More current updates in the comment section below…
There has been a mass shooting…they are calling it a terror attack, whether it is a “domestic or foreign” they have not specified…according to MSNBC at 8:04am.
Approximately 20 people are dead and scores wounded after a gunman opened fire and took hostages at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, police said.
Officials said a hostage situation developed after the gunman stormed the Pulse Nightclub about 2 a.m Sunday. The assailant was shot dead about three hours later when a SWAT team entered the club, police said.
Emergency services respond the shooting at Pulse Nightclub. Orlando Police / Twitter
The incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
“We are looking at probably in the range of 20 [dead], but we don’t want to give you an exact figure,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.
Police said a uniformed officer working extra duty engaged in a gun fight with the shooter after he opened fire at the entrance to the club. Mina said the incident then developed into a hostage situation.
“A little after 5 a.m. this morning we made the decision to go in on a rescue,” Mina said, adding that an officer was injured after being shot in the head.
“It appears his helmet saved his life,” he said. “So he has an injury to his eye, but it looks like the bullet did hit his helmet.”
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the incident “could definitely be classified as domestic terrorism.”
Revelers described scenes of horror inside the club. One witness told MSNBC that they had to crawl over bodies to escape.
A post to the club’s Facebook page at around 2 a.m. warned “everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.” Witness video from outside showed dozens of first responders at the scene, and several victims on the ground.
“It was tragic,” club-goer Christopher Hansen told MSNBC. “I wasn’t sure if it was the music, because … it went with the beat almost until you heard just too many shots.
“It was just like — bang, bang, bang, bang, bang bang — and that’s when you just know chaos is just, it was in turmoil,” he added.
The gunman, who has not been identified, was carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and a “device.” The Orange County Sheriff’s Office hazardous device team is now searching the area.
The FBI is assisting with the investigation. Agents say they cannot rule this out as an act of domestic terrorism and that the suspect, who is not from Orlando, may have leanings toward extreme ideologies.
Witnesses said they heard at least 40 shots fired inside the popular gay club and estimated that at least 20 people had been shot.
[…]
Dozens of emergency vehicles surrounded the chaotic scene at the club at 1912 S. Orange Ave. after the 2 a.m. shooting and rescue squads were transporting multiple victims to area hospitals.
The Orlando Fire Department called for its bomb squad and hazardous material team to the scene after 3 a.m. Police K-9 dogs are searching the area around nearby Orlando Regional Medical Center with an armed deputy in head-to-toe military gear.
Emergency workers were seen taking victims away from the scene in large trucks–in one case, an emergency worker was doing chest compressions on one of the victims.
Just after the shooting, Pulse Orlando posted a note to its web page that said “Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.” The popular gay bar was full of people at the time of the incident.
In a press conference on Sunday morning, an FBI spokesman said investigators believed the attacker may have had extremist beliefs, and would consider possible links to Isis, but cautioned they were pursuing multiple leads. Authorities earlier said a controlled explosion had taken place inside the club, and urged media to avoid reporting inaccuracies.
Police also confirmed an officer on duty at the club exchanged shots with the gunman, and the situation then descended into a “hostage situation”. The situation was resolved when a Swat team stormed the nightclub after receiving messages from club patrons who were hiding in the club while the gunman was still at large.
Several explosives and an armoured vehicle were used to break through a wall of the nightclub and rescue approximately 30 hostages. The suspect was shot by a police officer during this intervention.
John Mina, the chief of police, said they were still trying to identify the gunman, but he appears to have been “well-organised”. They could not confirm if the man was operating as a lone wolf or in coordination with others, but believe there is no increased threat to Orlando or the surrounding areas.
Police confirmed several “suspicious devices” were found in and around the nightclub, including one on the gunman and one on his car.
“This is an incident, as I see it, that we can definitely classify as a domestic terrorism incident,” said the Orange County sheriff, Jerry Demings.
When asked if the suspect had any affiliation with Islamic State, the FBI assistant agent in charge, Ron Hopper, said: “We do have suspicions that the individual may have leanings toward that ideology.” Though when pushed as to what led him to believe that, he clarified that all possibilities were being investigated.
The club itself posted a message on its Facebook page about 3 a.m.: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”
Customers streamed out of the club into a chaotic situation with little idea of where to go. “Cops were saying, ‘Go, go, clear the area,’ ” Christopher Hansen told an Orlando television station. “You don’t know who’s what and who’s where.”
As the sun came up, helicopter-shot video showed a situation that seemed to be under control, although windows on one side of the club appeared to be shot out.
Phone camera videos shot at the scene show police cars, ambulances and other emergency vehicles outside the club on South Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando. Streets around the the club were shut down for several blocks.
In one video, shots could clearly be heard as men and women ran from Pulse. Some of the clubgoers told local television reporters that the music was so loud it was difficult, at first, to distinguish the shots from the pulsing beat.
More than 100 people were believed inside the club when the shooting began about 2 a.m.
