Orlando Nightclub Shooting Analysis
Cashing in on tragedy is Politics 101. Following the Orlando nightclub shooting on June 12 by a disturbed Muslim man of Afghan origin that felled 49 gay men and women, conservative politicians in America generally loathe to acknowledging LGBTQ rights of any kind have hijacked the fatalities to nudge national talking points away from gun control and towards their favorite bogey, radical Islam.
While reticent to specifically name the LGBTQ community as the target of a clear hate crime dressed up as domestic terrorism, conservatives packed their twitter feeds with somber messages of support for the Orlando “victims,” calls for a “moment of silence” for the fallen and promises to safeguard the American way of life.
A way of life increasingly …show more content…
Recent public polls meanwhile show tepid support for banning assault rifles altogether, but greater traction for harder access to such guns.
29-year old Mateen, by all accounts, was a man struggling with and ashamed of his latent homosexuality besides juggling other mental health issues. Witnesses who came forward after Sunday’s carnage claim to have seen him in Pulse, the targeted nightclub, at least a few times. Mateen is also believed to have frequented other local LGBTQ bars and used gay dating apps to pick up men. His first wife, ostensibly aware of his closet homosexuality, filed for divorce two years into their marriage after the physical abuse became unbearable.
Does this man even remotely sound like a man on a mission from Allah? Even the most twisted, takfiri kind pushed by puritanical Wahhabism? I don’t see it. Mateen needed psychiatric help, but he was never flagged by his employers despite complaints from coworkers who have since recounted their stories to the media. Some of them divulged that Mateen had, at different times, boasted of his ties to ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah without realizing these groups were sworn
While reticent to specifically name the LGBTQ community as the target of a clear hate crime dressed up as domestic terrorism, conservatives packed their twitter feeds with somber messages of support for the Orlando “victims,” calls for a “moment of silence” for the fallen and promises to safeguard the American way of life.
A way of life increasingly …show more content…
Recent public polls meanwhile show tepid support for banning assault rifles altogether, but greater traction for harder access to such guns.
29-year old Mateen, by all accounts, was a man struggling with and ashamed of his latent homosexuality besides juggling other mental health issues. Witnesses who came forward after Sunday’s carnage claim to have seen him in Pulse, the targeted nightclub, at least a few times. Mateen is also believed to have frequented other local LGBTQ bars and used gay dating apps to pick up men. His first wife, ostensibly aware of his closet homosexuality, filed for divorce two years into their marriage after the physical abuse became unbearable.
Does this man even remotely sound like a man on a mission from Allah? Even the most twisted, takfiri kind pushed by puritanical Wahhabism? I don’t see it. Mateen needed psychiatric help, but he was never flagged by his employers despite complaints from coworkers who have since recounted their stories to the media. Some of them divulged that Mateen had, at different times, boasted of his ties to ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah without realizing these groups were sworn