After intense national backlash due to the Obama administration releasing the 911 phone call transcripts for Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen’s phone calls with all references to radical Islam censored and taken out, the Department of Justice quickly backtracked and released the full transcripts.
[revad1]
The FBI released transcripts Monday of the 911 phone call between Orlando nightclub terrorist Omar Mateen and police.
“I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings,” Mateen said at 2:35 am, according to the transcript.
“My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State,” Mateen replied to the dispatcher after being asked his name.
The FBI originally planned to release a partial transcript of the 911 call with Omar Mateen because they did not want to recognize ISIS or other terror organizations. After several news organizations and Speaker Paul Ryan calling attention to the Obama administration censoring information vital to the national interest, the FBI decided to release the complete transcript.
“Selectively editing this transcript is preposterous,” Ryan said in a statement. “We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by ISIS. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community. The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why.”
The Justice Department decided to change their minds and release the full transcript. “Unfortunately, the unreleased portions of the transcript that named the terrorist organizations and leaders have caused an unnecessary distraction from the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime.”
The FBI released three summaries of phone calls between Mateen and the crisis negotiators. Mateen identified himself as an Islamic soldier and told the negotiators to stop bombing Iraq and Syria.
“No, you already know what I did,” Mateen said when the crisis negotiator asked what he had done. “There is some vehicle outside that has some bombs, just to let you know. You people are gonna get it, and I’m gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid.”
He claimed that he had an explosive vest similar to the ones that were used in the Paris terrorist attacks.
A timeline released by the FBI showed that police arrived to the scene two minutes after the first call to police. At 2:08 officers “engaged the shooter.”
According to Orlando police chief John Mina, that was the last time shots were fired until three hours later when police blew a whole in the nightclub wall and killed Mateen around 5:15 am.
[revad2]
