Man claims he had relationship with Orlando killer: Reports

A man has claimed he had a sexual relationship with Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 people in an Orlando gay club, US media has reported.

In an interview with a Spanish-language television network, the man claimed that he met Mateen on the gay dating app Grindr and that the two men met 15 to 20 times over a two month period up to last December when the man, who the network called Miguel, moved away from Orlando.

He also claimed that Mateen’s motive was not terrorism, but rather revenge against the gay Puerto Ricans for perceived slights against him.

“I’ve cried like you have not idea,” Miguel told Univision News. “But the thing that makes me want to tell the truth is that he didn’t do it for terrorism. In my opinion he did it for revenge.”

Mateen, who died in a shootout with police after authorities stormed the Pulse mightclub, was “100 gay” according to Miguel, who described their relationship as “friends with benefits”.

Miguel told Univision News that he was shocked to hear Mateen was the killer in the wake of the massacre, and described him as “affectionate” and “sweet”. Mateen loved to be cuddled, he added.

During the interview he also claimed the Mateen was inspired to carry out the attack after he had sex with two Puerto Rican men, one of whom later claimed he was HIV positive.

“He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin - but he felt rejected,” Miguel said. “He felt used by them - there were moments in the Pulse nightclub that made him feel really bad. Guys used him. That really affected him.”

Before the attack, Mateen expressed hatred of gay people and in a 911 call during the attack pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 

“When I asked him what he was going to do now, his answer was ‘I’m going to make them pay for what they did to me,” Miguel, who wore a prosthetic mask during the interview, claimed.Univision News said that the FBI confirmed they had interviewed the man, but Middle East Eye has not been able to independently verify Miguel’s statements.

The video comes the day after a mother of 11 who saved her son’s life in the Orlando nightclub shooting was laid to rest.

On Tuesday Isaiah Henderson, 21, delivered a tearful eulogy for his mother, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, who was one of the 49 people killed at the Pulse nightclub.

Following the funeral, members of McCool's family released 49 white balloons in honour of her lost life.

The Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer, also declared a day of mourning in remembrance of Ms McCool's heroism, while US Attorney General Loretta Lynch is expected to meet victims in Orlando.

The high-profile visit comes a day after the FBI released a transcript of the phone calls between Mateen and the Orlando Police Department, in which the 29-year-old described himself as an “Islamic soldier” and mentioned the war in Syria and the France “terror attacks”.

The interview with Miguel is not the first time that is has been suggested that Mateen was gay.

Several witnesses have previously told American media that they remembered seeing Mateen on gay dating apps, while his ex-wife Sitora Yusufiym has also speculated her former husband might be gay. “He might have been homosexual himself and lived that lifestyle but could never ever come clean about it because of the standards of his father, because of the obligation to be a perfect son,” she told Time.

The FBI on Monday released the full transcript of the 911 call after its release of a partially redacted version led to widespread criticism. When asked by the dispatcher for his name, Mateen replied: "My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State."