Many of the wounded were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, about three blocks from the club, which was placed on lockdown after receiving several gunshot victims. “Only essential workers are being allowed access into the building,” the hospital said in a statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Arnold Palmer Hospital and Winnie Palmer Hospital have also been placed on lockdown,” the statement added.
On Pulse’s Facebook page, club officials promised to post updates as they came in: “As soon as we have any information, we will update everyone.”
“Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event,” the nightclub post said. “Thank you for your thoughts and love.”
Local television stations broadcast interviews with people outside the club and the Orlando Regional Medical Center, about three blocks away from the club, anxiously waiting to hear from people who they said were still inside.
WKMG and WESH broadcast interviews with the crowds milling outside the hospital. One woman said she rushed to the area after she got a call from her daughter, who said, “Please come get us and come get us now.”
One mother told CNN: “A girlfriend of my son called and said he got shot, he got shot and she was crying.”
She said could not find her son, or even get information on where he had been taken. Some of the victims had been transferred to other hospitals “because this hospital was full,” she said outside Orlando Regional Medical Center.
The club, which calls itself “Orlando’s Latin Hotspot,” hosts an “Upscale Latin Saturdays” party on Saturday night with three D.J.s and a midnight show.
A terrorist opened fire inside a popular Orlando gay club near closing time early Sunday leaving “approximately” 20 people dead and 42 others wounded, according to authorities.
The 2 a.m. attack was “well organized and well prepared,” said local cops as FBI officials painted the attack as domestic terror. The shooter, who was not from the Orlando area, may have had “leanings” toward radical Islam, Special Agent Danny Banks revealed.
“I heard 20, 40, 50 shots,” Alamo said. “The music stopped.”
Christopher Hansen was in the VIP area when the tragedy began to unfold.
“I was thinking, are you kidding me? So I just dropped down. I just said, ‘Please, please, please, I want to make it out,’” he said. “And when I did, I saw people shot. I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot.”
The chaos continued as a barrage of gunshots were heard erupting at the nightclub after police detonated a “controlled explosion.”
[…]
Moots, who lives across the street from the club, said he saw police officers putting wounded clubbers into trucks and ambulances.
“We saw people being taken away with bullet wounds on their arms and abdomen,” Moots told The News.
That is the latest up to now. I will post the regular Sunday thread in the afternoon. If you have any updates on the shooting, or any other news, think of this as an open thread.
Not sure, presser at 10:15 am Eastern. Experts are saying, on the surface, it’s more likely domestic terror rather than international but nobody knows yet.
I think it might be domestic. We’ve looked around all over this country, and we have seen how the Republicans have passed laws based on religious freedom that block federal laws to stop discrimination against LGBT. Just last month, Gov. Bryant of Mississippi followed suit with other republican governors. It was Jennifer Branning, of Neshoba Co. Ms. who was freshly elected, and a member of Pentecostal Church of Philadelphia Ms. that carried this bill up for a vote, and was passed. We can name state after state that is following in the footsteps of those republicans who are spreading fear/anger/hate.
The gunman was Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghanistan descent. I guess that’s why they are calling it terrorism. If he were a right wing white guy . . .
FBI spokesman at press conference said that a determination of whether it was a hate crime or terrorist had not yet been made. I’m afraid that alot of the media and of course the internet community are pushing the terrorist explanation.
If his last name was SMITH they wouldn’t be calling it radical islamic “terrorism”, they’d be calling him mentally deranged. They didn’t call Dylan Roof a terrorist, or Robert Dear a terrorist! Walk in my shoes for a month and you’ll know it isn’t just islam that vilifies LGBT’s, it is for the most part all religions.
Oh it is hate of course. Like I said I posted that information at the very beginning, this morning. You can see what time those news updates were made. They also said early am that he had used a fake ID to gain entrance to the place. There was a cop on the door…how that dude got in with all the weapons I don’t understand. It is hot, a lot of the pictures I see folks are in shorts and t-shirts.
I’m glad your uncle wasn’t there JJ. I have some younger friends in Orlando that I checked on when I first heard the news. I’m going to Orlando and then on to St.Pete. They’re having their Pride week after next and friends tell me the LGBT community there is already organizing to Stand Up!
Checked on my youngest nieces and nephews in Orlando/Winter Park. Thank goodness all are well. I think our common need to make sure our friends and loved ones are safe brings us to the realization that we are all connected by love not hate.
This is a hate crime and it’s fed 24/7 by the vilification of the LGBT community by religion and by political forces that reinforce this hatred by using some ancient “holy book” as their justification. I don’t care what religion the shooter was, because I know that nearly all of the major religions feed this monster every day and that one of our parties feeds the religions that feeds the monster. It’s time for this to stop!!!!
I’ll be gone for few day, ironically Orlando is one of my stops.
Honey…mouse, please be careful. I worry. Jake just left for Florida with a bunch of his friends this morning. They are going to Panama City for a week. That state is going to be on nerve big time.
