It’s hard to fathom the number of fatalities and casualties of those caught up in the mass-shooting incident in an Orlando nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning. Omar Mateen opened fire from automatic weapons on the crowded dance floor of the Pulse nightclub, killing at least 50 and wounding 53 more. And while Mateen’s family has roots in Afghanistan — and Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) was quick to be associated with this, or any other, act of mass murder — there’s no reason to believe that Mateen was acting for a political cause: He was motivated by hatred — and hatred alone.
The patrons at the nightclub belonged to the local gay community. As such, they were the victims of a hate crime, not a politically-motivated act to further a cause or goal. Mateen deliberately chose his target because of its patronage, and set out with murder in his mind, opening fire on innocent victims purely because of intolerance.
Sadly, given the events in the United States over the past decade, intolerance and hatred have been allowed to fester. Does it make a difference if the victims were black members of a church gunned down by a racist; company workers enjoying a picnic, mowed down by disgruntled former colleagues blinded by rage; or gay patrons in a nightclub gunned down by a young man with evil in his heart and intolerance in his mind?
Given the level of political discourse, divisiveness and the use of religion, ethnicity and race as electoral weapons, it’s easy to see how intolerance and hatred thrive in the US.
Mateen was on the FBI’s radar and twice they had investigated him for alleged links to terrorist groups. They didn’t find any, though. However, what is disturbing is that he was still allowed to acquire an arsenal that would not be out of place on any battlefield.
America is the land of the free; where individuals can say as they please under the guise of freedom of speech; can express intolerance and hatred in a society built on the principle of individual freedoms; and can buy enough weaponry to start a small war in the 21st century under the legalities guaranteed under the Bill of Rights adopted in 1789.
Meanwhile, the families of those who died on Sunday are free to mourn their loved ones. And many others have done and will do until Americans divorce their love of arms. That’s the real tragedy.
