*Contrary to previous rumors and speculation, the FBI has found no evidence that Orlando gunman Omar Mateen led a secret gay life.
Mateen went on a rampage inside an Orlando gay bar, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others on June 12, and in the aftermath, many have been trying to determine what led to his killing spree.
As SandraRose.com notes, several gay men even came forward claiming they communicated with Mateen via gay dating apps. Others said Mateen was a regular customer at Pulse nightclub. But after conducting 500 interviews, and an extensive search of Omar Mateen’s electronic devices, including laptop computers and cellphones, the FBI concluded that he did not have gay lovers or communicate with men on gay dating apps.
According to the Los Angeles Times, federal agents “found no photographs, no text messages, no smartphone apps,” and “no gay pornography” on Mateen’s devices. Agents also used data from nearby cellphone towers to track Mateen’s movements. The data suggested the only gay club Mateen visited was on the night of the massacre.
READ RELATED STORY: Omar Mateen’s Gay Lover (‘Miguel’): Shooting About Revenge Not ISIS (WATCH)
The FBI also discredited a man named “Miguel,” who appeared on Univision TV wearing a disguise, and claiming he had sexual relations with Mateen. Miguel told the network that Mateen committed his act of terror out of “revenge against Puerto Ricans” after engaging in a ménage à trois with two Puerto Rican men, one who allegedly was HIV positive.
The Orlando Sentinel notes that the FBI has not stopped processing any incoming information that may indicate Mateen carried on a secret gay life. So far, at least four men have come forward claiming to know Mateen from Pulse.
“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” Ty Smith, a Pulse patron, told the Sentinel shortly after the attack. “We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times,” he added. Another patron, Jim Van Horn, told the Associated Press shortly after the attack that he had seen Mateen there multiple times and that he struck him and his friends as a “strange person.”
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