Thank you JJ darlin!!! Don’t worry about me, I’m always careful. I will be surrounded by a cadre of old lesbians and gay men. We’ve seen it all and we’re prepared. 🙂
Luv you………..be safe. I think that our republicans have been passing anti LGBT legislation for some time, and why isn’t that considered hate crimes? It’s time to stop.
I just watch a video of the line of blood donors, and wish I could be there.
The GOP should be on edge this morning. They feed the beast that propagates hatred against the LGBT community. It’s way past time for the American people to hold them accountable for the environment of hatred they have cultivated.
And trust me the LGBT community will become even more vocal and active after this attack. I’m hearing from old people this morning who are going to PRIDE who can hardly walk. We’ll push each other in wheelchairs if necessary, but WE WILL NOT BE AFRAID.
The last time I received this many calls and emails was June 26th, 2015. The day SCOTUS decided Obergefell V. Hodges. The marriage equality decision. My community is organized and will take on the anti-gay religious hate speech that is a constant drumbeat against us and the NRA. I hope that all of our straight friends and all people of goodwill will join us.
The blood banks in Orlando have hundreds of people lined up to give blood for the victims of this horrific event. A call went out that O+, O-, and AB types were needed and the community has responded.
CNN just showed hundreds of people lined up to donate blood for the survivors. It does my heart good to see the beauty and goodness of people and the outpouring of love.
That is what the news was saying this am jslat. That with the casualties so high, it is automatically considered terrorism. But…I would also add that the speculation of the man being Islamic terrorist was out way early on. I saw it “leaked” from inside the sheriff office to the Orlando sentinel or the local tv station before 5 or 6 am…see it in the post up top.
Heart breaking that it has to be the biggest mass murder in U.S. History to be recognized as terrorism. This is a community that has been terrorized forever, but 50 people have to die before they have the guts to call it terrorism? I wonder what the new magic number is. How many have to die before they address the truth that the U.S. has a huge problem with domestic terrorism. 20 children in Sandy Hook? 12 people in Aurora? 9 people in Charleston?
I apologize for my fury this morning, but this shit has to stop!!!!!
Interesting, the number was 20 this morning, it was “terrorism” and yet when the number was 20 in Sandy Hook, and it was a white guy who did the shooting…Obama got shit for calling it an act of terror.
Again, I point to the fact that there was a leak, the cops knew he was Middle Eastern when someone told that reporter at 4:44 this morning…so it is perfectly fine to label it terror. You see, get it? I don’t know but that tweet is bothering me…with the press coming out terror so early, and the cops labeling it terror so easily so early.
Yes I thought the same exact thing. It wasn’t until the FSt Attorney was up talking, like the forth or fifth one to talk, who finally mentions the fact that they are LGTB victims.
The intersection of hate crime and possible ISIS terrorism is, I’m afraid, a distinct possibility. According to that interview with the father of the shooter, he was a husband and father. He certainly knew he wouldn’t survive this attack. Why a father would do so, I suspect, might be a radical belief and targets that he hated. Don’t know if I’m making any sense. Just trying to wrap my head around this horror.
Yeah, lots of fundies believe if they die killing “infidels” they skip Purgatory and go immediately to some fantastic place in the sky. With lots of virgin females, usually. Don’t tell me those radical religions aren’t some adolescent male’s wet dream on steroids!
Looks to me like a hate crime that the shooter tried to justify by allegiance to ISIS. I’m disappointed that the media isn’t focusing more on the LGBT hate crome aspect of this!
I agree. CNN showed the one pic of the shooter in which he was wearing headwear that made him look Islamic. Plenty of other pics out there, including one in which he’s wearing a shirt with a NYPD logo but they desperately want to make this about ISIS and Islam rather than A.) Religion B.) LGBT Oppression C.) Availability of assault weapons
In the article Gov Rick Scott R says it is terrorism. US Congressman Grayson D says hate crime. Surprise surprise. The repubs who have been stoking the anti gay anti trans fires prefer to call it terrorism!
My mom is worried this is going to get Trump elected. I heard some guy on MSNBC say that he was thinking that this was just a lone guy acting out on his hate. like Dylann Roof, and latching on to whatever hate group or terrorist group there was that he could associate with to justify his hate.
We’re always careful, but sometimes even that isn’t enough. But we won’t be kept from our Pride Marches, or our restaurants or coffee shops or night spots. They can’t put us back into the shadows or push us back to the margins, no matter how hard they try. I’m attending Pride events in a couple of States over the next few weeks, and trust me, I FEEL NO FEAR WHATSOEVER!!
That’s a satire site – my sister caught it when I posted it on FB. Robertson is such a hateful old man that him saying something like this is completely believable.
I did find this paragraph funny, though:
Several eyewitnesses claim Robertson was wearing slippers and a bathrobe while being interviewed, as well as that “he was difficult to recognize without makeup.” One eyewitness even stated, “If it wasn’t for the name on his golden bathrobe, I would have thought I was seeing a mummy giving out statements.”
