Story of man claiming he was in Pulse during massacre questioned

HUNSTVILLE, Alabama -- When Clint Lampkin took the stage here Saturday at a memorial service for the Orlando mass shooting victims and recounted what he said was his near-death experience in the Pulse nightclub, he was given a standing ovation by the hundreds of people in the crowd and hugs by people on stage with him.

But now there are questions about whether he was actually there, reports CBS Huntsville affiliate WHNT-TV.

One of Lampkin's Facebook friends from his home state of Arkansas sent WHNT a screenshot from Clint's Facebook page in which he said of the Orlando massacre, "Glad I wasn't at that one." The post was dated June 12 -- the morning of the attack.

When asked about it by WHNT, Lampkin claimed his Facebook account had been hacked and that he'd never put up that post.

He still claims he was at Pulse the night of the shooting. "I have really bad anxiety attacks, so I just kinda -- I don't know, my mind is just gone," he told the station.

When asked for more details about what went on inside the club, Lampkin gave the same response -- that the trauma of what he witnessed has erased his memory.

"I did lose a friend that got shot," he told the crowd Saturday.

When asked for the friend's name, Lampkin replied that he'd only known the friend for a short time and didn't remember the victim's name.

"You don't want to think that anyone would take advantage of the situation, and quite honestly, I don't know whether he did or not," says James Robinson, CEO of Free2Be and Organizer of the Rocket City Pride Memorial Service.

Robinson says he's also fielded calls from individuals who claim Lampkin's story isn't true. "I don't know anything about Clint. He's not affiliated with Free2Be and he's not one of the planned speakers at the Rocket City Pride Memorial," Robinson says.

WHNT left a message with the FBI Field Office in Tampa, Florida to see if it could confirm that Lampkin was inside the club.