U.S. places Omar Mateen's family on no-fly list

RT
Sat, 18 Jun 2016 17:31 UTC

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Noor Salman (left) has been added to federal no-fly lists while authorities investigate if she played a role the Orlando gay club attack launched by her husband, Omar Mateen (right), early Sunday, according to reports.

Omar Mateen's father and wife were added to the US' no-fly list as investigators try to determine what role they played in the Orlando massacre in which 49 club-goers were killed and 53 injured.

Federal officials have added Omar's father, Seddique Mateen, and his wife, Noor Salman, to the government's no-fly list, according to NBC News, although a spokesman for the US Government Terrorist Screening Database would not confirm that.

"Disclosure of an individual's inclusion or non-inclusion in the TSDB or on the No Fly List would significantly impair the government's ability to investigate and counteract terrorism and protect transportation security," US Government Terrorist Screening Database spokesman Dave Joly told NBC News.

The decision comes as investigators are still trying to determine what role, if any, the pair played in the massacre.

Once on the no-fly list, people are barred from travelling on commercial airlines.

In part, what peaked the investigators' interest was that while Mateen was holed up in a bathroom with hostages at Pulse two hours after the massacre began, he texted Salman to ask if she had seen the news. She typed back, saying that she loved him, according to CNN.

Salman claims that she tried to dissuade her husband from carrying out his sick plan. ABC News also reported that she was with her husband when he recently bought ammunition and a holster.

Salman has told to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that she had reason to believe Mateen wanted to commit violence, while maintaining that she had tried to talk him out it. Despite those leaks, officials told the Wall Street Journal that her claims and how much she really knew could not yet be verified.

As of now, no charges have been filed against either Salman or Seddique Mateen.

Comment: If Salman had any inkling that Mateen was about to engage in violence, she surely wasn't the only one:

In an explosive revelation, a Florida gun store owner revealed on Thursday that he had contacted the FBI about Omar Mateen about a month before the Orlando nightclub shooter's bloody rampage — after the would be killer attempted to purchase body armor and a large amount of ammunition, according to The Hill. Owner of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Robert Abell, said Mateen was turned away when he tried to purchase two types of body armor the store did not carry, as well as 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

According to the report in The Hill:

The store contacted the FBI, which was also investigating a group of Middle Eastern men buying police gear at the store. The men turned out to be security guards. The FBI asked about Mateen's visit, but the store couldn't provide any identifying details or security camera footage.

Store employees realized that the man was Mateen after his picture circulated in the media in the wake of the massacre that left 49 people dead. Mateen was killed by police when they raided the nightclub.

... The question remains as to whether the FBI simply dropped the ball, after being warned a month prior by Abell, or if there was some type of intentional negligence in allowing Mateen to not be further investigated and put under surveillance - especially considering the fact that he had previously been investigated by the FBI and was under surveillance for 10 months. The FBI had interviewed Mateen no less than 3 times, thus a call regarding his attempt to buy body armor and a large amount of ammunition should have precipitated a more proactive response.