Supporting The Fight
The Largest Hate Crime In United States History
The event that happened on the date of June 12th, 2016 will go down in history as the deadliest hate crime in the history of the United States. Around 2 o’clock in the morning, a man named Omar Mateen walked into Pulse nightclub and proceeded to, over the course of the night, kill 49 people and wound 53. While there will be allegations until the end of time of whether he was involved with an extremist group the fact remains that the area struck was a nightclub tailored to the LGBT community and it was targeted because of the sexual orientation of the clubs attendees.
Omar Mateen Named As Shooter
The shooter reportedly entered the club just after 2 am after driving from Ft. Pierce, Florida (about 90-120 minutes) and began shooting. An off-duty police officer who was working at the club immediately engaged in a gun fight with Omar Mateen and after a short time many people were killed. After this Omar retreated to a bathroom and held several of the club goers hostage. At this point, the police had already surrounded the building and began to evacuate the injured people who were in the main area of the club building. During this time the police devised a plan to get the hostages removed from the building. At the same time, the shooter Omar Mateen was reported to be in contact with hostage negotiators at which time to pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and made other accusations. It is unknown at this time exactly what was said over the phone.
Fortunately, the police were able to use an armored vehicle to pierce a hole in the wall of the bathroom where Omar Sateen and the hostages were being held. At that point, the hostages were able to escape through the opening and into the safety of police custody. Omar Sateen attempted to follow them through the opening with weapons in hand during which time the SWAT team and other police officers opened fire killing him at the scene.
Our Offices Dedication To The LGBT Community Is Unwavering
As an office of LGBT attorneys, we are heartbroken to hear about the events that took place. We understand that members or the LGBT community are persecuted, and treated unfairly every day for no other reason than their sexual orientation. In the case of the Orlando and the shooter Omar Mateen we hope that the families can get the closure that they need and that entire situation can be put to rest. We promise to continue to do our very best to help all people get the assistance that they need whether it be in divorce, custody issues, or other areas where we can be an advocate.
