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Orlando Shooter’s Alleged Gay Lover Says Nightclub Shooting Was an Act of ‘Revenge’

A man who claims to be Orlando shooter Omar Mateen’s former lover said in a new interview that Mateen committed the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12 as an act of “revenge.”

In an interview with Univision Noticias on Tuesday, June 21, the man, identified only as Miguel, spoke about Mateen’s alleged secret life and what he described as their two-month “friends with benefits” relationship. He also claimed that the 29-year-old attacker was “100 percent” gay and that his wife, Noor Salman, knew about his sexuality.

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“I’ve cried like you have no idea,” Miguel said of his reaction after hearing about the shooting. “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.”

Omar Mateen
Omar Mateen’s alleged gay lover.

The man, who wore a disguise for the interview, claimed that he met Mateen in October 2015 after they exchanged messages on the gay dating app Grindr. He described the gunman as a “very sweet guy” who was “looking for love.”

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Omar Mateen
Omar Mateen

“He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin, but he felt rejected,” Miguel continued. “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. I believe this crazy horrible thing he did — that was revenge.”

According to Miguel, Mateen was angry after one of his alleged partners revealed that he was HIV-positive after they had sex.

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“He was terrified that he was infected,” Miguel said. “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. 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.’”

The shooting at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub, left 49 dead, plus Mateen, and 53 injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

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