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Orlando Gunman Warned of Future ISIS Attacks Against U.S. in Facebook Post

Undated photo of Omar Mateen
Undated photo of Omar Mateen / AP
June 15, 2016

Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay club early Sunday, reportedly posted to Facebook before the attack warning of coming "attacks from the Islamic State" in the United States.

ABC News, citing officials in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, reported Wednesday that Mateen posted the message on Facebook on the morning of the attack at the Pulse nightclub, which occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday.

"You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes..now taste the Islamic state vengeance [sic]," the Facebook post read. "In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic State [ISIS] in the usa."

CBS News reported that the message was posted moments before the attack.

Officials have reportedly flagged four different Facebook accounts believed to be associated with Mateen.

Officials also said that in May Mateen searched on Facebook for the radicalized couple behind the San Bernardino, California, shooting last December. He also reportedly searched online for a speech by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, in the days before the attack.

Mateen died in a firefight with police about three hours after he first fired shots at the club Sunday morning. Since the attack, details have emerged about his possible terrorism links, including revelations that he was previously investigated by the FBI but found not to pose a threat.

Mateen called 911 during the attack and pledged allegiance to ISIS, which claimed responsibility for terror attacks in Paris and Brussels in previous months. Mateen also referenced the Tsarnaev brothers behind the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Sunday morning’s rampage represented the worst domestic terrorist attack since 9/11.

Published under: Terrorism