**Live Wire** Jihad in Orlando: Was Omar Mateen Really a Lone Wolf?

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AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Breitbart News

Breitbart News presents live coverage of the aftermath of the jihadist Omar Mateen’s massacre at Orlando’s Pulse. One day after the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, law enforcement continues to release new information on the investigation which is affecting political battles such as the 2016 presidential election and Britain’s referendum on leaving the European Union.

All times Eastern Standard Time.

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Top updates:

• Mateen traveled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — before the FBI interviewed him in 2013
• A former co-worker reported Mateen’s extremism to their employer but no one took action… because Mateen was Muslim
• Last year, the FBI investigated Mateen’s connection to “the first American suicide bomber in Syria”
• Fox report: Mateen was enrolled in online courses from a notorious terrorist recruiter
• UPDATE – Two trips to Saudi Arabia
• Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton deliver dueling speeches on U.S. response to the attack
• Mateen’s wife knew he was planning an attack; told law enforcement one potential target was Disney World
• Local news station reports police will soon arrest an alleged accomplice

*****

10:39 PM — Male classmate says Orlando terrorist asked him out romantically. 

9:30: PM — Clinton campaign chair John Podesta slams Trump, saying that, despite Trump’s many policy proposals, nothing in his “rambling remarks came close to resembling a real strategy for fighting terrorists and keeping our people safe.” Podesta says that “prejudice, paranoia and partisanship are not a plan, and will not protect anyone” as Hillary Clinton drones on with rhetoric that “sounds smart” only to the foreign policy elite.

9:15 PM — Orlando vigil:

9:05 PM — Obama to visit Orlando on Thursday to pay respects to the families of the terror victims and to stand in “solidarity” with the community.

8:22 PM — On Fox News, Donald Trump tells Bill O’Reilly that he has no idea why Obama doesn’t fight ISIS with “strength and vigor.” Trump says, “nobody knows.” Trump says nobody knows why Obama doesn’t have more anger and “competitive zeal” to knock out ISIS. Trump hammers Obama for not using “radical Islam.”

8:05 PM — ISIS claims responsibility for Paris stabbings:

7:55 PM — Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) says we can’t get caught up in “phraseology.”

7:51 PM — : Another Islamist attack in near Paris. “Islamist slogans” (Allahu Akbar) reportedly heard during attack. Child who was being held hostage rescued.  According to the Associated Press, “France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve identified the male victim as a police commander and said that his female companion also worked for the Interior Ministry.”

7:50 PM — Sen. Sessions (R-AL) says Orlando terrorist’s father “clearly an extremist.”

7:47 PM — Rep. Clyburn (D-SC) interrupts moment of silence to push gun control bill:

 

7:45 PM — Orlando Mayor providing updates on the terror victims:

7:30 PM — As Hillary Clinton pushes for more gun control, a gay bar in West Hollywood is considering hiring armed guards.

7:25: On CNN, the ex-wife of the Orlando terrorist says she doesn’t know if her ex-husband was gay when asked why he frequented some gay night clubs. The terrorist also reportedly used a gay app.

7:17: Trump says Obama “has more anger towards me than he does for ISIS.”

7:07 PM — Orlando Mayor defiant:

 

7:05 PM — Eiffel Tower in rainbow colors to honor Orlando terror victims:

6:53 PM — Chris Hayes says a local told him Mateen had a profile on a gay dating app.

6:13 PM — They’re handling his speech well.

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6:06 PM — Another report interviewing Pulse regulars says Mateen pointed a knife at a friend while he was drunk and being escorted from the club.

5:57 PM — Trump, again dropping bombs on Facebook.

Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate. I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!

5:50 PM — Orlando Police Department names the eleven officers who exchanged fire with Mateen. Timeline of events shared on the Department’s official site says he “continued shooting” once he initiated a hostage situation. Contradicts recent statement to reporters (see: 5:25 PM update).

5:44 PM — Full update from local news stating an alleged accomplice’s arrest is imminent.

5:40 PM — 

5:39 PM — The plot thickens.

At least four regular customers at the gay Orlando nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people Sunday morning said today that they believe they had seen the killer, Omar Mateen, there before.

“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” said Ty Smith, who also uses the name Aries.

5:34 PM — Daily Mail got inside Mateen’s home for photos.

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5:25 PM — Orlando police giving more details — some extremely odd.

