When Hillary Clinton took the stage at a campaign rally in Kissimmee, Florida yesterday and gave tribute to the victims slaughtered just miles down the road by Omar Mateen, there was an unlikely supporter in the crowd cheering her on: Omar Mateen’s father. The elder Mateen was spotted at the rally sitting behind Clinton and again at a rest stop later in the night, by a reporter from West Palm Beach’s WPTV.
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Mateen said he received an email from the Democratic Party about the rally and chose to attend.
He called Clinton “good for [the] United States versus Donald Trump”.
Mateen told WPTV’s Tory Dunnan that he supported, in her words, “everything Clinton has to say, especially her gun control measures”.
Seddique Mateen, whose son carried out the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history in June at the Pulse nightclub, looked on as Clinton began her speech on Monday in Kissimmee remembering the terror attack.
Mateen said he’s cooperating with the FBI in its investigation into the shooting but declined further comment on the issue. The 29-year-old shooter’s father did not speak during the rally, but did grant an interview following the event to WPTV. Mateen also appeared incredulous when Dunnan suggested people might be surprised to see him so close to Orlando. They had previously released 31 autopsies, along with that of the shooter, Omar Mateen, on Friday.
The station’s report said Mateen declined to answer additional questions until they ran into him later on when he was willing to speak more openly. “I wish, because I spoke a lot about that – I wish that my son joined the Army and fought ISIS and destroyed ISIS. I love the United States, and I’ve been living here a long time”, Mateen said.
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After the shooting, Mateen also vehemently condemned homosexuality – but then suggested his son had no right to open fire inside the gay nightclub.
