After learning about the deadly shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA on Sunday, June 12 that left 49 dead and 53 injured, our first reaction was a huge sadness. But then, after the tears, the second reaction was "Who do we blame?" There's obviously the shooter, Omar Mateen. In addition, Mateen was an ISIS-sympathizer, so let's point our fingers at them too.
Mateen was also on the FBI's radar, having been interviewed twice in 2013 due to "inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties." Mateen was questioned again in 2014 because of a suspected connection between him and an American suicide bomber. The FBI concluded Mateen was not a "credible threat" at the time. Aren't they to blame too?
Despite all of this, Mateen was able to exercise his Second Amendment rights and purchase a handgun and an AR-15. Every legislator who voted against gun control measures is also to blame, in our opinion.
Mateen, who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and handgun when he attacked the nightclub, lived in an apartment with his wife, Noor Salman, and their three-year-old son. Salman, his second wife, had some knowledge of her husband's plans and is being investigated for possible wrongdoing for allegedly failing to warn authorities.
But amidst all of this blame gaming, there's something we cannot forget: the victims.
This is the largest mass shooting on American soil and the 15th time President Obama has had to address the nation over the murder of its citizens by a gun-toting lunatic(s). We're all weary, and we show our support to the victims and their loved ones.
In these pages, we want to put faces and names to the victims because it is they who should be the focus of this tragedy. All of them were beautiful and loved and meant something to their families, friends and communities. The loss is global.
