Orlando Shooter, Omar Mateen’s ex-wife and former classmate says he’s gay.
Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people inside a gay nightclub early Sunday morning, was gay, according to his ex-wife and a former classmate.
Reports initially indicated Mateen only had religious motives – he had already been investigated by the FBI on two separate occasions, in 2013 and 2014, for alleged links to extremism. In addition, Mateen placed a 911 call in the middle of the terrorist attack to pledge his allegiance to ISIS, and appeared extremely intolerant of gay men. Also, his father told reporters hours after the massacre that his son had recently been angered by the sight of two men kissing.
ISIS later claimed responsibility for his actions, though they might regret doing so now. New reports suggest Mateen was gay.
Orlando shooter’s former classmate says he’s gay
Mateen’s former classmate, who decided to remain anonymous, tells the paper Mateen asked him on a date when they were both students at the Indian River Community College police academy in 2006. His account, via the Palm Beach Post:
He said Mateen asked him out romantically.
“We went to a few gay bars with him, and I was not out at the time, so I declined his offer,” he said.
He believed Mateen was gay, but not open about it. Mateen was awkward, and for a while the classmate and the rest in the group of friends felt sorry for him.
“He just wanted to fit in and no one liked him,” he said. “He was always socially awkward.”
Omar Mateen’s ex-wife says he had a gay past
It’s important to point out that Mateen was married at least once, to a woman named Sitora Yusufiy, who said on Sunday that he was abusive and unstable during their brief marriage. According to the New York Times, he “traumatized” her. Mateen would confiscate her paychecks, isolate her in their Florida home and was abusive.
The last she remembers of Mr. Mateen is that he grabbed her arm to stop her from getting into the car and leaving him forever.
“He tried to reach in his back pocket, I don’t know if he had a gun with him, but my mother felt that and she screamed out,” Ms. Yusufiy said at an interview at the home where she lives with her fiancé, here in the steep green hillsides above Boulder. “That was the last time I saw him.”
Yusufiy sat for an interview with Brazilian TV on Monday alongside her boyfriend who said in the interview that she had described Mateen as having “gay tendencies” and said his dad had called him gay in front of her several times.
The boyfriend also said Yusufiy told the FBI her ex-husband was unstable and she did not believe he was part of a terrorist group. “The FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media,” he said.
Pulse nightclub regulars reveal their history with Omar Mateen
Their accounts are similar to other accounts released on Monday. According to reports, Mateen was a regular at Pulse, the Orlando nightclub he attacked Sunday, frequent patrons say that Mateen went their as often as twice a month. While he was there, he would talk about his wife and children and would often get so drunk he had to be escorted out of the club.
“He’s been going to this bar for at least three years,” Pulse performer Chris Callen told the Canadian Press.
Omar Mateen used gay dating apps
Mateen also reportedly met with gay men online. One man, Kevin West, tells the Los Angeles Times he talked with Mateen on the gay dating app Jack’d on and off for about a year. He says he never met Mateen in person, but believes they passed each other on the street outside Pulse the night of the shooting.
West was dropping off a friend at the club when he noticed Mateen – whom he knew by sight but not by name – crossing the street wearing a dark cap and carrying a black cellphone about 1 a.m., an hour before the shooting.
“He walked directly past me. I said, ‘Hey,’ and he turned and said, ‘Hey,’” and nodded his head, West said. “I could tell by the eyes.”
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, is adamant that his son is not gay. “If he was gay, why would he do something like this?” he said.
Related:
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Omar Mateen Called 911 Before the Orlando Shooting to Dedicate It to ISIS
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Who is Omar Mateen? Pulse Nightclub Shooter’s Father Speaks Out
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Orlando Shooter Was a Pulse Nightclub Regular and Used a Gay Dating App
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