Actually, those stories probably aren't true to start with.
Check this out.
The view that Mateen deliberately targeted LGBTs is almost certainly false. Yet it may play a large role in sending a potentially innocent woman to prison.
theintercept.com
In particular, Mateen went to Pulse only after having scouted other venues that night that were wholly unrelated to the LGBT community, only to find that they were too defended by armed guards and police, and ultimately chose Pulse only after a generic Google search for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “gay clubs” — produced Pulse as the first search result.
Several journalists closely covering the Mateen investigation have, for some time now, noted the complete absence of any evidence suggesting that Mateen knew that Pulse was a gay club or that targeting the LGBT community was part of his motive. These doubts have been strongly fortified by the new facts, previously under seal, that were revealed by today’s court filing.
Perhaps most importantly, Mateen’s alleged motive in choosing Pulse — that he wanted to target and kill LGBTs due to some toxic mix of self-hatred over his own sexual orientation and his fealty to Islam — has been treated as unquestionably true in countless media accounts, statements from public officials, and ultimately in the public mind. But ample evidence now affirmatively casts serious doubt about whether there is any truth to this widely accepted belief about Mateen’s motives in attacking Pulse. While some of this conflicting evidence has been reported in the same media outlets that originally disseminated the narrative that Mateen sought to target the LGBT community, it has been downplayed to the point where few in the public are even aware that the original theories about Mateen’s motives have been undermined.
The motion filed by Salman’s lawyers makes clear that in the days leading up to the Pulse attack, and indeed on the day of the attack itself, Mateen scoped out and considered numerous venues — such as Disney properties and shopping malls — none of which had any connection to the LGBT community or gay life. Moreover, once Mateen decided to attack nightclub, his phone records reveal that he searched for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “LGBT clubs” or “gay bars.” The relevant facts from the motion just filed this afternoon makes clear how dubious the widespread beliefs are about Mateen’s motives:
But over time, as investigators scrutinized every aspect of Mateen’s in-person and digital life and tracked down every last lead, all of these claims about Mateen’s sexual orientation collapsed. FBI investigators ultimately concluded that there was no truth whatsoever to the theory that Mateen was gay — closeted or otherwise. To the contrary, they uncovered ample evidence that he was cheating on his wife with numerous women.
As the New York Times described on June 18, “Mateen used a dating website to seek a relationship with a woman in Fort Pierce. He churned through usernames — “makeitlovelylol” among them — and lied about his age, according to the woman, who requested anonymity but who provided photos that she had saved from his dating profile.” Indeed, “at one point, she said, Mr. Mateen’s pursuit veered toward stalking. He began messaging her to say he was nearby. He knew the color of her car and the general location of her place of employment.”
So- in conclusion.
NO evidence that he was closeted gay.
No evidence he went to gay websites.
No evidence he ever set foot in Orlando before the shooting.
His motive was retaliation against America for wars in the Middle East.
And it appears to be that he picked Pulse because it was a nightclub that was not as well guarded as Disneyland.
