Omar Mateen was a 29-year-old man who killed 50 people Sunday — mostly or all gays — in an Orlando nightclub with guns he obtained through his security job. According to his family he committed the act not out of religious conviction but due to a strong outrage caused by the idea of homosexuality.
Omar Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, who has supported the Waziristan Taliban in Afghanistan publicly on his YouTube channel, said that Omar Mateen committed his crime for reasons other than Muslim faith:
“We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music,” the father told NBC News. “And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry.
“They were kissing each other and touching each other, and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.’ And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other.”
Seddique Mateen added, “We are in shock like the whole country. This had nothing to do with religion.”
Omar Mateen’s ex-wife talked to the Washington Post about her husband’s personality, and also said that Omar Mateen’s faith was not a powerful inspiration in his life.
She said that Mateen beat her regularly for minor reasons such as not doing the laundry. She was rescued by her family and obtained a divorce, according to court documents obtained by news agency AFP.
Mateen had been interviewed twice since 2013 by the FBI after popping up on their radar for comments related to Islamic propaganda at work and ties with another American citizen who went to become a suicide bomber in the Middle East, but the FBI found no cause to monitor the man.
Omar Mateen died by police gunfire in the hostage situation he had staged after his shooting spree in Pulse night club. According to multiple law enforcement officials who made statements shortly after the crime, Mateen had called 911 just before starting his attack, during which phone call he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group.