Source To CBS News: No Evidence That Omar Mateen Was Involved In Relationships With Men
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The FBI has not found any substantiated evidence that Orlando nightclub massacre Omar Mateen had sexual relationships with men, a source told CBS News Friday.
The source said a lot of people have come forward and told the FBI that Mateen was gay, but has found little to nothing that would substantiate the claims, the senior federal law enforcement source said. The FBI said the interviews with the witnesses have been evaluated and deemed "not corroborated," the source said.
Also, the source said, none of the dating apps on which men have claimed to have met Mateen were found on his devices. If Mateen had had a profile on the dating sites, the source said someone would have come forward by this point with a copy of the profile, photos, or text messages back and forth – but no one has.
Earlier this week, a man identified only as "Miguel" told Univision that he had been Mateen's lover, and claimed that Mateen opened fire on the Pulse nightclub on June 12 as "revenge" against Latino men.
"Miguel" said Mateen was looking to be loved and embraced. Despite that, he believes Mateen acted on revenge when he shot up the gay Pulse nightclub after being with a Puerto Rican man he later learned was HIV positive.
"He was terrified that he was infected," the man said in an interview with Univision. "I asked him, 'Did you do a test?' Yes. He went to the pharmacy and did the test … it came out negative, but it doesn't come out right away. It takes four, five months."
Miguel says Mateen hated gay Puerto Ricans for the "bad things" they did to him.
The man claims he and Mateen met around 20 times, with the last meeting taking place in December. He said Mateen never revealed his name to him, but told him that he was 35 and married with a son. He told Univision that he believed Mateen's wife knew that he went to gay bars and that his marriage was to hide the fact that he was "100 percent" gay.
But the FBI said Miguel also did not provide any conclusive evidence that Mateen had been involved in relationships with men.
Earlier reports said Mateen frequented the Pulse nightclub before killing 49 people there.
CBS News reported that on the night of the shooting Mateen went into the club and received a wristband and left. He then returned nearly two hours later to begin his attack.