World AM News Briefs For Tuesday, 14 June 2016
Good Morning Australia!! - The sounds of evil are captured at the Orlando nightclub massacre - Russian hooligans were organized to carry out mayhem at the Euro 2016 tournament, authorities say - Qatar blames a woman for being raped - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
Video has emerged from inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida at the moment an anti-LGBT terrorist opened fire, eventually killing 49 people and himself, and injuring 53 more club-goers. The footage does not show people being shot or killed, but the first 17 shots are clearly audible. "He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance," said Jackie Smith of the attacker, who saw two friends next to her get shot. "I just tried to get out of there," she added. There's also video of police exchanging gunfire with Mateen; again, no graphic content. Although Pulse caters to the LGBT community, people from all walks of life.
Right now, US investigators are determining what New York City-born gunman Omar Mateen was looking at on the internet and who he may have been in contact with before the massacre. He reportedly told police that he supported Islamic State but was also once investigated for possible links to Al Nusra Front - two groups that consider each other enemies and frequently battle over their conflicting goals in the Syrian Civil war. But investigators concluded that Mateen was a hothead who bragged of non-existent connections to violent groups that he romanticized, and likely did not fully understand.
Mateen was born in 1986 in New York City, making him an American Citizen. His father came from Afghanistan, and apparently is also a whack job who has referred to himself as the country's president and has supported the Taliban.
Despite this, the owner of the gun store that sold Omar Mateen the weapons used in the massacre says that he passed a full background check and was a licensed private security officer for the G4S company. But even in that role, a former coworker says Mateen frequently expressed thoughts of violence and homophobia: "I quit because everything he said was toxic," said former police officer Daniel Gilroy. He added that Mateen was stalking him via email, and "and the company wouldn’t do anything. This guy was unhinged and unstable. He talked of killing people."
Omar Mateen was also a dirtbag who beat his first wife. "He was not a stable person," said Sitora Yusufiy, who added that she had to be rescued from the home after just a few months of marriage. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that," she said. He had a 3-year-old son with his second wife, 30-year old Noor Zahi Salman, whom he married in 2013.
Not getting as much attention as the Orlando Massacre is the violence that cops likely prevented: California police stopped 20-year old John Wesley Howell, who came all the way across the country from Indiana with a cache of weapons and chemicals to make explosives. He didn't spell out his plot, but did admit he intended to go to the Los Angeles Pride Day festival.
Moving Along...
Qatar has convicted a Dutch woman of having sex outside of marriage after she told police she had been drugged and raped. Her sentence was suspended and she'll be deported as soon as she pays a fine of AU$1,100. The man she accused was also convicted and will be jailed and subjected to 140 lashes. Don't let the modern skyscrapers fool you.
Bahrain arrested a leading human rights activist, but didn't reveal the charge: 51-year old Nabeel Rajab has served several jail stints since helping lead a pro-democracy uprising in 2011. Another prominent activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, fled to Denmark a week ago where she has dual nationality, after Behrain repeatedly threatened her.
Members of Mexican teachers' union have set up roadblocks in Oaxaca State, demanding the release of their leader from police custody. Ruben Nunez has led a decade-long fight for better pay and working conditions, but is accused of skimming off of union dues. The teachers are planning protests in Mexico City on Tuesday and beyond, until he is released.
A Russian MP says, "well done lads, keep it up," to his nation's hooligans who've been committing vicious assaults at the Euro 2016 in France. "I don't see anything wrong with the fans fighting," said Igor Lebedev, who is also a member of both the Russian Football Union's executive committee. "In nine out of 10 cases, football fans go to games to fight, and that's normal," he said. French authorities blame 150 Russian hooligans who "were well prepared for ultra-rapid, ultra-violent action" and were able to evade arrest.