Two survivors of the Islamic terror attack on Pulse nightclub say they were shocked and enraged after learning that they were in the same room as the father of shooter Omar Mateen, who attended a Hillary Clinton presidential rally in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday.
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Veteran Florida campaign strategist Mac Stipanovich, a Republican who has declared himself part of the #NeverTrump effort, said Tuesday that someone in the Clinton campaign should have seen Mateen in the crowd and kept him away from the cameras.
The questions about Mateen’s visibility at the Clinton rally came just one day after Trump initiated his latest controversy by saying that “Second Amendment people” might have a way of stopping Clinton’s judiciary choices.
But once the news broke, Clinton’s camp said Mateen “wasn’t invited as a guest” by the campaign, which was unaware of his presence “until after the event”.
Seddique Mateen was standing in a crowd behind Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, during a campaign event Monday night, August 8, 2016, in Kissimmee, south of Orlando. What attracts a terrorist, which is what he is, this guy was on radio saying bad anti- American things, supports the Taliban, this is a guy who said God should punish homosexuals.
He called Clinton “good for [the] United States versus Donald Trump”.
The Clinton campaign responded quickly, noting that the campaign did not invite Mateen to the open rally.
When asked about the reaction to his attendance, Mateen said, “Why should they be surprised?”
In an interview following the event, Mateen told NewsChannel 5 that he supported Clinton over Donald Trump.
“I was invited by [the] Democratic party”, Mateen told the reporter.
Clinton’s opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, blamed the June 12 massacre on America’s “immigration system” which he claims is too lax, ignoring that the shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in NY and was an American citizen.
It was all about Hillary Clinton during a campaign event Monday evening in Kissimmee.
The large number of head injuries and multiple wounds on victims suggests Mateen was targeting his victims rather than shooting randomly, said Josh Wright, a former Florida Department of Law Enforcement firearms analyst who now has a forensics consulting firm in Tallahassee.
“We are going to try to prevent somebody who shouldn’t have a gun from shooting you or somebody that you care about”, Clinton said.
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He added that he “wished” his killer son, who was shot dead by police inside the nightclub, had joined the army to fight Isis.
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“I know how many people, family members, loved ones and friends are still grieving”, Clinton said. “That would be much better”.
