TERROR ATTACK AT ORLANDO GAY BAR KILLS 50 OR MORE: “The quick acknowledgement that this was a terrorist attack leads one to believe that the gunman is a ‘known wolf’ terrorist. Indeed, it’s being reported that the unnamed gunman had made terrorist threats before,” Rick Moran writes at PJM.
The London Daily Mail adds, “The gunman, who was born to Afghan parents, was carrying a suspicious device, possibly a suicide vest, when he opened fire on the dance floor inside [the Orlando club called] Pulse in the early hours of this morning…The FBI believe the gunman, who was shot dead by officers, may have ‘leanings to radical Islamic terrorism.’”
USA Today describes the incident as the deadliest shooting in US history.
“Mir Seddique, Mateen’s father told NBC News, ‘this has nothing to do with religion.’ Seddique said his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thinks that may be related to the shooting. ‘We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country,’ Seddique said.”
At Hot Air, Jazz Shaw responds to the above quote by Seddique:
If you’ll forgive a bit of skepticism on my part, that sounds unlikely. I’m not saying that Seddiqui couldn’t have been anti-gay. (Islamic terrorists aren’t exactly known for taking part in pride parades, after all.) But that’s a pretty violent reaction for having “seen two men kissing.” The guy lives in northern Florida and this is the first time in almost thirty years he’s run across two gay guys engaging in a PDA?
“What bears noting is the timing, occurring in the holy month of Ramadan, which has historically been when ISIS & al-Qaeda ramp up attacks,” one of the co-bloggers at Ace of Spades adds.
“House Homeland Security Chair McCaul: ‘This appears to be the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.'”
Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal tweets, “Rep. [Adam] Schiff, [D-CA] who is always cautious, says Dept. of Homeland Security told him Orlando shooter made pledge of allegiance to Islamic State.”