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Omar Mateen

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Omar Mateen
A driver's license photo of Mateen
Born
Omar Mir Seddique[4]

(1986-11-16)November 16, 1986
New Hyde Park, New York,[5][6] U.S.
DiedJune 12, 2016(2016-06-12) (aged 29)
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathGunshot wound
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSecurity guard[7][8]
ParentMir Seddique Mateen (father)
Allegiance none
MotiveIslamic fundamentalism[1]
Internalized homophobia[2][3]
Details
DateJune 12, 2016
c. 2:00 a.m. – c.  5:00 a.m.
Location(s)Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Target(s)Pulse gay nightclub
Killed49
Injured53
WeaponsSIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle
9mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol

Omar Mir Seddique Mateen (November 16, 1986 – June 12, 2016)[11] was an American mass murderer. He killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting at the Pulse gay bar in Orlando, Florida, before being killed in a gunfight with the police.

Prior to the shooting, he had been investigated by the FBI in 2013 and 2014. Mateen reportedly pledged his allegiance to the Sunni militant jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) before the shooting.[12]

Personal life

Mateen was born as Omar Mir Seddique[4] in New Hyde Park, New York, to Afghan parents. His father, Mir Seddique, was a Pashtun who emigrated in the 1980s and was a supporter of the Mujahideen.[13][14][15] After being raised in New York for a few years, he moved with his family to Port St. Lucie in 1991.[16]

Mateen attended Martin County High School for one year, where he played football,[17] and also St. Lucie West Centennial High School, where a schoolmate said he was bullied.[18][19] The Washington Post interviewed three separate classmates who claimed Mateen cheered in support of the hijackers during the September 11 attacks.[18] He held an associate of science degree in criminal justice technology from Indian River State College, received in 2006.[16][20] He previously graduated from Martin County Adult Vocational School in 2003. Mateen worked a number of various jobs at local stores and restaurants while attending school.[16]

In 2006, he filed a petition for a name change, adding Mateen as his surname to match that of his parents' (Persian: متين matīn, meaning "strong"/"tough").[4][16]

The same year, he registered as a member of the Democratic Party, and was still listed as a member in 2016.[21]

Mateen married an Uzbekistan-born woman, Sitora Yusifiy, in April 2009. They separated after four months and divorced in July 2011.[20][22][23] He remarried and at the time of his death had a three-year-old son.[24]

In 2011 and 2012, Mateen made two trips to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. Around these times, he also went to the United Arab Emirates.[25] After checking with Saudi officials, FBI Director James Comey said they found nothing incriminating about the trips.[26]

At the time of the shooting, he lived about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Orlando, Florida.[13][14] According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, he had no criminal record in Florida. Mateen lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, but received mail at his parents' home in nearby Port St. Lucie.[20]

Employment

In 2006 and 2007, Mateen worked for seven months as a prison guard for the Florida Department of Corrections, leaving the position for an "administrative matter unrelated to misconduct."[27]

He then worked for British-based security firm G4S Secure Solutions in Jupiter, Florida from September 2007 until his death.[17][28][29][30] The company said screenings of Mateen, conducted upon hiring and in 2013, had raised no red flags.[31] He held an active firearms license and an armed security guard license.[32][33] He passed a psychological test and had no criminal record.[34]

A former co-worker who worked with Mateen in a gated community in western Port St. Lucie described him as "unhinged and unstable". He also said that he frequently made homophobic, racist, and sexist comments, and talked about killing people.[4][35] The co-worker stated he complained to G4S about Mateen "several times".[36] However, a resident who lived at the community since 2011 described Mateen as "very polite" and "a very nice, positive person".[35]

Characterization

Mateen's father, Mir Seddique Mateen, who hosted a TV show called Durand Jirga Show on satellite television network Payam-e-Afghan in 2015 in which he represented himself as a candidate for the President of Afghanistan,[15][37] said of his son's actions, "This had nothing to do with religion." He was quoted as saying that he had seen his son get angry after witnessing a gay couple kiss in front of his family at the Bayside Marketplace in Miami months prior to the attack, which he suggested might have been a motivating factor.[2][3]

Following the nightclub attack, Mateen's ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, told media outlets that during their marriage, Mateen was mentally unstable, and would beat her and keep her completely separated from her family.[38] Yusifiy also claimed that he was bipolar and had a history of using steroids.[23]

