Terrorism

Here’s a portion of the transcript from the video below: “This country was built on an idea that we don’t agree on everything; that we are a tolerant, free nation that encourages debate, free-thinking, believing, or not, in what you choose. I, as a new father, am thinking, ‘What do I tell my kids? What do I tell them about …

From the Orlando Sentinel: By the thousands, they came – to grieve, to celebrate, to connect, to declare: “Love wins.” A massive two-hour vigil for the victims of the Pulse Orlando nightclub shootings Monday evening spilled over the lawn of the Plaza at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center near City Hall, as thousands gathered to cry, embrace, remember and …

ABC News reports: Kevin West said the shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, contacted him three months ago through a dating app called Jack’d. “When he first contacted me, he was saying things like, ‘What clubs are popping and things of that sort, what are good places to go?'” West said. “And I remember telling him, ‘Oh, you can just look it …

Tonight the Eiffel Tower has been illuminated in the rainbow colors in solidarity with Orlando’s LGBT victims. The American flag is being projected onto a giant glowing balloon hanging from the middle level.

From the Orlando Sentinel: At least four regular customers of Pulse, the nightclub where the massacre took place, said Monday that they believe they had seen Mateen there before. “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,” said Ty Smith, who …

TIME reports: A couple who was deeply in love when they were killed during a gunman’s shooting rampage inside an Orlando nightclub will have a joint funeral service, their families said Monday. Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22, and his 32-year-old boyfriend, Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, were among the 49 people who lost their lives Sunday in the worst mass shooting in American …

You may want a tissue for the videos. Gay Star News: Thousands of Londoners squeezed into Soho’s Old Compton Street this evening to attend a vigil in memory of those attacked and killed in the Orlando gay nightclub massacre. The vigil was arranged by local bars and community groups – and echoes dozens of similar vigils that have been taking …

From the New York Daily News: Drawing a stark contrast between herself and Donald Trump and renewing her calls for stricter gun control in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Hillary Clinton declared Monday that “weapons of war have no place on our streets.” “It’s essential we stop terrorists from getting the tools they need to …

The Independent reports: Journalist Owen Jones stormed out of a live television interview about the mass killing in Orlando in protest at his interviewer’s refusal to name the shooting an attack on LGBT people. “At the end of the day this was a homophobic hate crime, as well as terrorism and it has to be called out, as I have …

Entertainment Weekly recaps: John Oliver opened Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight by commenting on the mass shooting at an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub on early Sunday morning that left 50 people dead. “As I’m sure you know by now, at least 50 people were killed by a gunman at a gay nightclub in what is being described as a …

The Orlando Sentinel today published a stark front page free of the usual jumble of news items. Instead, this editorial appears: Words cannot adequately convey the depth of the horror and grief in Central Florida in the wake of what now ranks as the worst mass shooting in American history. Orlando now tragically sits atop a list of infamy, sharing …

From the Washington Post: The father of the gunman in the Orlando nightclub shooting said early Monday his son shouldn’t have carried out the massacre because “God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality.” In a video posted to Facebook shortly after midnight, Seddique Mateen, who lives in Florida, called the shooting “tragic” but said his son, Omar Mateen, was …

While some right wing outlets and commentators are discounting or ignoring the identities of the victims in Orlando, the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press gets right to the heart of it. They write: Let’s start here: The Pulse nightclub shootings — the largest mass murder in American history, claiming at least 50 lives — were an act of …

From the New York Daily News: His killing machine of choice was a mass murderer’s best friend — and his enabler a gun lobby that has long opposed efforts to keep assault weapons out of the hands of bloodthirsty maniacs. The madman who killed at least 50 people and wounded 53 others at an Orlando club early Sunday was armed …

At the request of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the spire of the nation’s tallest building is illuminated in rainbow colors tonight in solidarity with Orlando’s LGBT community. In midtown stands an even more unusual sight: the Empire State Building has gone completely dark in mourning.

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, National Center for Transgender Equality head Mara Keisling, and NAACP president Cornell Brooks this afternoon gave a nationally broadcast statement on the massacre in Orlando. Watch below. This is LGBT history. This is American history.

Via press release from US Attorney General Loretta Lynch: “I have been briefed by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and FBI Director James Comey on the horrific terrorist attack in Orlando and will continue to receive updates on the situation. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this very difficult time. The Department of Justice, including the …

Via White House press release: As a mark of respect for the victims of the act of hatred and terror perpetrated on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of …

President Obama will be at the podium in the White House briefing room at 1:30PM Eastern to speak about the massacre in Orlando. Watch below.

CNN reports: Omar Saddiqui Mateen was the gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing at least 50 people, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The 29-year-old suspect was known to the FBI, the officials said — one of hundreds of people on the agency’s radar suspected of being ISIS sympathizers, according to two law enforcement officials. …