5:23 PM — Red alert.

https://twitter.com/CarsonChambers/status/742466860579459073

5:19 PM — “Homeboys.”

The gunman responsible for an attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead called the Boston Marathon bombers his “homeboys” in a 911 call he made during the mass shooting, the FBI said Monday.

Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division, said Omar Mateen made the reference to brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev during a 911 call he made early Sunday inside the Pulse nightclub.

5:15 PM — Picks up on the report — from WaPo — that Mateen celebrated the 9/11 attacks.

5:10 PM — Trump takes to Twitter to handle media blowback, it seems.

4:47 PM — Incredible numbers from Reddit — the r/News subreddit lost over 75,000 subscribers over censorship of Mateen’s Muslim faith. Over 11,000 instead joined r/The_Donald the same day.

4:39 PM — Trump campaign revokes WaPo’s press credentials.

Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign, we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post.

4:37 PM — Trump on Facebook:

I am no fan of President Obama, but to show you how dishonest the phony Washington Post is, they wrote, “Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting” as their headline. Sad!

4:35 PM — Pearls clutched.

4:31 PM — From Breitbart Tech: Twitter is doing its part and banning users for having the wrong opinions about mosques.

4:30 PM — Actual headline: Hillary Clinton shifts and says she is “happy” to use the term “radical Islam”

4:16 PM — Per usual, gun stocks soaring:

3:55 PM — How good is this aim?

3:50 PM — Guess the political party.

3:28 PM — Update from ground zero.

3:16 PM — Unbelievable burn.

3:10 PM — Nateen’s wife admitted to authorities that he had scouted out Walt Disney World as a site for an attack.

3:05 PM — Trump concludes remarks. Full prepared speech available here. Full video via C-SPAN.

3:01 PM — Trump denounces Bush and Obama-era foreign policy. “No more nation-building. It’s never going to work,” he says. Bashes half-baked regime change attempts in Libya and Syria.

2:58 PM — Trump says Muslims “must work with us.” Says people who knew Mateen & San Bernardino killers knew what was going on but did not report them.

2:54 PM — Trump brings up the radical founder of the Boston bombers’ mosque. “Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community” while she pushes for greater influence of Islamic radicalism.

2:50 PM — Trump links increase of Muslim-nation immigration to Hillary Clinton’s State Department. Says of her plan to increase Syrian refugees: “How stupid is that.” Compares the “Clinton plan” to the mythological Trojan horse.

2:47 PM — Trump says Obama’s Cabinet refused to comply with Senate Subcommittee on Immigration’s request to give immigration history of Islamic terror suspects. “Why are they here?”

2:46 PM — Current DC leadership has “put political correctness above your safety,” he asserts. Reaffirms he will not be politically correct. “As president, I will give our intelligence community… the tools they need to prevent terrorist attacks.”

2:45 PM — Trump says Obama is not allowing law enforcement to do their job. “We need a new leader — fast,” he says.

2:44 PM — Trump says he will consult with the NRA on how to help Americans defend themselves and vows always to defend the Second Amendment.

2:43 PM — Trump brings up the Paris terror attacks to debunk Clinton’s call for more gun control. Says France’s gun laws left only the bad guys with guns.

2:42 PM — Trump takes credit for Hillary saying “radical Islam” this morning, saying she has no choice. “She has no clue, in my opinion, what radical Islam is, and she won’t speak honestly about it if she does, in fact, know.”

2:39 PM — “We’re importing radical Islamic terrorism into the West,” Trump says. Reminds of 9/11 attackers, Boston Marathon bombers, and San Bernadino killers.

2:38 PM — “Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay, and anti-American. I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, Jewish people are targets” singled out by radical Islamic preachers.

2:37 PM — Trump reaffirms commitment to halt immigration from parts of the world with known histories of terror against the United States.

2:36 PM — “We cannot afford to talk around these issues anymore. We have to address these issues head-on.”

2:35 PM — Trump says the only reason Mateen was in the country was because his parents immigrated — even though his father was a Taliban supporter.

2:34 PM — Trump says there will be no country left if we do not get tough and smart. Says he will not say the jihadist’s name.

2:33 PM — Immediately, Trump labels the killer a “radical Islamic terrorist” who targeted gays and lesbians.

2:32 PM — Trump asks his audience to take a moment of silence for the victims.

2:31 PM — Trump says there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss Clinton’s ethical troubles and he hopes to do it very soon.

