Mass shooting at Orlando gay club

[Sondheimite]

I've been weary to comment on this tread because my heart has been broken since around 3am on Sunday morning when I started to get texts from friends in the club at the time of the shooting.  All of my friends made it out safe.  Acquaintances, a bartender I used to share laughs with, and many other did not.  I have so many friends in deep deep mourning right now as they try to process the unbelievable gravity of not having coworkers they used to love working with beside them anymore or friends they used to attend Pulse with who never made it out.  There is an unbearable grief in the Orlando community right now.  

It is so very different when it is "your club."  Not that Sandy Hook, or the shooting at the movie theatre, or the massacre in Charleston, or the many other shoots were not crushing to me at the time.  But it is so very different when you are seeing people you know on television being carried out of the club on CNN covered in blood.  It is so very different calling your friends at 3am, having them not answer, and crying for hours hoping you will see your phone light up with a message telling you they are safe.  It is so very different when it happens in a place where you personally grew to understand and accept yourself as queer.  It is so very different when you are hearing about performers who used to pour shots in your mouth climbing out of AC vents to safety.  It is so very different when you realize you will never be able to see one of the performers you used to throw money at perform ever again.  It is so very different when it is your city, your bar, you people...  I've had to delete social media accounts because I just can't look at all the hate and ignorance going around about this.  This was my community.  And it personally hurts so badly.

I moved out of Orlando in late 2015 to move to New York City.  I am going back down there at the start of next week to help with a benefit show with the artistic and performance community there.  All of your love and well wishes will be taken with me.

<3

[PalJoey]

You have all of mine, Sondheimite.

[SNAFU]

The sad thing is there are already conspiracy theorist websites claiming it didn't happen that it is a hoax pulled upon the World so they can take our guns away, I kid you not!

 

[HorseTears]

PalJoey said: "You have all of mine, Sondheimite."

 

 

Mine, too, Sondheimite.  I can't even imagine how truly awful this past week - especially Sunday and Monday - was for you.   Thanks for checking in with us and as painful as it might be, it will probably do your heart good to be with your community in Orlando and to give back so directly.  Do let us know how everything goes.  

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

[Steve C.]

I have been in a miserable mood all week, crying, getting angry, crying...this is so overwhelmingly tragic. Now the even more challenging task will be first, listening to the stories from victims, family members, friends. When I heard that the two boyfriends died in each others' arms I just lost it.

And now all the sick reasons and theories and publicity about these murders are doing exactly what this (expletive @$$hole F****R) wanted. Even worse are the facts now about all the warning signs.

But while all this is explored we must not forget the victims, both living and those that passed. After the appropriate time of grief, regret, and acceptance, I think there should be a memorial like the AIDS Quilt, the "Pulse" Quilt or "Orlando Quilt" would remember both survivors and the deceased. I know that a public statement celebrating the light in their souls and in their eyes, can memorialize their spirits. I myself can say when my older brother passed of HIV/AIDS it was a meaningful comfort to me.

[CarlosAlberto]

You have all of mine as well sondheimite. I relate to everything you wrote. I have many, many friends and family in Orlando. I've frequented Pulse on many occasions, especially on Latin Night. I was also frantically calling and texting loved ones to see if they were ok. There's people I know that have been affected directly by this. It's been an extremely hard 5 days.

I send you a big virtual hug. 

 

[Petralicious]

This is Amazing!

HACKERS HIJACK ISIS TWITTER ACCOUNTS WITH GAY PORN AFTER ORLANDO ATTACK

Twitter accounts belonging to supporters of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) have been hacked in the wake of the Orlando shooting, with jihadist content replaced with gay pride messages and links to gay pornography.

A hacker affiliated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous, who uses the online moniker WauchulaGhost, first began hijacking pro-ISIS Twitter accounts several months ago. Following the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 13, the hacker decided to replace ISIS imagery posted to the accounts with rainbow flags and pro-LGBT messages.

“I did it for the lives lost in Orlando,” the hacker tells Newsweek. “Daesh [ISIS] have been spreading and praising the attack, so I thought I would defend those that were lost. The taking of innocent lives will not be tolerated.”

http://www.newsweek.com/isis-twitter-accounts-gay-porn-orlando-attacks-anonymous-470300?rx=us

[SNAFU]

That is all very well and good, however there seems that this guy had no real ties to Isis.

[adamgreer]

Can we all officially agree that John McCain has lost his mind and probably isn't fit to hold elected office anymore?

 

What an ass. 

[madbrian]

If Trump continues on his current trajectory, and there's no reason to expect him to change, Arizona could come into play for the Dems, including McCain's seat in the Senate.  Rather than just playing defense in the swing states, as defined by Obama's narrow wins, I'd love to see the Dems expand the map.  Trump has neither the money nor the infrastructure to compete.

