ORLANDO – Soon after 49 people were shot and killed and 54 shot and wounded at an Orlando gay club last month, top U.S officials such as the FBI director and U.S. attorney general described it as both a hate crime and an act of Islamic terrorism.
But largely unreported FBI findings now show that the massacre likely had nothing to do with the club clientele being gay.
“While there can be no denying the significant impact on the gay community, the investigation hasn’t revealed that he targeted Pulse because it was a gay club,” the Washington Post reports a U.S. law enforcement official said last week.
In a 911 call, the shooter Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State and did not make any derogatory comments about gays.
Mateen was reported to have visited the Pulse Club before the shooting and two gay men claim they had short term relationships with him.
