Gunman Omar Mateen visited gay nightclub a dozen times before shooting, witness says

[brooklynite]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

FORT PIERCE-At least four regular customers at the gay Orlando nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people Sunday morning said today that they believe they had seen the killer, Omar Mateen, there before.

"Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent," said Ty Smith, who also uses the name Aries.

He saw Mateen at the club at least a dozen times, he told the Orlando Sentinel.


Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-orlando-nightclub-omar-mateen-profile-20160613-story.html

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Why am I not surprised?

[villager]

1. zero surprise, really. nt

[Blue_Tires]

2. So he was in the closet?

Or was he just scoping the layout for his later rampage?

[ohnoyoudidnt]

7. Visiting a dozen times and getting really drunk sounds like a bit more than

scoping the place.

[DCBob]

11. Yep.

[Doctor Jack]

3. I wonder if claiming to be loyal to ISIS was just a cover for him?

So that people wouldn't look into if he was actually a gay man that couldn't accept who he was.

[niyad]

4. I am confused here. his father says that the sight of two men kissing upset him--yet he made at

least a dozen visits to a gay club? what am I missing here?

[Jeb Bartlet]

5. Self hating

closeted gay man.

[niyad]

6. there are no words.

[Chakab]

8. He was so disgusted that he kept going back for more, huh?

I ask again. Why is it not appropriate to compare this to all of the homophobic bigotry from right wing Christians in this country when the pathology is exactly the same?

The rhetoric is the same, and the apparent self-loathing is the same. How many anti-gay pastors have been caught will rent boys?

That's not minimization of what happened. It's a call to fight against this type of hatred in all forms.

[MariaThinks]

9. what does islam teach about homosexuality?

[Midnight Writer]

13. And what does Islam teach about drinking alcohol? Witnesses say this guy was drinking.

The 9-11 terrorists reportedly ate pork, drank alcohol, used cocaine and frequented strip clubs.

The terrorists in Paris left behind their "works", indicating they were shooting up speed before the attacks. Folks in Brussels said they were drug dealers.

Isn't it funny how these devout Muslims don't really seem to be very adherent to the Islamic faith they are willing to kill for?

[BigDemVoter]

10. It sounds like an ugly clash between

his inner homosexuality and his outer fundamentalism. Too bad he couldn't have just shot himself.

[DCBob]

12. That's the way I see it also.

He hated himself and those who represented his temptations.

[Shoonra]

14. An example of self-hatred, not of radical Islam

We have here someone, yes of Islamic background, but he drank alcohol, he went to a gay bar repeatedly, and he had an account on an internet gay dating website. So it appears that he wasn't really "a good Muslim", in terms of basic Muslim teachings. What does appear is that, despite two marriages, he was a closeted gay, deeply conflicted, possibly so stressed that he was driven to drink. And finally driven to kill people he viewed as tempting him to violate Islamic teachings, and position himself for suicide (or suicide by cop), and issue some last words that might repair his reputation among strict Muslims by indicating support for the most fanatical of the devout.

Islam is only slightly to blame for this. Thirty and more years ago, anti-gay violence in America and England was usually the result of Christian influences. The more immediate blame is the easy access to an assault rifle; yes, even without an assault rifle he could have done some damage, but it probably would have been less devastating, probably would have required more preparation time - which might have allowed some sanity to dawn on his situation, all in all fewer than 50 dead and 53 wounded.

[closeupready]

15. Good post. Once in the US, the "gay panic" defense was a reliable, timeworn

means of mitigating a defendant's culpability in criminal court for assault, and even murder, of gay people.