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homophobia open thread

Open Thread: Mass shooting at gay nightclub in Orlando; at least 50 dead

Police, sherriff and FBI officials at a press conference this morning
Law enforcement officials at a press conference this morning

UPDATE 2, 1 PM central time

Horrific news out of Orlando: A gunman armed with an assault rifle and other weapons killed at least 50 in a terrorist attack the Pulse nightclub in Orlando; more than 50  have been taken to hospitals.

The gunman, killed in a shootout with police, has been identified as Omar Mateen; the Daily Beast reports that he was previously investigated by the FBI. NBC is reporting that before the shootngs he called 911 and swore allegiance to ISIS.

NBC is also reporting that Mateen was a violent homophobe, according to his father. It seems clear that the club was deliberately targeted because it catered to the LGBT community. The father told NBC that the shootng was likely motivated by his son’s hatred of gays. “This had nothing to do with religion,” he told them.

His ex-wife told the Washington Post that he was an unstable and abusive man. “He beat me,” she saud. “He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”

Horrendous.

Meanwhile, 4chan trolls are busily spreading disinformation about the shooting.

Please post your thoughts, and any relevant information you run across.

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Jamesworkshop
Jamesworkshop
8 years ago

*Reminder* If you are like me, and you don’t have an LGBT identity, don’t tone police the LGBT communities response to this tragedy.

Not that any regulars here would, but for any lurking trolls, this is for you.

Imaginary Petal
Imaginary Petal
8 years ago

I woke up to this story today. Terrible.

D. D. Webb
8 years ago

I’m scared of my own lack of shock. This should be world-stopping news. Stuff like this should not happen, and ought to bring everything to a halt as everyone tries to process how something so abominable could even occur.

But no, this is just another week in America.

It not only could happen anywhere, but probably will, sooner or later.

Dunno if I’m just getting nihilistic as I age or there’s something bitterly sick in our society.

MissEB47
MissEB47
8 years ago

D.D Web-You are not the only one. I am saddened, horrified and angry at the shooting, but it is impossible for me to be shocked or surprised anymore. It is is impossible, because things like this happen again and again and again! I wish it would just stop. ?

j. amsterdam
j. amsterdam
8 years ago

watching this at a local msnbc news affiliate website; http://www.wesh.com/news/multiple-shots-reported-at-downtown-orlando-nightclub/40017844

unbelievable how even in a terrorist attack like this they rather not discuss possible motivations of the shooter at all than having to mention this was a popular gay club, only vague mention i saw in almost an hour of news coverage was a tweet with “the club known for people with a alternative lifestyle”
disgusting and so sad.

makroth
makroth
8 years ago

”they’re calling it a terrorist attack.”

I was about to post a ”Hallelujah” pic thinking the shooter was white, but no. He wasn’t. He would’nt get called a terrorist if he was.

Ichthyic
Ichthyic
8 years ago

no. He wasn’t

you see confirmation of that? not in any of the 3 articles I have read.

Spaceman
Spaceman
8 years ago

I use to work just down the road from there. This is horribly sad news. I’ve been checking FB and Twitter this morning hoping to see stuff from friends to know they are OK. Thankfully many seem to be.

My thoughts are with the victims, survivors and their families today.

I honestly don’t care who did it. I hope they never publish the name of the person. I don’t want any publicity to come to the people who commit these terrible acts. I want these murderers to be remembered by nobody and go away in absolute silence.

j. amsterdam
j. amsterdam
8 years ago

@ makroth

you have seen or heard reports about what the unsub looked like?

because when the feds called it “domestic terrorism” i thought that signalled a probable white shooter, but that’s full speculation to be honest.

at least the news now finally starts to mention its a gay club and that that is probably part of the motivation.

Ichthyic
Ichthyic
8 years ago

Police have called it a “domestic terror event”.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/orlando-pulse-club-shooting-live-8171546

that implies non-muslim in America speak.

I’m guessing primary suspect (dead) is white.

none of the ten stories I have now read say anything more than this.

Cupcakes 4 Hitler
Cupcakes 4 Hitler
8 years ago

Shocking. I was already disgusted by the killing of Christina Grimmie yesterday. Orlando is not a happy place to be at the moment. 🙁

AKemp
8 years ago

Less than 24 hours ago, I posted my condolences for Christina Grimmie’s family and friends. Now, I’m posting another sad tribute to people who didn’t deserve this sort of violent end.

This can’t be the new normal for our society. We can’t allow for so many lives to be snuffed out in seconds. We have to make this stop.

Ichthyic
Ichthyic
8 years ago

🙁

condolences.

