Did Omar Mateen Know Pulse Was a Gay Club? Should It Matter?

Contents:

• MAN WHO SAYS HE WAS OMAR MATEEN'S GAY LOVER SPEAKS OUT
• ORLANDO GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG: WHO WAS OMAR MATEEN?
• OMAR MATEEN’S FAL TEXT TO WIFE RELEASED: “I’M GAY, THAT’S WHY I’M DOG THIS.”
• OMAR MATEEN WAS GAY, A REGULAR AT PULSE; ORLANDO SHOOTER’S WIFE UNR VTIGATN
• “GAY” OMAR MATEEN AND THE CULT OF WHE HATE
• OMAR MATEEN: GUNMAN WHO KILLED 50 ORLANDO GAY CLUB PULSE INTIFIED BY POLICE

MAN WHO SAYS HE WAS OMAR MATEEN'S GAY LOVER SPEAKS OUT

ORLANDO -- A man who says he was Orlando shooter Omar Mateen's gay lover is speakg out followg the attack on Pulse nightclub that left 49 people ad, and dozens more an terview wh Univisn anchor Maria Elena Salas, the man -- who was lled "Miguel" to protect his inty -- said he first met Mateen on the gay datg app Grdr. Miguel said an terview wh Univisn that Mateen, who was killed by police durg the rampage on the Pulse nightclub early on June 12, was gay.

"Miguel said that Mateen's wife knew he was gay, and that his father forced him to an arranged add that he and Mateen also talked about relign. Addnally, other media outlets have heard several stori of Mateen poppg up and nversg wh men on gay datg Van Horn, 71, said Mateen was a "regular" at the popular Pulse Horn, a retired pharmacist, said he met Mateen once, and the younger man talked about his ex-wife. Asked about his son's sexual orientatn last week, Seddique Mir Mateen said he did not believe his son was gay.

"This to me suggts somebody that may have had sexual inty issu and may have actually been stgglg wh the ia that he himself was gay and that would add a different motive and a different perspective on the se, " O'Toole said. Var media outlets have reported that ers on the gay-datg app Jack’d say they have exchanged msag wh Mateen, but the CEO of Jack’d says they have not yet found any proof that Mateen had an acunt.

ORLANDO GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG: WHO WAS OMAR MATEEN?

A former classmate at Indian River Communy College told the Palm Beach Post that Mateen went to gay bars wh classmat and once tried to pick him up. In three gay bars Wt Palm Beach, an hour om Mateen’s home, none of the bartenrs or ctomers told TIME they remembered ever seeg him.

OMAR MATEEN’S FAL TEXT TO WIFE RELEASED: “I’M GAY, THAT’S WHY I’M DOG THIS.”

The elr Mateen repeatedly rebuffed qutns about homosexualy an terview, cludg multiple queri about whether his son might have been motivated by homophobia and whether uld have been gay. “He might have been homosexual himself and lived that liftyle but uld never ever e clean about bee of the standards of his father, bee of the obligatn to be a perfect son, ” she add. Media ptn, The BBC's Gordon Corera exam what we know about the attackerOmar Mateen was a US cizen who had been known to the FBI sce opened fire si a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida the early hours of Sunday, killg 49 people the adlit shootg morn US officials say the 29-year-old, who was killed by police, appeared to "have leangs towards" radil Islamist iology, although was not clear whether the attack was a se of domtic or ternatnal ma emergency 911 lls shortly beforehand which he reportedly stated his allegiance to Islamic State.

"But there are also reports Mateen ed gay datg apps and was a regular at the club where he rried out the Smh told the Orlando Sentel he had seen Mateen at least 12 tim at the Pulse, sayg he would sometim drk heavily, beg "loud and belligerent" source, RtersImage ptn, Friends and fay members embrace outsi the Orlando police headquartersAs qutns emerged about the gunman's history, FBI Special Agent Ron Hopper told reporters that Mateen had been terviewed by FBI officers twice 2013 followg flammatory ments to lleagu assertg ti to vtigatn end after officers were unable to substantiate the claims.