Imam Shafiq Rahman at the Fort Pierce Islamic Center told reporters that Mateen would come to the mosque "three or four times a week"[9] with his father and his three-year-old son as recently as two days before the shooting, and said of him, "He was the most quiet guy. He would come and pray and leave. There was no indication at all of violence." Rahman added that he did not preach violence toward homosexuals.[39] A former high school friend and co-worker said that despite reports of Mateen's homophobia, a number of his co-workers at Treasure Coast Square, a shopping mall at Jensen Beach, were gay, and that Mateen had no obvious conflicts with them.[17][40] However, a former co-worker, Dan Gilroy, who worked with Mateen for about a year as a fellow security guard at PGA Village, a golf complex in the city of Port St. Lucie, told WPTV-TV, an NBC affiliate TV station in Florida's West Palm Beach, that Mateen often made homophobic, sexist and racist remarks. He says that Mateen was "an angry person, violent in nature and a bigot to almost every class of person... I saw it coming. I mean everything. He told me he was going to do it. Besides the date and the location, he said he was going to kill a whole bunch of people".[41]

Sexuality allegations

There have been speculations by people who knew Mateen that he might have been gay. A male friend of his from 2006 when the two were in police academy together has stated that Mateen went to gay clubs with him, and that Mateen once expressed an interest in him; the friend refused because he had not come out yet. Club-goers also recalled Mateen dancing with another man.[42][43]

The Orlando Sentinel reported that at least four regular customers at the Pulse nightclub had seen Mateen visit the nightclub at least a dozen times. On some occasions, Mateen would drink in a corner by himself, "and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent."[5] A witness who recognized Mateen outside the club an hour before the shootings told investigators that Mateen had been messaging him for about a year using a gay dating app called "Jack'd". He gave his phone to the FBI for analysis, along with his login details for the application.[44] However, this was disputed by dozens of witnesses interviewed by the Tampa Bay Times, who all said they never saw Mateen at the nightclub.[16]

A Florida man came out after the shooting and said that he and Mateen had visited gay bars together. Mateen's father Sidiqque denied the fact that his son was closeted, saying, "If he was gay, why would he do something like this?" However, Mateen's ex-wife said she "didn't know" when asked if Mateen was gay, though she says he had "gay tendencies"[45] and recalled that he had confessed to going to nightclubs.[42][43][46] Sidiqque stated in an online video in his native language, Dari, "In this month of Ramadan, the gay and lesbian issue is something that God will punish," though "the servants of God shouldn't have anything to do with it."[47]

Preceding the attack

Mateen legally purchased a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 handgun,[48][49][50][51] the two firearms later used in the shooting, from a gun shop in Port St. Lucie two weeks before the shooting.[52] He also attempted to purchase body armor, but was unable to since the store where he tried to make the purchase did not sell the product he was looking for.[53]

Officials briefed on the investigation also stated that Mateen went to a Walt Disney World theme park with his wife, presumably to scout it as a possible target. It is unclear which exact theme park was visited by Mateen,[54][55] though it is speculated that he also visited Disney Springs to check it for possible targeting, since Disney Springs' security is more lax than the Disney theme parks' security. He had actually visited both Disney Springs and Pulse from June 1 to June 6, 2016, during the Gay Days 2016 celebrations at Disney World and in the general Orlando area.[56]

Hours before the attack, Mateen stopped by at his parents' home to visit his father Seddique. Seddique stated that he did not notice anything strange about his son during the visit.[16]

Mateen first became a person of interest to the FBI in May 2013, when he came to the FBI's attention after making "inflammatory" statements at a contract security guard job; Mateen told co-workers that he had family connections to al-Qaeda and that he was a member of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is an enemy of ISIL, to which Mateen later pledged allegiance, and FBI Director James Comey noted the "contradictory" nature of Mateen's statements. The FBI opened a preliminary investigation and interviewed Mateen twice; Mateen admitted making the statements but "explained that he said them in anger because his co-workers were teasing him." The FBI closed the investigation after ten months, deeming Mateen not to be a threat. Mateen was on a terrorist watch list during the investigation but was removed once the investigation closed.[57]

In July 2014, Mateen's name came to the attention of the FBI after he was linked to Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, an American radical who traveled to Syria and committed a suicide bombing there; the two men knew each other casually and attended the same mosque.[32][57] The investigation continued with a focus on Abu Salha.[57]

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, said that according to the Department of Homeland Security, Mateen had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), though analysts noted that "at this point, it's anyone's guess as to how involved Omar Mateen was with either Al Qaeda or ISIS."[1]

Shooting and death

Main article: 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on June 12, 2016, Mateen entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and began shooting. At 2:22 a.m., he made a 9-1-1 call in which he pledged allegiance to ISIL and also referenced Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombers.[50] Mateen took hostages after police arrived and engaged in a shootout with him. At approximately 5:00 a.m. police shot and killed Mateen, ending the attack. In the end, Mateen had killed 49 people and injured 53 more. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in United States history,[a] the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history,[59] and the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001.[23][60]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The previous deadliest shooting had been the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.[58]

