ORLANDO (CBSNewYork) — The alleged male lover of Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen claims he did the shooting as “revenge” against Latino men.
The man, who spoke to Univision on the condition of anonymity, said Mateen held a grudge against Latino men he met at the gay nightclub Pulse because he felt used by them.
“I’ve cried like you have no idea. But the thing that makes me want to tell the truth is that he didn’t do it for terrorism. In my opinion he did it for revenge,” the man who said he was Mateen’s lover for two months told Univision.
The man told Univision that the FBI has interviewed him three times about Mateen. Univision reported that FBI said they have met with the man.
“He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin, but he felt rejected. He felt used by them,” the man said. “There were moments in the Pulse nightclub that made him feel really bad. Guys used him. That really affected him.”
The man claimed that Mateen was upset after having a sexual encounter with two Puerto Rican men after one of them revealed he was HIV positive.
“He was terrified that he was infected,” the man told Univision. “I asked him, ‘Did you do a test?’ Yes. He went to the pharmacy and did the test … it came out negative, but it doesn’t come out right away. It takes four, five months.
“When I asked him what he was going to do now, his answer was, ‘I’m going to make them pay for what they did to me.’”
The called Mateen a “very sweet guy” and said he met him last year through a gay dating app.
CBS News and the Los Angeles Times previously reported that Mateen used gay dating apps. He also frequented the Pulse nightclub before killing 49 people more than one week ago.
The man claims he and Mateen met around 20 times, with the last meeting taking place in December. He said Mateen never revealed his name to him, but told him that he was 35 and married with a son. He told Univision that he believed Mateen’s wife knew that he went to gay bars and that his marriage was to hide the fact that he was “100 percent” gay.
CBS News reported that on the night of the shooting Mateen went into the club and received a wristband and left. He then returned nearly two hours later to begin his attack.
Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria during the attack on Facebook and 911 calls.
The FBI previously investigated him for possible terrorist ties but those investigations were closed due to lack of evidence.
Omar Mateen’s Alleged Male Lover: ‘He Did It For Revenge’ Against Latino Men
Another steaming crock of dung.
Report the news? CBS can’t even write decent fiction.
Exactly. I won’t even read what is most likely a b.s. dialogue/script. Any one person being shot or shot at or threatened in any other life threatening way creates an immediate serious situation. For most victims they will experience terror! This is what makes the criminal activity a terrorist act. Not, the supposed or literal intention of the victimizer! Like so much else, definitions are being turned on their heads. This is a soap opera at it’s un-finest.