After Orlando Attack, Questions Of Terrorism, Homophobia And Islamophobia

By Worldview
A sign and flowers lie on the ground outside the US Embassy during a vigil for those killed and wounded in the Sunday June 12, 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.
A sign and flowers lie on the ground outside the US Embassy during a vigil for those killed and wounded in the Sunday June 12, 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday. Mark Baker / AP Photo
A sign and flowers lie on the ground outside the US Embassy during a vigil for those killed and wounded in the Sunday June 12, 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.
A sign and flowers lie on the ground outside the US Embassy during a vigil for those killed and wounded in the Sunday June 12, 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday. Mark Baker / AP Photo

After Orlando Attack, Questions Of Terrorism, Homophobia And Islamophobia

By Worldview
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In the early hours of Sunday morning, 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire in the Pulse nightclub, a gay club in Orlando, Florida.

So far, 49 victims are dead - another 53 are wounded. Five of the wounded are listed in “grave” condition. Mateen was killed in a shootout with police. Most of the victims were Latino and a large number were of Puerto Rican descent. 

“He was an angry person, violent in nature, and a bigot to almost every class of person,” said Dan Gilroy a former co-worker of Mateen’s. 

We discuss issues around terrorism, homophobia, racism, and Islamophobia surrounding the attack with Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Chicago-based, Gay Liberation Network and Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core.