The Obama administration on Monday released redacted transcripts of Omar Mateen’s 911 calls — sanitizing any and all references to ISIS made by the self-proclaimed radical Islamist terrorist.
Even though authorities have made no secret that Mateen invoked ISIS as his motive for slaughtering 49 people inside a gay nightclub in Orlando last week, 911 transcripts released by the FBI awkwardly worked around mentioning the terror group.
“In the name of God the merciful, the beneficial (in Arabic),” Mateen said during his call at about 2:35 a.m. on June 12.
“Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of (Arabic). I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings.”
The operator asked Mateen his name.
“My name is I pledge of allegiance to (omitted),” Mateen responded “I pledge allegiance to (omitted), may God protect him (in Arabic), on behalf (omitted).”
The move to remove ISIS mention drew immediate rebuke from House Speaker Paul Ryan, who couldn’t grasp the motive for ignoring the obvious ISIS connection.
“Selectively editing this transcript is preposterous,” Ryan said in a statement on Monday. “We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by ISIS. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community.”
Ryan called on the Obama administration to make all of Mateen’s words public.
“The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why,” Ryan said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Monday he also couldn’t understand why feds were tip-toeing around such obvious facts of the case.
“This seems like it is another example of not focusing on the evil here. This is evil. It’s ISIS. It’s radical Islam,” Scott told Fox News Channel.
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:0FBI Agent Ron Hopper, speaking to reporters in Orlando, said feds had good reason to avoid mentions of the terror group.
“We’re not going to propagate violent rhetoric that comes from other people whether they be here or overseas and to do that would only inflame other people here that might be like-minded,” Hopper said. “There’s no purpose in doing that.”
As Mateen carried out his carnage in Orlando, the homegrown terrorist told a 911 operator that he was acting “in the name of God,” and warned that in the next few days, officials would see “more of this type of action,” according to transcripts.
After shots were first fired at 2:02 a.m. June 12, Mateen called 911 at about 2:35 a.m.
Hostage negotiators called Mateen at 2:48 a.m., 3:03 a.m. and 3:24 a.m., the FBI said.
During these calls, Mateen demanded that American forces leave Iraq and Syria, explaining that was why he was “out here right now.”
When a negotiator asked what he had done, Mateen responded: “No, you already know what I did.”
Mateen appeared to threaten that he had placed bombs outside in his car, which he could detonate at any time.
“There is some vehicle outside that has some bombs, just to let you know,” he said. “You people are gonna get it, and I’m gonna ignite it if they try to do something stupid.”
And Mateen later added: “In the next few days, you’re going to see more of this type of action going on.” He then hung up “and multiple attempts to get in touch with him were unsuccessful,” the feds said.
Mateen’s car was later found and there were no bombs in it, according to feds.
FBI agents said they haven’t found any connections between Mateen and overseas terrorists.
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:0“The killer of 49 and the shooter of 53 others identified himself as an Islamic soldier who pledged allegiance to a terrorist organization which was bent on killing Americans,” Hopper said.
“He does not represent the religion of Islam but a perverted view which, based on what we know today, was inspired by extremist killers. We currently have no evidence that he was directed by a foreign terrorist group but was radicalized domestically.”
Officials released partially redacted transcripts but declined to make the actual recordings public.
“Yes, the audio is compelling, but to expose that now would be excruciatingly painful to exploit in this way,” Hopper said.
Mateen’s words alone show his “chilling, calm” demeanor.
“You have been provided with a general timeline of the Orlando Police Department’s radio communications as well as a 50-second conversation between the killer and the Orlando police dispatcher,” Hopper said.
“While we’re not releasing the audio, what I can tell you is that while the killer made these murderous statements, he did so in a chilling, calm, and deliberate manner.”
FBI agents and Orlando police pushed back at any suggestions they should have moved in faster on Mateen.
The law enforcement agencies insisted that Mateen didn’t shoot anyone during the three hours he kept hostages and spoke to negotiators.
“So it’s important to note that this started as an active shooter situation. Our officers took action and then transitioned into a barricade-gunman hostage situation,” Orlando police chief John Mina said.
“So after that second exchange of gunfire, upon that initial entry of our officers, there was no other gunfire until the hostage rescue operation took place. So during that three hours, I want to make sure everyone is clear on that, there was no gunfire. So during that time our officers were intermittently in and out of that club saving people, rescuing people from inside the club.”
