What are they Hiding? Orlando Shooter's 9-11 Call Redacted...Why?

The Department of Justice has re-issued a fuller transcript of one of the Orlando gunman’s 911 calls without redactions, after facing a wave of online backlash for omitting certain words.

The excerpts, released on Monday, excluded the names of gunman Omar Mateen as well as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Mateen, who killed 49 people at a gay Orlando nightclub, described himself as an “Islamic soldier” and pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi during his phone calls to authorities.

But in the first version of the transcript, any reference to IS or their leader was removed.

For example:

Police: What’s your name?

Mateen: My name is I pledge allegiance to [omitted].

The decision to omit the names sparked outrage among Twitter users including US House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The Wisconsin Republican denounced the decision to redact as “preposterous” and called on the Obama administration to release the full transcript “so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why”.

“We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by Isis. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community,” Mr Ryan said in a statement, referring to IS.

Other users expressed outrage over the decision to remove IS from the text.

The Department of Justice released a statement later on Monday defending the redaction.

Officials said they wanted to remain sensitive to the victims, their families and the ongoing investigation, while also not providing “the killer or terrorist organisations with a publicity platform for hateful propaganda“.

“Unfortunately, the unreleased portions of the transcript that named the terrorist organisations and leaders have caused an unnecessary distraction from the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime,” the statement said, before releasing the full transcript of Mateen’s first 50-second phone call.

Image caption Omar Mateen, pictured in an undated photograph, worked as a security guard

The other calls he made were not released.

Mateen first called a 911 dispatcher about 30 minutes after he began shooting. During the call, Mateen spoke Arabic and praised “God the Merciful”.

In a later phone call, he told a negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that was why he was “out here right now”, according to the FBI transcript.

Mateen also told negotiators he had an explosive vest similar to the kind used by terrorists “in France,” making a reference to the November terror attack in Paris. But no vests were found.

“[Mateen] does not represent the religion of Islam, but a perverted view,” said Ron Hopper, the FBI assistant special agent in charge.

“Part of the redacting is meant to not give credence to individuals who have done terrorist attacks in the past,” he said. “We’re not going to propagate their violent rhetoric.”

Editor’s note: The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI released a joint statement Monday with the complete version of the 911 calls from the Orlando shooter following public criticism after a partial transcript was released earlier in the day

Republicans tore into the decision by U.S. law enforcement officials to redact portions of a partial transcript of the 911 call between the Orlando shooter and police, where the gunman pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

“Selectively editing this transcript is preposterous,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by ISIS. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community. The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why.”

The fierce backlash comes as the Federal Bureau of Investigation released the redacted transcript Monday that revealed more details about the deadly shooting in Orlando one week ago that left 49 people dead and more than 50 others wounded.

The name of the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, and people to whom he pledged allegiance, were omitted from the excerpt. FBI director James Comey said in a press conference last week that the shooter pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“This is evil, this is ISIS. It’s radical Islam. At some point, we lost 49 lives here and we lost a journalist who was beheaded by ISIS,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott told Fox News, referring to the Pulse nightclub shooting and the 2014 beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff, who was a Floridian.

“We need a president that’s going to say I care about destroying ISIS.”

Other Republicans and conservative commentators took to Twitter to criticize U.S. President Barack Obama over the redactions.

Ronald Hopper, FBI assistant special agent in charge in Orlando, told reporters on Monday that officials removed the shooter’s name and any reference to the so-called Islamic State to prevent triggering people who “might be like-minded.”

“Part of the redacting is meant to not give credence to individuals who have done terrorist acts in the past,” Hopper said. “We’re not going to propagate their violent rhetoric. And we see no value in putting those individual’s names back out there.

Lee Bentley, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said the transcript offers the public a better idea of what officers “were dealing with” when they entered the nightclub.

“They should not be second guessed,” Bentley told reporters. “They performed valiantly during those early morning hours. Lives were saved.”

Mateen called 911 roughly 30 minutes after the shooting began where he identified himself as an “Islamic soldier” while speaking Arabic. In a separate phone call with a negotiator he said America had to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that was why he was “out here right now,” according to the FBI transcript.

On Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on several news outlets the decision to redact portions of the transcript  was taken to “avoid re-victimizing”  anyone affected by the shooting.

“The reason why we’re going to limit these transcripts is to avoid re-victimizing those people that went through the horror,” Lynch said.

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Source: http://globalnews.ca/news/2774248/republicans-blast-decision-to-redact-orlando-shooters-911-calls/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36581319