Federal Investigators Cast Doubt On Theory That Orlando Mass Murderer Was Closeted Gay Man

The New York Times, citing law enforcement officials, is reporting that the F.B.I. is “increasingly skeptical” of the widely-reported notion that Orlando gunman Omar Mateen was a gay man driven by self-loathing to kill other people like him.

The inquiry is in early stages but investigators apparently have come to suspect that reports by patrons of Pulse nightclub that Mateen had been visiting gay clubs or that he had used gay dating apps are either false or a case of mistaken identity. Mateen’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman, accompanied the killer to Pulse before he stormed it in order to determine its vulnerabilities to an attack but he did not necessarily spend time there regularly.

Instead, the bureau is focusing on Mateen’s history of virulently antigay comments at work and elsewhere, where he regularly professed hatred of gay people, and messages he posted to Facebook during his rampage inside the club. “Now taste the Islamic state vengeance,” he declared, condemning “the filthy ways of the west.” Mateen’s own obsessively antigay father has said that his son’s mass slaughter may have been motivated by witnessing two men kissing.

According to a letter to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Senator Ron Johnson learned in intelligence briefings that Mateen demanded that the United States stop targeting the Islamic State for elimination in Syria and Iraq. He also “pledged allegiance” to the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and asked, “may Allah accept me.”

Since adolescence, The Times discovered, Mateen has been arrested, suspended and fired from jobs multiple times for crimes and misdemeanors ranging from assault to domestic violence to making threats.

One school report alleges that as a student Mateen was “constantly moving, verbally abusive, rude, aggressive,” often abusing other students while engaging in “much talk about violence & sex.”

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How Bernie Made Hillary a Better Candidate for LGBT People

Sanders made Clinton fight for Democratic votes. Is he doing the same for the Democratic Party?

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/6/16/how-bernie-made-hillary-better-candidate-lgbt-people

Active Duty Marines Under Investigation for Threat Against Gay Bars

Two active duty U.S. Marines are under investigation for a post to a Facebook group featuring a photo of a Marine with his finger on the trigger of an assault rifle (above) accompanied by the caption “Coming to a gay bar near you!”

The Marine Times reports:

The picture was posted recently to Camp MENdleton resale, a closed Facebook group for male Marines with more than 25,000 members. The person who purportedly posted it also wrote “Too soon?”

First Lt. Thomas Gray, a spokesman for I MEF, told Marine Corps Times that the command has identified the Marine in the picture and the one who posted it on Facebook.

“We cannot discuss details of an ongoing investigation, but I can tell you the command is taking this incident seriously,” Gray said.

Marine officials have vowed to take “appropriate action” in response to the social media post, according to a statement released by I MEF.

The head of the Facebook group told the Marine Times that the post was deleted soon after it was reported.

This morning Towleroad reported on the threat of an Orlando-style attack on gay bars in San Diego which was posted to Craigslist and which police said they were taking very seriously.

The post read: “Orlando was long overdue. Cleanse your community of the filth that gives decent gay men and women a bad name. Those people were walking diseases, bug chasers, and thank god for AIDS and 9-11 and now Orlando. San Diego you are next …”

According to Gray there are no indications yet that the two threats are linked.

(Photo Facebook via Marine Times)

The post Active Duty Marines Under Investigation for Threat Against Gay Bars appeared first on Towleroad.

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Hillary’s Short List, ‘Hamilton’, Hozier, Mars, iPhone 7, Seth Meyers: NEWS

VEEP STAKES. Hillary Clinton’s short list leaks and it includes Elizabeth Warren: “Beyond the Massachusetts senator, other prospective candidates include Labor Secretary Tom Perez; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Cory Booker of New Jersey; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Reps. Xavier Becerra of California and Tim Ryan of Ohio, several Democrats said.”

SHE’S WITH HER. Oprah endorses Hillary Clinton: “Regardless of your politics, it’s a seminal moment for women. What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom! It says anything is possible when you can be leader of the free world.”

LATE NIGHT. Seth Meyers stands by his Donald Trump ban: “As long as the Washington Post is banned from Donald Trump’s campaign, Donald Trump will be banned from ever coming on this show.”

BROADWAY. Hamilton will be filmed, and a documentary on the musical is coming this fall.

GAY OLD PARTY. Gay conservative activist who called gay liberals the ‘American Taliban’ says LGBT Republicans need to vote for Trump. 

RED PLANET. Mars rover poses for selfies: “The 1-ton robot’s latest self-portraits were snapped May 11 in the foothills of the 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) Mount Sharp, at a site dubbed Okoruso. Curiosity had stopped there to drill into the mudstone bedrock and collect samples for analysis, NASA officials said.”

ON NEWSSTANDS. Amy Schumer is Vogue‘s latest cover girl. 

RIP. Gay adult film actor Emanuelk Rosado was among the victims of the Orlando massacre.

DAPPER. Ryan Gosling makes a surprise appearance on a red carpet. 

TRUMP. The big dark truth about The Donald: “Trump doesn’t like criticism, even if it’s constructive. He doesn’t abide disagreement, even if it’s offered in good faith. And he doesn’t like accurate accounts of his words, policies, business, or self that contradict the shameless, self-aggrandizing lies he tells about all of the above.”

TECH. iPhone 7 may not get dual lens camera: “Apple has allegedly decided to scrap plans to include a dual-lens camera sensor on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus, according to the latest rumor from China that claims the tech isn’t quite ready. The Apple rumor mill has been spitting out reports all year that the biggest feature of the Plus-size iPhone will be the addition of a dual-lens camera that brings stellar low-light performance and other tricks to take iPhone photos one step closer to DSLR quality.”

MUSIC. Hoosier debuts new track “Better Love” from the upcoming Tarzan film.

The post Hillary’s Short List, ‘Hamilton’, Hozier, Mars, iPhone 7, Seth Meyers: NEWS appeared first on Towleroad.

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Think About What It's Like to Be an LGBT Youth Today

Hateful politicians scapegoat them; unhinged men try to kill them. Young queer people need our help during these frightening times, writes Abbe Land of the Trevor Project.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/6/16/think-about-what-its-be-lgbt-youth-today

All LGBT Murders Deserve Our Attention, Violence Report Warns

Forty-nine people were killed in Orlando, double the amount of all LGBT homicides reported in 2015. None of these killings are acceptable, a new report reminds us.

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/6/16/all-lgbt-murders-deserve-our-attention-violence-report-warns