As investigators piece together the case that left 50 people dead inside Orlando’s Pulse nightclub June 12, the lone gunman’s father Seddique Mateen has spoken out. Mateen invited cameras and reporters into his Florida home Tuesday (June 14) to blame the nightclub owner for not having better security, which he thinks would have thwarted his son Omar Mateen’s actions.
“If this club, if the owner of this club knew that 300 people are coming, or 400 people, they should of had the best security,” the elder Mateen said. “I wish if they had better security, this tragedy would not happen.”
The outlandish remarks were made just days after the gruesome attack, and while the nation still mourns the loss of the 50 men and women were killed.
A spokesperson for Pulse spoke with TMZ about Mateen’s audacious comments and understandably couldn’t wrap their minds around the gall of it all.
“We simply can’t find the words to respond to such a callous comment from the father of the man who perpetrated this heinous act.”
Mateen’s disrespectful comments come on the heels of Geraldo Rivera, who on Monday (June 13) shamed the victims in the shooting for not standing up to the shooter who had an AR-15 assault rifle.
“When you’re in that situation and you have no weapons, you have two choices,” 72-year-old Rivera said. “If you can’t hide, and you can’t run, there are two choices. You stay and die, or you fight. For God’s sakes, fight back! fight back!”
While a motive is still unclear, it was initially reported Mateen carried out the atrocity after seeing two men kissing. However, Orlando survivor Patience Carter said Mateen spoke while inside the nightclub, pledged his allegiance to ISIS and said the reason he began shooting was because he wanted America to stop bombing his country.