Robertson is part of the reason for the Orlando Shooting with his daily messages of hate against the LGBT community, and he is not alone. He uses texts from his buybull to condemn the LGBT community and to suggest that whatever happens to us we deserve it. I wish there was a hell so that he could rot in it.
I really think that this was more opportunistic with a chance to tie himself to ISIS…not a planned attack via ISIS. Something that he was carrying out for them…but that Mateen did on his own and Mateen linked to ISIS on his own.
Santa Monica Police identified the man as James Howell, 20, of New Albany. A tweet from the department said Howell told an officer of his wish to “harm” the parade.
BNO News @BNONews 55m55 minutes ago
James Howell was in possession of 3 assault rifles, high capacity magazines & materials capable of making explosives http://bit.ly/1tqczIc
The Seattle Times @seattletimes 2h2 hours ago
Witness at #PulseNightclub: “He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance.” http://st.news/1Xhbn5T
How Bernie Sanders Helped Derail a Promising Legal Fight Against Gun Violence
The most viable effort in decades to stem the flow of guns onto the black market ended with the immunity bill Sanders helped pass.
Bernie’s adults-stuck-in-toddler-stage haven’t been bothered by evidence so far, at least when I’ve talked with any of them. “No, I don’t think that’s try.”
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson said Mateen legally purchased 2 firearms — a handgun and a long gun, “within the past few days.”
and
The FBI confirmed on Sunday it had interviewed the suspect in the Orlando, Fla., nightclub attack three times before the shooting took place early Sunday morning.
An official said the FBI first became aware of the suspect, Omar Mateen, 29, in 2013 when he made “inflammatory comments to coworkers alleging possible terrorist ties.”
In the course of that investigation, Mateen was interviewed twice, but the FBI was unable to verify the substance of his comments.
Again in 2014, the FBI conducted an investigation into possible ties between Mateen and an American suicide bomber.
The FBI conducted another investigation, which included an interview with Mateen, but determined that the contact did not constitute a threat at that time.
Yeah, and he’s got a gun fetish, working as a security! guard, and police fetish with his NYPD Tshirts. I really don’t trust many of the men going into any career where they get to carry around or fondle guns a lot.
Why the hell is the U.S. allowing assault rifles to be sold? F*ck, Regain supported the assault weapons ban!
My condolences to all families and loved ones, and for the people in Orlando. I hope numerous counseling sessions are set up all over the city, and that we begin to focus on the healing of those in hospitals, and those who respond with activities to STOP the gun violence, and hate in this country. My head, and my heart goes out to our brothers/sisters in the LGBT, and families.
My fiercest hope is that HRC places gun control front and center, on an equal plane with gender rights. Her speech Friday to PPAC was so powerful. I want to hear an equally powerful speech on gun control. Both policies have the support of 70% of the electorate. And both are glaringly “anti-establishment”.
After watching cable coverage off and on all day, I have heard all Republican officials emphasise ISIS terrorism. All Democratic officials have focused on hatred and gun control issues.
My litmus test for down ticket voting will be gun control.
On the Tony Award show, Frank Langello apologized for not thanking anyone because he wanted to address the Orlando mass shooting. He quoted”When bad things happen to us, we can let it define us, destroy us or strengthen us.” He sent strength and the love of all the people at the Tony’s to Orlando.
Gay men can’t donate blood to victims of the Orlando shooting. That’s absurd
Regulations against gay blood arrived in 1983 in response to the panic surrounding the HIV/Aids epidemic. The American Medical Association called for an end to the ban in 2013, saying it was discriminatory and without a sound scientific basis. HIV-positive donors can be screened out and only one in 2m HIV infections are caused by transfusions.
In short, the ban on gay blood is unjustified. Other countries, such as Argentina, have already done away with it.
That linked article says the announcement (re: ban lifted) was incorrect.
Blood will be needed all over to make up for the need in Orlando. Need is generally higher during summer anyway due to higher accident rate. A mass shooting isn’t exactly an “accident.” The risk could have been substantially minimized if assault weapons weren’t available to civilians.
Her [Clinton’s]challenger, Bernie Sanders, emphasised gun control. “We have got to do everything that we can … to make sure that guns do not fall into the hands of those who should not have them: criminals, people who are mentally ill. So that struggle continues.”
The Sky Dancing banner headline uses a snippet from a work by artist Tashi Mannox called 'Rainbow Study'. The work is described as a" study of typical Tibetan rainbow clouds, that feature in Thanka painting, temple decoration and silk brocades". dakinikat was immediately drawn to the image when trying to find stylized Tibetan Clouds to represent Sky Dancing. It is probably because Tashi's practice is similar to her own. His updated take on the clouds that fill the collection of traditional thankas is quite special.
You can find his work at his website by clicking on his logo below. He is also a calligraphy artist that uses important vajrayana syllables. We encourage you to visit his on line studio.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
peggysue22
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
That is the latest up to now. I will post the regular Sunday thread in the afternoon. If you have any updates on the shooting, or any other news, think of this as an open thread.
