Posts
The basics as reported by mainstream media is all that I care to cover right now.
Already
stuff is already appearing on Facebook on false flags, most of it
nonsense.
There
will, like with any of these mass attacks be many questions to be
asked.
I
intend to wait until the dust settles a little.
'I heard 20, 40, 50 shots'
Florida
shootings - Witnesses to the mass killing at the Pulse
nightclub in Florida have described people running and screaming like
'a scene from a horror movie'.
13
June, 2016
Fifty
people are known to have died in the shooting at the gay nightclub,
and officials have named Omar
Mateen as
the suspect, who was killed by police during a shootout
There
were about 320 people inside the club during the shooting, according
to the Orlando Sentinel, and Christopher Hanson was
one of them.
"It's
like you're at a gun range, all you hear is just boom bang bang,"
he said.
"All
you saw is people running and screaming and there were bodies in the
parking lot where bodies were being tagged, it was like a scene from
a horror movie," Mr Hansen told CNN.
And
Jon Alamo said he saw a man holding a weapon walk into the room he
was in.
"I
heard 20, 40, 50 shots.
"The
music stopped," he said.
The
gunman opened fire in the nightclub at 2am (local time) and shot
dozens of people with an AR 15 assault rifle and a hand gun, killing
50, and injuring scores of others.
Police
said an officer working as a security guard inside the club exchanged
fire with the suspect, and a hostage situation developed.
SWAT
teams then used armoured cars to storm the club, before engaging in a
gunbattle and shooting the man dead.
The
suspect, who reportedly worked as a security guard and had weapons
training, was a self-radicalised lone wolf terrorist.
US
media have published a picture of the suspect, Omar
Mateen. Photo: CBS News
A
trauma surgeon at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, said some of
the 53 people wounded in last night's nightclub shooting are in a
"dire" condition and the death toll may rise.
The
Surgeon, Michael Cheatham, said many of the gunshot wounds were
severe, with people shot in the trunk, and abdomen.
The
hospital called in six trauma surgeons as bloody patients began
pouring into its emergency department.
Local
residents have lined up around the block as blood banks called for
donations.
Families waiting
Relatives
have been gathering at local hospitals desperate for news of their
loved ones.
Many
had received calls and texts from loved ones inside the club as the
siege began, and some have heard nothing since.
Orlando
police have begun to name the victims: They are Edward Sotomayor Jr;
Stanley Almodovar III; Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo; Juan Ramon Guerrero;
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera; Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz. Orlando's mayor has
asked for patience while the rest are identified and families are
notified
A
man places a hand print on a makeshift memorial in a parking lot near
the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Photo: AFP
Supported
by a friend, a man weeps for victims of the mass shooting. Photo: AFP
Worst ever mass shooting in the US
It
is the worst mass shooting in recent US history. Florida governor
Rick Scott said it was "clearly an act of terror".
Officials
said the killings were likely to be ideologically-motivated, though
there was no information that the gunman was associated with a
particular group.
However,
US Congressman Alan Grayson said it was "no coincidence"
the attack happened in a gay club.
"It
may be we've seen the commission of an awful hate crime," he dded.
Worst US mass shootings in last 25 years
- At least 50 dead, 2016 - Omar Mateen opens fire on revellers at gay club in Orlando, Florida
- 32 dead, 2007 - Student Seung-Hui Cho massacres students at Virginia Tech university before killing himself
- 27 dead, 2012 - Adam Lanza kills 20 six- and seven-year-old children and six adults before killing himself at Sandy Hook, Connecticut
- 23 dead, 1991 - George Hennard drives through the wall of a cafe in Killeen, Texas, before opening fire and committing suicide
- 14 dead, 2015 - Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire at a staff gathering in San Bernardino
- 13 dead, 2009 - Maj Nidal Malik Hasan opens fire at army base in Fort Hood, Texas
- 13 dead, 2009 - Jiverly Wong shoots people at New York immigrant centre before killing himself
- 13 dead, 1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill fellow students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado
A
Bomb Disposal Unit checks for explosives around the apartment
building where shooting suspect Omar Mateen is believed to have
lived. Photo: AFP
Orlando
police officers seen outside of Pulse nightclub. Photo: AFP
The
death toll given by Mayor Dyer means that the Orlando attack
surpasses the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech which left 32 people
dead.