In Orlando, people grappled wh the magnu of the horror: One man armed wh an asslt rifle and a pistol managed to kill 49 people and wound another 53 si a gay nightclub. One man, so many Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, early Sunday — leavg 49 people ad and dozens jured.

OMAR MATEEN WAS GAY, A REGULAR AT PULSE; ORLANDO SHOOTER’S WIFE UNR VTIGATN

ORLANDO -- He was a body builr and a secury guard, a relig man who attend the lol mosque and wanted to bee a police Sunday, 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub Orlando. A source told Milton that the semary was operated by Abu Tbah, also known as Mars Robertson, who apparently openly preached agast the gay muny. Allegatns of anti-gay leangs amid vtigatn to possible hate motivatnThe spect's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, has spoken out to the media, sayg his son was anti-gay and he don't believe the attack was motivated by relign.

The Orlando Sentel and other news anizatns quoted regular ctomers at the gay bar as sayg they had seen Mateen there a number of tim.

“GAY” OMAR MATEEN AND THE CULT OF WHE HATE

Lucie, orr to clarify any ambiguy that may have been left after a vio surfaced showg him sayg "God will punish those volved homosexualy, " addg 's, "not an issue that humans should al wh. The elr Mateen said his son Omar Mateen was wrong to not jt target gays, but to flict sufferg on any other human beg, most pecially durg the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. In July 2016, a fake news web se played on mors that Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people a mass shootg at a gay nightclub Orlando, mted the horrendo crime (at least part) bee was himself gay.

The Mlim gunman who mted the Pulse nightclub massacre Orlando, was “100 percent” gay and bore a gdge agast Lato men bee he felt ed by them, acrdg to a man who says he was his lover for two months.

Fay members and an ex-wife of Omar Mateen say he regularly poed homophobic views, but regulars at the LGBT nightclub where the 29-year-old Amerin-born Mlim gunman killed 49 while pledgg allegiance to the Islamic State group scribed him as a route visor. Others regnized him om gay datg apps, addg to the plited and at tim ntradictory picture of the man behd the adlit mass shootg morn U. Mateen, who jured 53 others when he stormed the gay nightclub Pulse and opened fire, appears to have been preparg for the attack sce at least June 4, when he purchased one of the firearms ed the asslt.

OMAR MATEEN: GUNMAN WHO KILLED 50 ORLANDO GAY CLUB PULSE INTIFIED BY POLICE

Psychologil studi show that anti-gay views are more pronounced people who reprs same-sex sir, particularly those who are raised by parents who forbid homosexualy. “In many s, the are people who are at war wh themselv and they are turng this ternal nflict outward, ” said Richard Ryan, a profsor of psychology at the Universy of Rochter who oversaw a 2012 study on homophobia. Yufiy said she did not know whether her former hband might have been homosexual but noted that he regularly exprsed strong anti-gay feelgs.

In particular, Mateen went to Pulse only after havg suted other venu that night that were wholly unrelated to the LGBT muny, only to fd that they were too fend by armed guards and police, and ultimately chose Pulse only after a generic Google search for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “gay clubs” — produced Pulse as the first search rult. Several journalists closely verg the Mateen vtigatn have, for some time now, noted the plete absence of any evince suggtg that Mateen knew that Pulse was a gay club or that targetg the LGBT muny was part of his motive.

This highly dub “anti-gay” storyle has also created a virtually unanimo climate Orlando’s muny that is mandg the punishment of anyone remotely nnected to Mateen, a climate prosecutors have seized on to brg highly unual, and very qutnable, felony charg agast Mateen’s wife that uld send her to prison for s spe snt evince of her guilt. But this afternoon, Salman’s lawyers filed a motn to preclu the admissibily of certa evince and, dog so, provid a meangful glimpse to many of the facts that are clearly at odds wh the long-standg, prevailg view that Mateen’s motive, at least part, was to attack a gay club and murr LGBT people. That clus search on Mateen’s phon durg the week of the attack, which he was attemptg to choose his target by searchg generilly for soft targets the form of popular tourist lotns or simply “nightclubs, Orlando” — not “gay nightclubs” or “LGBT clubs.