How awful. I wonder what they are basing the terrorism claim on?
Not sure, presser at 10:15 am Eastern. Experts are saying, on the surface, it’s more likely domestic terror rather than international but nobody knows yet.
I think it might be domestic. We’ve looked around all over this country, and we have seen how the Republicans have passed laws based on religious freedom that block federal laws to stop discrimination against LGBT. Just last month, Gov. Bryant of Mississippi followed suit with other republican governors. It was Jennifer Branning, of Neshoba Co. Ms. who was freshly elected, and a member of Pentecostal Church of Philadelphia Ms. that carried this bill up for a vote, and was passed. We can name state after state that is following in the footsteps of those republicans who are spreading fear/anger/hate.
I don’t know, I have not heard any of those claims…that is what I have read in the articles above.
I mean, they are calling it terrorism for the fact that so many are dead. That is what the cops said in the morning press conference that I did see.
50 people dead, 53 injured.
My uncle Johnny D was in Orlando this week for a Pride fest…I saw that early this am and was worried he was still there!!!!
But my aunt said he came home a couple of days ago. I swear, I need a padded cell asap.
Thank goodness he’s OK!
good grief
FIFTY dead according to OPD. Another 53 hospitalized.
I just got that same number in a NYTs alert!
OMG……..what a horrific scene. This is the worst ever for a mass killing. And I suppose we will not be hearing from NRA.
Of course we won’t unless it’s to say it’s too early to politicize this bloodbath.
And then later to say that if all the people in that night club were armed it wouldn’t have happened!
The gunman was Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghanistan descent. I guess that’s why they are calling it terrorism. If he were a right wing white guy . . .
Oh yeah, that is the only reason I bet. The damn police this morning were all over it calling it an act of terror almost immediately!
Hate crime.
Exactly. Unfortunately, so many are seizing on the fact that the shooter is a Muslim.
FBI spokesman at press conference said that a determination of whether it was a hate crime or terrorist had not yet been made. I’m afraid that alot of the media and of course the internet community are pushing the terrorist explanation.
If his last name was SMITH they wouldn’t be calling it radical islamic “terrorism”, they’d be calling him mentally deranged. They didn’t call Dylan Roof a terrorist, or Robert Dear a terrorist! Walk in my shoes for a month and you’ll know it isn’t just islam that vilifies LGBT’s, it is for the most part all religions.
Oh it is hate of course. Like I said I posted that information at the very beginning, this morning. You can see what time those news updates were made. They also said early am that he had used a fake ID to gain entrance to the place. There was a cop on the door…how that dude got in with all the weapons I don’t understand. It is hot, a lot of the pictures I see folks are in shorts and t-shirts.
I’m glad your uncle wasn’t there JJ. I have some younger friends in Orlando that I checked on when I first heard the news. I’m going to Orlando and then on to St.Pete. They’re having their Pride week after next and friends tell me the LGBT community there is already organizing to Stand Up!
I left out St. Pete. 🙂
My daughter immediately contacted her friends in Orlando. A couple had been in the club last week, but none this weekend. All of her friends are safe.
Oh, that is good to hear. I think this is one of the largest clubs in Orlando…in general.
Checked on my youngest nieces and nephews in Orlando/Winter Park. Thank goodness all are well. I think our common need to make sure our friends and loved ones are safe brings us to the realization that we are all connected by love not hate.
Hate crime — hetero male anger at people loving and having mutual pleasure.
I think any mass shooting is also terrorism, no matter what the color or ethnicity or religion of the shooter.
So much hate in the world. How to cool it down?
This is a hate crime and it’s fed 24/7 by the vilification of the LGBT community by religion and by political forces that reinforce this hatred by using some ancient “holy book” as their justification. I don’t care what religion the shooter was, because I know that nearly all of the major religions feed this monster every day and that one of our parties feeds the religions that feeds the monster. It’s time for this to stop!!!!
I’ll be gone for few day, ironically Orlando is one of my stops.
Exactly!
Honey…mouse, please be careful. I worry. Jake just left for Florida with a bunch of his friends this morning. They are going to Panama City for a week. That state is going to be on nerve big time.
Thank you JJ darlin!!! Don’t worry about me, I’m always careful. I will be surrounded by a cadre of old lesbians and gay men. We’ve seen it all and we’re prepared. 🙂
xoxoxo
XO to you sweet girl. And don’t worry about Jake, he will be fine!!
Luv you………..be safe. I think that our republicans have been passing anti LGBT legislation for some time, and why isn’t that considered hate crimes? It’s time to stop.
I just watch a video of the line of blood donors, and wish I could be there.
The GOP should be on edge this morning. They feed the beast that propagates hatred against the LGBT community. It’s way past time for the American people to hold them accountable for the environment of hatred they have cultivated.
Luv you back Fannie!
And trust me the LGBT community will become even more vocal and active after this attack. I’m hearing from old people this morning who are going to PRIDE who can hardly walk. We’ll push each other in wheelchairs if necessary, but WE WILL NOT BE AFRAID.