"Today
we're dealing with something that we never imagined and is
unimaginable," he said, adding that there was "an enormous
amount of havoc" and "blood everywhere".
"Because
of the scale of the crime I've asked the [Florida] governor to
declare a state of emergency," he said.
"We're
also issuing a state of emergency for the city of Orlando so that we
can bring additional resources to bear to deal with the aftermath."
According
to the Mass Shooting Tracker, the US last year suffered 372 mass
shootings, defined as a single incident that kills or injures four or
more people. Some 475 people were killed and 1,870 wounded.
Security
has also been boosted for the last day of the Capital Pride LGBT
festival in Washington DC, which will include a moment of silence for
the Orlando victims at 13:00 local time.
Participants
show their support for victims of the Orlando shooting during the
2016 Gay Pride Parade. Photo: Mark
Ralston / AFP
How it unfolded
Orlando
Police Chief John Mina said the attack began at 2am local time. There
was an exchange of fire with a police officer working at the club,
but it is unclear whether that was inside or outside the venue.
After
this a "hostage situation" unfolded, he said.
Chief
Mina said a decision was taken at 5am to send a police assault team
into the club after receiving texts and phone calls from some of the
hostages.
"Our
Swat officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, the suspect is
dead," he said.
"He
appeared to be carrying an assault-type rifle and a handgun, and had
some type of device on him."
A
bomb squad robot has been searching the scene for possible booby
traps.
Florida
police chief John Mina (right) speaking at a press conference as
mayor Buddy Dyer looks on.Photo: AFP
Mateen's
father Mir Seddique told NBC News that the incident had nothing to do
with religion, but may have been triggered by the sight of a gay
couple kissing in Miami.
It
is believed that the suspect, who was a US citizen from the Florida
town of Port St Lucie and was of Afghan descent, was not on a
terrorism watch-list, although he was being investigated for an
unrelated criminal act.
The
latest incident came as Orlando was still reeling from the fatal
shooting on Friday night of 22-year-old singer Christina
Grimmie following
a concert in the city.
-
BBC / RNZ / Reuters
From RT
ISIS-inspired citizen known to FBI: Facts behind deadliest US mass shooting in Orlando
RT,
13
June, 2016
The
Orlando nightclub gunman, 29-year-old US citizen Omar Mateen, who
voiced his allegiance to Islamic State, was able to legally purchase
an entire arsenal of guns and perpetrate the massacre despite several
FBI interrogations over alleged links to terror suspects.
ISIS-inspired attack
Following
the deadly shooting spree in Orlando, Florida, local FBI chief Ron
Hopper acknowledged that New York-born US citizen Mateen had
professed his Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) allegiance
during a 911 call he made from the nightclub at the time of the
attack.
The
IS propaganda machine was also quick to claim responsibility for the
mass shooting by distributing a message via Amaq News that the
atrocity was “carried
out by an Islamic State fighter.”
RT
However,
the IS claim may be nothing more than a propaganda move to capitalize
on a massacre perpetrated by a lone-wolf attacker who could have had
no direct links to the terror group, security experts told RT.
The
suspect’s former wife described him as abusive and emotionally and
mentally unstable, and said that her family had to“rescue” her
from her ex-husband during their divorce. Meanwhile his former
coworker noted that Omar Mateen frequently“talked
about killing people” and
made racist and homophobic comments, but the company refused to act
because it did not want to be accused of Islamophobia.
Gunman long known to FBI
While
confirming that Mateen had not been under active investigation at the
time of the deadly Sunday assault, Hopper revealed that the 29-year
old, who was brought up by a family of first-generation Afghan
immigrants, had been on the FBI’s radar for years.
In
2014, Mateen was interviewed by FBI agents over his alleged contacts
with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, likely the first ISIS-inspired
American suicide bomber in Syria. Mateen had allegedly visited
the same Mosque as
Abu-Salha, but the federal agents determined that the 29-year-old’s
contact with the jihadist was “minimal.” The
case was then closed, Hopper said.
