An FBI agent talks to his colleagues at an apartment complex across the street from the scene of a mass shooting at a nightclub Monday, June 13, 2016, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
ORLANDO, Florida—The gunman who launched the worst terror attack on US soil since 9/11 at a gay nightclub in Orlando was radicalized by Islamist propaganda on the internet, officials said, amid reports he was a club regular.
Lone gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 and wounded another 53 before he was killed when police stormed Pulse Night Club, one of Orlando’s prominent gay venues, early Sunday.
The attack is reminiscent of the Nov. 13, 2015, suicide attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where 90 people were massacred when jihadist gunmen opened fire on concert-goers. A total of 130 people died across the French capital that night in a series of shootings and suicide bomb attacks.
The FBI said Mateen had been radicalized by Islamist propaganda, but the bureau found no evidence—contrary to the Paris attacks—that the shooting had been coordinated from abroad.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group claimed that Mateen was acting as “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.”
But US investigators believe that Mateen was a “lone wolf” inspired by Islamist propaganda to carry out what US President Barack Obama dubbed “an act of terror and an act of hate.”
FBI Director James Comey said his agents found no evidence that Mateen’s attack had been directed from outside the United States, “and we see no indication that he was part of any kind of network.”
The FBI is “highly confident” Mateen had been “radicalized” while consuming online propaganda, Comey said, adding that the gunman had claimed allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a series of calls during the attack.
Antigay bigotry
Agents are instead looking into the possible role of antigay bigotry.
In a further twist to the story, four people said Mateen, 29, had been a regular at the gay club, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported late Monday.
“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” Ty Smith told the Sentinel.
Smith said he had seen Mateen inside at least a dozen times. “We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times,” Smith said. “He told us he had a wife and child.”
Another Pulse regular, Kevin West, told The Los Angeles Times that Mateen messaged him on and off for a year using a gay chat app.
Other club-goers told local media and MSNBC News that Mateen had been using multiple gay apps, including Grindr, with mutual acquaintances to “hook up.”
Mateen’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman, was not cooperating in the probe.
But FBI agents have talked extensively with Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, who said he had beaten her. Relatives and acquaintances portrayed Mateen as an unstable man prone to violence who expressed homophobic views.
Gun laws
The slaughter raised questions about US counterterrorism strategy and gun laws.
The FBI said it had investigated Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent, but the bureau cleared him of extremist ties.
Nevertheless, Mateen was able to legally buy an AR-15 assault rifle and a 9 mm handgun.
“We make it very easy for individuals who are troubled or disturbed or want to engage in violent acts to get very powerful weapons very quickly,” Obama said.
He demanded that the Republican-controlled Congress pass legislation to curb the sale of assault-type weapons like the one used in Orlando.
The White House said Obama would travel to Orlando on Thursday to pay his respects to victims’ families.
Vigil in Orlando
A gay chorus sang and rainbow flags fluttered in the evening wind late Monday as thousands in Orlando gathered for the first major vigil for the Pulse victims.
The trim green lawn outside a performing arts center filled with people gay and straight to hear speakers urge the city known for theme parks and fun to unite and not surrender to fear.
“We’re not going anywhere, we are here to stay,” the crowd of about 5,000 chanted at one point.
“It shouldn’t be so easy to get guns,” said Joe Brennan, a 52-year-old engineer at the vigil. “The innocent deserve to be protected, too.”
Police have identified all 49 victims—mainly club-goers celebrating Pulse’s Latin Night at the start of Gay Pride month. Many of the wounded remained hospitalized.
‘Help me, help me’
As the club was closing around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Mateen began a gun battle with an off-duty officer working at the club. More officers responded, and the gunman escaped to the bathroom, where he barricaded himself and seized hostages.
Witness Janiel Gonzalez described scenes of mayhem as the gunman sprayed revelers with bullets.
“It was like complete chaos,” Gonzalez told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “People were screaming ‘Help me, help me, I’m trapped!’”
‘Int’l solidarity’
The attacks triggered solidarity vigils by gay and lesbian groups and their supporters across the world.
Thousands also gathered on Monday in New York at the birthplace of the gay rights movement, and in Los Angeles where pop star Lady Gaga led a tearful vigil.
“This is an attack on humanity itself . . . an attack on everyone,” said Lady Gaga, who has often spoken out on gay rights issues.
In London’s Soho district, thousands marched under rainbow flags, bursting into chants of “We’re here, we’re queer, we will not live in fear.”
Marches and vigils were also held in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Australia and other countries. AFP