Good to hear.
The last time I received this many calls and emails was June 26th, 2015. The day SCOTUS decided Obergefell V. Hodges. The marriage equality decision. My community is organized and will take on the anti-gay religious hate speech that is a constant drumbeat against us and the NRA. I hope that all of our straight friends and all people of goodwill will join us.
With you!
🙂 TY friend!
Right with you in spirit from the other side of the country!
Should be something going on here I can join in too.
The blood banks in Orlando have hundreds of people lined up to give blood for the victims of this horrific event. A call went out that O+, O-, and AB types were needed and the community has responded.
Thank goodness for the good people!!
Love and compassion after all!
Precisely.
CNN just showed hundreds of people lined up to donate blood for the survivors. It does my heart good to see the beauty and goodness of people and the outpouring of love.
LOVE WINS!!!!!
Yes it does Mouse.
Just my opinion but a hate crime of this proportion is terrorism. How can anyone hate that much is unfathomable. The end product is to terrorize.
True.
That is what the news was saying this am jslat. That with the casualties so high, it is automatically considered terrorism. But…I would also add that the speculation of the man being Islamic terrorist was out way early on. I saw it “leaked” from inside the sheriff office to the Orlando sentinel or the local tv station before 5 or 6 am…see it in the post up top.
This is the woman who was posting info at the scene, and who posted that info about the Muslim descent. https://twitter.com/Journo_Christal
I will see if I can find the exact time that post was made, I think they took it down.
OK I found it the post was made at 4:22 am
Heart breaking that it has to be the biggest mass murder in U.S. History to be recognized as terrorism. This is a community that has been terrorized forever, but 50 people have to die before they have the guts to call it terrorism? I wonder what the new magic number is. How many have to die before they address the truth that the U.S. has a huge problem with domestic terrorism. 20 children in Sandy Hook? 12 people in Aurora? 9 people in Charleston?
I apologize for my fury this morning, but this shit has to stop!!!!!
Interesting, the number was 20 this morning, it was “terrorism” and yet when the number was 20 in Sandy Hook, and it was a white guy who did the shooting…Obama got shit for calling it an act of terror.
Again, I point to the fact that there was a leak, the cops knew he was Middle Eastern when someone told that reporter at 4:44 this morning…so it is perfectly fine to label it terror. You see, get it? I don’t know but that tweet is bothering me…with the press coming out terror so early, and the cops labeling it terror so easily so early.
“the cops new he was Middle Eastern when someone told that reporter at 4:44 this morning…so it is perfectly fine to label it terror. You see, get it?”
Yep!!!
What made me sick is that Rick Scott didn’t even acknowledge that LGBT people were specifically targeted.
Yes I thought the same exact thing. It wasn’t until the FSt Attorney was up talking, like the forth or fifth one to talk, who finally mentions the fact that they are LGTB victims.
The intersection of hate crime and possible ISIS terrorism is, I’m afraid, a distinct possibility. According to that interview with the father of the shooter, he was a husband and father. He certainly knew he wouldn’t survive this attack. Why a father would do so, I suspect, might be a radical belief and targets that he hated. Don’t know if I’m making any sense. Just trying to wrap my head around this horror.
Yeah, lots of fundies believe if they die killing “infidels” they skip Purgatory and go immediately to some fantastic place in the sky. With lots of virgin females, usually. Don’t tell me those radical religions aren’t some adolescent male’s wet dream on steroids!
Obama to speak at 1:15- 1:30 E
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3637414/Everyone-running-Gunman-bursts-gay-nightclub-Florida-shoots-20-people-taking-hostages.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/
these links are updated with new news
Gunman worked in security….msnbc had a photo of him just now on the air…has 911 phone call where shooter pledge allegiance to ISIS
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-wife-of-suspected-orlando-shooter-he-beat-me/2016/06/12/8a1963b4-30b8-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?postshare=7921465748801168&tid=ss_tw
No surprise. Typical of these hate-filled murderers.
Looks to me like a hate crime that the shooter tried to justify by allegiance to ISIS. I’m disappointed that the media isn’t focusing more on the LGBT hate crome aspect of this!
LGBT hate crime
I agree. CNN showed the one pic of the shooter in which he was wearing headwear that made him look Islamic. Plenty of other pics out there, including one in which he’s wearing a shirt with a NYPD logo but they desperately want to make this about ISIS and Islam rather than A.) Religion B.) LGBT Oppression C.) Availability of assault weapons
BBC is slanting toward gay hate crime.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36512308
They just arrested a dude with an arsenal of weapons in his vehicle. He said he was heading to the Los Angeles Pride Parade.
OMG! To our LGBT friends- please be safe!
Yes, please be careful. Ted Cruz chose to attack LBGT people in his statement. The GOP is complicit in the hate.
Les we forget: https://youtu.be/GBDbGyv6SIQ
In the article Gov Rick Scott R says it is terrorism. US Congressman Grayson D says hate crime. Surprise surprise. The repubs who have been stoking the anti gay anti trans fires prefer to call it terrorism!