2:30 PM — Trump takes the stage in Manchester, NH.

2:20 PM — Wall Street Journal: Mateen took two trips to Saudi Arabia.

2:15 PM — 

2:10 PM — Washington Post “shocked” by the Islamic State’s “war on gays.”

It remains unclear what role the methods and ideology of the group, which is based in the Middle East, played in the slaughter Mateen carried out at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Investigators say he made a 911 phone call during the attack in which he said he was avenging the bombings of Muslims in the Middle East and referenced the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

But if there is a clear link between the attack in Orlando and the Islamic State, it would be the most high-profile incident yet in the group’s wider, relentless campaign against gays. Ever since the group came to prominence amid security vacuums in Iraq and Syria, it has set about persecuting religious minorities, women and others whose identity and lifestyle are anathema to its puritanical creed. In areas under the control of the Islamic State, its fighters have issued edicts against homosexual behavior and flashy hairstyles and promised death for anyone caught in the act of sodomy.

Across the Middle East, the LGBT community faces varying degrees of repression, both because of laws directed against its members and the wider social stigma. But under the Islamic State, things took a devastating turn.

2:08 PM —

2:05 PM — Spirit of 9/12? Sounds familiar.

2:04 PM — Uh oh.

2:03 PM — Journalism.

1:42 PM — 

1:35 PM — Clinton takes on the mantle of history’s gay rights fight like in Stonewall:

1:32 PM — Clinton takes a swipe at Trump’s immigration ban, saying that “the vast majorities of Muslims love freedom and hate terror.”

1:31 PM — Clinton says we should be “intensifying contacts” in Muslim communities, “not scapegoating or isolating them.”

1:29 PM — Clinton says Saudis, Qatar, and more should stop funding terrorists and shut down radical schools.

1:27 PM — Clinton abandons calm, grandmotherly tone. Getting animated.

1:26 PM — The pivot to gun control. “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets.”

1:21 PM —

1:20 PM — First plank of Clinton’s plan against the Islamic State is more air strikes in the Middle East.

1:19 PM — “We cannot contain this threat. We must defeat it.” Hillary trying to fight Trump’s talking point that she’s “weak.”

1:19 PM — Hillary uses the phrase “barbarity of radical jihadists.”

1:18 PM —

1:17 PM — 

1:16 PM — 

1:15 PM — Hillary Clinton, right before she’s bound to go on a tear about gun control:

1:08 PM — Full video of Obama’s remarks.

1:05 PM — More names.

12:27 PM — Mateen worked at a prison for little over half a year.

12:51 PM — Video from Comey’s presser.

12:48 PM — Not so great message discipline between the White House and the FBI.

12:41 PM — 

12:34 PM — Comey says Mateen leveraged political correctness when he was interviewed:

12:31 PM — Stock price for Mateen’s employer is tumbling since the revelation that he worked there.

12:30 PM — From Charlie Spiering: FBI Director James Comey says he intentionally won’t use killer’s name to give him fame. “I don’t want to be part of that.”

12:16 PM —

12:08 PM — From the Palm Beach Post: FBI has removed boxes of evidence from Mateen’s relatives’ home.

FBI and local police are wrapping the search of the home of Mateen’s family in Port St. Lucie. They removed several boxes, along with a computer from the home at 937 SW Bayshore Boulevard. They also searched the three cars in the driveway.

12:04 PM — Bombshell report: Mateen was enrolled in online courses from a convicted criminal and Islamic extremist known as Abu Taubah.

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The gunman who murdered at least 50 people in a Florida nightclub early Sunday morning was a follower of a controversial gang leader-turned-bank robber who was released from prison last year despite warnings from prosecutors that he would recruit people to carry out violent acts, sources told FoxNews.com.

Omar Mateen, whose bloody siege inside a packed Orlando gay nightclub ended when SWAT teams stormed the building and killed him, was a radical Muslim who followed Marcus Dwayne Robertson, a law enforcement source said.

“It is no coincidence that this happened in Orlando,” said a law enforcement source familiar with Robertson’s history of recruiting terrorists and inciting violence. “Mateen was enrolled in [Robertson’s online] Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.”

11:59 AM — High school classmates say Mateen was jumping up and down in celebration when he saw the 9/11 attacks unfold.

