plc, a British multinational security services company, whose US-headquarters are located in Jupiter, Fla, and which also happens to be the world’s largest security company by revenue.
Shortly thereafter, G4S confirmed that Omar Mateen has worked for the company since 2007. This is the statement released from G4S:
“We are shocked and saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the Orlando nightclub. We can confirm that Omar Mateen had been employed with G4S since September 10, 2007. We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy.”
In other words, Mateen who according to preliminary reports, had been on a terrorist watchlist, and who still managed to obtain weapons thanks to his various licenses and permits, was employed by one of the world’s largest security companies, where he may have had extensive clearances well above his pay grade.
But where it gets more disturbing is that border patrol sources said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was quietly transporting illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to Phoenix and releasing them without proper processing or issuing court appearance documents. As a reminder, the government classifies them as Other Than Mexican (OTM) and this week around 35 were transferred 116 miles north from Tucson to a Phoenix bus station where they went their separate way. Judicial Watch was present when one of the white vans carrying a group of OTMs arrived at the Phoenix Greyhound station on Buckeye Road
Judicial Watch noted that it had filed a number of public records requests to get more information involving the arrangement between G4S and the government, specifically the transport of illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to other parts of the country. The photo below shows the uniformed G4S guard that transported the OTMs this week from Tucson to Phoenix:
Outraged Border Patrol agents and supervisors on the front lines say illegal immigrants are being released in droves because there’s no room to keep them in detention. “They’re telling us to put them on a bus and let them go,” said one law enforcement official in Arizona. “Just move those bodies across the country.” Officially, DHS denies this is occurring and in fact earlier this year U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske blasted Border Patrol union officials for denouncing this dangerous catch-and-release policy.
Kerlikowske’s scolding came in response to the congressional testimony of Bandon Judd, chief of the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union that represents line agents. Judd told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee that illegal immigrants without serious criminal convictions can be released immediately and disappear into the shadows. Kerlikowske shot back, telling a separate congressional committee: “I would not stand by if the Border Patrol was – releasing people without going through all of the formalities.
Meanwhile, Mateen’s employment, and gun licenses, were untouched even though the FBI confirmed it had interviewed the 29-year-old three times before the shooting took place early Sunday morning. An official said that the FBI first became aware of the suspect, Omar Mateen, 29, in 2013 when he made “inflammatory comments to coworkers alleging possible terrorist ties.”
In the course of that investigation, Mateen was interviewed twice, but the FBI was unable to verify the substance of his comments.
The agent at Sunday afternoon’s press briefing also confirmed reports that the shooter called 911 before the massacre, and said his remarks had general connections to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group. The content of those calls is now federal evidence.
Armed with all this information, the big question, now that it has emerged that Mateen worked for the same company that has been tasked – under questionable circumstances – to transport illegals into the US, is whether or not this individual who swore allegiance to ISIS moments before the worst mass shooting and who was also employed by G4S for almost a decade, and who had been interviewed by the FBI three times and yet still managed to buy guns just last week, was also tasked in any way in facilitating the transport of illegal immigrants across the border, and if so, whether he helped other like-minded radical islamists enter the country.
We are confident all these questions will be addressed by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the government, and that the media – liberal or otherwise – will promptly follow up on these key questions.
We dont need reform or a friggen wall we need to enforce laws on the books
@Greg: The question is #58 which subset you belong to.
@DrJohn:
But as the PC MSM might say, “that’s none of our business”
(Meme: Kermit sipping tea)
@Greg: Greggie, show me where Trump said keep ALL Muslims out!!
And in Amarillo today, we have another muslim immigrant breaking firearm laws, taking hostages at his workplace allegedly because he was disgruntled either over being passed over for promotion, or for getting fired. Thankfully, Amarillo SWAT forces took him out with no innocent loss of life.
i don’t know what i say the world become very bad by the terrorists .so i wish peace for every part of world, and that all countries does try for fight the violence .and does a penality for the terrorists of Any religion .we must live a peaceful life without hate because we are humans and we have one origine of course.
@Greg: So if there were a crowd of 25 outside your house and you knew one of them was a killer, and they all demanded entrance into your house, you would let them all in without regard to one of them being a murderer? Or would you wait to let any in until you singled out the murderer?
A sane person would wait until the killer were identified.