My mom is worried this is going to get Trump elected. I heard some guy on MSNBC say that he was thinking that this was just a lone guy acting out on his hate. like Dylann Roof, and latching on to whatever hate group or terrorist group there was that he could associate with to justify his hate.
I don’t think so. Trump’s tweets today have been disgusting beyond belief. He will not be elected. He might not even be the nominee.
He is going to end up quitting……..
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick deletes “reap what you sow” tweet after mass shooting at LGBT club
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Texas-Lt-Governor-Dan-Patrick-tweets-reap-what-8076147.php
SICK!!!!
Bastard. The slaughtered people were not sowing hate and death — the shooter did.
Anyone going to any Pride events this weekend, please be careful.
We’re always careful, but sometimes even that isn’t enough. But we won’t be kept from our Pride Marches, or our restaurants or coffee shops or night spots. They can’t put us back into the shadows or push us back to the margins, no matter how hard they try. I’m attending Pride events in a couple of States over the next few weeks, and trust me, I FEEL NO FEAR WHATSOEVER!!
On NBC people carrying “We are Pulse” signs at Pride event in CA.
If my knee and ankle were in better shape, I’d go to a pride parade myself today. We are all LGBTQ today. We are all Pulse.
I’m sorry your knee isn’t back up to par, but I hope it will be soon. My friends and I will march for all of you.
Thank you. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended a Pride parade. I look forward to getting my legs back under me. Love you, mouse.
Luv u 2 Janicen!!!
I’m with you in spirit, Mouse. Take care.
WE ARE PULSE
Shooter’s ex wife says he beat her. Her parents flew down from NY and pulled her out of the house, leaving her belongings behind. Good parents.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-wife-of-suspected-orlando-shooter-he-beat-me/2016/06/12/8a1963b4-30b8-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?tid=sm_tw
Not surprised.
Pat Robertson: “Orlando Shooting Is God’s Punishment For SCOTUS’ Same-Sex Marriage Ruling”
http://politicalo.com/pat-robertson-orlando-shooting-gods-punishment-scotus-sex-marriage-ruling/
Sick! Sick! Sick!
That’s a satire site – my sister caught it when I posted it on FB. Robertson is such a hateful old man that him saying something like this is completely believable.
I did find this paragraph funny, though:
yea, realized I needed to say that
Yes, Newslo is fake site.
it’s a satire site btw
Robertson is part of the reason for the Orlando Shooting with his daily messages of hate against the LGBT community, and he is not alone. He uses texts from his buybull to condemn the LGBT community and to suggest that whatever happens to us we deserve it. I wish there was a hell so that he could rot in it.
WE ARE PULSE
The shooter called 911 right before he started his attack to tell them he was doing it to honor an IsIs leader…..
When anyone with a brain knows he was doing it because he hated LGBT people!!! But, I’m sure ISIS will love the attention.
I really think that this was more opportunistic with a chance to tie himself to ISIS…not a planned attack via ISIS. Something that he was carrying out for them…but that Mateen did on his own and Mateen linked to ISIS on his own.
JUST IN: Man with weapons arrested on way to LA pride parade http://hill.cm/i9NPsxq
WTF is wrong with these people! Obama’s tone at his statement was angry-disgusted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-gay-pride-la-weapons-20160612-snap-story.html
Dude’s from Indiana. Not much details right now.
his name is James Howell … would venture to say this one has no connections to Islam
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/indiana-man-arrested-for-threats-to-gay-pride-parade-hours-after-the-mass-murder-in-orlando
BNO News @BNONews 55m55 minutes ago
James Howell was in possession of 3 assault rifles, high capacity magazines & materials capable of making explosives http://bit.ly/1tqczIc
Let’s see how fast he gets labeled as a would-be “domestic terrorist!”
Obama- an act of terror …an act of hate.
It is thousands now in line to donate blood in Orlando.
Once again Don the Con demonstrates WHY he will never be POTUS.
Republicans are going to concentrate on the terrorism. T-rump will of course use it to stir up antiMuslim hatred.
I want to vomit!
And Republicans demonstrate why they shouldn’t hold public office
I am going to crawl under the covers and take a nap with my dogs who don’t know how to hate. WE ARE PULSE
I know, I am getting ready to go back and take a nap myself.
I already did. This is too much to bear.
Another briefing on now.
The Seattle Times @seattletimes 2h2 hours ago
Witness at #PulseNightclub: “He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance.” http://st.news/1Xhbn5T
And he bought that and the other gun legally within the last week, according to the ATF press conf. just now…
How Bernie Sanders Helped Derail a Promising Legal Fight Against Gun Violence
The most viable effort in decades to stem the flow of guns onto the black market ended with the immunity bill Sanders helped pass.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/bernie-sanders-vote-gun-immunity-black-market
Oh I guess we will see what the Bernie bros say about this now, what excuse they will give for Sanders friendship with the NRA.