A
year earlier, the FBI interviewed Mateen twice about “inflammatory
comments” the
suspect allegedly made to a co-worker about possible ties to
international terrorism. Unable to “verify” the
comments, the FBI was forced to close the case, Hopper said, adding
that in both cases the gunman cooperated with investigators.
Guns purchased legally
Because
the suspect had been cleared after being interviewed by the FBI, it
allowed him to legally obtain a Glock handgun and an AR-15 rifle.
Following the deadly shooting a Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms
and Explosives said that Mateen purchased the guns he used in the
assault in Florida within the “last
few days.'”
The
attacker had worked for the world's largest security services firm
G4S since 2007 and carried a gun as part of his duties, the company
said, adding that the company has been trying to ascertain whether
any guns used in the attack were related to Mateen's work
RT America
URGENT: #Orlando shooter #Mateen legally purchased firearms last week, ATF confirms http://on.rt.com/7f85
Florida
law requires a mandatory three-day waiting period for handgun
purchases, but no permit, registration or licensing is needed to buy
or own rifles, shotguns or handguns. Condemning the horrific attack,
US President Barack Obama said that the tragedy is a reminder “of
how easy it is for someone to get their hands on” a
weapon.
Deadliest mass shooting in US history
With
at least 50 killed and 53 injured, the Orlando massacre has
become “the
most deadly shooting in American history,”according
to Obama. The US president called the shooting an “act
of terror and an act of hate,” conducted
by an individual“filled
with hatred.”
The
second deadliest US shooting spree was the Virginia Tech assault of
April 2007. An outburst of gunfire at a Virginia Tech dormitory
followed two hours later by a string of attacks at a classroom
building, killed 32 students, faculty and staff and left 17 others
injured.
The
Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre closes the top three deadliest
US shooting rampages. A total of 26 people, including 20
schoolchildren, were killed at the school on December 14, 2012. The
shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, also killed his mother at their home.
Tragedy immediately politicized, reignites gun-control debate
As
world leaders, from Washington to Moscow and Vatican, expressed their
deepest condolences over the tragic loss of life, US politicians
rushed to capitalize on the tragedy for their political aims.
Republican
presidential hopeful, Donald Trump initially took to Twitter to say
he was “right” about
the danger of radical Islam in America: “Appreciate
the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t
want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”
“Because
our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen - and it is
only going to get worse," Trump
said in a longer statement released on Sunday afternoon. “I
am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack.”
“We
can’t afford to be politically correct anymore,” added
Trump, once again slamming Obama who “disgracefully
refused to even say the words Radical
Islam.”
Trump’s
opponent, Clinton called the shooting “an
act of terror” that
calls for more efforts to combat terrorism and introducing stricter
gun controls.
“For
now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to
defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means
defeating international terror groups, working with allies and
partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their
attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our
defenses at home,” Clinton
said in a statement on Sunday.
Responding
to Trump’s attack, Clinton's communication director Jennifer
Palmieri wrote that, the Republic has offered “no
real plans to keep our nation safe and no outreach to the Americans
targeted, just insults and attacks.”
Democratic
presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders stayed out of the political
bickering, just saying “our
... hopes go out to all those who were shot that they can recover.”
“Twenty-five
years ago, I believed that in this country that we should not be
selling automatic weapons which are designed to kill people,” Sanders
said on NBC's “Meet the Press” early Sunday. “We
have got to do everything that we can on top of that to make sure
that guns do not fall into the hands of those who should not have
them: criminals, people who are mentally ill. So that struggle
continues.”
For
his part, the Libertarian party’s presidential nominee Gary Johnson
called the Orlando shooting “both
cowardly and infuriating” as
he warned against politicizing the slaughter: “We
must allow the authorities to do their jobs, understand how this
attack came about, and then respond accordingly. It is not a time to
either politicize or jump to conclusions.”
Like all the other mass shootings (and the Boston bombers) the perpetrators had links to the FBI.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at washingtonsblog.com
Keep up the good work, Robin.