According to transcripts released by the FBI, the Orlando gunman called himself an ‘Islamic soldier’ and threatened to strap hostages into explosive vests. Mateen was speaking to the police during the three-hour siege.
However, no explosive vests or bombs were found in the club or the suspect’s car, the FBI said.
From inside the nightclub ‘Pulse’, the gunman, Omar Mateen told police negotiators to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that was why he was “out here right now.”
The conversations shed light on Mateen’s possible the possible motivates. Killing 49 people and injuring 53, Mateen was responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may God protect him, on behalf of the Islamic State.Mateen
Authorities believe Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent, acted alone in the 12 June rampage, with no help from Islamist militant networks. The 29-year-old security guard was killed by the police after over three hours since he held patrons hostage in the club.
The FBI and US State Department released partial transcripts of the four calls with the emergency operator and crisis negotiators earlier on Monday, omitting the shooter’s references to the leader of Islamic State, saying they did not want to provide a platform for propaganda.
The full version was released after a wave of criticism from US House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan, Florida Governor Rick Scott and other political leaders.
Mateen’s conversations were made public as police sought to fend off criticism that they may have acted too slowly to end a three-hour standoff at the nightclub in Orlando.
You people are gonna get it and I’m gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid.Mateen
‘Chilling, Calm and Deliberate’
While the killer made these murderous statements, he did so in a chilling, calm and deliberate manner.Ron Hopper, FBI Assistant
Mateen said he was wearing an explosive vest like the kind “used in France,” referring to the deadly assault in Paris last November by Islamic militants, the transcript said.
Speaker Ryan had called for the full text to be released and accused the Obama administration of censoring references to the Islamic State. He said the decision to edit the transcript was “preposterous” and that everyone knew Mateen was a radical Islamic extremist inspired by Islamic State.
We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community. The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear about who did this and why.Republican Official
The FBI and Justice Department said the omissions had caused an “unnecessary distraction” and that was why they eventually decided to release the unredacted transcripts and summaries of the calls.
(Published in an arrangement with Reuters.)
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