Omar Mateen - America's Devil

(Baonghean) - The massacre in Orlando, Florida, USA is an event that has shocked the world in recent days. 49 innocent people lost their lives at a nightclub for the LGBT community, dozens of people were injured. All of these terrible things happened at the hands of a coward, a true devil in the heart of America.

Omar Mateen, 29 years old, is a name that has been constantly appearing in newspapers and news reports for many days. He is the perpetrator of the most horrific tragedy in American history, but sadly, this is the motherland that witnessed the birth and growth of this murderer.

Assault rifle similar to Omar Mateen's murder weapon in Orlando, Florida, USA. Photo: Telegraph

Omar Mateen killed people of the same nationality using at least one American-made gun – including an assault rifle he bought legally from a US gun store. He was investigated twice by the supreme law enforcement agency – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – for suspected links to terrorism.

Many believe that what needs to be done now is for the public to stop paying attention to Omar Mateen's personal life, because after all, this is what a person who commits such sick crimes craves.

Instead, we should focus our attention on the victims of the tragedy, their relatives and friends, and most importantly, we should decode why mass shootings - an undesirable American "characteristic" - are still rampant and out of control. In addition, we should clearly distinguish the forces and mechanisms that allow the vicious cycle of massacres to repeat itself in a circle with no way out on American soil.

Omar Mateen - the man who caused the tragedy at Pulse nightclub, once declared allegiance to IS. Photo: Twitter-Getty

According to sources, Mateen has been to Pulse nightclub many times in recent years. He was even caught at least once with his ex-wife. Did he come to learn about the place, prepare for a crime, or for more personal, private reasons? It is unclear! He is also said to have used many mobile phone applications that are places for gay couples to communicate. Did he do this to gather information, or simply to find partners? This is also unknown.

There are still countless unanswered questions, even in a comment thread on June 12, the Miami Herald revealed that according to “one of Mateen’s former colleagues,” he had made homophobic and racist comments.

His ex-wife also said that during their short, often abusive marriage, she also suspected that he was gay. Of course, these are not final conclusions, but the answers to the unanswered questions will directly affect the motive for the crime.

Omar Mateen once took his wife to the gay nightclub Pulse. Photo: nydailynews.

The one thing that is indisputable is that Mateen deliberately targeted the LGBT community in one of their safest locations, and committed the crime on a specific night – “Latin Night”. Perhaps this should be at the forefront of the investigation, as more details emerge and more speculation about motives emerges.

Frankly speaking, although American society is more open to the LGBT community than other countries, there is still a stigma attached to the idea that anyone who is “different” is against the laws of nature and God’s will. As long as similar thoughts persist, it is not impossible for crimes like Mateen to be repeated.

In addition, this free country needs to consider the problem of how easy it is for its citizens to buy lethal weapons, not to mention those who seek them out for nefarious purposes. In all fairness, whether they favor gun control legislation or insist on protecting America’s famous gun culture, the consensus among citizens is that there is no reason for a civilian to own an assault rifle unless they are planning an attack. Military guns are designed specifically to dispatch enemies quickly, and they belong on the battlefield, not in the civilian world.

Therefore, the shocking incident caused by the killer Mateen has forced the US to re-examine the way it is doing to limit the ability of terrorist suspects to access guns, especially high-damage types. As CNN cited updated federal data, those on the US terrorist watch list through background checks and allowed to buy guns and ammunition reached 91% in 2015.

Although Mateen is not one of these people, meaning he is not restricted from buying guns, the alarming number above still makes us shudder with fear when thinking about the bad scenarios that could happen, because besides the fear of mass shootings, there are also single murders, cases of suicide that are easily "thanks" to the lax gun control mechanism in the US.

In conclusion, no one can deny that Omar Mateen is a devil born and nurtured in the heart of America, and only America can decide how to prevent the second, third Omar Mateen,... from happening, closing a dark and painful page in a country where guns are not simply a means of self-defense.

Phu Binh

(According to NYT)