11:57 AM —

11:52 AM — Interview with a national security expert near the site of the attack. Frank Wuco can boast 30 years of service with within the national security and intelligence communities. He is an intelligence services consultant, radio host, and an expert on the Muslim Brotherhod and Iran’s Islamic theocracy.

11:46 AM — More connections.

In 2015, after Moner Abusalha became the first American suicide bomber in Syria, the FBI investigated Omar Mateen’s connection to Abu-Salha.

Abu-Salha went to the Middle East, trained, and returned to the Treasure Coast, specifically Vero and fort Pierce, to recruit. The FBI says he didn’t recruit anyone, but it’s possible he did have contact with Mateen.

11:26 AM — Obama says Mateen was inspired by online propaganda but was not part of a larger plot.

11:22 AM — Survivor says he blocked an exit from the club after getting out himself. “We blocked this door, and we did hear banging, and I pray it wasn’t anyone trying to escape, because I would forever feel guilty.”

11:16 AM — In phone interviews this morning, Trump told Breitbart News Daily and CNN that it would come out that people who knew Mateen did not report him. “Muslims don’t report these people,” he declared.

11:10 AM — Update on wounded survivors.

11:09 AM — Trump takes a victory lap on Hillary now using the word “radical Islam” after much prodding from Chris Cuomo.

11:04 AM — A former co-worker said he complained to his superiors about Mateen, who talked about killing people. The employer, however, did nothing for fear of political correctness.

Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim. Gilroy quit after he said Mateen began stalking him via multiple text messages — 20 or 30 a day. He also sent Gilroy 13 to 15 phone messages a day, he said.

“I quit because everything he said was toxic,” Gilroy said Sunday, “and the company wouldn’t do anything. This guy was unhinged and unstable. He talked of killing people.”

Gilroy said this shooting didn’t come as a surprise to him.

10:45 AM — Trump also cancels fundraisers.

10:44 AM —

10:33 AM — More than 24 hours after the shooting ended.

10:31 AM — Clinton cancels Cincinnati fundraiser over the Orlando attacks.

10:25 AM — Trump calls for mosque surveillance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iVPhAaE9Tk

10:24 AM —

10:16 AM — Via Reuters:

Law enforcement officials were looking for clues as to whether anyone worked with Mateen on the attack, said Lee Bentley, U.S. Attorney for Florida’s middle district.

“There is an investigation of other persons, we are working as diligently as we can on that,” Bentley told a news conference. “If anyone else was involved in this crime, they will be prosecuted.”

10:12 AM — Video of what appears to be the earliest moments in the shooting.

10:01 AM — Orlando Police Department released a new timeline of events that only muddy the waters even more. If an officer confronted him within minutes and he barricaded himself in a bathroom with 4 or 5 hostages, when did he kill 49 people? Why did “dozens” of people escape the bathroom after police punched a hole in it?

  • Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people and left 53 others injuredin three-hour Sunday attack that police chief John Mina described in the greatest detail yet on Monday morning. A police officer confronted Mateen immediately after the shooting began, Mina said, causing the gunman to retreat to a bathroom and take people hostage.
  • Police then rescued “dozens and dozens of people”, many wounded, from inside the club, Mina said, and caught their first glimpse of the massacre within.
  • Mateen barricaded himself in a bathroom with four to five people,and officers began negotiations. Mina said Mateen was “cool and calm” and “Wasn’t asking a whole lot. We were doing most of the asking.” They spoke about explosive devices and more loss of life, and it was in the bathroom that Mateen called a 911 operator.
  • Mina said he ordered a rescue at about 5am. Officers set off distraction explosives and tried to blow a hole in the wall of the bathroom. The controlled blast was only partially successful, so they they rammed the wall with an armored vehicle, creating a hole 3-4ft wide. Dozens of people escaped through the hole, and police rescued others in the club.
  • The gunman himself came out of the hole armed with a handgun and long gun, Mina said, and Mateen was shot dead there in a gun battle with police before sunrise. Mateen was the 50th person killed on Sunday.

9:59 AM — 

9:55 AM — Mateen travelled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — before the FBI interviewed him.

9:53 AM — The young man who sent chilling text messages to his mother — which went viral on Sunday — has been confirmed as dead. Officials have revised the number of fatalities in Mateen’s slaughter to 49, with the 29-year-old jihadist now counted as the 50th person killed.

9:52 AM — Hillary Clinton attacks Donald Trump’s response to the attack.

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