[CarlosAlberto]

[best12bars]

I love Morgan Freeman.

[Liza's Headband]

Morgan Freeman never said that: http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/freeman.asp

[kdogg36]

madbrian said: "What should be beyond dispute is that the invasion of Iraq, based on lies, was the seminal cause."

See, now that's something that can bring liberals and libertarians together. :)

[HorseTears]

SNAFU said: "That is all very well and good, however there seems that this guy had no real ties to Isis."

 

 

Snaf, you know I love you, but I keep seeing variations on this sentiment expressed everywhere and I think it demonstrates a misunderstanding of how ISIS functions in 2016.  When it comes to attacks in the West, they are a largely decentralized operation.  Rachel Maddow did a great segment on this on her Monday or Tuesday episode, well worth watching.  But, ISIS is not Al Qaeda and they do not operate like AQ or like any other radical Islamic terrorist group.  I'm BROADLY paraphrasing here (watching the Maddow segment would be far more educational), but...

 

Over the past two years ISIS has published these manifestos essentially telling their sympathizers and supporters in the west to basically attack whomever they want, whenever they want. They've told them that they've heard their frustrations (that it's nearly impossible for them to hit 'hard' targets in the West - like military installations and government buildings) and that some of their sympathizers in the West have concerns about hitting civilians. And ISIS has responded by publishing these manifestos in which they tell their western supporters not to think of civilians as innocents and that targeting them is actually more valuable to ISIS than going after 'hard' targets. And, in those manifestos they've essentially told them: "don't wait for guidance, don't wait for instructions - attack whenever and wherever you can and, when you do, pledge allegiance to ISIS" (paraphrase, not a direct quote). 

 

WATCH HERE: - The Rachel Maddow Show segment - "Orlando Attack Follows ISIS' Soft Target Call"

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Liza's Headband said: "Morgan Freeman never said that: http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/freeman.asp

 

Well he should have because it's true. You SDB

[HorseTears]

HASAN ♥

 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

I started bawling my eyes out^

[PalJoey]

He's excellent.

[SNAFU]

Horse tears, love ya back sweety, however:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/18/482621690/investigators-say-orlando-shooter-showed-few-warning-signs-of-radicalization?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160618

[HorseTears]

Snaf, sorry, wasn't very clear there.  What I meant was that whether or not someone in the west is truly radicalized or all-but-officially aligned with their belief system seems to be largely irrelevant to ISIS at this point.  If someone's just angry at the world in general and lashes out, but credits ISIS with inspiration, that seems to be enough for them now.  The randomness and unpredictability of attacks like this is what they're hoping will become their calling card in the west.  Whether or not the perpetrators of these acts are true believers or not, seems to be only a minor concern for them.  At least at this stage.  

 

As for this despicable man, who knows.  It certainly looks like his internalized homophobia and self-hatred was the larger motivation.  He seemed to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the differences between ISIS, Al Qaeda and even Hezbollah - at different times pledging some kind of allegiance to or support of each of these competing organizations.  

[SNAFU]

Well that is why when Isil claimed responsibility for it,the Government more or less ignored it. Played the claim down.

 

[PalJoey]

That NPR article misses the potential radicalization on his trips to Saudi Arabia .

Mateen took two trips to Saudi Arabia in close succession, one in 2011 and one in 2012. The 2012 trip was an 8-day Umrah, a religious journey like the Hajj, but one that can be taken at any time of the year. Mateen took it with a group of 80 American security and law-enforcement officers that included 20 Muslim members of the NYPD. The 80 pilgrims were not required to spend most of their time together, and during the 8 days Mateen went off on his own.

But the odd thing is that he had just taken another trip there, a year earlier, not with NYU--a 10-day Umrah, during which time he may have gone to the UAE.

To take one Umrah is to fulfill a religious duty. To take two--they are expensive, around $4000--raises the red-flag possibility that he was undergoing indoctrination.

 

[HorseTears]

Good catch, PJ! 

[finebydesign]

I still think it is too early to pin this on one thing or another.  I mentioned earlier a crime of passion as motive perhaps he got some not so great news.  Just today someone else has come forward speaking about a sexual relationship with him and HIV scares.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3653734/Puerto-Rican-man-claiming-Orlando-shooter-s-gay-lover-describes-friends-benefits-relationship-says-attack-revenge-Omar-Mateen-discovered-one-men-d-threesome-HIV-positive.html  

So two trips to Saudi Arabia colors him radicalized?  What does 63 stays at a hotel last year mean? I'm hopeful there will be a thorough examination of this case by the FBI. 

Safe pride everyone. 

[Liza's Headband]

I would be weary of gossip circulated by the Daily Mail.