References

  1. ^ a b Bertrand, Natasha (June 12, 2016). "ISIS-linked news agency claims responsibility for shooting rampage at gay nightclub that left 50 dead". Business Insider. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Grimson, Matthew; Wyllie, David; Fieldstadt, Elisha (June 12, 2016). "Orlando Nightclub Shooting: Mass Casualties After Gunman Opens Fire in Gay Club". NBC News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Williams, Pete; Conner, Tracy; Ortiz, Erik (June 12, 2016). "Terror? Hate? What Motivated Orlando Nightclub Shooter?". NBC News. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Williams, Pete; Connor, Tracy; Ortiz, Erik; Gosk, Stephanie (June 13, 2016). "Gunman Omar Mateen Described as Belligerent, Racist and 'Toxic'". NBC News. Retrieved June 13, 2016. Records also show that he had filed a petition for a name change in 2006 from Omar Mir Seddique to Omar Mir Seddique Mateen.
  5. ^ a b Lotan, Gal Tziperman; Brinkmann, Paul; Stutzman, Rene (June 13, 2016). "Gunman Omar Mateen visited gay nightclub a dozen times before shooting, witness says". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Brady, Ryan (June 13, 2016). "Orlando shooter born in New Hyde Park". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  7. ^ Perez, Evan; Prokupecz, Shimon; Shoichet, Catherine E. (June 12, 2016). "Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS, official says". CNN. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  8. ^ Detman, Gary (June 12, 2016). "Reports: Omar Mateen of Fort Pierce identified as Pulse Nightclub killer". FOX 28 Media. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Nehamas, Nicholas; Gurney, Kyra; Ovalle, David; Brown, Julie K. (June 12, 2016). "Omar Mateen: Portrait of America's deadliest mass shooter". Retrieved June 13, 2016. Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman said Mateen had been a regular attendee since childhood and came in for worship three or four times a week.
  10. ^ Lawler, David. "Omar Mateen's imam says he was known at the mosque for being aggressive". The Daily Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  11. ^ Yuhas, Alan (June 12, 2016). "Florida nightclub shooting: 50 killed and 53 injured in 'act of terror' – rolling updates". The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  12. ^ Williams, Pete; Connor, Tracy; Ortiz, Erik; Gosk, Stephanie (June 12, 2016). "Gunman Omar Mateen Described as Belligerent, Racist and 'Toxic'". NBC News. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "50 killed in shooting at Orlando nightclub, Mayor says". FOX News Channel. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  14. ^ a b "CBS News: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Orlando Nightclub Attack That Left 50 Dead". CBS New York. Associated Press/CBS New York. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  15. ^ a b Bearak, Max (June 12, 2016). "Orlando suspect's father hosted a TV show and now pretends to be Afghanistan's president". Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Montgomery, Ben; Howard, Samuel; LaForgia, Michael (June 13, 2016). "Before Orlando massacre, killer Omar Mateen visited parents one last time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  17. ^ a b c Fagenson, Zachary (June 13, 2016). "Gunman in worst U.S. massacre described as 'quiet' but grew hateful". Reuters. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  18. ^ a b Wan, William; Murphy, Brian (June 13, 2016). "On 9/11, the Orlando shooter's classmates mourned. Some say he celebrated". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  19. ^ Stutzman, Rene; Inman, Jessica (June 13, 2016). "Omar Mateen: Father, security guard, 'dorky' in school". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c Jones, Elliott (June 12, 2016). "Who is Omar Mateen?". Treasure Coast Newspapers. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  21. ^ Walsh, Michael (June 12, 2016). "Omar Mateen called 911, pledged support to ISIS amid mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando: FBI". Yahoo News.
  22. ^ "Orlando shooting suspect married, divorced within 2 years". Evansville Courier & Press. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ a b c Fantz, Ashley; Karimi, Faith; McLaughlin, Eliott C. (June 12, 2016). "50 killed in Florida nightclub, shooter pledged ISIS allegiance". CNN. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  24. ^ "Florida nightclub shooter apparently made threats in the past; ex-wife claims he beat her". Fox News Channel. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  25. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (2016-06-13). "Orlando shooter reportedly traveled to Saudi Arabia twice for a religious pilgrimage". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  26. ^ Vinograd, Cassandra (June 13, 2016). "Gunman Was 'Cool and Calm' During Negotiations: Officials". NBC News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  27. ^ "Omar Mateen: What we know, don't know about Orlando nightclub shooter". Tampa Bay Times. June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  28. ^ Beall, Pat; Morgan, Matt; Mower, Lawrence; Stapleton, Christine (June 12, 2016). "Vero Beach bomber tied to Mateen posted anti-gay video on Facebook". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 12, 2016. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "A G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc. Publication". g4s.com. Fall 2012. p. 10. