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.
I am so sad and angry. I hate this cherry picking of what rights are important.
They find hundreds of different ways to peck away the rights of women to have access to abortions, but the right to own guns is somehow sacrosanct. Apparently only fetuses deserve the right to life, once your out of the womb no one gives a shit.
Ugh. Two people came to Orlando from other places just to shoot up people this weekend? Honestly, I used to not care about gun control at all because I felt like if people really wanted to get their hands on a gun they’d be able to regardless of the law, but this is just ridiculous.
Fucking Florida Man… product of raging LGBTphobia and Castle Doctrine. To hell with him.
This song was originally written for the killer of John Lennon, but I think it applies regardless:
The latest updates I’m finding for this have the death toll at over 50 now. Can anyone confirm?
For kupo and others:
Visas and Migration (from the office of the Australian embassy in Washington, D.C.)
This is the latest tweet from AP:
BREAKING: The massacre at an Orlando nightclub that claimed 50 lives is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history
My thoughts are with everyone involved in another US tragedy.
It looks like the death toll is closer to fifty. There was an off-duty police officer there who started shooting back. What a nightmare.
Re: Donating Blood. Are gay/Bi men still prevented from donating blood? I haven’t donated in a while due to my job so I haven’t seen the questionnaire in over a year.
Argl.
And then some people ask me why I treat the alt right, 4chan, and thoses related idiots the exact same as neonazis. That’s why.
Of course the white media is immediately asking if the guy was muslim or had ties to them. Because of course, any terrorist attack must be from someone who’s not completely white right? After all white people are fragile little flowers who could never do any harm to anyone. /SUPREME SARCASM.
Casualties are now reported by the BBC at 50 dead, which makes it the worst mass shooting in the US (according to Wikipedia)
Fucking hell. My news sources now say 50 people dead. If that’s true, it must be by far the most deadly mass shooting in the US so far?
I’ll also not say the name of the perpetrator, but it’s a man of Afghan descent with a typical Afghan name. This will turn into a disgusting public conversation in the United States and the rest of the world.
Edit: Ninja’d by everybody on the death toll.
@KittyCartel
I don’t know what the requirements are in the US or in Florida specifically. In my country, I was very surprised to find out that you’re not allowed to donate blood within a year after having had sex with another man, if you’re a man.
I can’t donate blood because of medical reasons. :/
EDIT: I copied this from redcrossblood.org.
Well, THIS sucks. Looks like Florida Man may have Daesh ties:
No wonder they were so quick to call it terrorism. Even though it still would be if he were a white Christian.
Grrrrrrr.
@Kitty Cartel
If they’re currently sexually active, they cannot donate blood. 🙁 But I’m able to again because it’s been more than 12 months since I’ve been with a man who’s been with another man, so that’s something I guess.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/health/fda-gay-men-blood-donation-changes/
Edit: ninja’d!
What a thing to wake up to. And you know it’s not going to change any gun laws or gun culture. If nothing changed in response to Sandy Hook, there’s not going to be enough horror at the shooting of gay people to change anything. I feel like each and every American will have to lose a loved one to gun violence before anything will ever change 🙁
It’s not that most Americans are opposed to some gun control. Most are for it. It’s that we’ve taken gun violence so for granted that it’s normal. People don’t even realize that it isn’t like this in other countries of comparable wealth and political stability.
The cynical bitch in me was all “Man, what’s the alt-right going to do? Gloat that the shooter shows how Muslims are all terrorists, or cheer that he took out a bunch of fa**ots?” Though given their capacity for cognitive dissonance, probably both.
Anyway, on a different– better?– note, my husband and I are driving down to SoCal to see our families. I think it’ll be bittersweet as I have not seen my dad since the cancer diagnosis and while he apparently got through treatment pretty well it still took a lot out of him.
The shooter was born here of Afghani immigrant parents. The parents say he saw 2 men kissing a few months ago and was upset by it. Wonkette says 53 dead, but so far they are the only ones. This is now the largest mass shooting in US history, oh joy. This sort of thing must stop. Congress won’t do it, so we must. If a candidate is against any curbs on guns, DO NOT VOTE FOR HIM/HER/IT. It is literally that simple.
On a somewhat lighter note, for those who need cheering, here’s an Iraqi guy in Britain, explaining soccer hooligans to fellow Arabs the way the news “explains” Muslim conflicts.
Its crazy, I’ve been past that place all the time going to lunch. Its a great neighborhood. I wonder how that business comes back from something this horrible. How do you open your club again after such tragedy?
What actually angers me are the politicians that have now started to come out to get some news time to speculate on the tragedy. Unless they are talking about specific actions they will take to prevent something like this, they can all go jump in Lake Eola. They just need to go away until they have something worthwhile to say. Obviously I am not including the ones only offering condolences in this group.
Death toll is now up to 50, and at least 53 wounded. The reason people are freaking about Islamic terrorism is because the shooter’s name was Omar Mateen.
That may not mean much in Florida, though. I live in Jacksonville, which has a huge Arab-American community, and a lot of them are Christian.
And the motive, according to the shooter’s father was that he saw two men kissing and was angry about it. What the fuck kind of response is that to seeing something that personally offends you?
Relevant to my last comment: https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/
Tweeting how much each politician gets from the NRA and gun lobby to do nothing as they make comments on the Orlando tragedy.
It’s the kind of response you have when you have a gun and plenty of ammo.
I don’t know. I have friends in the area and I’m worried sick.
LTL,FTP
relevant song:
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