Early Saturday morning, an American-born man, Omar Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Florida opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in downtown Orlando, Florida. With 50 casualties, this has become the deadliest mass shooting in United States history, and the nation's worst terrorist attack since September 11, 2001.
At around 2 a.m., Mateen entered Pulse carrying an assault rifle and a pistol. Mateen and Orlando police engaged in a standoff that lasted approximately three hours, during which patrons of the nightclub, being held hostage, desperately reached out to friends and family, a final attempt to say goodbye. Around 5 a.m., police entered the building with an armored vehicle and stun grenades, killing the assailant.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina released a statement early Sunday morning, saying, "It appears he was organized and well-prepared," suggesting that the shooting was premeditated and held a darker meaning. Authorities have not found any accomplices.
As of yet, there have been no claims of responsibility for the shooting on Jihadi forums, but ISIS supporters have publicly praised the murders on pro-Islamic State forums. Mateen himself called 911 during the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS.
Addressing the nation from Washington D.C, President Barack Obama stated, "We know enough to say this was an act of terror and an act of hate. This is an especially heartbreaking day for our friends who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender."
When questioned, Mateen's parents, who were born in Afghanistan, said that Mateen had expressed "outrage after seeing two men kiss in Miami;" however, they had never considered him to be very religious, and had no prior knowledge of any connection he had to ISIS.
Mateen was married to a woman from Uzbekistan, but filed for divorce two short years after. In an interview to CNN, his now ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, stated that Mateen "was a normal husband at the beginning of their marriage, but started abusing her after a few months." She also said that "Mateen was bipolar, although he was not formally diagnosed;" further, she admitted that "Mateen had a history with steroids" and that "he was religious," although she doesn't believe that religion was the cause of the shooting.
At a press conference on Sunday, FBI Assistant Special Agent Ronald Hopper said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was previously made aware of Mateen, having interviewed him in 2013 and 2014 after he "expressed sympathy for a sucide bomber." Despite this, Mateen was not under investigation at the time of the shooting.
In the past two weeks, Mateen had purchased a Glock pistol and a long gun. However, it's not known if those weapons were used in the attack. Since Mateen was "not a prohibited person," legally, he could walk into a gun dealership and purchase firearms.
In the hours following the shooting, old political debates have once again surfaced with Democrats calling for gun control and Republicans blasting radical Islamic terrorism. Both parties have called for the revamping of laws to prevent future shootings, but there has been no sign that Congress has worked to change anything, leaving measures like new gun control laws no clear path forward.
However, instead of making the murders of 49 innocent people abut gun control, politicians, the media and the general public should focus on the hate crime that occurred. Fifty people were killed just because of who they are. The focus should be on promoting love, peace and acceptance. Hate and violence are the actions and feelings of cowards.