I Blame Myself
I Blame Myself
8 years ago

I live in Australia, and I think it’s sad that the way I found out about this was someone telling me ‘Hey, did you hear there was another mass shooting in the US?’
It’s almost become expected here, like it’s not even surprising anymore. World spins round, sun shines, bears shit in the woods and Americans sort out their differences with bullets.
The way the world is right now… it’s shit. There’s no other way for me to put it. It’s just pure fucking shit.

NiOg
NiOg
8 years ago

This is awful.

I don’t get a news feed, so I found out about it here.

I tried typing out a thinking, intelligent response, but I can’t.

This is awful. Those poor people.

Catherine
Catherine
8 years ago

D.D.Webb, you’re certainly not the only one.

There’s a lot that has occurred lately and I, along with other Family members, have wondered the same thing.

I can’t begin to imagine what the (surviving) victims and the families of the victims will be going through.

I don’t know much more about it or how bad injuries are. I’m looking out.

DoctorChicken
DoctorChicken
8 years ago

I’m dreading the possibility of the shooter being somehow related to 4chan’s /pol/ board.

Moggie
Moggie
8 years ago

It just never ends. In any other country which isn’t an actual war zone, this would be a pivotal event, but in the US it’s just… Sunday.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RDSU_vSYg_8/VeR-vGZSF3I/AAAAAAAAQB0/7DNCEtdKQM8/s640/TMW2015-09-02color.png

Mortarius
Mortarius
8 years ago

@I Blame Myself: I was the herald of such news to people I know and I delivered it in much the same way. “Another mass shooting in the USA”.

It’s so ridiculous one of my friends laughed when I said it. Like he believed me but also found it unbelievable.

To us here in Aus I guess it really is unbelievable, a single gun murder can make national news here. Our worst that I can remember is last weeks incident where the cops accidentally shot those elderly women while trying to shoot a mentally ill man.

Victorious Parasol
Victorious Parasol
8 years ago

I’m some strange mixture of “sad” and “numb” right now. I think I used up a lot of emotions when the Columbine shooting made the news over 25 years ago.

ETA: Argh. Stupid login problems.

Eyes on the Right
8 years ago

Jesus, and only a few miles away from where that singer was murdered. I don’t really know what to say at this point because it’s become some sick ritual here in America. Mass shooting occurs, scores of people dead or injured, then no action is taken to prevent these tragedies from happening in the future. If it’s a domestic terror attack on a gay nightclub then it shouldn’t be hard to piece together what the shooter’s motive was, but I’m waiting to hear from the police at this point once they reveal more details. It hasn’t even been a full year since the Charleston church massacre either.

kupo
kupo
8 years ago

I want out of this country. I feel powerless to do anything to fix all of these problems. At the very least, I’m glad we got Hillary instead of Bernie because Bernie was never going to do anything about this gun violence. Now let’s hope she actually gets elected and is actually able to get anything accomplished.

Eyes on the Right
8 years ago

They’ve released the name of the alleged perpetrator. I know some in the thread don’t want it mentioned so I’ll just say you can find it if you’re interested.

@kupo

The sad fact is that there isn’t much that can be done about gun violence short of a Supreme Court ruling, unless Democrats also retake the House and Senate. (Full disclosure, I was a Bernie supporter who falls into the “Meh, guess I’m with her” camp.) SCOTUS already ruled that individual gun ownership was a constitutional right, but they only extended that right to weapons “commonly in use.” That was actually going to be a battle until Scalia died, as NY and CT passed extensive bans on assault weapons that were challenged in court.

Merrick Garland I don’t know enough about to say how he’d rule, but any choice by Clinton or Sanders would be a progressive one and, I’d imagine, uphold a ban on assault weapons. It’s extremely unlikely that they’d overrule Heller and MacDonald IMHO, since those were such recent and precedent-setting cases. Maybe in ten, fifteen, twenty years time the Court will say they were wrongly decided.

Spaceman
Spaceman
8 years ago

If anyone is in the CFL area, they need blood.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-orlando-nightclub-shooting-blood-donations-20160612-story.html

OeBlood is putting out a call this morning for blood donations in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting that killed 20 people and injured at least 42 others.

“There is an urgent need for O Negative, O Positive and AB Plasma blood donors following a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida,” said the news release from OneBlood.

To find a donation center or Big Red Bus near you visit http://www.oneblood.org or call 1.888.9Donate.

Donors should be healthy, age 16 or older and weigh at least 100 pounds.

cool_clock_ahmed
cool_clock_ahmed
8 years ago

that implies non-muslim in America speak.

I’m guessing primary suspect (dead) is white

😀 😀 😀 😀

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