Today as Americans we grieve the brutal murder, horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families who are grasping for answers.NBC News reports that the shooter, Omar S. Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida, had “ties to Islamic terrorism,” and made a 911 call before the shooting swearing allegiance to ISIS.
We stand with the people of Orlando who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. And as Americans we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people.
We are still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation. We’ve reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer.According to whitehouse.gov, today's speech was Obama's 18th public address on American mass shootings since taking office.
The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism, and I’ve directed that we must spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred.
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