The gunman who carried out the horrific massacre of 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, made a series of demands before gunning down his victims, witnesses claim.
Omar Mateen declared his support for Daesh before carrying out the biggest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11 on Sunday morning.
This brutal, unprovoked attack claimed the lives of 49 innocent people, before Mateen was shot dead by police.
Police and eyewitnesses have now come forward to claim that Mateen demanded his victims to stop using their phones, before revealing his reasoning behind the shooting.
Orlando Police Chief, John Mina, said:
He was cool and calm. He [told hostages] ‘please do not text… Give me all your phones. Then [Mateen] said: ‘I don’t have any issue with the blacks’.
A clubber told police that Mateen was then heard telling the victims he was holding hostage: “America needs to stop bombing ISIS.”
The same eyewitness also went on to claim that he was joined in the club with three other terrorists, but this claim has since been discredited by police.
This comes after shocking new revelations revealed that Mateen may have been gay, having visited the LGBT nightclub on several occasions over the last three years and also used gay dating apps such as Grindr and Jack’d to chat to men online.
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, 27, also told a Brazilian TV station that Mateen had ‘gay tendencies’ and had been called gay in front of her on several occasions by his father.
Despite Mateen allegedly pledging his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State, authorities have said that there is no evidence to link the terrorist organisation with the attack.