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  30. ^ Katersky, Aaron; Meek, James Gordon; Margolin, Josh; Hayden, Michael Edison (June 12, 2016). "What We Know About Omar Mateen, Suspected Orlando Nightclub Shooter". ABC News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  31. ^ Woo, Stu (June 13, 2016). "Orlando Nightclub Shooting Puts G4S in Spotlight Again: U.K.-based security giant that employed Omar Mateen said its vetting had raised no red flags". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  32. ^ a b Katersky, Aaron; Meek, James Gordon; Margolin, Josh; Hayden, Michael Edison (June 12, 2016). "What We Know About Omar Mateen, Suspected Orlando Nightclub Shooter". ABC News. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  33. ^ "Mateen, Omar". Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  34. ^ Lotan, Gal Tziperman; Brinkmann, Paul; Stutzman, Rene (June 13, 2016). "Witness: Omar Mateen drank alone at Pulse before attack". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  35. ^ a b Westbury, Anthony; Rodriguez, Nicole; Jones, Elliot (June 12, 2016). "Co-worker: Omar Mateen homophobic, 'unhinged'". Florida Today. USA Today. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  36. ^ "Co-worker: Omar Mateen homophobic, 'unhinged'". USA Today Network. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016. Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.
  37. ^ Mateen, Seddique (May 23, 2015). "Seddique Mateen candidacy announcement for President of Afghanistan_B (5.23.2015 Part 1 of 3)" (YouTube video). Durand Jirga Show. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  38. ^ Goldman, Adam; Tate, Julie (June 12, 2016). "Ex-wife of suspected Orlando shooter: 'He beat me'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  39. ^ "Live updates: Orlando shooting". The Washington Post. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  40. ^ Zavadski, Katie; Waddell, Lynn (June 12, 2016). "Drag Queen: Orlando Gunman Omar Mateen Was My Friend". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  41. ^ John Shainan (June 12, 2016). ""I saw it coming." Former co-worker talks about Omar Mateen". WPTV.com (WPTV-TV, West Palm Beach, Florida). Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  42. ^ a b Sandoval, Edgar (June 13, 2016). "Orlando shooter was regular at Pulse gay club; former classmate says Omar Mateen was homosexual". The New York Daily News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  43. ^ a b "Orlando shooter Omar Mateen was gay, former classmate says". Palm Beach Post. June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  44. ^ "Orlando gunman had used gay dating app and visited LGBT nightclub on other occasions, witnesses say". The Los Angeles Times. June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  45. ^ Bluestone, Gabrielle (June 12, 2016). "Reports: Ex-Wife and Classmate Say Orlando Killer Was Gay". Gawker. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  46. ^ "Omar Mateen used gay dating app Jack'd: witness". Ninemsn. June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  47. ^ "Orlando gunman had used gay dating app and visited LGBT nightclub on other occasions, witnesses say". Los Angeles Times. June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  48. ^ "Orlando shooter was "cool and calm" at the end". CBS News. June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  49. ^ Caplan, David; Hayden, Michael Edison (June 12, 2016). "At Least 50 Dead in Orlando Gay Club Shooting, Suspect Pledged Allegiance to ISIS, Officials Say". ABC News. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  50. ^ a b Narayan, Chandrika (June 12, 2016). "Timeline of Orlando nightclub shooting". CNN. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  51. ^ "50 dead, Islamic terrorism tie eyed in Orlando gay bar shooting". CBS News. Associated Press. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  52. ^ Winter, Tom; Connor, Tracy (June 13, 2016). "Dealer Who Sold Orlando Massacre Guns: 'I Don't Make the Laws'". NBC News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  53. ^ Perez, Evan; Prokupecz, Shimon; Shoichet, Catherine E.; Hume, Tim (June 13, 2016). "Omar Mateen: Angry, violent 'bigot' who pledged allegiance to ISIS". CNN. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  54. ^ Rayner, Gordon; Lawler, David; Alexander, Harriet (June 13, 2016). "Disney World was scouted by Orlando gunman Omar Mateen as possible terror target". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  55. ^ Shallwani, Pervaiz; Barrett, Devlin; Al Omran, Ahmed; Entous, Adam (June 13, 2016). "Orlando Shooter Scouted Walt Disney World During Search for Targets". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  56. ^ Perez, Evan; Prokupecz, Shimon; Ap, Tiffany (2016-06-14). "Patron: Mateen was familiar face at Pulse nightclub". CNN. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  57. ^ a b c Shabad, Rebecca (June 13, 2016). "FBI Director Comey: "highly confident" Orlando shooter radicalized through internet". CBS News. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  58. ^ "Fifty dead in Orlando gay nightclub shooting, worst mass killing in U.S. history; gunman reportedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State". Los Angeles Times. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  59. ^ Stern, Mark Joseph (June 12, 2016). "The Long, Tragic History of Violence at LGBTQ Bars and Clubs in America". Slate. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  60. ^ Swanson, Ann (June 12, 2016). "The Orlando attack could transform the picture of post-9/11 terrorism in America". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
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