Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI

Omar Mateen, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando gay nightclub mass shooting, a senior law-enforcement source told The Daily Beast.

Mateen killed 50 people and shot more than 100 in total at the Pulse dance club early Sunday morning, in the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

The senior law-enforcement source reports Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen, but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.

“He’s a known quantity,” the source said. “He’s been on the radar before.”

The senior law-enforcement source told The Daily Beast that Mateen was born in New York and was married for a time to a woman from New Jersey. 

That woman told The Washington Post that he repeatedly abused her during their marriage, which lasted from April 2009 to July 2011.

“He was not a stable person,” the ex-wife said. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”

Mateen’s parents are from Afghanistan but he was not very religious, she said, adding that he “seemed like a normal human being.”

Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News that the sight of two men in Miami kissing angered his son.

“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident,” the father added. “We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.”

The attack, he said, “has nothing to do with religion.”

But the father may not be the most credible of sources. He’s a supporter of the Afghan Taliban, according to The Washington Post. 

Mir Seddique Mateen appears to reside in Florida, but is said to be presently running for office in Afghanistan.

Florida incorporation papers indicate that a Seddique Mateen heads a non-profit organization, The Durand Jirga, Inc. The non-profit was formed in 2010 and is registered at the Port St. Lucie, Florida address where both the father and Omar Mateen appear to reside.

An online posting by the father insists that what is now the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan should be returned to Afghanistan.

“Long live Afghanistan,” a posting on Seddique Mateen’s Facebook page declares. “To Pakistan death, death, death.”

Two law-enforcement officials told The Daily Beast that immediately before starting his rampage, Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State. (A similar pledge was made online by the San Bernardino terrorists before they shot and killed 14 people last year.)

The first law-enforcement source told The Daily Beast there is no immediate indication that Mateen had any direct connection to ISIS. But ISIS recently called on Muslims across the world to attack targets in the West during the holy month of Ramadan, which began last week. 

The message came in an audio recording from spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, released in May. Muslims around the world fast during Ramadan in honor of the first revelation from God to Muhammad. The terrorist group believes it to be a particularly opportune time for attacks.

“Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready... to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers... especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America,” Adnani said.

The Amaq Agency, an ISIS media affiliate, later praised the attack and took credit for it. Yet there is no currently established link between Mateen and the terrorist outfit.