Omar Mateen, the homophobic terrorist who carried out the recent horrific mass shooting in Orlando, may have been a closeted homosexual, according to Pulse regulars.
Ty Smith and Chris Callen, who are described as a “drag-dancing married couple” by The Canadian Press, said Mateen had visited Orlando’s Pulse nightclub roughly a dozen times, even getting so drunk that club security had to expel him from the bar on at least one occasion.
While it was reported that Mateen went into a fit of rage after seeing gay men kiss in front of him, Smith said that was “bullcrap,” saying Mateen has seen plenty of men kiss before.
“That’s straight-up crap. He’s been around us,” said Smith. “Some of those people did a little more than (kiss) outside the bar…. He was partying with the people who supposedly drove him to do this?”
“He’s been going to this bar for at least three years,” Callen told The Canadian Press.
“(He’d get) really, really drunk… He couldn’t drink when he was at home—around his wife, or family. His father was really strict… He used to bitch about it,” Smith said.
At least four people have spoken to the press, confirming that Mateen frequented the Pulse nightclub. Samuel King, an openly gay high-school classmate of Mateen and local drag queen, also said that Mateen frequented the restaurant where King worked as a waiter, stating that he was friendly.
Furthermore, Mateen, who had a wife and child, was relatively active on the Jack’d dating app, where he exchanged at least one message with a gay man, according to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes:
Mateen, a 29-year-old private security guard, carried out the attack around 2 a.m. Eastern Time early Sunday morning. He was killed by Orlando SWAT officers after a 3-hour standoff and hostage situation. Both of the weapons used in the attack — which has been declared the deadliest mass shooting in American history — were obtained legally.
Zach Cartwright is an activist and author from Richmond, Virginia. He enjoys writing about politics, government, and the media. Send him an email@ [email protected]