Orlando gunman’s dad blames club security for son’s mass-murder of 49 people
Seddique Mateen condemned his son's actions, but says religion had nothing to do with the mass-shooting
THE dad of a crazed terrorist who shot 49 people dead in an Orlando gay club has blamed the venue's security.
Seddique Mateen claimed his son "wouldn't have had this opportunity" if "there was good security" at the club.
After condemning his son's actions, which he claims had nothing to do with religion, he said the nightclub must share responsibility for the 49 people killed and 53 injured.
He told : "That club should have had good security. The club, (with) 300 or 400 people ... coming - they should have good security. If there was good security, he wouldn't have had this opportunity.
"Why the law enforcement team was so late - they should have neutralised him quick ... This should not have happened."
He suggested club security should be trained to deal with shooters to "protect people [who] come in the club".
The latest controversial claim from the killer's dad comes after he released a Facebook video saying "God will punish those involved in homosexuality".
He added "this is not for the servants", before saying he was in shock his son took it upon himself to seek retribution against the gay community.
Mateen, who has proclaimed himself President of Afghanistan in previous bizarre videos, has apologised for his son's actions.
He told the : "I apologise for what my son did. I am as sad and mad as you guys are.
"I don’t miss anything about him. What he did was against humanity."
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It comes just a day after he described his son as a "loving father" who he claimed had not been radicalised.
The dad, who was with his son just hours before the horrific mass-murder, said he had no idea why the attack occurred and said there was nothing abnormal in his son's behaviour.
He said: "He wasn’t [radicalised] because he had no beard, and he was just a regular person going to work and coming back and taking care of his wife and his kids."
The dad claimed his son had a "grudge in his heart" against gay people after seeing two men kiss in Miami recently.
He added in a Facebook video yesterday: "I don’t know what has caused him to shoot, and I don’t know and I did not understand that he holds grudge in his heart that went to a homosexual night club of boys and girls and shot fifty people with gun.
“My son, Omar Mateen was a very good son and an educated son. He had one kid, and a wife, and he was so dignified which means he had respect to his parents.”
Forty-nine people were killed by Mateen when he stormed Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A further 53 were injured before police distracted the killer with a controlled explosion and rammed through the wall of the club.
Mateen came out of the hole firing before being shot dead by eight or nine armed officers.
ISIS have since claimed responsibility for the attack, after the killer made a 911 call pledging allegiance to the Islamic State before he died.
It was the worst mass-shooting in American history and the worst terror attack the country has seen since 911.
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