Bernie’s adults-stuck-in-toddler-stage haven’t been bothered by evidence so far, at least when I’ve talked with any of them. “No, I don’t think that’s try.”
Hope they wake up fast!
From a post on FB:
Of the news sites, MSNBC is the one that seems to be the one that is the least offensive. In the reporting sense…
FBI interviewed Orlando shooting suspect 3 times | TheHill
and
and a history of wife beating … yet, dude gets a permit to carry and can walk in and buy an assault rifle fit for a battle field …
Yeah, and he’s got a gun fetish, working as a security! guard, and police fetish with his NYPD Tshirts. I really don’t trust many of the men going into any career where they get to carry around or fondle guns a lot.
Why the hell is the U.S. allowing assault rifles to be sold? F*ck, Regain supported the assault weapons ban!
My condolences to all families and loved ones, and for the people in Orlando. I hope numerous counseling sessions are set up all over the city, and that we begin to focus on the healing of those in hospitals, and those who respond with activities to STOP the gun violence, and hate in this country. My head, and my heart goes out to our brothers/sisters in the LGBT, and families.
A couple more links before I go back to bed…
Orlando suspect’s father hosted a TV show and now pretends to be Afghanistan’s president – The Washington Post
Fox Guest Blames Obama, Clinton, And "Political Correctness" For Orlando Shooting
I will catch y’all later… probably much later.
Rest well.
Hillary’s Circle of Mothers (part of the Trayvon Martin foundation) has 50 new members today.
https://i2.wp.com/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAgWXH0.img
The gun used in the Orlando shooting is becoming mass shooters’ weapon of choice
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/the-gun-used-in-the-orlando-shooting-is-becoming-mass-shooters%E2%80%99-weapon-of-choice/ar-AAgWXH1?li=BBnbcA1
Goodbye everyone. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Peace & Love,
Mouse
Love you, Mouse!
Love you too!!!
Love you Mouse
Safe travels, my friend.
Take really good care of yourself! Love ya!
My fiercest hope is that HRC places gun control front and center, on an equal plane with gender rights. Her speech Friday to PPAC was so powerful. I want to hear an equally powerful speech on gun control. Both policies have the support of 70% of the electorate. And both are glaringly “anti-establishment”.
I,’m sure she will!
Hillary will work on Congress to push through gun control. I believe that. She’s smart and compassionate.
The Long, Tragic History of Violence at LGBTQ Bars and Clubs in America
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/06/12/pulse_nightclub_shooting_and_tragic_history_of_violence_at_lgbtq_clubs_in.html
After watching cable coverage off and on all day, I have heard all Republican officials emphasise ISIS terrorism. All Democratic officials have focused on hatred and gun control issues.
My litmus test for down ticket voting will be gun control.
Buddy Dyer, the Democratic mayor of Orlando, was extraordinary today. I have never heard the word Love uttered so many times by a politician.
The difference between him and Gov Rick Scott was so extreme!
Dramatic.
On the Tony Award show, Frank Langello apologized for not thanking anyone because he wanted to address the Orlando mass shooting. He quoted”When bad things happen to us, we can let it define us, destroy us or strengthen us.” He sent strength and the love of all the people at the Tony’s to Orlando.
He woñ Best Actor in Play Tony.
This from Politico goes over the different reactions and issues.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/orlando-shooting-gay-rights-224235
It’s as though the repubs all received a memo from party headquarters. Don’t mention Hate Crime or Guns. WTF do they think we are all stupid?!!!
Parroting the party line, and lying to themselves. We are not fooled.
They are beginning to release names of victims.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/friends-and-family-mourn-those-killed-in-orlando/2281417
Most have Latino last name.
Please, Goddesses, will this at least start to turn the tide to sensible gun control?
I have to go to Orlando in late August for a work conference. No point in worrying — no place is really safe anymore.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/queer-muslims-mourning-orlando-nightclub-shooting
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/gay-men-blood-donation-orlando-shooting-victims-florida
Odd. They were announcing during the coverage today that the ban was lifted in light of the tragedy.
That linked article says the announcement (re: ban lifted) was incorrect.
Blood will be needed all over to make up for the need in Orlando. Need is generally higher during summer anyway due to higher accident rate. A mass shooting isn’t exactly an “accident.” The risk could have been substantially minimized if assault weapons weren’t available to civilians.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/orlando-shooting-reaction-us-gun-laws-islam-homophobia
Fuck you, Sanders. YOU voted over and over to put assault weapons on the streets.
In the midst of the most horrifying mass shooting in the US, T-rump has to complain about HRC campaign ad. It’s all about him folks!
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/06/12/unfit-trump-ignores-worse-mass-shooting-history-whine-clinton-ad.html
Enjoyed the Tony Award Show tonight. Everyone was wearing silver ribbon for the Orlando victims.
G’nite all.
In opening monologue – there is so much diversity in the theater tonight, T-rump is threatening to build a wall around it!
Good night. I put a fresh thread up, with some of the victims pictures and information….