In them, he identified himself as an Islamic soldier, demanded that the US “stop bombing” Syria and Iraq, warned of future violence and at one point pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
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He referred to himself as an “Islamic soldier” in one call, according to the transcript, and told a negotiator to tell the United States to stop bombing Syria and Iraq.
“I’m in Orlando, and I did the shootings”, Mateen told the dispatcher at about 2:35 a.m., roughly half an hour after shooting his way into the club.
Mateen threatened to detonate a vehicle rigged with bombs and to strap hostages into explosive vests, according to transcripts of the 911 calls he made while police tried to rescue people trapped in the club.
The Florida nightclub killer called himself an “Islamic soldier” and threatened to strap hostages into explosive vests in calls with police during the three-hoursiege, according to transcripts released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday.
But just down the road, several people got together to honor victims in a another way-with a tattoo.
Sheehan said the tattoo is a way of honoring the 49 victims and remembering the day that changed Orlando forever.
Whether any of the killed or wounded innocent victims might have been hit by law enforcement fire when police and sheriff’s deputies raided the club and killed Mateen. “He might have been homosexual himself and lived that lifestyle but could never ever come clean about it because of the standards of his father, because of the obligation to be a flawless son”, she told Time.
“We don’t have to be afraid of holding each other”.
Well, you know what they say about people who “ass-u-me”.
Lynch added: “There is no doubt that this was a shattering attack – on our nation, on our people and on our most fundamental ideals”. The couple has three other daughters – the youngest is 14.
Law enforcement officials said Mateen often visited gay online chat rooms, and witnesses said he was a regular at Pulse.
After firing an initial hail of bullets, Mateen holed up inside a bathroom with hostages and the drama stretched on for three hours until police barreled into the building with a tactical vehicle and SWAT officers shot and killed the gunman.
Lynch told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that the top goal while intensifying pressure on the Islamic State – the extremist group thought to have inspired Mateen – is to build a complete profile of him in order to help prevent another massacre like Orlando. “I asked him, ‘Did you do a test?’ Yes”.
Countering the narrative of radical extremism continues to be a challenge for the government, Lynch said in an interview with The Associated Press.
On Tuesday, law enforcement officials told CNN that Mateen had visited the club earlier in the night before his attack, possibly to assess the club’s security.
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Yet when Attorney General Loretta Lynch made the rounds Sunday morning to all the news outlets discussing the releasing of the transcripts of the 911 calls of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, she said they were going to be edited. “Let’s put it this way, if we can’t pass this, it truly is a broken system”, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. The park was filled with people holding white flowers, American flags and candles.
