Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev perpetrated the April 2013 attack in Boston that killed three and injured more than 260.
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“During one of the 911 calls between the operator and Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, Mateen made a reference to the Tsarnaev brothers by calling them his ‘homeboys, ‘” according to Shaw’s statement.
“At this point in time, there’s no belief that there’s any real and direct connection between him and the Tsarnaev brothers”, Baker said.
Mateen, 29, opened fire inside Pulse, a popular gay nightclub, killing 49 people and injuring 53 before he was shot and killed by police.
Comey said that FBI agents interviewed Mateen again during the investigation, but found no “significant contacts with the suicide bomber for Al-Nusra” and moved on.
This resulted in a ten-month investigation during which Mateen’s communications metadata and transactions were examined, and he was interviewed twice.
The Massachusetts State Police said Sunday that Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS and mentioned the Tsarnaev brothers during his shooting rampage inside the Orlando gay nightclub.
Comey, in a press conference, said the investigation so far had turned up “strong indications of radicalization” and inspiration from foreign fighters, but law enforcement does not believe at this time the plot was directed from outside the United States or that Mateen was operating as part of any network.
As the nation mourns the deadliest shooting in USA history, we’re learning more about the victims and the ones who were from New England.
That investigation was closed 10 months later after authorities concluded that Mateen made the assertions to “freak out” his work colleagues, Comey said.
Comey said Mateen admitted making the statements reported by his coworkers, but explained that he did it in anger because he thought they were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim, Comey said.
In a 911 call, the killer pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and also “appeared to claim solidarity” with the Boston Marathon bombing perpetrators as well as with a Florida man who blew himself up in Syria, Comey said.
In the wake of the connection to the Boston bombings, the Commonwealth Fusion Center is sharing information with federal authorities investigating the Orlando terrorist act as well as with police assigned to the Boston Regional Intelligence Center.
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He promised that the FBI would “leave no stone unturned” in its investigation.
