(Newswire.net — June 13, 2016) — The FBI identified Orlando nightclub shooter as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a US citizen born in New York, who voiced his allegiance to the Islamic State.
The IS claimed responsibility for the attack through Amaq News, who reported that the attack was “carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” Russia Today reports. However, according to RT sources it is more likely that IS is just claiming credit for this act as part of their propaganda, rather than it being a planned terrorist attack, despite Mateen pledging his allegiance to IS during a 911 call from the club.
Mateen was known as an IS supporter and was questioned by the FBI several times over his connections with the Islamic State, but was still able to purchase assault rifles and ammunition legally.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Mateen legally obtained a handgun and an AR-15 rifle a few days before the shooting.
The attacker worked in one of the largest security service firms, G4S, since 2007, and carried a gun legally. It is not known how Mateen passed the evaluation despite the frequent hate talk.
According to his coworker, prior to the attack that left 50 dead and 53 injured, Mateen frequently talked about killing people, and made racist and homophobic comments, however, the company ignored it to avoid being labelled as Islamophobic.
This tragedy reignites the gun-control debate, however, unlike other world leaders who expressed their deepest condolences over the tragic loss of lives, US politicians are using it as part of their campaigns.
Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, Tweeted he was “right” about the danger of radical Islam in America: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”
Accusing US leaders of being weak when it comes to these matters, Trump said it will only get worse, emphasizing his resolve to “save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack.”
“We can’t afford to be politically correct anymore,” added Trump, once again slamming Obama who “disgracefully refused to even say the words Radical Islam.”
Trump’s opponent called for more efforts to combat terrorism and introduce stricter gun control, calling the shooting “an act of terror.”
“For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad,” Clinton said in a statement on Sunday. In her statement, Clinton emphasized the necessity of intensifying the war on terrorism in the world along with “hardening our defenses at home.”
Unlike Clinton’s communication director, Jennifer Palmieri, who said Republicans offered “no real plans to keep our nation safe and no outreach to the Americans targeted, just insults and attacks,” Democrat Bernie Sanders stayed out of the political arena, expressing his deepest condolences to the victims of the attack, saying “our … hopes go out to all those who were shot that they can recover.”