Orlando: The man identified as Miguel, the alleged “gay lover” of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen, has said that the latter’s act was one of revenge based on fears that he had been exposed to HIV.
The gunman appears to have been a "homegrown extremist" who espoused support for a jumble of often-conflicting Islamic radical groups, the White House and the FBI said Monday.
However, contrary to the claims and the official stand so far, Miguel claims that he became Mateen’s lover on one of the dating apps and said that Mateen was a heavy drinker who was struggling with sexuality and Muslim upbringing. While talking to an American television channel, Miguel said that he believes Mateen had engaged in sexual acts with two Puerto Rican men, one of whom was HIV positive.
“The thing that makes me want to tell the truth is that he didn’t do it for terrorism,” said Miguel, his face disguised by a mask. “In my opinion he did it for revenge.”
Miguel also said that Mateen and Miguel had visited a hotel room more than 20 times before the massacre.
In the conversations released by the police they had with Mateen, he had told police that he was carrying out the attack in the name of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis.
“You people are gonna get it, and I’m gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid,” he said.
While the Islamic State's radio hailed the attack and called Mateen "one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America", it gave no indication the group planned or knew of the attack beforehand.
Counterterrorism experts have been warning in the past few years about the danger of so-called lone wolf attackers who act in sympathy with extremist groups like the Islamic State but are not directed by them.
Earlier, Mateen’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy has stepped forward to say that she thinks Mateen may have been gay.
Yusufiy, during an interview at her home in Colorado, said Mateen had seemed “perfect — American enough for her free spirit and Muslim enough to please her traditional family.
“He might have been a gay but chose to hide his true identity out of anger and shame,” Sitora Yusufiy said, adding that she met Mateen online in 2008 and the two got married in 2009.
“This man was a simple, Americanized guy that was also from my culture. And, you know, had the same religion. So I was like, OK , this could potentially satisfy my parents,” she added.
Mateen was the son of an Afghan immigrant who had a talk show in the United States, the nature of which was not entirely clear: A former Afghan official said the programme was pro-Taliban and a former colleague said it was enthusiastically pro-American.
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